3 out of 4 stars
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The Forty Watt Flowers by C.M. Subasic is a fun novel set in the 1990s that follows a band from its inception through its development. The main character, Trisha, is estranged from her family because of an incident that happened years before. She has been working at a dive bar in Athens, Georgia, and she has been living with her semi-successful musician boyfriend, Brent. She decides to take control in her life and start a band. They become The Forty Watt Flowers. In the first few chapters, the scenes bounce between Trisha’s life and band in the 90s and the boom of the rock scene in 1970s-80s Athens. As the book progresses, it focuses on Trisha’s present life in the 90s. As Trisha’s band begins to get gigs, all the members go through some growing pains. Trisha experiences strains on her relationship with Brent. The members of the band form, nurture, harm, and ruin relationships. Trisha also sees growth and strengthening in her personal life as she faces her demons from the past and looks forward to her bright future.
One thing the author does extremely well is to illustrate the difficulties people, and women in particular, experience on their ways to success. I like that the book is full of strong female characters who take charge of their own lives. They are not domineering, but they see what they want, and then they make it happen. As the main character, Trisha is the most transparent to the reader, but she still has her secrets, making her interesting and relatable.
In any book, writing descriptions is difficult. If the author adds in too much detail, s/he is going to lose the reader, but skimping on the descriptions leaves the reader floundering. Author C.M. Subasic starts this book with excellent details about the settings. The reader can picture the music scene, with its dive bars and enthusiastic youth, in Athens in the 90s. However, throughout the book, the action descriptions of the characters became so numerous and extended that they started to distract from the book overall. There is too much description of every little glance, movement, etc., and it interrupts the flow of the story. Some of the characters’ actions could be edited out to create a more succinct description that still gets the point across to the reader.
In some parts, I found I had a difficult time understanding the logic behind some of the characters’ actions. For example, in chapter 33, the band is on a break in the middle of a late night gig. During the break, three of the five band members take off to go pick up pecans. I did not understand why they would just leave the venue like that. In another part of the book, one of the band members is chatting with a guy after a gig. They seem to be flirting at first, but then, she is written as giving him a “motherly smile.” The contradictions in what the characters were saying and what they were doing leads the reader to feel confused about the characters’ true intentions. However, most of the time, the author wrote clearly, and the reader could picture the story playing out.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Overall, the story was compelling, and anyone who loves music will appreciate this book. Despite its setbacks such as overly detailed descriptions and the questionable nature of some of the finer details, the quality of the story as a whole is worth three stars. It has just enough relationship drama, and it still focuses on the adventures of starting a band. I would recommend this book to someone interested in starting a band, someone interested in music, or someone interested in strong female leads. This book will have a broad appeal because it touches on music, culture, and relationships.
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The Forty Watt Flowers
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