Deep Cuts

by Holly Brickley

Look, the song whispered to me, that day in my living room. Life can be so big.

It’s a Friday night in a campus bar in Berkeley, fall of 2000, and Percy Marks is pontificating about music again. Hall and Oates is on the jukebox, and Percy—who has no talent for music, just lots of opinions about it—can’t stop herself from overanalyzing the song, indulging what she knows to be her most annoying habit. But something is different tonight. The guy beside her at the bar, fellow student Joe Morrow, is a songwriter. And he could listen to Percy talk all night.

Joe asks Percy for feedback on one of his songs—and the results kick off a partnership that will span years, ignite new passions in them both, and crush their egos again and again. Is their collaboration worth its cost? Or is it holding Percy back from finding her own voice?

Moving from Brooklyn bars to San Francisco dance floors, Deep Cuts examines the nature of talent, obsession, belonging, and above all, our need to be heard.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Music, Audiobook

400 pages, Paperback

First published February 25, 2025

About the author

Holly Brickley is originally from Hope, British Columbia, and now lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two daughters. She studied English at UC Berkeley and received an MFA in fiction from Columbia University.

Reviews

[Haley pham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know how to capture why I love this book. But if I had to try, here are a few potential reasons.

1. There were a handful of lines that made my jaw drop / stole my breath. Like actually picture breath being stolen from my lungs because of words on paper. Yeah.

2. This book somehow captures how vulnerable it feels to be young. The characters are messy but I never faulted Percy for her choices, really. She was overly honest in her thought process and it made her actions feel congruent with how she viewed herself and the world.

3. I didn’t know I needed to read about two people who were obsessive about music. Obsessive to the point of being dysfunctional in every other aspect of their lives. Especially, toward each other. That kind of obsessive love for your craft is addicting to read about. It makes you think about the thing you love that deeply in your own life. And if it doesn’t, it makes you wish you loved something as much as these characters love music.

And no, I didn’t even know half the songs Percy dissected, but I still loved her dissection of them anyway!

Read this if you want to read about a messy, obsessive, navigating your 20s in the 2000s, type of character.

[Sara Carrolli · Rating 3 out of 5]

(This felt like the author had a lot of early 2000s music opinions and REALLY wanted to share it somewhere)

The plot of this had me so excited: early 2000s, a messy relationship, one a talented musician, the other helping out with his songs…but I think it lacked emotion for me (and personality)

It was definitely interesting seeing how each chapter title was a song that Percy ended up relating to her life in some way, and I also really liked being in the early 2000s era and watching all these songs come out while Percy’s life changes and grows. There were a few scenes with Joe that I was invested in, but I just wanted MORE!

[Brooke Averick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normal People meets Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow meets something entirely original. Everything about this book felt so REAL! The characters, the relationships, the toxicity... such a fun change of pace from all the lovey-dovey romance novels I've been reading (obviously still love them with my whole heart.) I've never been so nostalgic for something that I haven’t even experienced. The music element was so fun and I loved listening to the songs in the Spotify playlist as I was reading. I could picture Saoirse Ronan so vividly as I read- this is going to be a fantastic movie.

[Shelley's Book Nook · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Reviews Can Also Be Found On:
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𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘵.

Deep Cuts can refer to music (a song that is less popular than other songs by the same artist or on the same album) or love (a situation where a relationship slowly deteriorates over time due to a series of small, unresolved issues, hurts, or disappointments that accumulate) in this story we get both.

Let's start off with the music. I lost my hearing in the early noughts and loved that a lot of the music in this book is way before that time so I can remember the sound of it and could imagine it in my head. I also found it so cool that every chapter is named after a song title.

Now to the love part...A friends-to-lovers romance with a Daisy Jones and the Six-esque vibe. I was so into the chemistry, both personal and professional, between Percy and Joe. It was so electric and jumped off the pages. Add a dash of a love triangle with a jealous friend to the mix and we have an enthralling story I couldn't put down. The three of them, Joe, Percy and Zoe grow up and apart together. Each of them spreads their wings but also wants to be in each other's lives and are missing each other. They are like family, they are the type of friends we all wish we had.

