To Be Someone

by Louise Voss

Helena Nicholls has experienced the height of fame and fortune. And now she's discovering the lows. A former member of one of the biggest bands in the 80's, and (until yesterday) England's most popular DH, Helena has a big night out and takes a serious tumble. ow she's in the hospital with a batter face that is suddenly radio-friendly. But when the media shreds her reputation, and Helena is yanked from her beloved morning show, she hits rock (and roll) bottom. That's when she comes up with The Plan. She will write the soundtrack to her life: Each chapter will feature a pivotal moment--and each moment will have a song. She will reveal the playlist on her very last radio show, from Jimmy Cliff's "Sitting in Limo" to The Cure's "Lovesong." But after reminiscing, sharing tunes, weathering heartbreak, and meeting a man who just may be her everything...what will Helena do for an encore?

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Womens Fiction, Drama

389 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Tracy Fenton · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable book about the price of fame, friendship, loss and hope. 4 stars from me.

[Kelly Van Damme · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a love song to music and friendship. Very enjoyable, although I have to admit I like Voss' thrillers better. A rather abrupt ending, but still satisfying enough.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for THE Book Club book of the month and I'm so glad I did! To Be Someone is really well written and I became completely immersed in the story, so much so that I was wondering why I hadn't heard of the band!

Drawing from her real life experiences and her work in the music industry, Louise Voss has given us a great study of human nature and relationships. She writes evocatively of love and loss, interwoven with the thrill and trials of fame and fortune and life after that is gone. I loved the thread running through the book about Helena and Sam's wonderful friendship. It felt to me like the real memoirs of a former rock star, really authentic and covering loads of the music I've loved and watched live over the years.

I also loved that it was set to a fabulous playlist of music (available on Spotify) and can wholeheartedly recommend it, but don't forget the tissues!

[Jennifer Black · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was written 22 years ago, and oh my it hasn’t aged well. The fat phobia and sexual assault passed off as a casual first time encounter was striking and disturbing. I loved the premise, 80s era story told with a soundtrack. The plot lines were sophomoric. The main character was terribly shallow and selfish, yet we were meant to like her? The boyfriend is a caricature villain. Her lifelong obsession with her friend was a little weird to me. I wish I had DNFed this.

[Jessica Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my favourite book ever!

I love music and this was about the industry, also funny, warm and thought provoking. it provoked me to write a song anyways.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book because the the title is named after a song by The Jam. Paul Weller said, "To be someone must be a wonderful thing." When he wrote that he definitely wasn't referencing this book.

[wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

i'm pretty sure i bought this book for a $1 in clearance. it was GREAT!!! i sat for hours just reading and reading... if you can find it, pick it up!

[Kristan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book - great story of friendship. The 80s "soundtrack" was certainly a key to keeping my interest.

[Sandra Leivesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started listening to this book thinking it was going to be a psychological thriller, as that's what I have come to expect from Louise Voss. But this book is a story of friendship, love and loss which grew on me and I listened.

The story alternates between present day and the past, which details Helena's life from childhood to becoming part of a very famous band. I loved the way that Ms Voss uses a playlist of 20 songs with special memories to recount Helena's life. I listened to this book on Audible, via Alexa. Some of the songs I knew but others I didn't and I found myself asking Alexa to play them for me. The book was quite an emotional listen at times, and kept me guessing about how it would end. A bit of a change of genre for me, but I'm glad I listened.

[Vickie Taylor-Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed it. A story about friendship and especially loss. I really enjoyed the way the story went from ‘now’ and back through her friendship with Sam, it helped to build up their story and made Sam’s death even more poignant. Initially it seemed that Helena was maybe a little shallow but as the story developed you realise she’s flawed and grieving. Worth a read.

[Simone Keijzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have read. It touched me deep. Mostly about friendship and love but not in a fuzzy way. Loved the music connection as someone who used to go to a lot of bands when I was younger.

[Jenna]

11/27/19 Yeah so... I think this has been marked currently reading since this summer. I really can’t see myself ever picking this up again.

[Sherri Bryant · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just OK, never really pulled me into the story or connect to the characters.

[valesbooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

I reached to page 100 of "To Be Someone," but I'm not sure if I want to keep reading. The book is pretty slow, and not much exciting stuff is happening.

[Mairi Byatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book! A wonderful story about friendship. I will look out for more of her books!

[Laurie (barksbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helena Nicholls was once a successful and well known rock star. Now in her early thirties, her star has faded a bit and she’s working as a morning DJ in London and creating quite a buzz with her all-request format highlighting important glimpses into her listeners lives. While Helena’s working life seems to be in order her emotional life is another story.

