Sinful Book Reviews

Anyone looking for more material to fire up their Beatle mania?

It’s 1960 in Hamburg, Germany and there aren’t many people who have heard of The Beatles yet. Astrid Kirchherr’s ex-boyfriend drags her to a seedy club just to see them. She’s immediately drawn to them, particularly Stuart. What follows is a melancholy love story. I’m sure this story is nothing new to well-researched Beatles fans. It’s just a new way of telling it. Bellstorf does a fantastic job weaving song lyrics throughout this book, and I did feel a connection to the Astrid and Stuart. The art, however, didn’t match up for me. It was mostly frames of black turtlenecks, dangling cigarettes, and broody stares. He’s certainly talented; I just wanted a little more variety. The art never felt like it was helping to tell the story.

I would have preferred to read this novel in narrative form. Still, if you’re looking for some material on The Beatles in their early years, you might want to check this out.