This was such a nostalgic read for me, music-wise and history-wise. It definitely has a romantic novel feel to it, but it is also so much more. It's about working relationships, friendships, being true to ourselves, finding out what makes us happy, and making yourself heard. The characters have lots of depth and are multi-layered, plus it has a musical hook that even this deaf person enjoyed. What an incredible debut.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

[Cara · Rating 2 out of 5]

🎶IT'S ME, HI, I'M THE PROBLEM, IT'S ME🎶!!!!!! Deep Cuts written by Holly Brickley was my first DNF of 2025 at 30%. 📢First and foremost, reading is subjective, please be respectful📢 because not everyone is going to LOVE the SAME book. If you don't like my review or rating, please kindly keep scrolling, if you agree with my opinions, that's great, I'm so sorry you didn't love this book either, but I don't think that's going to be the case, I might be the outlier here. I was so excited to read Deep Cuts because I had seen so many raving reviews and I saw this book was being compared to Daisy Jones & The Six, but unfortunately that wasn't the case for me. I'm disappointed I couldn't finish this book because I love getting my hands on musical novels. I couldn't really get into the story at all, the pacing was so slow for me, maybe I wasn't in the right mindset, I don't know. I often found myself dozing off and getting bored. I couldn't connect with the characters on a deeper level, I could only relate to their love for music. I'm not bashing this author, not the book, and not the readers who loved this book, Deep Cuts just didn't work for me at all. Please don't let my review discourage you from reading this book because I know many people loved this book and many others will love it, but these are just my own opinions. To anyone that picks up this book next, I hope you have the best time and love it way more than I did.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND CROWN PUBLISHING FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!!!!

"💯A perfect song has stronger bones. Lyrics, chord, and Melody. It can be played differently, produced differently and it will almost always be great💯!"

"🎶The chorus of Fast Car by Tracy Chapman is the most moving musical moment of the eighties🎶." -I can definitely agree with this quote, obviously I wasn't around in the eighties, but in 2025 this song is still a massive hit, but I loveeee the country version by Luke Combs, it's such a bop, especially with the windows down and your hair blowing in the wind, with the volume up on the radio, screaming at the top of your lungs.

I think the two main characters in Deep Cuts were great people, but like I stated before, I just couldn't connect nor resonate with them other than their love for music. I think music has a beautiful way of connecting people with each other, it can often bring you a new friendship. Where do I even start with the two main characters, Percy and and Joe? Percy Marks is an English major at Berkeley. Percy has absolutely no musical talents, but she loves music. I think many people will connect with Percy, but I just didn't like her to be honest, I often found her to be very rude and snooty with those around her. Now, let's start with Joe. Joe Morrow is a "fuck my feelings" type of person, his mom was diagnosed with melanoma the summer before he started high school and she died Labor Day weekend. Joe also attends Berkeley, but as a political science major. Percy and Joe met at a bar when "Sara Smile" by Hall and Oates was playing on the jukebox, and Percy decided to over-analyze the song which she has a quirky talent for. Joe was kind of okay-ish, again, I couldn't connect with him either. I'm going to stop my review right here because again, I didn't finish this book as it wasn't working for me, so I hope y'all have better luck with this book than I did.

[Becca Freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

You need to add this to your TBR. Just trust me on this, ok?

College kids being idiots, indie rock, first love and messing it up, New York MFA programs, incredibly specific jobs, this book has it all. But above all: SO MUCH HEART.

[Norma ~ The Sisters]

I really wanted to love Deep Cuts, but I realized it just wasn’t for me. The premise had so much potential—music, creative partnerships, that early 2000s setting—but I had a hard time connecting with it.

I like music well enough (mostly country, though), but the sheer number of music references in this book went way over my head. Percy is passionate about music, which I can respect, but her constant overanalyzing of songs made it hard for me to settle into the story. I remember my very first paycheque going toward a record album—pretty sure it was Voulez-Vous by ABBA—and that felt like a defining moment. But here, the love of music felt different, more like an intellectual exercise than something deeply felt.

I also struggled to connect with Percy and Joe’s dynamic. There’s an interesting push-and-pull in their collaboration, but I wasn’t invested enough to see where it was going. I kept waiting to feel that spark, that emotional pull, but it never quite happened.

