THE GRIFFIN SISTERS’ GREATEST HITS
By: Jennifer Weiner
Narrated by: Dakota Fanning
Published: April 8, 2025
Publisher: William Morrow
Fiction
If you read and loved DAISY JONES AND THE SIX, then you might like this book. ✅ If you are a big fan of American Idol or The Voice, you might like this book. ✅ If you like sister stories, you might like this book.✅ If you like family dramas tied to secrets, you might like this book. ✅
This book seemed to check all the boxes for me, and I was thrilled to get the chance to read/listen to it. When I started it, I thought for sure it would be a five-star read. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a letdown, but overall, I found myself interested in what happened between the two pop star sisters.
Cassie and Zoe Grossberg were part of the band The Griffin Sisters with bandmate Russell. They were a fast sensation with the amazing vocal and piano talents of Cassie. Cassie and Russell also wrote all the songs with Zoe as their backup singer/dancer. Here is where the problems started. Zoe didn’t want to be a backup for anything. She wanted to be at the forefront and the one people came to hear sing. But she couldn’t compete with Cassie’s amazing vocals. So, if she couldn’t be the best on stage, she was determined to win somewhere else, and so she won Russell instead.
The story of the Griffin Sisters is told from the perspectives of Cassie, Zoe, and Zoe’s daughter Cherry, and from the early 2000s when the Griffin Sisters became a band to 2024. The book is divided into seven parts, and in each part, the reader gets to hear the side of the story from each of the three women as the story moves forward and more of the disastrous situation is revealed.
The band and Cassie and Zoe’s music careers are over, but as the reader, you don’t know why yet. It takes about 3/4 of the way through the book to get the whole story, which is why, for me, things got a bit bogged down in the middle. It is mentioned way too many times that Cassie is plain and overweight, and Zoe is skinny and gorgeous. I understand this was a major theme of why Cassie was so uncomfortable on stage, but I feel like it was expressed a bit too much. I also have to assume that Cassie is on the autism spectrum due to her being a child prodigy on the piano, yet I think it was only briefly mentioned once.
For twenty years, the sisters have been estranged and have never talked once about “what happened” that night while the band was on tour. Now Zoe’s daughter, Cherry, has run away from home. Cherry is also an extremely talented musician and is trying to find her Aunt Cassie to sing with her on the show The Next Stage, an American Idol-type of contest for musicians. Keep in mind, Cassie doesn’t even know Cherry exists. Also, Cassie doesn’t want to be found and has been living an isolated hermit life in Alaska.
This story is full of anger, secrets, and mostly unlikable people. Cherry was really the only character I felt like rooting for. The others dug their own grave, if you ask me. But I was invested in the story enough to keep going, and Dakota Fanning’s narration made it enjoyable to listen to. Weiner’s inclusion of news articles and social media posts made it feel like the band was real, as well as using real pop stars like Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears in the story.
“…as many times as she’d listened to the song, she’d heard it wrong. Or, at least, she’d missed something. She’d never realized that it could be about a lover who’d broken your heart, but also about a sister, or anyone you’d loved who had cared for you, then hurt you; a person you loved in spite of yourself, because you couldn’t do anything else.”
Weiner writes in her acknowledgments that she read numerous biographies and autobiographies from women musicians, including OPEN BOOK by Jessica Simpson and THE WOMEN IN ME by Britney Spears, who rose to fame during the same time in the story.
Weiner’s depiction of estranged sisters, the life of young female pop stars, and how secrets can turn a family inside out felt realistic and plausible. I just wish I could have found a way to like the characters a bit more, and that it wouldn’t have been so predictable (I guessed the big secret pretty early), which would have made me more excited to keep reading.
Don’t miss the book trailer, which includes an innovative partnership between Jen and the indie rock band, HELLO SISTER:
You can also listen to the song with lyrics from the book, performed by Hello Sister, HERE, on Spotify.
Join Jennifer on Tour with dates still in May and August!
Jennifer Weiner is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of nineteen novels, including Good in Bed, In Her Shoes, Mrs. Everything, and The Breakaway. She lives with her family in Philadelphia. Visit her online, HERE.
To purchase a copy of THE GRIFFIN SISTERS’ GREATEST HITS, click HERE.
Reading this book will make you feel nostalgic for your favorite music and listening to it on a classic record player, HERE.
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Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to purchase through the above links, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase.
Posted Under audiobook, Book Review, Dakota Fanning, fiction, Jennifer Weiner