The Final Revival of Opal & Nev was an enthralling story from the start. Considering my propensity to skip the summary and dive right into the book (especially when it comes highly recommended, which this one did), I admittedly had to take a second to confirm that the book was indeed fiction. I am absolutely in awe of debut author Dawnie Walton—this book was incredible. The interview-style writing, intermingled with the author’s commentary throughout, made it all feel so real, in a way that became downright harrowing when the cast of characters reluctantly but surely began giving the grisly details of the events in question. It was hard not to feel absolutely sickened at some points, and at the next, be empowered by Opal’s story of self-discovery and resilience. This book is a force to be reckoned with, which incidentally is the perfect description for every single character.
I read this book in audiobook format, and I wholeheartedly recommend you do the same. If you’re a fan of podcasts, it will feel almost natural (I say “almost” because the naming of every character before they speak is not a feature of podcasts), and if you’re not a podcast fan, that’s okay. Think of it this way—it is set up in documentary form, so listening to it as an audiobook, with each character phenomenally cast, brought the story to life. I felt a connection to it all in a way I’m not sure I would’ve experienced had I read it in a physical or eBook format. Obviously I can’t say for sure, but after reading some of the negative reviews out there, I can’t help but feel that if those reviewers listened to the audiobook format, they would have felt differently. Part of my suspicion in this comes from the fact that there is a lot of dialect writing in this novel, which some folks may have had a harder time grasping while reading as opposed to listening to the audiobook.
The way the author approaches the story makes it captivating from page (or minute) one: We have a reporter (S. Sunny Shelton) writing a book inspired by a reunion concert between enigmatic musicians Opal and Nev. What’s their deal? Who knows…their history is veiled in smoke and mirrors for a large part of the book, even as the story unfolds through an interview process. We learn little by little about these folks and their lives, but what really hooks you, when you are not sure what’s going on, is the fact that the reporter undertaking this project has a personal tie to it all: Her father had an affair with Opal, and a series of mysterious events ultimately led to his murder. The book keeps you feeling on edge about the whole ordeal, especially because the sequence of events that led to Jimmy Carter’s eventual death is shrouded in secrecy. All the characters know what happened (including Sunny) because the night in question exploded in the media, surrounding Opal and Nev with a level of infamy they had once only dreamed of achieving. But the details of what happened are not immediately revealed to the reader by virtue of the documentary style of writing. None of the characters involved want to relive that fateful night, and so, Sunny is left trying to figure out how to slyly assemble the pieces of the puzzle to form a complete narrative for the reader.
I won’t say too much about the plot, as I wouldn’t want to spoil anything for you—and really, any overview I can give will do little justice to the true contents of the book. The story is as chilling as it is vibrant, with each boisterous character filling out the pages with their personal history and their take on everything that has happened so far. We have a shocking twist partway through the book and considering Sunny’s connection to it all, she ends up having to make a difficult choice about where the project will go. She also ends up finding that the publication of this book has higher stakes than she initially thought it would. All through her documentative efforts, we hear about Opal and Nev (through their eyes as well as the perspectives of their loved ones) traversing the music industry in their attempts to make it big. Through our characters’ recollections, the reader plunges headfirst into the messy cluster of the music industry in 1970s racist America and all the veritable bullshit that comes with it. Just as you may expect with a loud, unapologetically Black woman clawing her way towards stardom, there is a ton of garbage that Opal faces, from racism to slut-shaming, from being reduced to a sex symbol, to finding self-empowerment in her sexuality. There is a whole lot of aggressive racism to be seen in this novel (likely accurate for the place and time), and it brings the reader to the brink of nausea (especially as a person of colour) to read the events as they unfold and try to control your feelings of intense anger, sadness, and frustration. This is especially true when you find out what really happened to Jimmy Carter—but that’s all I can say about that. At the end of the day, Opal is just trying to survive while simultaneously honouring the gut feeling that she was destined for more than an ordinary life. This book really delves into trying topics and forces you to sit with the feeling of being punched right in the gut.
“I got a better question for you. Why are you so deeply invested in proving I’m scared? Does a Black person showing they’re scared make you feel safer? I suggest you sit back and interrogate that.”
Each character felt incredibly authentic in their own right, and reading this novel inexplicably felt like you were meeting new people and looping into their lives. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a book fully explore each character’s proudest moments while also pointing a finger at their every flaw; these are the most well-rounded, everyday-human characters I have encountered. I felt the impulse to Google some characters, especially Jimmy Carter, Opal, and Nev—I wanted to go down the rabbit hole of all of their Wikipedias, but alas, they were not real.
If the convincing characters weren’t enough, Walton absolutely nails it on everything else. It truly felt like I was in the recording studio, or at Opal’s home, or at the funeral, or at that terrible night where things went wrong. I could truly imagine it all, and it was such a transformative experience. And while the book did have its slower moments where I desperately wanted the story to move forward a little quicker, by the end of it all, I couldn’t help but feel impacted by it all.
It’s safe to say that this book stayed with me long after I completed it, and while writing this review, I’m just itching to jump back into it all over again.