Honestly? Just not sure I'm cool enough for this book.

It's a story of music, ultimately, with friendship, passion, hatred, boredom and everything else thrown in.
I found it a bit of a slow burner - with things happening I wasn't culturally aware of (a little too young) and a massive of information I found a bit too much to wade through however once I got used to the writing style and the relationships between the characters really established and evolved, I found this book enjoyable and easy to read.

It feels very much like a mashup of I Love You, I Love You, I Love You x Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow with Daisy Jones and The Six thrown in. I can see this doing very well as a miniseries, the music featured alone would be iconic enough let alone the will they won't they.

Thank you, HarperCollins UK, The Borough Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read Deep Cuts before it's published on 13th March 2025!!!

Percy, Zoe, Joey. In one word, PerZoey.

How do we connect with others? If we are set A, where do we overlap with set B and C? And where do sets B and C overlap, if they do (then, they all overlap?)

Placing music at its core, and reading like watching three young people’s important memories of each other, this is a great read.

The opening chapter was strong, and gripping. Cannot say I loved the characters or ever find certain situations of youth lasting long relatable, this is some people’s truth, and in that sense, it is relatable. The friendship between the three more important characters, especially Percy and Zoe was engaging. The music mentioned could be a hit or miss - it was a big hit in my case.

The writing was generally visual and good.
My most honest rating would be 3.5 stars, however, the plot and the characters are consistent within the world built, and I can totally see this book bringing so much joy, meaning and value to many readers’ lives, hence 4 stars, and I understand why this is a favourite already for many. The margin is the more subjective side. This book certainly deserves the attention and praise it is getting.

I inhaled this in two sittings, what a fantastic book! So poignant and filled with so much love for music and lyrics and art, I can't wait for this to be published so I can urge my friends to read it. Anyone who loved Daisy Jones and the Six will love this and I'm certain it'll be made into a limited series or film with the same success.

Really enjoyed Deep Cuts; the main character of Percy felt fully rounded and her relationships felt grounded in reality. The journey of the story and the way sections were linked to specific times and songs was engaging and supported the narrative. I look forward to reading more works by the author.

This book has so much buzz and I am sure it's going to be super successful with the right audience.

Unfortunately though, that audience wasn't me.

First up, the writing wasn't for me. It was very tell not show which just felt like I was listening to someone tell me a story - this happened, then that happened, then this, then another thing. I think this was part of what kept me at arm's distance with the story and the characters. I appreciate this is a style many people do like, but I just wanted to go deeper, not just feel like I was reading a college girl's diary.

The music references were fun and interesting at first, but then I started to feel like I was back in the early 2000s hanging out with hipsters who were rolling their eyes at me for not listening to the coolest bands no one had ever heard of. I actually was super into music in the early 2000s, still most of these were unknown to me.

I read One Day many years ago and this felt so reminiscent of that book. The girl who pines after the guy for years, never really being able to move on, find love or have a happy relationship because of that one special person they had "something" with at some point in the past.

Percy was not likeable for me at all. I know we were all young and stupid and made mistakes at that age, but I really struggled to feel anything for her. I honestly didn't care if she got her HEA or not. I didn't care if she hooked up with Joe again. I didn't feel any spark between her and Joe. It always just felt like an unrequited crush on a cool guy that takes advantage of her, until it is requited and results in *SPOILER* Percy making a really shitty decision that ends up hurting someone who seemed like the most decent person in the story.

I ended up DNFing at 50%.

Daisy Jones and the Six fans, this is for you.
Messy, coming-of-age, critical, chaotic.
How many different ways is it even possible for the same two people to break each other’s hearts?

The 2000s, Percy falls into the orbit of couple Joe and Zoe. Joe understands her like no one else does - offering musical insights that she feels in her soul. Zoe is the best friend anyone could ask for.
Joe is a musician and Percy helps him with his songs until the fallout drives them apart.

<b>I like how this blog is about the way music inhabits and shapes every part of the life, not just emotional but physical too. This is not something that happens with other art forms, no? One does not typically read books or observe an abstract canvas while dancing or having sex—we can only think about them while doing these things, which is not the same because the art is not as present. You’re right it is a power both beautiful and scary but mostly beautiful.
</b>
Honestly, I think this was a case of really not for me. This has raving reviews so I know it will reach its audience.

