Deep Cuts takes us on a journey into the lives of Percy and Joe, who meet whilst at university and really bond over their shared love of music.

As the years go by, they are drawn back together over and over again, yet they both still make the decision to focus on their respective careers and not allow a relationship to damage anything for them individually.

And to put it bluntly, this story broke me!. I found myself struggling to put it down!


*Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for my honest review.*

Set in Berkeley in the year 2000, we meet students Percy (Eileen technically, but no one calls her that), and Joe. They meet in a bar and immediately bond over music. Joe is talented and seems destined to be a star, while Percy has a gift for writing/fixing Joe’s songs. It seems like they should be together but fear a romantic relationship could ruin the music-magic they share. Percy wants to make Joe happy so keeps helping him, but is their collaboration holding her back from finding her own voice? Set between New York, LA, and Miami, and covering most of the 2000’s, this is an addictive read you’ll quickly become immersed in.

This one’s for the millennials.
Gen Z; look away, now! 😅

All jokes aside, this was a serious walk down memory lane, aided by the accompanying soundtrack. I read this on ebook, and every time a song was mentioned, I popped it on Spotify.
I felt I was with the characters in that moment. Especially as some of the music; LCD Soundsystem, The Knife etc., are all reminiscent of specific times, that I’ve lived through too.
When Percy said she couldn’t stop dancing to Hey Ya and Crazy in Love when they were released in 2002, I was like, yeah, me too gal! 😅
This is the first time I listened along to chosen songs with a book as they appeared in the story, and I feel it added so much to my experience of reading it. Recommend!

My only gripe with this one is the music-lingo tangents that happen frequently.
I love music but I’m not into the nitty gritty of song writing, so that lost me a few times. I would imagine though that if that is your thing, you’ll love that element of the story.

Occasionally the self-introspection from the characters, especially Percy, felt a bit insufferable. We’ve all been that age though, so I guess I can make allowances 😅 Overall though, I did love the writing in this book. It’s unsurprisingly lyrical, and often interspersed with beautiful descriptions.

If you love a storyline where two people that are meant to be together spend years orbiting each other, but potentially never quite making it work, then this is for you.
Think One Day, Talking At Night, and Slow Dance. I enjoyed all of those books, so it’s no surprise I really liked Deep Cuts too.

With many thanks @netgalley and for my early copy. #DeepCuts is available to buy now. All opinions are my own, as always.

Are the lovers? Worse!!! And I ended up destroyed, so thank you very much.
For the reviews I've read that said that Deep cuts is kinda the love child of Normal people and Tomorrow x3 but with music in the mix, I totally agree, it definitely have those same vibes.

Written more like a coming of age contemporary fiction than a romance, this books follows the back and forth of the relationship between Joe and Percy acrosss several years, trying to find their places with each other but most importantly, in the world and in their own skins, with music as their main form of connecting with one another.

The story its told by Percy's pov. She is a very complicated character to like sometimes, but I did it anyways. Nothing comes too easy for her, and it was very interesting to read how the connections with others, her relationships with her friends, her family or even with sex are always hard for her to explore. Her love language is music and that's the main reason she bonds so deeply with Joe. He is a songwriter/singer, she knows she can make his music better just by pure intuition and that's the thread that connects both of them through heartbreaks, poor decisions, long distance and just growing up.

Holly's way of writing is so beautiful and inmersive, that I was hooked to my kindle till I finished, it even made me emotional at times. This book perfectly captures how vulnerable and messy it feels sometimes to be young, to want things and not knowing how to fight for them in the right and healthy way. As for the romance, it felt intense, angsty and a little dysfunctional in the best posible way and the ending was really good tho a little fast paced in comparison with the vibe of the rest of the book, I would have prefer a slower finale.

On a side note, where is the official playlist for this book???!!!! Tho I have already found some of the songs I need a link to all of them.

So, yes, I strongly recommend this book. It is a little niche and it won't resonate with everybody but it's so worth the time specially of you like this type of vibes.

