It was definitely interesting seeing how each chapter title was a song that Percy ended up relating to her life in some way, and I also really liked being in the early 2000s era and watching all these songs come out while Percy’s life changes and grows. There were a few scenes with Joe that I was invested in, but I just wanted MORE!

absolutely adored this book!
Deep Cuts is a fun and emotional debut about music, friendship, and growing up. It follows Percy, a music critic, and Joe, a talented songwriter, who meet at college and start a close, complicated relationship. The story is told in a cool way with playlists, text messages, and chapter titles that feel like songs. As Joe becomes famous, Percy stays behind, and that quiet sadness runs through the book. Brickley writes with love for music and the people who make it. I aforeddddd this book

3.5 /5 - thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC!

Percy and Joe are messy characters which I personally loved - I really bought into their bond and I was invested in them as people (even though Percy is a bit of a snob). It was slow for me at points and I found myself skimming the pages and pages of music analysis. A lot of the references went right over my head so I didn't connect with that part of the book but I could appreciate Percy's enthusiasm for analysing lyrics.

Looking forward to the film!

I absolutely loved this book. It give me everything I wanted from daisy Jones and the six but didnt get.

Absolutely loved all the music references. My playlist grew with every chapter.

This is a very strong debut and knowing it will be adapted into a movie is making me more excited to see the characters come to life. Percy and Joe's story is mesmerizing, delightfully witty, and contains a lot of reference to music. If it weren't for Percy and Joe's three dimensional character, I wouldn't have enjoyed the story.

This is a captivating, music-drenched journey through the early 2000s, following Percy and Joe, two college students whose lives become inextricably linked by their shared obsession with music. This novel isn't just a romance; it's a deep dive into creative collaboration, ambition, and the messy realities of growing up.

Holly Brickley’s Deep Cuts got a lot of pre-publication buzz, with early readers name-dropping novels like Daisy Jones and the Six as a comparator (mainly because this is also connected to music, and with a complicated central relationship). As it turns out, the buzz was justified: this is a very good novel, and I quickly found myself invested in Percy and Joe’s fates.

I had high hopes for Deep Cuts before I read it, and it did not disappoint. I’ve long been drawn to stories about music — in novels and also biographies of favourite artists, and this novel looked like it would suit my tastes perfectly. And, I’m happy to say, it exceeded my expectations. Perhaps its greatest strength lies in the characters. Brickley does a great job developing the main characters in realistic and natural ways. The core relationship is very well-written, not always romantic, but believable (if not desirable) in its messiness and complications. One could see in Percy and Joe’s relationship echoes of some of the best stories about art born from fraught relationships — be they fictional (à la Daisy Jones & the Six and The Lightning Bottles) or non-fiction (see, for example, Fleetwood Mac).

The novel, in many ways a bildungsroman, takes us through Percy’s musical and personal journey, as she comes to grips with the power of her musical and emotional connection to Joe, but also while navigating a world that too-often relegates female creative partners to the footnotes of history. Percy must also navigate growing up and finding her place in the world and with others — her friendships and relationships are well-written, and many of her social and personal struggles will no doubt resonate with plenty of readers. The author’s love for really music comes through in her characters (I related quite strongly with Percy’s music obsession), and it’s used as a great narrative device throughout the story.

With engaging, three-dimensional and realistic characters, Deep Cuts is a story about the messiness of life, and the power of music to bring people together. Definitely recommended. Very much looking forward to Brickley’s next book, whatever it happens to be.

I loved this book. I loved the music references and the effortless way the Holly Brickley writes. It was a pure joy to drift in to.

Only published in March this year, this extraordinary debut novel has already been snapped up for a film adaptation starring Austin Butler and Saoirse Ronan in the lead roles. Set across America in the early 2000s, the book follows two twenty-something students on separate but inextricably-entangled creative journeys that both bring them together and push them apart in an equally frustrating and totally compelling manner. Joe Morrow is an extraordinarily talented singer and musician: Percy Marks is the untrained yet naturally-gifted producer and songwriter who isn’t afraid of sharing her opinions, and has the power to transform Joe’s tracks into once-in-a-lifetime classics. After a frenzied discussion about Hall and Oates in a Berkeley student bar, Joe – who already has a long term girlfriend, Zoe – asks Percy to help him with a song he’s been working on, and both their lives change forever. Over several years they collaborate, they quarrel, they break each other’s hearts and the hearts of others who accidentally stumble into this life-long love story: think Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, except with music rather than video games – or High Fidelity for geriatric millennials. Unputdownable, unforgettable, drenched in early-noughties music nostalgia, this absolutely must be read before the adaptation arrives: the ideal book for music lovers over a long summer break.

Reviewed in Cambridge Edition July 2025

This started out ok but unfortunately I lost interest very quickly. It just wasn’t for me which is such a shame but thank you for access to the eARC to try out.

