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sierra21's review against another edition
4.0
not one but two messy queer love stories. interesting thoughts on home and ambition and gender. a nice read.
wild character name: hunter wallstreet (?!?!?!) honestly could not get over this one.
wild character name: hunter wallstreet (?!?!?!) honestly could not get over this one.
studiouspoppy's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
really fun, as a taylor swift fan & a gaylor i loved it, but i was left with questions & i don’t think i’ll remember a lot of it in a year so it’s not a favorite or anything like that
melissa_withthelonglastname's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely did not expect to devour this book in less than 24 hours, but once I started reading...I could NOT stop. What a ride!
There were so many things I loved about Every Time You Hear That Song, but I don't want to spoil anything -- I'll just say that one of the dual perspectives is an adult for most of the book, so I would say that this is a slightly more mature YA novel than I was expecting.
(I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)
There were so many things I loved about Every Time You Hear That Song, but I don't want to spoil anything -- I'll just say that one of the dual perspectives is an adult for most of the book, so I would say that this is a slightly more mature YA novel than I was expecting.
(I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)
idoltina's review against another edition
5.0
Queer girls, treasure hunts, and country music? Yeah, this book owns my whole disaster bisexual, country music loving heart.
Voris embodies the heart of country music in this book. At its core, country music is about storytelling, about subverting expectations, about being willing to dream bigger, about longing for home, about losing yourself deeply in every messy, wonderful feeling, about loving and leaving and learning to live with what you've lost. Voris is so smart in the way she crafts this story: she uses dual POVs as well as "flashbacks" to lead us heart-first into character arcs and love stories and a quest for treasure in more ways than one. The result is a page-turner I couldn't put down and finished in a day after sobbing my little heart out multiple times.
As a queer woman, it was hard not to feel so deeply seen throughout parts of this story, and those moments of painful empathy - with Decklee, with Mickenlee, with Darren - healed parts of me that wished I had something like this when I was growing up.
My only lamentation of this book is that the music isn't real, because my god, what I would give to be able to sit down and listen to any and all of it.
[NetGalley was kind enough to provide me with an ARC for this title.]
Voris embodies the heart of country music in this book. At its core, country music is about storytelling, about subverting expectations, about being willing to dream bigger, about longing for home, about losing yourself deeply in every messy, wonderful feeling, about loving and leaving and learning to live with what you've lost. Voris is so smart in the way she crafts this story: she uses dual POVs as well as "flashbacks" to lead us heart-first into character arcs and love stories and a quest for treasure in more ways than one. The result is a page-turner I couldn't put down and finished in a day after sobbing my little heart out multiple times.
As a queer woman, it was hard not to feel so deeply seen throughout parts of this story, and those moments of painful empathy - with Decklee, with Mickenlee, with Darren - healed parts of me that wished I had something like this when I was growing up.
My only lamentation of this book is that the music isn't real, because my god, what I would give to be able to sit down and listen to any and all of it.
[NetGalley was kind enough to provide me with an ARC for this title.]
angieinbooks's review against another edition
4.5
I am not emotionally okay after reading this book! I mean that in the best of ways, to be clear.
Darren's favourite singer, Decklee Cassel, has died. She didn't know Decklee, not really. But she feels like she knew her through her music and because Decklee, like Darren, was once a girl who dreamed of getting out of Mayberry, Arkansas, too--something Decklee actually accomplished so spectacularly that she never returned.
When news surfaces that there's an entire unreleased album of Decklee's to be found, along with a life-changing amount of money, Darren knows the music and the money is destined to be hers. So she embarks on her first trip outside of Arkansas with the only person she knows in town who has car: Kendall, her workplace proximity associate, the guy who threw away a full-ride tennis scholarship to university to work full time at a Mayberry gas station.
The novel alternates between Darren's hunt in the present and Decklee's narration of her life, of becoming Decklee Cassel: award-winning country singer beloved by millions of fans. It is inspiring, mysterious, maddening, heartbreaking, beautiful, queer. I didn't want to put it down.