I had the privilege to be sent an Advanced Reader Copy of this gem, thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley. Deep Cuts explores the complexities of music, fame, and personal struggle. The author knits together a narrative that is as much about the heart-wrenching nature of relationships as it is about the deep, haunting power of music. This book will deeply resonate with fans of music-driven fiction and has been widely compared to Taylor Jenkins Reid masterpiece Daisy Jones and The Six.

If you loved the emotional rollercoaster and character-driven storytelling of Daisy Jones & The Six, Deep Cuts is an equally compelling read that captures the soul of an artists rise and fall. I absolutely loved this book and will recommend it to anyone that will listen!

For fans of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Normal People, this is a novel which delves into the thorny and complex nature of creative relationships. Focussed on Percy, a music fanatic with exacting standards, and Joe, a budding singer songwriter, the novel opens as they first meet and build a working relationship producing the songs for his band's debut album in their senior year at Berkeley and then spans through until their early thirties, charting the choppy course of two people linked by a passion for music and a passion for one another. Their relationship is at times toxic, twisted by their own respective desires for success and acceptance into the world of music, and yet their connection is undeniable and Joe haunts the pages and Percy's narrative even in the sections when they are apart. Unlike Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, this novel leans into the "Will they? Won't they?" dynamic of missed chances more akin to One Day, and you find yourself eager to discover what the ultimate conclusion will be: will music come between them or will music draw them together?
Percy is an endearing protagonist who starts the novel having yet to find her place in the world or her people, and her painful navigation of her twenties feels relatable. Her relationship to sex is particularly refreshing and allows space for experiences that are rarely voiced in literature. There are moments of devastation where you feel genuine distress for Percy and the moments of rejection, in their many forms, are painfully tangible. Joe is allowed to be complex rather than simply chivalric, mired by a difficult upbringing and chasing his own dreams even when they do not align with Percy's, and their relationship is never perfect, but their interactions are always engaging. They are rarely kept apart by circumstance, it is nearly always their own emotions, thoughts and actions, and this keeps the book feeling fresh and the path of their relationship real.
The third main character is undoubtedly the setting: both the time period and the music that soundtracks it: every page of this book drips with musical references spanning across the centuries and celebrating particularly the rise of indie music in the early noughties. I am not surprised that, in an age of nostalgia and remakes, this book is already being turned into a film - it lends itself perfectly. I found the indie sleaze and "trendsetter" social commentary particularly fascinating, especially as a prelude to the current influencer culture we live in today.
The prose is elegant and fluent, and I enjoyed reading the book whenever I picked it up. It is a four star read for me, however, as I never found myself compulsively reading and, while a relatively short read, the pace felt strangely slow comparative to its length and the events covered. I would also have enjoyed the opportunity to see inside Joe's mind, especially during particularly long absences from Percy's life as, while it worked to keep his character opaque from her perspective, I feel the reader would benefit from some time in his headspace, too.
Overall, a perfect read for any music lovers, anyone nostalgic for the noughties or anyone who wants a complex, twisting tale of two people and their love for one another.

I had high hopes for this one, and at first I though I might end up really loving this, but things quickly fizzled out for me. I loved all the music talk, because even if it was pretentious at times, the MC was also aware she was being pretentious and it was always clear how much she loved music. The story itself wasn't as compelling for me, though. It mostly felt like something I'd read before, and I didn't feel invested in the will-they-won't-they between the MC and Joe.

If you are looking for a romance novel then look no further. This is a fantastic 'will they/won't they' and the sexual charge in the book was palpable! I did especially like the ending and really had no idea which way it would go.

We follow the friendship of Percy and Joe as they meet in their early 20s and develop a shared bond over music. Percy helps Joe write and edit songs and is clearly her muse and inspiration. The chemistry between them on the music sheets is clear, but will it transfer to 'between the sheets' (sorry, but also not sorry)? You will have to read the book and find out.

