Book Review: The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan

Book: 131/150

Rating: 4.5/5

Seventeen year old Cassidy Holmes hits star status on America Sings after finishing as a runner up. Afterwards, she's approached to join Gloss: a budding all-girl pop group that ends up being one of the hottest pop groups America has ever seen. The Glossies: Cassidy, Rose, Merry, and Yumi travel the world together, swap secrets, seemingly know everything about each other, and all fall victim to the dark side of celebrity.

Flash forward, about 15 years later, Cassidy dies by suicide. The three remaining "Glossies" are stunned, and are struggling to understand why she did it. The band has been broken up since Cassidy left at the peak of their fame but Cassidy's loss is hitting them hard. What could they have done?

I feel like a book that's about pop groups and celebrity status can easily be portrayed as shallow, but the author does a great job of developing the characters and adding depth to the story. I enjoyed the multiple points of view from all the Glossies and the dual timelines. I also liked the bits and pieces of foreshadowing we got in the early 2000's timeline and seeing how they played out in present day.

I kind of go back and forth about how I feel about the length of the book: at times I felt it was too long, but I also didn't think that any parts really dragged on, and also wanted to see more of the Glossies lives after their break up and before Cassidy's death.

I loved the early 2000's pop nostalgia, but my heart broke for the girls and how they were treated by those close to them and weren't protected whatsoever.

Thanks to Edelweiss & William Morrow for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This one is out Sept 1!