The Lightning Bottles

Reviews / Votes

A wild and deeply satisfying rollercoaster ride through the world of a con artist with a heart of gold. Propulsive and affecting, Lucky is the most fun I've had reading a book in quite a while * Taylor Jenkins Reid * A riveting caper full of heart, I loved this book! * Karma Brown * A riveting caper full of heart, I loved this book! * Karma Brown * This fun romp, with deeper themes of identity, family ties and the meaning of truth in a life built on lies, kept me greedily turning pages late into the night. Perfect for book clubs - or anyone looking for their next unputdownable read * Colleen Oakley * Stapley's gorgeous writing cuts to the bone, and her grifter heroine, both vulnerable and fierce, is driven by a genius premise . . . a gripping, heart-wrenching journey of resilience, hope, and redemption. A stunning read! * Samantha M. Bailey * Marissa Stapley's The Lightning Bottles is a riveting journey inside the '90s grunge scene, where soulmates Elijah and Jane skyrocket to stardom before Elijah's sudden, suspicious death. The novel is part love story, part mystery, and a sharp commentary on the price of fame. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough! * Carley Fortune, author of Meet Me at the Lake * A hopeful and heartbreaking tale of love and loss . . . The Lightning Bottles is a rollercoaster ride of emotions. From the thrilling rise to stardom to the high price of fame, Marissa Stapley vividly brings the nineties rock scene to life. * Ashley Elston, New York Times bestselling author of First Lie Wins * In this must-read for lovers of Daisy Jones and the Six and A Star is Born, a golden couple achieve a meteoric rise, only to find their dreams shattered by the price of fame. Stapley's latest is a deep dive into the treatment of women in the music industry, as well as a delicious mystery featuring an international scavenger hunt. A wild ride of a novel that will leave you breathless. * Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Spectacular * Marissa Stapley's The Lightning Bottles is a passionate story about the driving urge to create, the ferociousness of love, and how it all can disappear beneath the chaotic terror of fame and fandom. Be careful: once you start, you won't turn away from this thrilling tale of music, madness, love and forgiveness. * Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane * Perfect for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Lightning Bottles speaks to the pitfalls and perils of fame. Full of nostalgia and angst, and peppered with sharp insights and beautiful simplicity, Stapley has penned both a tender romance depicting tingle-inducing young love and a treatise on the dangers and complexities of the ever-moving targets of success. The women in this story lived in my thoughts even when I put the book down, and I was sad to say goodbye. A truly captivating read! * Charlene Carr, author or Hold My Girl and We Rip the World Apart * Be still, my 90s-music-infatuated heart. I knew three pages into this glorious book that The Lightning Bottles would be a new favourite. What a journey it took me on-from the euphoria of first love to the dizzying heights of fame to rock bottom and back again. I fell completely in love with these characters, with their adoration for each other and for music, their imperfect grasping at happiness, their resilience. A nostalgic, exciting, heartbreaking read. I'm obsessed with The Lightning Bottles-both the novel and the fictitious band therein. * Suzy Krause, bestselling author of Sorry I Missed You and I Think We've Been Here Before * Marissa Stapley's The Lightning Bottles is a vivid and steely-eyed view of the music scene of the 1990s, an industry that sanctified its golden boys and took strong women down. It's a page-turner, for sure, but it's also an absolute heartbreaker about two damaged souls who find and lose each other, and how sometimes the thinnest thread of hope is all you get to try to claw your way back to happiness. I'm envious of anyone who hasn't yet read this gorgeous, deeply felt novel. * Lauren Fox, New York Times bestselling author of Send For Me * Part mystery, part love-story, part ode to a great era in music, The Lightning Bottles is a heart-wrenching page-turner about addiction, loss, and the high price of fame. * Robyn Harding, internationally bestselling author of The Haters * A fiercely visceral, exquisitely written ode to rock and roll, the 90s, and the power of music to hurt and heal in equal measure. With The Lightning Bottles, Marissa Stapley has created both a beautiful love story and a singularly unique mystery. Readers will quickly turn pages to find out what really happened to former rock star Elijah Hart-only to be swept away by the tumultuous journey of two lovers finding that fame comes at a higher cost than they can afford. Be prepared for the wildly talented duo that is The Lightning Bottles to take up permanent residence in your head, and in your heart. * Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, author of Till Death Do Us Part and The Girls Are All So Nice Here * It's hard to write a rock'n'roll novel that's both authentic and entertaining. Marissa Stapley has nailed it with this one. * Alan Cross, radio broadcaster and writer * My heart is still pounding after closing this book. An exhilarating love story on every level, Marissa Stapley masterfully weaves music and mystery, grief and hope, and courageously delves into the often untold, profoundly poetic and sometimes dangerous connection between artists who are also lovers. The Lightning Bottles is so true to what it was like in the music world in the 1990s, I forgot I was reading fiction. Gritty and shockingly real about the treacherous nature of fame, this book painfully reveals the traps on the quest for authentic expression and immortal love. I was left with the directive to always follow your art, no matter where it leads. A brilliant offering; tender, immersive, poetic and powerful. A standing ovation! * Tara Maclean, bestselling author and award-winning singer/songwriter *