The book starts with Percy and Joe at college. I wouldn’t say it’s immediately obvious when this is – until the musical references start (and 9/11 happens during the timeline of the book). I have to say it made me feel a bit uneducated about the late 90s early 2000s music scene – I knew some of the bands references – such a No Doubt – and whilst I could name you their commercially successful tracks like ‘Don’t Speak’ or ‘Just A Girl’ – the book focussed on more obscure tracks. This happened for many of the referenced artists – and perhaps someone a bit more nerdy about music than me, and maybe slightly younger, would have enjoyed that, I was spent wondering if they were real tracks or made up specifically for the book.

Each time you revisit Percy and Joe, or Percy and not Joe, you’re left wondering if they will get together. Both have other partners throughout the book too – but you always feel like they’re ‘the one that got away’ for each other.

You really feel Percy growing up over the course of the book – getting older, if not necessarily wiser – and the different US locations are well described, and fit well with Percy’s various circumstances.

I’d read a review that said Deep Cuts was ideal for fans of Daisy Jones and the Six – and I can see the reference point music wise, similar it’s been likened to ‘One Day’ – and with the main characters meeting up over a long timeline – I can also see that comparison (albeit Percy and Joe aren’t meeting on the same day each year).

Overall I enjoyed the book – but I wonder if I am slightly too old to LOVE it. I also wonder if I had super high expectations as it had been described as THE debut novel of 2025. A good read, particularly if you’re a music fan – and out tomorrow (13 March 2025) if you like the sound of it.

Many thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for my ARC.

Stayed up 'til past 1am to finish this short but dense love letter to music that's had me ruminating on long after I finished reading. I felt fully immersed as it captures Percy, Joe and Zoe spending their 20s as the hopefulness of 2000 gives way to the post 9/11 world that hurtles towards the 2008 GFC. I loved all the deep dives into songs which I subsquently listened to while reading (The Knife's beautifully haunting Heartbeats has now been in my head all day).

Percy and Joe are pretentious (though lovable) music nerds, dissecting and debating the minutae of songs and musicians. Percy is so compelling as a character. She's frustrated she's not a musician, but has the ear to turn Joe's raw musical talent into indie hits. Like so many women, she's stuck on the sidelines with her contributions properly credited and subjected to sexual assault at a gig in a way that was/is so normalised as an experience of being a woman in music.

The romance is a raw, messy, co-dependent, push/pull, break each other's hearts experience. Unfortunately, this was the weakest part of the book that I wish Brickley delved deeper. Joe is the typical male musician who pushes away Percy first to enjoy the groupie life, using the excuse he'd 'mess it up', but then wants her so she can fix songs. The book needed to see Joe grow during their estrangement where he acknowledges his behaviour and has proven he's changed and is fully 'all in'. A real shame because what should've been a high note felt a bit flat.

Thanks to HarperCollins UK/The Borough Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

With thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

This book resonated with me although I'd have said I was far too old at 56 to remember or sympathise with the young adult angst it deals with. Others have said they found the two protagonists unpleasant, but unlike my hostile feelings towards Sally Rooney's twenty-somethings, I thought Joe and Percy were perfectly sketched as two kids in their early 20s just feeling their way out of childhoods that had knocked their confidence in different ways, and into adulthood at a time (the early 2000s) when much that we took for granted about the world order was being thoroughly shaken up.

Music is the thread that holds the story together. Percy is passionate about songs, tracks, albums and she has an unerring sense of what makes the perfect pop song. Joe has the makings of a very good singer-songwriter. They meet as undergrads at Berkeley and are the perfect songwriting partnership, until their feelings for each other start to complicate matters.

Each chapter title is the name of a song, which provides the soundtrack to Joe and Percy's journey even without Percy's analyses of lyrics and music. There's a Spotify playlist with all the songs on, which I'm listening to as I write this and wallow in nostalgia for the only slightly older adult I was at the time this book is set in. I also nostalgically enjoyed references to such excitements of my young adulthood as Napster, the Discman, MySpace, Virgin Megastores, CD collections.

The degree to which you enjoy this book will probably depend to a fair degree on how important music is to you. I don't think you need to love the actual songs referenced here - I certainly detest some of them though some of my all time favourites are here too. But you need to have felt the power of music to move you, to express your feelings better than you ever could, to be a life force.

