The Future Saints Review: An introspective music odyssey
I've been looking for a grief-driven, romantic tale of the struggles within the music industry for a while now. Of course, because I needed a comparable title with that very profile for my book, Lu Patrick Easley and the Groovy Penguin Avenue. This is finally the book I've been looking for! But did my excitement over a good marketing pitch carry over to how I felt while reading the novel? That's what I'll be covering in today's Brighton's Bookshelf article. Thanks so much for joining me, and I hope you enjoy your time on the site!
Let's start with the negatives, then move to the positives. First, there is a bit of a slowdown between the 55%-75% points where there probably could've been a bit of adjustment. Second, the book makes the band's sudden virality feel a bit too fast and easy. A little more exploration of their difficulties pre-success would've helped me feel more immersed in their actual success.
Third, the side characters, especially Hannah's bandmates, could've used more character development. They just felt a tad weaker than the other characters. Fourth, there's a useless plot twist about Hannah's sister at the beginning that I was just like... Why did we withhold that?
My final nitpick is the songs' lyrics. It feels odd that, in a book about the music industry, the lyrics feel more generic and impersonal to grief than stuff like the song at the end of Not Quite Dead Yet or the tunes throughout something like the Hunger Games series. The lyrics didn't feel as moving as the characters in the book made them out to be, which created a bit of a disconnect for me.
However, nitpicks aside, this is a wonderful novel. I first want to touch on the structure. The book is split into three perspectives: Theo, the new fish-out-of-water band manager who's meant to cut ties with the label and the saints and let them off easy; Hannah, the leading lady of the band who's processing losing her sister by being an absolute menace; and the Internet as a collective, who share the latest news and thoughts on the band. This tri-perspective tale was terrific and well-balanced. Theo and Hannah felt nothing alike, and the occasional Internet chapters added both essential breathing room and a plausible understanding of the band's popularity. When the romantic elements come in, it feels inevitable, even though it isn't a focal point of the novel. This is because Theo and Hannah feel like two people who have just enough in common and just enough different to attract and understand each other, while still leaving room for excitement and whimsy.
The exploration of grief here is also handled really well, even if it gets a little long in the tooth or melodramatic at times. Keeping Ginny in the plot as a sort of manifested ghost of the imagination was a perfect way to create a tangible emotional connection to her as a reader, without characters having to talk about her in stunted ways to convey that emotion outside of standard interiorism. This element, along with the handling of the 3-POV structure, really made the book pop. The grief story here really worked for me for the most part!
The behind-the-scenes look at the music industry, especially through the framing of Theo's goals within it, really stood out. I love Theo's position as the dedicated Grim Reaper that puts bands in hot water like a lobster, simmering them until they die. Yet, he is the kind of person who tries to fight back and give them a second chance, even with his reputation. It makes him a unique POV character from the get-go, and I always loved the earnestness displayed in his chapters.
One of my favorite parts (which, don't worry, I won't spoil!) is the ending. I didn't expect it to turn out the way it did, given the setup. It felt fresh and against-the-grain, almost turning me off. However, the execution was so perfect that it broke through my skepticism and ended up holistically elevating the book for me. That's the best kind of ending: one that's equal parts surprising and inevitable. This is one I didn't know I needed to end how it did. I mean, I literally had 5% left of the book and was considering leaving a worse review by an entire star because of how it was going... 5% later, I ended up giving it 0.5 more stars, not a star less.
The Brighton's Bookshelf Verdict
Brighton's Bookshelf Score - 8.5/10
Letter Score - S-
The Future Saints explores grief through music and romance with a unique writing style, split across multiple perspectives with ghost-story elements. It's a triumph in creativity, and never succumbs to the over-romanticized expectations of a Hollywood ending.
Interested in checking out some of my other dramas, women's fiction, contemporary fiction, or romance reviews? Check them out below!
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