Wow wow wow. I was lucky enough to win an ARC of this book in a giveaway and I am so happy I did. I went into this thinking it would be a queer, coming of age story set in the South about the perils of fame and how the choices we make define us. And though this book was definitely that, it was also so much more and I wasn't entirely prepared for what I got.

Every Time You Hear That Song is such really two stories in one. One begins with Darren in present day and the other travels through several decades with Decklee Cassel. So in a way, one story is mostly stationary and it's the mystery of it that's moving Darren's POV forward. And then there's Decklee's POV that is jumping through years and we're seeing her go from being a young, fifteen-year-old, to eventually being much older in the present, so her story eventually catches up to Darren's in a way that was really fascinating to read. I loved having this book told in this way and I think it worked perfectly for these stories.

The characters themselves are really brilliant to read. These characters go through a lot and there's a lot of messiness surrounding them, particularly Decklee and Darren. But they felt so authentic and flawed. The ending is bittersweet, but felt right for the characters and the core of who they were. This made it a little sad for me, but it felt very true for how life is and the way it works out. So it's realistic and messy and sad but a really beautiful narrative of being a queer teen in the South and the complicated feelings and experiences this brings up. 

This book was such a pleasant surprise and I can't recommend it more!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

I didn't expect to like this story as much as I did. I'm not much of a country fan and the idea of a scavenger hunt road trip didn't really appeal to me but I decided to give it a shot! I was really glad actually that Darren wasn't the one who found the time capsule. It would've felt unrealistic to me if she was the one to figure everything out/find all the clues. Her finding the first one was great but I fully expected her to overall loose the competition. Having her loose was a good climax for the story so she could look inside of herself and think about what Mayberry really means to her/what is really important to her in life. 

I also expected, since Decklee was a really big star with millions of fans, that Darren wouldn't be the only one to come to these kinds of conclusions about where the clues might be. Not everyone would've been able to put it altogether obviously but having other people be able to figure out the clues as well alongside her made the most sense in that situation. Having Darren be wrong about the last clue in particular was really great too because I was also fully convinced that the last clue would be in Mayberry because that's where Decklee was from/where Micknlee ended up. When the time capsule showed up in Nashville, in front of the studio, it really captured how in the end, Decklee was only thinking of herself and what kind of impact she would have and not the people who helped make her in the industry and who tried to love her. 

Ending the story with Darren talking about how she and Kendall broke up was also very realistic. Honestly, if they'd stayed together I would have probably rated it lower. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed them together. They were a cute couple but Kendall didn't want to leave Mayberry and Darren couldn't stay. It wouldn't make sense for them to try to force something that ultimately wouldn't work and leave one of them miserable. 

Ultimately, the road trip Kendall and Darren took was really fun. their personalties really shone through everything and I liked how they were able to stop and have fun on top of searching for clues. I was also glad that Darren made some really good apologies to the people she hurt in the book. It really put into perspective how AWFUL of a person Decklee was. (I really didn't like Decklee. I could understand wanting to be something BIG and be remembered but you don't have to step on all the people who helped you get there). The contrast between both girls was great so I really enjoyed the dual POV's even if I didn't like Decklee herself.