I guess in the second half of the book, when Percy's path diverges from Joe's for a while post-Berkeley and NY and takes her to LA, she is also documenting a slice of social history through documenting the indie sleaze scene. This resonates less with me, but that's ok.

I saw this as a book about growing up, dealing with choices made young and impetuously, dealing with the envy which is at the core of what Percy has to work through in order to become her own person - from seeing herself as someone who hasn’t got the musical talent she craves and admires so, to a recognition that there are different aspects to making music, and sometimes it takes more than one person, and that's what relationships of the heart are too.

I loved the glorious nerdiness of it all, I loved the characters who are young and did induce a degree of impatience in me, but who are consumed by the power of music to lift, transport, transform, underline a life, and to nurse you through the good and bad. Richard Thompson has a line in a song (Happy Days and Auld Lang Syne, off The Old Kit Bag, in case anyone's wondering) which almost perfectly describes what this book captures:
"sometimes you never connect with a song till it's telling the way that you feel, putting words to your story, all the pain and the glory, how can it be written so real."

It's not a perfect novel, but it made me feel, and took me back, and made me care, and gave me some new songs to listen to, and just somehow resonated with many years of my life. And for that I am very grateful.

Deep Cuts is the shockingly powerful and raw debut from Holly Brickley. It’s the type of book that you don’t just read, but actively consume and deeply feel. It’s the type not easily forgotten, where you’re left hoping for the best for its characters after it’s over, and yet it still has a perfect ending.

In Deep Cuts we follow Percy through her life from her time as an undergrad at Berkeley through to her 20s, via New York and San Francisco. Whilst at Berkeley she meets two people who will both change and shape her life, Joe and Zoe. Joe is an aspiring musician, in whom music obsessed Percy can see something incredibly special. Through her blistering critiques she helps to transform Joe’s music into something extraordinary but in doing so inadvertently places herself off limits him. It’s clear that there’s an undercut to the music they’re making, that will lead them to either love or heartbreak. Whilst Zoe, Joe’s girlfriend, will grow to be Percy’s very own guiding light in a world we she often feels disjointed.

This book is as stunningly beautiful as it is utterly devastating, and I think that’s because it all feels so incredibly real. It’s grounded so deeply in its sense of time and place, be it through world events, politics, location and of course music, that it feels so very alive. This book hums, it will not be put down and it demands to be read; gosh I loved it.

It’s a book that is filled with so much love, first and foremost Percy’s obsessive love of music, the detail with which Brickley analyses music through Percy is astounding. There is of course Percy’s often unrequited love of Joe, of which I have so much I could say but don’t want to because of spoilers; but my goodness was this a case of finding your person but never the right time. There is the gentle and soft love of Raj, and then I think my favourite of all the beautiful, sisterly platonic love in the friendship of Percy and Zoe. You feel so acutely for these characters that their highs and lows feel as though they are your own, so beautifully crafted they each are. I was so sad to say goodbye but yet so hopeful for what might be in store for them next.

This book blew me away and that it’s a debut is even more incredible. I cannot see how this book won’t be everywhere upon its release and I can’t wait.

Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley

Percy and Joe meet at university and bond over an obsessive love of music. Joe writes songs and Percy makes them better. Over the next decade Joe's band 'Caroline' becomes very successful and Percy does an MFA and becomes a writer. Their lives intertwine constantly but they promise to concentrate on songs rather than be with each other and ruin it.

Oh my, this book really gets to you... at first I was a bit worried that the music info/analysis would take me out of the story but it absolutely didn't! I raced through it and loved it. A fantastic debut and highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I saw another reviewer said about this book: The best way to describe Deep Cuts is if Sally Rooney wrote Daisy Jones and the Six, and I honestly think it sums it up perfectly!

It's a must read for those who love books set around music, and I did enjoy the nostalgia.