Most of this book was critical conversations about music, lyrics, bridges, chords, melodies, etc. I am not picky with my music and an entire book about people being snobby about music just isn’t for me.

The characters were all toxic and mean and self-absorbed. Basically, to me this felt like a more technical version of Daisy Jones and the Six.

<b>Now, no matter how much she smiles or claps, her eyes harden when he sings. She wants to be the only one. She wants him as her deep cut, a B-side unearthed from a rarities bin, proof of her own specialness because she's the one who discovered it, because she doesn't know how to sing her own damn song.</b>

Physical arc gifted by Harper Collins.

I can’t remember the last time I DEVOURED a book like this. I’m kind of in awe that this is a debut novel because it’s written better than anything I’ve read in a long long time. I’m rounding up my rating from 4.5 stars to 5, and that might change once I've had some time to think it over but its been a little while since I finished reading it and I’m feeling intensely emotional, so lost in the plot and characters that I’ll probably spend the day with my head in another world.

More like a 3.75 stars rounded up. I enjoyed the story line which was somewhat frustrating at times, in an enjoyable way. I did find myself getting a bit lost at times and wanting more depth to the characters and the passing of time in the book.

This reminded me of One day so much- that beautiful back and forth, will they won’t they - boy meets girl at college and we follow their journey together, making music. I really did enjoy this, beautifully written.

A nostalgic trip through music. If you enjoyed Daisy Jones and the Six then this is definitely the book for you!!
A gritty, complex story about relationships and what it’s like to be with the right/ wrong person at the wrong/right time. The characters are completely narcissistic, which I found a little off putting as I didn’t gel with any of them. Joe and Percy found themselves deep in a toxic, codependent relationship from which they struggled to move on.
An interesting read.

A perfect read for elder millennial aging hipsters who loved Tomorrow x3 but don’t care about video games. (Hi, it’s me!) From the first pages you know these dumb kids will do something big, and possibly ruin each other’s lives doing it.

Zoe and Percy were such rich and lovable main characters. I felt frustrated at times with Percy — I wanted her to be more mature, more empowered, and to move on with her life a little bit more. Still, Deep Cuts is sharp and clever, while also being gut-wrenching and tender. It’s incredibly impressive as a debut novel.

On a personal note, there are so many NYC-in-the-early-2000s references that are so, so close to my heart, and it would be hard for me not to love any book with these tidbits. The depiction of that time and place (which I knew well) feels very real and precious to me.

This book is perfect for music lovers. I saw a description that compared this book to Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow meets Daisy Jones and the Six; I couldn’t agree more.

I usually prefer a plot-driven story over one that is character-driven, but I really enjoyed experiencing Percy and Joe’s journeys which were written beautifully.

The only reason this isn’t more than three stars is the over inclusion of Percy’s essays. I felt there were too many and some were too long, detracting from the story. Lots of the music references went over my head, but that didn’t take anything away from my overall satisfaction.

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

Despite feeling that this is aimed at a much younger and more hip generation, I really quite liked this college kid misfit, whose whole experience of life is related to current and also past pop music. I was relieved when references to the music of my generation came up, but not deterred when it missed the mark by a long way. Half the time I wasn’t sure if the bands mentioned were made up, but delighted when I recognised the lyrics as from my space in time. This is essentially a love story, and no surprises that our heroine aspires to writing about music( most fiction writers slip this one in ) but being of the hip generation this will ultimately be part of a new breed of social media platforms. Nevertheless, I engaged fully with her story, and enjoyed the writing, mostly.

Deep Cuts is a story of unrequited love between a singer and his songwriting partner. It has strong One Day and High Fidelity energy, with love story punctuated with arcane music lore and how it shapes life.

