Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes

I don't know what it is about these fictional memoirs/recountings of fake celebrity's lives that have such a hold on me, but damn it if this one didn't do that as well. The story of Cassidy Holmes, one of four members of Gloss, who joins the band after losing Sing It! (think an American Idol type deal). When the book opens, Cassie has completed suicide, and the rest follows her journey from obscurity to fame back to obscurity. The characters were flawed and real, and although some might find the ending dissatisfying, I felt it stuck true to the nature of the members of the band that was portrayed throughout the book. I will definitely be checking out Elissa's next book.

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icieri's review

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

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avabudavari's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

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maggies's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I had high hopes for this book, but I found it fell short of other similar novels about fame and its consequences, like Daisy Jones & The Six or The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo—maybe Taylor Jenkins Reid is just really good at that theme?
There was a lot to recommend it at the start, great writing and an interesting premise, but ultimately it lost its way pretty quickly. Perhaps because there was so much going on that none of it could actually be afforded the proper attention and care? Sure, that can be taken as a reflection of real life, but doesn't make for a particularly enjoyable book, in my opinion.

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jackieyvette's review

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dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I read it because I wanted a book that was similar to Daisy Jones & the Six and this one was listed everywhere as something in the same realm. I loved the premise idea, early 2000s pop girl groups are my favorite, but I think this book was just too slow. I felt like it took getting through more than half the book to really get anything of interest. I like Cassidy and Merry’s storylines, but I feel like Rose and Yumi’s fell flat which sucked because I actually really like the idea of Yumi, but Rose was just unlikeable from beginning to end.
I wouldn’t say it’s really anything like DJ&TS other than it being the music industry, but maybe I would have liked it more if I would have found it as a stand alone book and not a similarity between the two.

Crying Score: None, but Cassidy and Merry had me for a minute.

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bookswithmybulldog's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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readingwithcats's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Not a single likable character to be found here. Other than Penny. She was a very good girl.

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