This is literally ‘One Day’ for the cool kids and I ate it up. I really enjoyed this and found it such an easy read but sometimes the musical language, even though I grew up with the music mentioned, was a bit lost on me.

This was a very beautiful read, it was perfect for a music enthusiast like myself. It was a very compelling read overall.

Excellent debut novel from Holly Brickley that I read in two sittings. A strong music theme intertwined with romance making for a good combination. Sometimes we don't read or listen to lyrics but perhaps we should. this book examines some of the greatest lyricists and makes an interesting observation that people like Bob Dylan don't have the greatest voices but do write some amazing lyrics that we perhaps need to listen to more closely. Perhaps I should also thank Holly for reminding me there are a lot of good songs with deep meanings to listen to and enjoy as I did her book. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

I was really interested in reading this book after reading a few varying reviews. However, after reading through 32% of the book during which I found myself alternatively googling names of musical heroes or names and sounds of unfamiliar sound tracks for 'deep cuts'. There is no doubt that anyone interested in music and its development would love this book, but as I neither play the piano or any other instrument I found myself getting progressively more bored and wanting to skip to the end to see what actually happened to the characters. The comparison between this debut novel and Daisy Jones and the Six cannot be used here, but I was disappointed.

The best way to describe Deep Cuts is if Sally Rooney wrote Daisy Jones and the Six.

Percy and Joe meet at university and instantly connect over a shared love of music - Percy adores music and everything about it and love to talk about how songs make her feel, Joe loves to write songs and sing them.

What follows is a decade spanning will-they-won’t they story of two people who are absolutely meant to be together but never quite get the right timing.

Percy and Joe’s relationship reminded me of One Day’s Dex and Emma, the way they’re clearly soulmates but their ‘friendship’ is laced with toxicity and co-dependency.

This is a book for the music lovers, the only thing stopping it from being a 5 star for me was the constant stopping and looking up references and songs which kind of stifled the experience for me, but I wanted to know what songs they were talking about - the book would benefit from a playlist at the front I think, so you could listen along.

If you like the two people who are actually in love but it never quite works out genre (my absolute favourite) - think Normal People, Love Rosie, One Day, Talking At Night, then this is a worthy addition to the roster.

I’ve heard this is going to be adapted into a film and I cannot wait - I think it’s perfect material for a gut punching love story i’ll make my entire personality for a year.

This Is an incredible debut. Holly Brickley can definitely write and I enjoyed this. However...

Deep Cuts won't be for everyone. These characters aren't just unlikeable, which I don't mind at all, they are downright insufferable, Percy in particular. She's self important and pretentious and I know I would despise her if I knew her in real life. Her relationship with Joey is frustratingly toxic and codependent I wanted to shake them both at times.

The nostalgia was on point. I'm the same age as Percy and Joey and, although I didn't grow up in the US, everyone in my generation would appreciate a lot of the references here. We all remember what we were doing and what it felt like when the WTC came down.

I liked the musical analysis to a point - and that's what a lot of this book was. A few of the tracks seemed pretty obscure to the average person/casual music listener and I could've done with a lot less pontification and more character development. It's clear HB knows about music but trying to show off just how much got in the way of the story a bit in my opinion.

I would definitely read other books by her though. She nailed the angst and toxicity of this relationship so well.

I received Deep Cuts as an eARC from NETGALLEY and was immediately drawn in by its intriguing premise and nostalgic narrative voice. The exploration of memory and the integration of music discussions provided interesting angles, even though many of the quoted tracks weren’t particularly relevant to my personal taste.

While I appreciated the social commentary woven throughout the book, I was somewhat disappointed by the character development. The characters felt rather mediocre and static, lacking the depth and growth I was expecting—especially given that I resonated with the narrative voice on a similar wavelength. I was hoping for more reflective evolution that matched the intensity of the narrative.

Overall, Deep Cuts offers a compelling narrative framework and thought-provoking insights, but it falls short in delivering fully realized characters. It’s a solid read for those who enjoy exploring themes of nostalgia and social commentary, even if it doesn’t completely satisfy in terms of character development.