I was intrigued to read this book having seen it compared to Daisy Jones and the Six, which I loved. I'm sad to say, I found it to be absolutely nothing like it.

The book is based around Joe, a songwriter, and Percy, a girl who wants to be his muse, but is really just his critic and sounding board. I found both of the main characters to be one dimensional and unlikeable. Joe was arrogant and conceited, but Percy, I just felt like I didn't know at all, aside from her critiques and suggestions to Joe. The pace was slow and there was so much filler, I was just bored. I kept going and really tried to connect to the characters and their story, but with so little character development, it was hard going. I wanted to plough through to the end in case something amazing happened, but around 80% through, I realised that I didn't care.

I must mention though that there were some brilliant music references, which I enjoyed.

I am absolutely an outlier on this book as it has so many amazing reviews, so don't just take my word for it, check out some other reviews and then decide if it's for you.

2 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Holly Brickley and Harper Collins for an ARC in return for an honest review.

After reading the blurb, I was really looking forward to this. Sadly the read did not quite live up to my expectations and despite being very well-written, I was so disappointed to not be able to connect with the characters.

My rating of this book is more a reflection of me not being the right type of reader for this particular book rather than the quality of the writing itself.
Whilst I enjoyed the exploration of the dynamic of the 'creatives in a relationship' there was a huge focus on analysing Indie music which I just couldn't connect with.
Ideal for those who enjoyed 'Daisy Jones and the Six' and 'Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow.'
I am grateful to the publishers and Netgalley for an advanced listener copy of this well narrated audiobook.

Deep Cuts follows the story of Percy an aspiring writer and her relationship with Joe , as they navigate their lives from college to their late twenties. I really enjoyed the start of the novel, and Brickley made some great societal observations. For the most part I really enjoyed the trope of using a song to reflect the mood of the chapter. Being a Brit Pop fan, I particularly enjoyed the Mis-shapes chapter (Jarvis Cocker is my God) . Given the timeline of the book Percy is roughly a year or two younger than me .A lot of her cultural references were the same ones I had in my youth; and I did find myself quite frustrated with her stupidity at times. Were we so all self-obsessed in the 90's and noughties? I read a wide range of books including the occasional YA and I kept getting annoyed at how immature Percy was , it's the first book I have ever read that truly made me feel old.
The book has had a lot of hype , pre-publication and comparisons have been drawn with all sorts of books, some of which there isnt really any correlation other than having a music theme . There are 2 peripheral best friend characters Zoe and Noemie, and whilst I liked both characters there didn't seem to much to much to differentiate between the two, so to a certain extent Noemie was superfluous . The ending of the book bothered me, the penultimate chapter should have been the last one.
I really enjoyed the narration, which is unusual for me when the narrator is North American , she had a good range of voices for the different characters in the book.
Normally if a book annoyed me as much as Deep Cuts has it would be a 2 star read but Brickley does have a real talent for writing and there were parts of the book I really enjoyed. I just wished Percy had spent a lot less time mooning after Joe .

My Taylor Jenkins Reid loving heart really enjoyed this. Definitely going to recommend this to Malibu Rising and Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow lovers. I couldn’t put this book down. So lucky to have gotten the audiobook and listened throughout the whole day. The writing was so good, i loved the character study and development.

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.

DNF @ 30%. Don't listen to the Daisy Jones & The Six comparisons for this, they are not apt. Not every book about music and musicians has to be the next Daisy Jones and The Six. The people I do think this is going to appeal to are the literary fiction girlies. The ones who don't mind characters that make me, personally, want to roll my eyes into the back of my head. I just really don't want to read a book about a woman's contributions to a man's work being completely undermined while the woman, fundamentally, does very little about it. What I will say in praise is that I really liked the narrator. She had a wonderful voice and did a great job of differentiating between the characters. But the actual meat and potatoes of the novel just wasn't for me.

yes ? omg
I have so many things to say but I don't know where to start, and anyway idk how to explain with actual words.
But the "hurting oneself in order to be creative" alter my brain chemistry

thank you so much netgalley for the copies

This was amazing, and it took me by surprise. I didn't expect to be hooked as quick and as strong to Percy, Joe and even Zoe.
Holly is writing characters the way Taylor Jenkins Reid does : they're raw, damaged, unperfect, they feel so damn real!
It's the kind of book that makes you want to double check if it's not a real story.
And I know its been compared to "Daisy Jones and the Six", probably because of the music part of the story, but I find it close to TJR writing in general. Just to be clear, I mean it as a really nice compliment!
This is a very strong debut!
I listened to the audiobook and the voices were really nice, In retrospect, I wish I could have read the book and listened to the playlist in parallel though, for the atmosphere.

*Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for access to the audiobook against an honest review.*

This was every inch a piece of me, for someone who always has a song playing in her mind I appreciated every second of this story, a book for music lovers.

A whole story centred around music and lyrics, the way music makes you feel the memories it invokes, I was immediately captured by Percy and Joey.

Percy and Joey set out as people you know to nod to at college, they discover a shared love of music at the college bar, and Percy hopes, a little bit more. But with Joey being with Zoe (who both love Bowie) Percy settles for friendship, she helps Joey with his lyrics, the layout of his songs and the trio rub along nicely. But when Joey and Zoe split, Percy has a chance, but Joey can’t take that chance, Percy isn’t just his friend, she writes his lyrics, and his star is about to rise!

Meanwhile, how will Percy cope with her boys rise to the top, and again, what about the lyrics?!

I absolutely loved every minute of this, I’ve seen a lot of comparisons to Daisy Jones, I kind of feel this is a bit unfair, this is a title that totally holds its own, it’s enough, it’s excellent!

The narration was excellent 🎧

Huge thanks to Harper Collins Audio via NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ALC 🎧

First, thanks for the ALC!

Unfortunately, it wasn’t for me. I did appreciated the music focused concept, but the story fell flat for me. I struggled to engage with the story and found the FMC unlikeable.

Thank you for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. ・❥・

A Music Lovers Dream! I loved every single second!

In Deep Cuts we follow Percy, a music lover from a small town, as she navigates her friendships and relationships throughout the early 2000’s.
Percy meets Joe, an extremely talented musician, and she soon realises Joe is destined to be a star. Joe notices Percy’s love for music and asks for her opinion on a song he is written and from this, a relationship centred around Joes music is born.



I can’t even begin to describe how much I enjoyed this book. As a music lover, I was hooked straight away and once I found the Spotify playlist to accompany the book too, I genuinely don’t think I have enjoyed a reading experience more.

Truly a music lovers dream!


I can’t wait to recommend and buy this for all of my fellow music fanatic friends and I will be thinking about this book for a long time

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Colin’s and Holly Brockley for this arc

I absolutely loved the narration of this book too. I thought it was extremely well paced and loved the emotion given by the narrator

This is truly an INCREDIBLE book! It's so captivating, engaging and unlike anything I've read before.

If Lily King's Writers & Lovers, Daisy Jones & The Six and Normal People had a child, this would be it!

Deep Cuts follows Percy Marks and the ups and downs of her life as a music lover and writer, as well as her relationship (in its many different forms) with Joe, a musician she meets when they're both studying at Berkley, in 2000. Their connection felt like a mix between Marianne and Connel's and Daisy and Billy's - raw, inevitable and, at times, toxic. Their relationship - a mix of friendship and romantic love - was magnetic and messy, and I just wanted more and more of it.

I adored the way the author talks about music. I didn't know most of the songs mentioned in the book, but I was still able to really connect with the commentary about them during the novel and felt like all of them meshed so well with Percy's journey. I would definitely recommend reading this book while listening to the novel's playlist, as every chapter is the name of a song, and they sometimes even matched how long it took me to read each given chapter, which was just perfect. Holly Brickley's writing felt incredibly immersive, and I just didn't want to leave that world.

I don't usually reread books, but Deep Cuts begs to be experienced once more, so I am so happy I was also able to get the audiobook version of the novel through NetGalley. The fact that this is a debut is just astonishing; it means I'll have to read anything Holly Brickley writes from now on.

If you love stories about music, messy relationships and journeys of self-discovery like I do, then this one is for you! I'll be raving about this book any chance I get!

Thank you so much to Harper Collins UK Audio, Borough Press and NetGalley for the ALC!