New debut novel from Holly Brickley that is for music lovers and music geeks everywhere!!
The story is centred around the two sensitive characters of Joe and Percy from the year 2000., written from a generation millennial viewpoint with all the slang and language used in American and youth culture. Essentially it’s a love story about their love of music and each other. There is a lot of student digs and life!! A great read for anyone in the music industry and community.
For me the language was a little hard to relate to at times and alienated me from loving this story. The details and references to the songs and song breakdown, was at times repetitive. This is a story from a very specific point of view of music, it’s particularly opinionated, and one that is hard to get at times. It’s not how I relate to music, the structure the language and layers.
Interesting and a great reflection and reference for millennials!!
Thanks to NetGalley for the early read!

A truly interesting read, still mulling this one over. In part, an explorative, honest and at points toxic romance and in another a deep-dive and immersion into music, which really hit me nostalgia for some of the music referenced. It truly feels like a love letter to indie music; something I certainly appreciated. A great musing on identity. Took me a little bit of time to settle into but in the end it's very readable - read it over two sittings!

A sort of love story focusing on the main characters love for music. I felt the music references were a bit too much and found myself skim reading those bits

This book pulls off the tricky feat of writing about music in a way that connects, in a way that grips and persuades, in a way that sent me time-travelling back from my teens and through my twenties and into my thirties, reliving my own coming-of-age years - studying, partying, heartbreak, first job - and love story soundtracked to similar music. I'm a few years off the timeline of the main character, but it didn't matter - so many of these tunes were recognisable. Percy is a fab protagonist: brilliant and insecure, brittle and sharp. Joe is the gifted and gorgeous, awkward and fragile songwriter who needs her criticism to hone his music. They convincingly adore and hurt each other, locked in a push-pull of attraction and wounding, till they are both grown up enough to see clearly what they need and who they are.
Things I especially loved:
- the voice of the novel. Percy's voice, the narrative voice, all the voices. The dialogue and the way the music is so beautifully described
- the love story
- the friendship between Percy and Zoe, which runs alongside the love story and is equally important if not more, as Percy says
- the description of the world Percy lives in, the devastating impact of 9/11, the developing tech that changes how she works
- Percy's process as a music critic, writer and producer, her growing insight and confidence

Yeah, loved it and will be recommending widely! Thanks for the DRC in return for this honest opinion.

I suppose the pre-launch puffery about this book should have provided a warning: Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow meets Sally Rooney.They must have been smugly delighted when they came up with that little nugget. The pitch seems to have worked though. Deep Cuts is, apparently, the next big thing, with publishers fighting over it and glossy magazines falling over themselves to nominate this as this year’s hot excitement. The Sally Rooney thing is, for me, an enticement to read. Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow? That’s an invitation to run a mile. A hugely overrated book of last year, it too hit the zeitgeist, for reasons completely beyond me. I put my doubts to one side, however and plunged in, intrigued by the idea of an on-off romance between two young students who share a passion for music: writing it, discussing it, listening to it, seeing it. I too share that passion, thinking it a subject worthy of serious attention and analysis, but after reading Deep Cuts, I’m feeling a little embarrassed by the thought of past loud, pretentious, drunken conversations that I may have had with a series of partners in crime against social acceptability. Because this book is full of them. And they go on and on and on, as other characters in the scene back away and slink off into corners, rooms, even new buildings or towns, just so they won’t have to hear any more drivel from two deeply unattractive people.
To be fair to Holly Brickley, the writer whose debut this is, this is not a book aimed at me. Yes, guys, it really is a case of this is me not you. Clearly, many readers love this, judging from the reviews so far. She can obviously write and I’m sure will go far. The depictions of student romance and friendships as they develop over the years are well done - credible and compelling - but the music dissections are wildly overdone. (Even though I discovered some new records/artists to download and investigate, for which I thank her heartily.) Budding writers are always lectured to avoid authorial intrusion into the story, to show not tell. Doing it, yet again, in the dreary old first person, is just a thin disguise for the writer's own obsessions to figure too heavily in the novel. Write a book about your twenty most loved tracks if that’s your thing. Or sprinkle it through the novel rather than laying it on with a trowel. Music is notoriously difficult to describe and here’s the proof.
I won’t post this to my usual book review blog. The last thing a debut author needs is some smart arse amateur reviewer rubbishing their new novel across the internet, but NetGalley demands honest reviews , so here’s mine. Sorry, but this was just not my cup of tea.