I think I just wasn’t the right reader for this one, but I can see how it would resonate with those who love stories about creative partnerships and the indie music scene. I hope it finds the audience who will truly appreciate it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

[Jace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ummm did I just find a six star read right at the end of 2024?! Yes. Yes I did. Wow wow wow this book is so niche to me and had so many things I absolutely love in a book. It had the working friendship dynamic that I loved from Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow but mixed with the music complexities that I love in Daisy Jones and the Six! Soooo many AMAZING music references— Fleetwood Mac, Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Beach Boys, The Shins, Beach House. This author scratched an itch in my brain that I didn’t know I needed— was this book made for me?! I love it and wanna be best friends with you Holly! I didn’t want it to end and could have read like 500 more pages on Percy and Joe gahhh!

Thank you thank you Crown Publishing for this early ARC. Everyone needs to add this to their 2025 TBR {and listen to the playlist that coordinates with the book because it’s amazing}!

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was 20 and a college student living in Brussels, I met a cute Irish guy who loved music. I had always thought I loved music too but this was a whole new level of appreciation and understanding. He was the kind of music fan who had a weekly subscription to NME (print version, which, yes, dates me) and could debate the songs of bands I'd never heard of. I wince now at the answers I gave him about my favorite songs as I am totally uncool when it comes to music. (No, I'm not sharing what they were!) In many ways, it's a minor miracle we kept talking and ended up being in a relationship for a couple of years. Something that was so core to him was completely outside my understanding.

"Deep Cuts" gave me a weird sense of deja vu, that feeling that I can be in awe of the depth of analysis and intimidated by the breadth of conversation, all while loving the people passionately sharing what each song truly means to them. It's one of those books that takes something that's completely outside your own context and brings you inside, making you want to go and listen to the songs you're reading about, except you can't because you just want to keep reading and find out what the hell these people are going to do next as they stumble their way through their twenties.

Which brings me to the other sense of deja vu conjured up by this love story to music. Have you ever been in an almost-there relationship? Where you're friends and you are then something more, but one of you screws it up so you fall back on the friendship but then there's still something there and so the other one makes a move but the timing is wrong or you hit an off note? I have (this time while living in Sydney) and it was confusing and infuriating and created way too much angst. Luckily in my case, the two of us ended up marrying two other people and we're both with exactly the right person. But dear God, "Deep Cuts" took me back into that period of my life in a way I was wholly unprepared for.

All of which is to say, I dived into this book on a Saturday morning, ignored my poor friends while we were camping because I kept picking the book back up, loved my husband even more for encouraging me to keep reading on the drive back home, and finally came up for air on Sunday afternoon. At the end, I just had to sit there for a bit, touching the book as I savored all that Holly Brickley had put the characters and me through. (Definitely one of those books that give you that #lastpagefeeling.)

Thanks to Julie Cepler at Crown Publishing for running back after our meeting ended and pushing this ARC into my hands as the elevator doors were closing. I can't wait to talk about this one with more people.

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

rtc

——


Sigh this sounds, incredible. I’ve seen comparisons to Daisy Jones and the Six, One Day, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Sally Rooney.

🎵Thanks so much Harper Collins & NetGalley for the arc!!

[Suz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deep cut, in the music biz, are the artist’s songs that are not well known, the ones that aren’t ‘hits’ but are no less adored by those in the know. I LOVED seeing the characters in this story live by the songs, absorb them, analyse and almost worship them. I am not a music person at all, but the references I was able to adhere to were solid, giving me a homey nostalgia hit as I went along. Those who love music, who really get it, will be able to ride the highs and lows of this book. It’s a melody that is slow and fast – I found the less exciting bits meander– but these crescendo back into highs once more. The setting of the aughts was brilliant for me, and New York, made me feel the grungy setting, the angst and the love and the heartbreak through the music. The sweaty hair and struggling to pay the rent, the groupies and the jealousies. Joe and Percy are the ones almost taking a back step to the real story here. The music. The lingo of the biz, the love and the loss, the friendship and the elasticity of shall they be together, or not. Soulmates but not. Percy is the critic, Joe is the star. Holly Brickley is the true genius here, an author telling a deep story with lyric, hooks and the backdrop of the music scene setting the stage for two young people’s story for over a decade. The baggage they each bring, and the wisdom needed for all of this to come together as fluidly as it did is remarkable. And for me, someone who knows little about music, to be swept up in it all is testament to it all. I wanted Bay Window to be a real song. This new novelist (how is this a debut) is someone to keep an eye on. Brilliant! Thank you HarperCollins for my review copy, via #firstinbestread. Listen to the Spotify playlist, too.