My one criticism, apart from the fact that I solved the mystery early on (and I think that's okay btw) is Darren's believe that she can either stay in Mayberry or she has to leave--that she believed the very act of leaving at all meant she could never return. Or that if she stayed, it meant she could never leave. I just didn't get it. And had it been a passing thought, it would have been okay, but this was a major theme/plot point of the novel.
Darren's favourite singer, Decklee Cassel, has died. She didn't know Decklee, not really. But she feels like she knew her through her music and because Decklee, like Darren, was once a girl who dreamed of getting out of Mayberry, Arkansas, too--something Decklee actually accomplished so spectacularly that she never returned.
When news surfaces that there's an entire unreleased album of Decklee's to be found, along with a life-changing amount of money, Darren knows the music and the money is destined to be hers. So she embarks on her first trip outside of Arkansas with the only person she knows in town who has car: Kendall, her workplace proximity associate, the guy who threw away a full-ride tennis scholarship to university to work full time at a Mayberry gas station.
The novel alternates between Darren's hunt in the present and Decklee's narration of her life, of becoming Decklee Cassel: award-winning country singer beloved by millions of fans. It is inspiring, mysterious, maddening, heartbreaking, beautiful, queer. I didn't want to put it down.
My one criticism, apart from the fact that I solved the mystery early on (and I think that's okay btw) is Darren's believe that she can either stay in Mayberry or she has to leave--that she believed the very act of leaving at all meant she could never return. Or that if she stayed, it meant she could never leave. I just didn't get it. And had it been a passing thought, it would have been okay, but this was a major theme/plot point of the novel.
reaofsunshine28's review against another edition
5.0
The recipe of Decklee Cassel goes like this; take the charm and talent of Dolly Parton, the easter eggs, scrutiny and intricacies of Taylor Swift, and the fiery selfishness of Evelyn Hugo.
Boom. You’ve got the star of this book.
Darren and Kendall are fun, typical romcom characters and honestly, props to the author for giving both leads gender neutral/unconventional names. I love that little detail. The queerness of their generation is so casual, so comforting, but then you get yanked into the heartbreaking reality Decklee, Mickenlee and Markell dealt with.
I wouldn’t even say it’s a love story between Darren and Kendall, and more a love story between Darren and the town of Mayberry. It pushes her away, pulls her back in, will always hold a place in her heart.
Just like Mickenlee does for Decklee.
I would say this book is definitely reminiscent of Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in certain scenes, hence the comparison, but there’s just something about Decklee that pulls you in. Perhaps it’s because this is the story of her legacy, how she’s long gone, how you start the story with her dead and she comes to life throughout the book.
Or perhaps maybe they’re their own genre. Queer, classic, timeless, legendary women who want it all but can’t have it. They break everyone’s hearts and their own for the price of a dream.
All I know is that I finished this book with a lump in my throat and a longing to see it on the big screen someday.
Boom. You’ve got the star of this book.
Darren and Kendall are fun, typical romcom characters and honestly, props to the author for giving both leads gender neutral/unconventional names. I love that little detail. The queerness of their generation is so casual, so comforting, but then you get yanked into the heartbreaking reality Decklee, Mickenlee and Markell dealt with.
I wouldn’t even say it’s a love story between Darren and Kendall, and more a love story between Darren and the town of Mayberry. It pushes her away, pulls her back in, will always hold a place in her heart.
Just like Mickenlee does for Decklee.
I would say this book is definitely reminiscent of Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in certain scenes, hence the comparison, but there’s just something about Decklee that pulls you in. Perhaps it’s because this is the story of her legacy, how she’s long gone, how you start the story with her dead and she comes to life throughout the book.
Or perhaps maybe they’re their own genre. Queer, classic, timeless, legendary women who want it all but can’t have it. They break everyone’s hearts and their own for the price of a dream.
All I know is that I finished this book with a lump in my throat and a longing to see it on the big screen someday.
maplummms's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
def felt like a remake of the seven husbands of evelyn hugo but it was really good and the ending felt more realistic, if not a bit rushed. loved the twists