Deep Cuts is the kind of story meant to be adapted to the screen, and I can already envisage a comfort watch coming our way. The book has all the soft parts of some recent favourite books: the musical landscape similar to Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones and the Six, the coming-of-age sentiment of Lily King’s Writers and Lovers, the second chance trope like Elissa Sussman’s Funny You Should Ask, the complicated dynamic of Sally Rooney’s Normal People, and Zoe’s existence in the trio reminiscent of Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.

Deep Cuts is more than just a love letter to the early 2000s music scene. It’s about the songs and the production as much as it is about the subcultures spawned by that music, the obsessions and coming-of-age experiences of those who found solace in music while living through world-changing events, from 9/11 to the recession. The only constant? Music as a means of self-expression, an escape that envelopes you even as you stand at the edge of the world.

I listened to this audiobook out of curiosity, and overall, it was a good experience. The story has a calm pace and really captures that early 2000s atmosphere — the music references, the blogs, the messaging... it gave me a bit of nostalgia.

The relationship between Percy and Joe has chemistry, and there are some genuinely well-done moments between them, especially when they’re creating music together. I liked that dynamic and how emotions blend into the creative process.

That said, there were times when I felt the story lost its way a little or went in circles. It wasn’t the kind of book that had me hooked from start to finish, but I never felt like giving up on it either. Percy is an interesting character, though at times I felt a bit detached from her.

The narration helped a lot — it felt like listening to a real person, with all the contradictions and insecurities that come with life.

In the end, I’m glad I listened to it. It’s not a new favourite, but it gave me things to think about and had some lovely moments.

Brilliant! I loved this book.
The music references were so good, and I loved the way this author writes.
Really interested in what comes next from this author.

Thank you for my copy!

An excellent read. I found myself full invested in this story. The author has an incredible way with just getting the right words and having the correct impact. A must read.

A cross between Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and a history of cool 2000s music. I loved Percy and this is my ideal type of romance - one with another strong topic running through. ❤️

A great story of two characters in a ‘will-they-won’t-they’ storyline. I loved the music references which is what made the story unique. Thanks for the early read.

Very enjoyable, Daisy Jones esuqe, I gave my review based on the audio version which was really enjoyable

A tormenting “Will they, won’t they” which reminded me of David Nicholls, with a clear love of music which reminded me of “Daisy Jones and the Six”. Unfortunately, I found the main characters of Joe and Percy unlikeable and grating, as well as the marginal characters. I did enjoy the descriptions of the creative process of songwriting though, as well as the setting descriptions and the chance to review and play the many musical references within the novel.

Deep Cuts is a novel that makes you nostalgic for the here and now.

I absolutely loved this book. It felt like a road trip novel where you are able to go along with Joe and Percy as they navigate the world and their emotions. It is the kind of book that you will throw across the room in that will-they-won’t-they beautiful frustration.

Beating at the heart of this book is a love of music. It is so hard to capture that feeling but Holly Brickley does it masterfully.

I loved it!

Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley is available now.

Deep Cuts was one of my most anticipated reads of early 2025, with comparisons made to Sally Rooney's writing style and stories like TJR's Daisy Jones and The Six and Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. And it absolutely lives up to all these comparisons, but Holly Brickley has a voice all of her own.

If I had to categorise Deep Cuts, I guess it would be a kind of slow-burn coming-of-age romance drama. But at the heart of the book is a deep-rooted love of music, so much so that this almost supersedes the characters' love for each other. Music is a major factor in the narrative, to the point where it shapes the story. These characters are obsessed, so this one will definitely appeal to music lovers.

"I think songs gave me a window into a magical life. Something bigger, or whatever waiting out there. And I felt like the only way to get there was through the songs. Like the songs, if I listened hard enough, would show me how to get it right."

The story is about Percy and Joey, who meet at a bar in the early 2000s during their time studying at Berkley. Percy is an English major, Joey an aspiring musician, but they immediately bond over their love of music. A casual conversation leads to a collaboration which spans years, as Joey gradual builds his career as the front-man of a band, and Percy supports him from the side lines as his biggest critic, lyricist, friend and sometimes lover.

"How many different ways is it even possible for the same two people to break each other's hearts?"

As well as telling the story of their relationship, this book is also a story of personal growth. Percy is the focus of the narrative, and she's a sharp, intelligent and complicated woman who is finding her own place in the world at a formative time in her life.

As the two fade in and out of each other's lives, the backdrop of music and the era is a constant character in the story. It's a deeply nostalgic rendering of the early 2000s, and if you grew up or lived in this era too, you're likely to relate. Each chapter is named after a song title, and, as Percy becomes a music writer, there's numerous deep dives into music from this era and popular culture references.

While I enjoyed some music references, I have to admit some went a little over my head. I tried to keep looking up songs with an interesting story behind them, but there was so many that at times this detracted a little from the story. There were also times that I couldn't really relate to Percy, but she does feel flawed and real and at times her small nuggets of insight and reflection hit perfectly.

"Maybe Joe saw me clearly, the way some people can look at an abstract painting and instantly discern the figure."

Overall, this is an intelligent and though-provoking story and it's hard to believe this is a debut. With confident, evocative and moving writing, Brickley effortlessly captures a moment in time and a relationship which feels real.