[CarolG · Rating 3 out of 5]

Percy Marks has no talent for music, just lots of opinions about it, but can’t stop herself from overanalyzing a song playing on the jukebox. The guy beside her at the bar, fellow student Joe Morrow, is a songwriter and asks Percy for feedback on one of his songs.

I wish I had seen that this book was being compared to Daisy Jones and the Six before I grabbed it from Netgalley because I didn't like Daisy Jones very much at all. I actually liked Deep Cuts a bit better but a lot of it didn't mean much to me. I'm not a music geek, especially not of music from the early 2000s, but surprisingly I recognized quite a few of the songs and the names of some of the singers/songwriters but the narrative sometimes got too bogged down in what the song was actually about only to end up back at square one: "We are all just writing about ourselves." The blurb led me to believe that Joe and Percy formed a long-lasting partnership but I sure didn't see that. They collaborated a bit early on in the book but then they always seemed to be mad at each other and she eventually got credit as a co-writer many years later. To be honest, I didn't really like either of them and didn't care whether they got together or not. This book is supposedly less than 300 pages but it took me forever to read. Granted there's been a lot going on in my life to distract me from reading but still ... ! Lots of readers loved this so take my review with a grain of salt. I'd give this 2.5 Stars rounded up because the writing was good even though it didn't speak to me.

TW: Sexual assault at a music festival.

Thanks to Penguin Random House Canada via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this debut novel. All opinions expressed are my own.
Publication Date: February 25, 2025

[Leslie Ann (lalasbookishlife) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daisy Jones & The Six + When Harry Met Sally + that famous clip of Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff writing Getaway Car

I'm convinced Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley would be Taylor Swift's favorite book of the year if she read it.

This was everything I wanted and at the same time, completely different from what I thought it was going to be. I absolutely adore this book. Yes, there is a vast amount of musical knowledge and details that at times feel like it's going to overshadow the plot, but it never does. It was perfect.

I just know I will be thinking about this book for the longest time. My first 5 star book of the year. Obsessed.

[aubrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

if everyone in this book was 10% less insufferable and about 50% gayer this book would've been better

[Shantha (ShanthasBookEra) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up. There is so much hype surrounding this book, and I wanted to love it. Unfortunately, I didn't like or connect with the characters. There is very little depth to the characters or to the storyline, in my opinion. This wasn't my kind of book at all. I do appreciate the research the author did for the musical references from the early 2000s. There are much better books set in the music industry that are compelling with well developed characters. To me, this is a cliche coming of age story. If you are a fan of a classic coming of age story, this may be a book for you.

[lauren‎♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧ (semi-ia)]

LOL guys i got 15% into this and its gonna be a dnf for me. what the hell is going on in this book. i have never been so confused in my entire life.

the plot is so confusing. i thought percy and joey were dating he called her his gf but wait joey is dating zoey? AND IDEK WHATS GOING ON IN THE PLOT. im following along trying to make sense but huh??? cant do it. so confused.

[Hannah Harper · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bye this is horrible…… how are u gonna be pretentious AND nutting about hall & oates, beach boys etc AND saying things like …i know its not politically correct but i dont like hip hop… giveee me a break. Hows it gonna be called deep cuts w no deep cuts??? The I’m not like other girls POV despite being like other girls. The writing is bad, the characterization is corny, just not for me. The author lives in Portland, OR & it shows. This irritated me clearly LOL

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun novel. Reminiscent in all the best ways of TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND TOMORROW. Millennials in the first decade of the 21st century falling in and out of love, writing (and performing) music, and having VERY strong opinions about pop and rock classics. Stayed with me like a great bridge in a great song.

