Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley, a passion filled book about music, love and time passing set in the early 2000’s. This novel is profoundly observational about its characters, setting and the time its set. Filled with a beautiful nostalgia, Deep Cuts tapped right into my soul in the same way a Coco Mellors book does, the gorgeous writing that sweeps you away with your characters and across the mundanity of their lives.
I adore books that have a passion to them, especially a passion about the arts, music in the case of Deep Cuts. I have found so many new artists through this book, it took me so long to read because every time a new band or album was mentioned, I had to stop to listen to it and inevitably save it to my liked songs. When you can come away from the book with a wider experience of reading it, in this case, listening to music alongside the experience, it just feels all the more impactful.
Percy, our main character, is fantastic, she’s real, human, relatable and flawed. I love when characters are just regular humans, this felt like it could have been my story because of the way Percy was written. I liked that she was so into the music world, but wasn’t a musician, she was instantly interesting to read about because she fit in the space but also didn’t. I felt we really got to know her and what fires her passion across this story and I felt so invested in her happiness and sense of fulfilment in life.
Whilst this book is literary, it doesn’t feel intimidating, the writing style is incredibly readable and addictive. Deep Cut’s slow pace makes it feel quite calming, but at the same time we’re still seeing years of someone’s life go by in a fairly short book. There’s lots of big life moments that are skimmed over because that isn’t what this story is about, it’s about the music and the different types of love we see Percy experience; friendship, romantic, career, music.
It was perfect for me, I loved every second and I already feel I want to reread it!