After meeting up with a former band member at an awards ceremony Helena is coerced into temporarily mending her woes with a dose of cocaine. This poor choice leads to a horrifyingly stupid and very public accident that leaves her badly disfigured and makes all the tabloids. Her weaselly boss visits her hospital bed with news that he intends to give her plenty of time to heal and that she can come back to work doing the graveyard shift. She’s furious and terribly depressed and comes up with “The Plan”. “The Plan” will be her ultimate goodbye to the world in which she’ll write up a request list of her own. Each song she plays during her final show will remind her of a special memory from her past which she’ll share with her listeners.

This book tackles some weighty subjects; serious illness, imperfect selfish parents and suicidal thoughts but it is also just witty enough to keep one from feeling thoroughly depressed. Helena is a broken, jaded, lonely and emotionally drained young woman who after being on the road for a good chunk of her life never took the time to form close friendships outside of her male bandmates and her childhood friend Sam. As she’s recovering from her accident she meets Toby, a cute guy with a young daughter and a comatose wife. Toby and Helena make an immediate connection, becoming fast friends and nearly falling in love (all while Toby’s wife lies helpless just a few doors away). If this were the only version of Helena I’d have put the book away in disgust.

Fortunately, Helena’s life is doled out chapter by chapter alternating between current day and the past and we get to know her intimately. We watch her suffer all of life’s little and much larger hurts as she stumbles through life. Helena is easy to relate to as a chubby heartbroken youngster pulled ruthlessly away from her best friend Sam when her parents relocate from London to America. Her awkwardness and desire to fit in are realistically described and are often painfully funny. Eventually Helena finds her own niche in the world as she discovers her passion, bass guitar, and meets up with and becomes bandmates with Justin (an unlikely match since he’s the school hunk and she’s still chubby and thought of as a bit odd). The two begin a band called “Blue Idea” and become incredibly famous but Helena’s life is filled with an impending sense of doom when Sam becomes ill. The band eventually breaks up and when Helena doesn’t quite know what to do with herself and wallows in complete self-despair it is easy to sympathize with her pain and feelings of hopelessness.

Helena’s playlist for the “The Plan” highlights the most important points in her life and once I started I found it extremely difficult to put the book down. To Be Someone is often painful to read but it’s very real and filled with life, emotion and humor. This book involved me emotionally from beginning to end and I’m very glad I took the time to read it.

[Fiona Mccormick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Read it as Book of the Month for TBC Facebook Bookclub and would definitely recommend. Helena is born in England but moves with her family to America when she is 13 and is heartbroken at having to leave behind her best friend Sam. A tale of a young girl who doesnt quite fit with her American schoolfriends and feels excluded from her parents close relationship, but finds her niche as a bass player and songwriter with a band who become increasingly more famous and successful. Spending many of her young years touring, she finds it difficult to establish close relationships but the one between her and Sam continues over the years, especially when Sam develops a life threatening illness.
When the band eventually breaks up and Helena suffers a life changing accident, she has to reevaluate her life.
This story was really well written, it was at times poignant and heartbreakingly sad with a lot of humour too. Have read quite a few of Louise Voss books, need to catch up on the rest. A great read.

[Offbalance · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been reading a lot of music-industry-influenced works of late, so when a friend suggested I check this book out, I was more than happy to give it a whirl. The problem with this book is that it had no idea what its main story should be. Was it a pop star looking back on her life? Was it a woman coming back from a trauma and longing for a new life? Was it about the loss of a lifelong friend? Was it about bad romances? The story was so scattered I had a hard time figuring out what exactly I was supposed to be caring about. Main character Helena is a complete hot mess - immature, flighty, self-interested and shallow, but I didn't mind hanging out with her as the pages unfolded. It was a fun idea, but when the author revealed in the acknowledgements that it was her first novel, I was not surprised. I only wish the enthusiasm so evident in the pages and desperate to get out was given some decent editorial guidance and notes on structure.

[Ciara · Rating 1 out of 5]

i think someone gave me this book. it just magically appeared on my bookshelf one day, where it languished for several years, until i was sick & there was a snowstorm, & i couldn't get to the library, & i wanted to read something. so i finally read this. & it was bad bad bad. it sounded like the kind of book a fourteen-year-old might have written in 1992 or so, all about their fantasy of what it would be like to be in a world-famous rock band. it was just infantile, with lesbian overtones that only served to make the author look even more like she was trying too hard to be edgy. i mean, i thought michelle tea's books were bad, but compared to this piece of shit, michelle deserves a pulitzer.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the whole, I thought this worthwhile reading. I don't know much about 80's music or about the music industry, so it was interesting to look at that world through Voss colored glasses. I knew roughly half of the songs on Helena's play list. I don't know if that is good or bad.