[Niharika (severely inactive) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Formal Review

“The songs were just always there between us, like a balloon we’d been tasked to keep afloat.”

One of the biggest regrets of my life, alongside being a total Regina George back in seventh grade, and not thrifting that hardcover limited edition of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" in that used bookstore I visited back in January, is blowing the chance to get music lessons when I was five. Truth be told, five-year-old Niharika had a lot on her plate, what with having overachieving parents and everything, but as I've grown older, it has only lingered as a lost opportunity in my heart. For all intents and purposes, I'm quite an adequate singer, but I could literally tell you nothing about chord notations. So after reading the synopsis, I had to read the book. The protagonist was absolutely "Me coded"!

Holly Brickley's debut novel is about Percy Marks, a Berkley English literature student in the early noughts, and if there's one thing she'd want you to know about herself, it's her very strong opinions on contemporary music. Despite not having any singing talents whatsoever, one evening at a college bar, she finds herself face to face with Joe Morrow, a fellow undergrad and budding singer-songwriter, and he wants her feedback on his works. Driven by her forbidden crush on him (for Joe has a cool girlfriend called Zoe), Percy agrees, and thus begins their tumultuous personal and professional partnership that spans over years, breaking and remoulding their relationships with each other and the people around them and with music a thousand times in the process.

The first week of college is when you find yourself at your most agreeable self; always placating and giving out officious grins and whatnot in the Herculean quest to find new friends who would hopefully be there at your wedding in the distant future. Under such premises, one day I found myself hanging out with a group of girls at the college canteen. Two of them were fangirling over Taylor Swift and her generally agreed upon status as "Motherrr" (with 3 Rs, whatever significance that might bear), and I grudgingly disclosed how I genuinely loved some of her Folklore and Evermore songs, and the very next second, another acquaintance haughtily spoke out, to collective gasps of horror: "I detest Taylor Swift. I love The Beatles and Mother Mother." and at that moment, I swear to you, I could feel my soul leave my mortal body. Had I just aligned myself with the Swifties as opposed to the Beatlemaniacs? Would they play "Lover" in my wedding?

So this anecdote hopefully establishes my music taste falling somewhere neatly between pop and heavy rock. I'm not stingy with my genre preferences, as long as the album I'm listening to is not the obvious default for people of my age. And reading "Deep Cuts" gave me immense joy, because at its core, it's just the thoughts and musings of the author about a plethora of Indie, folk, and rock bands and musicians active from the late 80s to the early 2000s. I love talking about music, and I love listening to others talking about music. My biggest takeaway from this novel is undoubtedly the songs I added to my playlists that I never otherwise would've heard of.

As a story about the complexities of young love and how the relationships we form with people in certain periods of our lives, in turn, shape the people we end up becoming, I'm sadly not sure it holds up. The writing, although charming, can be choppy at times, the characters and their motivations severely underdeveloped, and in the grand scheme of things, Percy, the female protagonist, might come off as a bit of an arsehole, and Joe as a certified douche.

But that is not to say that I disliked the book. There's this peculiar sense of nostalgia woven into this book that evoked something deep inside me. (even though I wasn't alive during the time the better part of the story takes place.) Joe was a bit underwhelming as a love interest for me, but even though I don't usually enjoy reading about cool girls falling for Just Ken boys, I didn't hate the pairing in this as much. But while it captivated me when I was reading it, after finishing the book, it took me months to sit down and write a review, which is never a good sign.

Despite the mixed reviews and the rather hushed excitement surrounding the book post-release, I've come to look back at it with strange fondness. I liked this book, definitively, maybe not enough to upgrade the 3.5 rating to a 4 and officially mark my territories as its advocate against all the literary criticisms from henceforth, but enough to put on a mean snicker, à la 7th grade baby Regina George me, whenever I hear readers complain about it.


Thoughts Before Reading

Do I defy expectations when I say I habitually take book recs from movie and TV show announcements, or do I just reinforce it? (I just heard Saoirse Ronan and Austin Butler are in a movie that's based on this book.)

