Book Review: The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton
Length: 368 Pages
Genres: Historical Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

A special thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with a copy of this book!

"Yet instantly I knew that this timing was smart. A tour had the potential to excite not only the Mercurials, as Opal & Nev's old cult of fans call themselves, but a new generation--crowds ready to scream along, with these crazy progenitors of dissidence and dissonance, that Black lives matter, that love is love, that the future is female. Ready to embrace Opal Jewel not as ahead of her time, but as now now now."

Triggers Warnings in this book for Racism, Violence, and Language (Homophobic and Racist Slurs)

Let me introduce y'all to my new favorite book: The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, a book that is so well written, so captivating, so meticulously researched that it can't be anything other than good, good, good. When I first saw it, I was drawn to the cover, the stark red, white, and black; the silhouette of girl's face, her expression strong and proud, stuck inside the image of an acoustic guitar. Another big draw was the style in which it was written. It was touted as the next Daisy Jones' and the Six, and while I have yet to read that book, I bristle at the idea of this book being called anything but wholly original.

Opal Jewel is entirely entrancing, fierce when she needs to be, soft when she wishes she wasn't. I rooted for her again and again, and felt heartbroken when it seemed everything in life was stacked against her. The glamour and the tears and waves of change of the 70's worked as a perfect backdrop for her. I could easily imagine her fitting in alongside Diana Ross or Grace Jones (especially when it comes to outfits!). The story is told via recorded interviews with Opal, Nev, and the many people involved in their whirlwind lives, and through editor's notes from S. Sunny Shelton, the woman who is writing the book about them. Her father was the band's drummer, Jimmy Curtis III, and a sort of infamy surrounds him, not only as Opal's lover, but as the victim of a riot started at one of their shows, which ultimately ends in his life being taken. 

Following her from discovery in Detroit, to partnering up with Nev Charles, who came to adulthood in Birmingham, England, to the fateful Rivington Showcase and her decline, Walton weaves an energetic story about misfits, the cyclical nature of prejudice, and in the end, about our friends and allies, and whether they are truly ever that.