Anyhow, I liked the alternating between Helena's current life and her memories. Some of the characters were well developed, some very cliche, but the good stuff outweighed the less interesting (to my taste.) I must admit, that even when Helena was at her lowest, I kept rooting for a happy ending. The descriptions of Santorini made me go look it up on the internet. (Pictured) I am putting it on my "try to see someday" list.

Read via a BookCrossing bookring.

[Stacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Song titles that are chapters of our lives or at least some of the chapters of this book. Helena, former pop-star/DJ, is in the process of writing her memoir/suicide note and her last playlist.
The flashbacks bind the story of a former pop star who is overcoming a terrible accident while trying to end her life. The loss of her best friend kept me in tears. The story of the guy that got away without it being a huge part of the story made it a lot like real life. Chance meeting – you feel something but not sure and then move on to whatever you are dealing but meeting him again. A good read.

[The Bookish Wombat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I'd vaguely heard of Louise Voss this is the first of her books that I've read. I think I got it free in one of my periodic Kindle freebie binges (which mean that I have no hope of ever reading everything on there as I keep adding new books before I've read the old ones).

I tend to have lower expectations of ebooks I get free as I've ended up with some real shockers in the past, but I thought this one was great.

I loved the different milieux it was set in, including the music business and radio, and enjoyed the characters. I found it moving and was satisfied with how it all hung together.

Would recommend.

[Andrew Ives · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a few of Louise's books and I found this to be the most emotional and uplifting, with clearly-defined characters, building to become an especially-compelling page-turner towards the end. Very unusually for me, I really couldn't put this book down for the last 20-30 pages. I found the non-chronological way that the story moves from the present, to the past and back again, to be particularly effective in holding the reader's interest throughout without becoming confusing whilst building to an unpredictable climax. This genre wouldn't ordinarily be my choice, but that said, I enjoyed this much more than I expected to. 4.5/5 stars.

[The Reading Hammock | Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got it as a free kindle book, and it was ok. I enjoyed it, but I was interrupeted a lot while I was reading, with library books that became available, and projects at work that I couldn't invest in the story. And I had a hard time relating to Helena as a character. I have never felt that depressed, and I hope I'm never in that state, so I just couldn't fathom going through with "The Plan" in the way she was intending.

All in all, not a book I'd go out and buy, but I'm not disappointed to have read it.

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started as a 4 for me. I know it's gotten really bad reviews, but I was really interested. It started going downhill. It's pretty juvenile, but I read a lot of YA so it didn't bother me even though I believe this was intended to be adult fiction. I liked the ending enough to stay up late reading. The biggest issue is that it seemed so long. That shouldn't happen in a really good book. Still, I got it for free on the 100 top free kindle bestsellers list, ,so I can't really complain. It held my interest.

[Lisa Hynes · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my favourite books in my 20s but then I bought it recently to re-read and found its been “updated”.... WHY???? All the charm of the original has gone, most of the letters between Helena and Sam have been taken out and what remains have been replaced by emails and texts, a lot of the chosen songs have been changed to recent songs. Everything I loved about this book has been removed. I’m so disappointed and confused about why Louise Voss would do this. It was a beautiful book, why not just leave it alone?

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love music and I love books, so this one was the perfect combination. Too bad the kindle version doesn't over sound to come with it - now that would have been perfect.
I really enjoyed a story, that for once wasn't (mainly) about finding the love of your life but rather about friendship. The only complaint I have with the book is the end. It isn't a bad ending or anything, it's just rather sudden. If it would have stretched over 2 chapters or so, it would have been much nicer.

[Kelli · Rating 1 out of 5]

I borrowed this from a friend when I was spending Christmas alone (note: she did NOT recommend this book, but I saw it on her bookshelf & thought it looked interesting). Unfortunately, it only made me feel more depressed.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

really expected too much out of this book. i think i had hopes it would be the female High Fidelity, and instead it was crummy chick lit with a slight musical twist. (but not enough to satisfy me, or justify even reading it)

[James Horsburgh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book, I'm a big fan of Louise's books she writes with Mark Edwards so I thought I'd give this a go and although it's completely different from the others i found it to be a thoroughly good read