[Léa · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I was really hoping to love this as it seemed like the perfect literary read for music lovers... and I enjoyed it. I had seen SO many people compare it to daisy jones and the six and despite the ensemble of messy, endearing and painfully raw characters and their, of course, infatuation with music... it was naturally VERY different.

there was so much of this story that I adored: the push and pull between the two protagonists and their inevitable heartbreaks and coming back togethers, the messiness, the setting etc. but what I didn't adore as much: the MILLION pop culture musical references every other sentence. at times, many of them landed and allowed for an incredibly realistic atmosphere. but due to the quantity of them, it absolutely took me out of the story slightly.

I appreciated this for what it was and can see MANY people falling in love with it.

[Quirine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up! This book fits in a particular genre I’d call ‘artistically frustrated people in their 20’s figuring out life’ and even though this one wasn’t a revolutionary twist on that genre, it was still very enjoyable. A frustrating situationship unable to overcome ambition and jealousy, sprinkled through with pieces of musical criticism in the early 2000’s.

I was deeply frustrated throughout this entire book because I was mentally begging the protagonist, Percy, to stand up for herself - but in a good way. I cared and often related and wished there was more at the end of this.

[Supreme Commander of South America · Rating 2 out of 5]

It had like three scenes that kept me entertained the rest was so boring.
I’d recommend y’all to stick to TJR and Sally Rooney 😭

[Heather Coffee_Kindle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Release Date: 13th March 2025

Absolutely obsessed with this book, I practically read it in a day! The fact that I actually allowed myself so much space and time to read shows how engrossed I was in this world.

When Percy an English major at Berkley, meets Joey an aspiring musician in a bar in the 2000's and they start to discuss music, it leads to Percy collaborating with Joey on his music, being his critic and ultimately part of his relationship with his girlfriend Zoe, when they form a misfit trio, with lots of tension and passion.

The brilliant use of song titles as chapter headings, the grabbing my phone every time a song and artist was mentioned to play alongside my reading as the soundtrack to the book, listening to songs with a new perspective, through someone else's experience, to being transported back to the early 2000's and all that had to offer (so many similarities between what was described in the book and my lived experience in the UK), the bands, the era, the coming of age in that time, it all feels so perfectly captured.

It's within the romance genre, but it's more than a romance book about a girl falling for the musician, it's about said girl learning to love herself and others along the way too.

Being a fan of music and having grown up with it in every part of my life, from a lot of different influences I really loved the deep dive into the songs and geeking out.

For me this was a wonderful nod to a life and era I can relate to and I hope that translates to other age groups.

If you enjoyed Daisy and the Six then I think you'll enjoy this rollercoaster of a love letter to music, whilst also being a book about personal growth.

Is this the final review? I'm not sure, but I needed to get my initial thoughts down.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

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[Alya ( 20 comments restriction ) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thoughts
Respectfully I'm sticking to TJR with this one... I feel bad saying this especially with this being my first reading experience with the author but as someone who loves TJR I had expectations but this missed most for me, I mean it felt so long and dragged I couldn't connect to any of the characters... I will however like to give the author another try in the future...

[BONNIE SMITH · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this unaware it was a debut...
How?
How is this a debut and the first creation of an author. Kudos to your brain, heart and soul for creating this Ms. Brickley.

So-books are my hobby, but music is my love language.
I think that's what made this book connect with my heart and soul. I've also been that 20 something (decades ago...damn I'm old) who's totally lost in life, sitting in my car, connecting with lyrics as I play music well over the proper decibel level.

Percy is nerdy music aficionado without any physical musical talent. No talent EXCEPT : she can break down lyrics and music and internalize them. Percy consumes music the way the rest of the world consumes food. She just understands music, where it should go and what makes it great.

She meets Joe, a songwriter, and the chemistry & connection is immediate. Two souls that thrive on music, great right? Except for two issues:
1. Joe is in a long term relationship with Zoe
2. When he asks for feedback on one of his songs, it alters the terms of their relationship, or rather partnership in their love and creation of music.

This book spans years of Percy's relationship with music and with Joe and Zoe. It's like Forrest Gump of the music scene and somehow creates this amazing nostalgia for the lost eras of music so many of us old folks experienced.
I received this as a Goodreads Giveaway in exchanged for my honest review. Set to be released in February of 2025, I recommend this to anyone who sits in their car a little longer than needed, just to hear the end of a song.

