Book Review – Rock Star by Ginger Voight

Rock Star (Groupie Book 2)
<— The sequel to “Groupie” (my latest 4.5 star “frenzy-inducing” read that had me up all night, freaking out – check out my review for it, here). Rock Star delivered tons of angst with a few punches to the gut, and put me through the ringer, too. Oh boy did it put me through the ringer. But for me, it was more of a 4 star read (and occasionally less, when I found myself over-exasperated).

I liked it, but I lost some of that famous rock star fantasy, in the process. Some of those larger than life, “OMG I can’t believe this is happening to me” moments. The “I told you so’s” that re-inforced my belief (and provided relief) that my love for rock stars and the whole fantasy of it, was best left in my blog posts. Because sure enough, there could only be pain in that kind of “reality”.

And LOVED that side of Groupie. That “feel”. And while we’re dealing with mostly the same characters in Rock Star, the mood changed somewhat. Now don’t get me wrong, Rock Star was still a gut-wrenching read with a lot of the same “issues”. Just deeper, more of ’em, more drawn out (sometimes a little too long) and well… nuttier. Sometimes it made sense. I “knew” where the characters were coming from, what was guiding (or misguiding) their decisions. I understood the dilemma, but sometimes it was just… too much. Ohhhh the manipulation. ROAR!!!!

So what’s it about? That ongoing mismatched love “triangle” that gets distorted and unbalanced, as “the heart wants what the heart wants” struggles with guilt, loyalties and a sense if duty.

“Because it’s the right thing to do,”

Stupid duty!! Since when does “duty” have anything to do with real love? Er. No. Wait. I take that back. Mostly, it has EVERYTHING to do with it, and sometimes it’s all wrong, too. And that’s the problem here.

But that’s not the only issue at hand. There are new characters that come into play, and some are “good guys”, loving, patient and nurturing, while others are opportunistic sharks that swim around their already bleeding triangle and try to attack it at it’s weak spots.

And as they try to decipher the good parts, the true parts from the bad parts, their reactions can really wreck havoc on an already unstable situation. And each of the characters have their own way of coping with the angst. Often causing more angst in the process. Oh yes. They practically drown in it. And again.. watch out for those sharks!!

Good, angsty as all get-out, and perfectly angrifying. But Groupie’s realistic edge still wins out in this rock ‘n roll angst-fest for me. “Rock Star’s” over-the-top drama was such, that I didn’t truly lose myself in it. And I know we’re dealing with “fiction” and because of that, going crazy is fun, so it works on many levels. But the fact is, I needed to put this one down a few times, thinking to myself, “Come on!! *spoiler*, tell the truth already!!!” or… “Come on, *spoiler* stop self-sacrificing SO much!!!” to “Oh come on *spoiler*… you didn’t even think to check….???” Ah. Right. 😉 I’ll stop there.

Oh and there were LOTS of things to “check”, or “talk about” in this one, but as in all extreme angst, the reader is going to know the “coulda, shoulda, woulda’s” but the characters just keep walking right into the crazy!

So that’s my “take” on it, but let me point out that to many fellow readers, this was just as great as Groupie and some even liked this one better! But beware. The ending… ok no. I’ll say it this way. While I REALLY LOVED the ending (for a few reasons, the ending really *made* the book for me), there is a book #3 coming, and for good reason. Here’s yet another sample of the frenzied reactions (from our Facebook & blog comments) that these two books incited:

Julie: Oh Maryse, just wait!! I’m almost done with book 2 and about to pull my hair out!! Wait there’s a book 3!!? Oh help me! When’s it come out?? The 2nd one is killing me and its almost over

Maryse’s Book Blog: Julie, author just told me Feb/March. And I think it’ll be called Mogul. That’s a good hint. 😉

Traci: Im almost done rock star….is there going to be a 3rd book??? Love them..

Sherry: They were both awesome books!! Not sure how I feel about waiting till Feb/Mar, but It’ll do for now 😉

Shannon: Yeah, it has been a bit since I finished the two books and yet I still can’t get them out of my head. I don’t know how on earth I am going to wait until Feb/March!!! I feel bad for the books that I have read since because nothing is really making me *feel* like Rock Star did.

Becky: Ok, now that I devoured BOTH books in 24 hrs (and neglected my family); I’m totally team Vanni!… I completely loved these books. I was going through a book depression and this was what I was missing. Ohhhh, the angst, it was perfect. I read several books a week and none in the last month have captured me quite like this one. I hope for a spoiler thread because I have my own theories about book 3. BTW, Feb/Mar is way too long to wait for book 3.

Michelle: Just finished both books in 1 day after you recommended them.. These books were excellent! I can’t wait for the 3rd! Team Vanni!

Emily: Just finished Rock Star!! I LOOOVED them both!!!! But from now on I am not starting a series, until it is complete!!! I HATE waiting for the end to the story!!!! TEAM VANNI for sure, but I went back, and forth til the end! Because he pissed me off a lot

Sherry: Maryse, you have to tell me WHO you pick now!!!!

Maryse’s Book Blog: Ok I’m finally done! Haha…. What a mess. And it’s obvious who I pick. 😉 Now… I have to review that crazy book!

Debbie: Wow.. just finished… can’t anyone just end a book “happily ever after” I hate the waiting…

Julie: You said it , Maryse! What a mess!! Just wow! Good luck with that! Lol jk you’re more than capable :))

Ivannie: almost done with rockstar and I can’t even finish this book!! I’m so mad I want to cry!!  can you please tell me if the ending is bad ???

Sorry Ivannie. 😉 All I can say is the ending was well worth the crazy, and then… shhhhhhh. No more from me. Okay. One more thing from me. You’ll get TWO feelings from this ending. And a book that can create that many emotions at one time, was worth the read!

3.5 stars. And 4.5 stars for that ending.

P.S. Most of us purchased this as a bargain bundle!  “Groupie/Rock Star Bundle”