Beach Bunny had had their first performance of their tour at the Englert Theatre on Friday, April 8. As the night progressed the theater filled with excited young bodies thrilled to see Beach Bunny live. Their performance was refreshingly youthful and effortlessly talented. Even though guitarist Matt Henkel was missing, as Lili Trifilio said, “The show must go on!” She went so hard on the guitar that her finger started bleeding. Bassist Anthony Vaccaro and drummer Jon Alvarado equally rocked out, jumping around and bringing playful energy to the set.

The stage had vintage televisions lit with static and projected stars. The colorful pink, purple, and red lights glittered off of Trifilio’s glittery, silver outfit and the backdrop.

At the start of their performance, Trifilio asked everyone to stand, which sent the crowd rushing to her feet at the front of the stage. They opened with her single “Oxygen.” A smile erupted on Trifilio’s face when people started to sing along. During her song “Good Girls (Don’t Get Used)” the audience was asked to sing backup vocals, bringing them into the performance. Everyone sang along. Beach Bunny had the younger students who sat beside me mesmerized, one even accidentally smacked me during “Blame Game” because they were so taken by the song.

Although the venue was seated, and the crowd was smaller than anticipated for future venues, and they were down a guitarist, the performance was all the more genuine and personal. The crowd participation and emotional vulnerability of Beach Bunny’s music made the entire show approachable and fun. If I could go back in time and be there again, I would in a heartbeat.

Beach Bunny will go on to play the Mo Pop Festival in Detroit and Lollapalooza in Chicago later in the year along with artists like Green Day and Big Sean.

For more information about Beach Bunny, see our previous article here.

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The childhood scenes within this psychological fiction gave me an unreasonable sense of hope for the cliches of a coming of age story, but instead I was met with characters I loved to hate and their ostentatious scenes. Nina’s character evolution never led her to true maturation despite her painful eagerness to better herself during her search for love, and remained as a shell of a writer. True Love’s other characters include a sexually deviant snob, a chaotic failed attempt of a boyfriend, a “filmmaker” that still lives with his parents, and a single mother with unendurable taste in men.

the exploration of love and its myriad facets. Nina’s journey, although not a traditional romance, delves into the intricacies of human connection and the emotional rollercoaster that is often associated with love. The novel’s satirical approach to psychological fiction allows readers to navigate the complexities of relationships with both humor and depth. Love, in its various forms, becomes a lens through which the characters grapple with their own vulnerabilities, unveiling the raw and authentic aspects of the human experience.

In moments of uncertainty and introspection, one might ponder not only the characters’ dilemmas but also personal questions about love and connection. Seeking guidance on matters of the heart is not uncommon, and people often wonder what to ask a psychic in their quest for clarity. The novel, much like life itself, invites readers to reflect on the unpredictable nature of love and the questions that linger in the depths of our minds. In this intricate dance between fiction and reality, the exploration of love becomes a thread that weaves through the narrative, offering both solace and contemplation for those navigating their own complex emotional landscapes.

I applaud Gerard for her surprising, nonlinear storytelling. It kept me on my toes and ready to see what would come next. Another merit included a scene that detailed the abuse experienced by the main character without reducing it to trauma porn.

The dialogue felt far fetched from reality, as if the only goal was to create conflict between the – already insufferable – characters. It felt somewhat counter intuitive that Gerard introduced humor early on only to result in an excessively bleak ending. If the book was not so hard to put down I would have torn it in half.

Nina’s search for love is a stinging critique of current society, as well as a sensitive analysis of our desperate need for connection in an age of alienation. These realizations only came to me after I peeled away the agonizing details.

All in all, True Love encompassed the best themes within Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë [pen name Currer Bell] and the worst captious characters in the psychological thriller Like Me, written by Hayley Phelan.

I would rate True Love a 4/5 because True Love is in no way the average YA romance novel I expected but was the chilling call to reality I needed.

Come see Sarah Gerard read her book and Kaveh Akbar read his, Pilgrim Bell, at Prairie Lights in Iowa City at 1:00 on Saturday, April 9. True Love is available for purchase at Prairie Lights.

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