[emilybookedup · Rating 3 out of 5]

netting out at 3 stars for this! liked it, didn’t love it, but VERY excited for the 🎬 adaptation starring the one and only Austin Butler 👀🔥

tbh, picturing the MMC Joe as him is what kept me going LOL! jk but kinda 😌

this is a SLOW burn. i listened to half of it on a long car ride and was debating throwing in the towel but got invested about 35-40% in. it is HEAVY on the music fiction. gave major nostalgia with all the late 90s and early 2000s hit references!

what i struggled with were the characters. this book is VERY character driven and the FMC Percy kinda drove me nuts. Joe did a bit too. they had a semi toxic relationship—started as friends, wanted to be something more but didn’t, stay in each others lives and then they reconsider it all again but is it too late?

i liked the coming of age part of it all and seeing the characters come into themselves and figure out where their paths would go. i also liked the angst between the two MCs. and the author’s writing style was good, i’d deff read more by her (this was her debut!)

🎧 highly recommend the audiobook format, i liked the narrator and i think I would have stopped if i was reading the physical book.

TLDR: can’t wait for the movie!!!!! might be even better if the acting is right 👏🏼

[Rachel | rachelturnsthepage · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a let down

Finally finished and this was a miss for me 😕. I thought the MCs were pretentious and annoying. I hated their toxic relationship. There was no depth in these characters or their relationship other than their shared love for music and that they wrote a song together.

Obviously a lot of music references in the book, but it felt like the author/MC would name drop just for the sake of name dropping.

Truly countless amount of band/performer references!
loved 00s indie rock and thought I would adore this one but it was a miss for me.

Thank you PRH audio for the free audiobook.

[Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2.25 stars)
I was looking forward to Deep Cuts but I found it disappointing. It was boring, for a start. I seriously considered DNFing it, but with most early reviews being positive, I figured it had to get better, so I persevered. But - for me - it didn’t. The main characters were mostly unlikeable, insufferable, unrelatable, and they spouted off endlessly about both familiar and obscure music of the “aughts.” Unfortunately for me, this was a snooze fest.

Thank you to Crown and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Stephanie Wilen · Rating 5 out of 5]

HAPPY PUB DAY!

Are you a millennial that loves angsty musicians and uber smart FMC's? Then this book is for you!

Deep Cuts follows Percy and Joe through his rise to stardom and her journey to creative independence. Can one exist without the other? Can their friendship and complicated feelings towards each other survive the strain of their egos? We have some seriously flawed characters and I ate it up!

Although Percy struggles socially, it's clear her and Joe speak the same language. In fact, he has some noteworthy one liners.

Exhibit A:
"I have a boyfriend"
"Fuck him," he said. "I'm your boyfriend."

Exhibit B:
You don't know how insufferable I can be."
"Come over," he said. "I want to suffer you.

This energy... I rest my case.

The musical references were interesting and relative to the story. The perfect balance of knowledge and obvious passion. Zoe, let's give this lady a round of applause. Bless her soul for dealing with the chaos and being the true friend Percy needs through her uncertainty. Deep Cuts is in a lane of its own greatness. It's smart, introspective and captures the messy 20-somethings with a fresh take. How is this a debut?! Absolutely excellent. Coming to you 2/25/25!

Thank you Crown Publishing & NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

From reading the synopsis, this is not the book that I was expecting to read. To me, this seemed like it was going to be a hallmark movie type novel of the popular music star gaining all the plaudits with his female sidekick always making him better but never getting the limelight, but eventually he sees what was there all along.

This was not that novel. For one, it was a lot grittier than that. This is not a straightforward love story but a complex look at what real relationships can be like - right person, wrong place, wrong time - and the nature of ambition , greed, selfishness, jealousy and a million different emotions.

It is also a love letter to music. Not for those who listen to the radio or a few albums on Spotify. But to those (like me) who dissect each song, looking for the deeper meaning in every word, and look at each note, bridge and chorus could be improved.

I adored this book and anyone interested in music will too.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction | The Borough Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.