Just a few days ago, my sister, dad, and I went to see Fall Out Boy in concert (which was AMAZING), so of course I had to do a FOB edition of TBR Playlist to commemorate the day. Please enjoy this list as I return to listening to Fall Out Boy instead of actually making a dent in my TBR…

“Love From The Other Side”: This Is Not the Jess Show by Anna Carey

In This Is Not the Jess Show, the titular character is living a drama-filled teenage life in 1998… or is she? One day, an iPhone falls out of her friend’s backpack (despite not having been invented yet), and when Jess decides to take a closer look at her life, she realizes it’s all fake. Though it’s not clear from the synopsis how this book is dystopian, that’s how it is labeled on The StoryGraph. Both the song and the show involve a post-apocalyptic/dystopian world in which people prefer the curated reality of TV and social media to actual reality. The song asks several times, “What would you trade the pain for?” and I suspect that Jess faces the answer to that question when looking outside of her life of lies. 

“Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet”: A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal

I’ll admit that I initially paired these two together because this song has the line “tempest in a teacup,” but there are actually quite a few more similarities! A Tempest of Tea is about someone who runs a tearoom that turns into an illegal vampire hangout (or “bloodhouse”) at night. Her establishment is threatened, so she teams up with multiple adversaries for a heist on the vampire community’s main hangout. The song and book both deal with what happens when a morally gray person pairs up with other morally gray people, when your friends and enemies and lovers and colleagues all blend together into a big mess. There is love and attraction paired with danger and deceit. 

“Electric Touch” (by Taylor Swift, feat. Fall Out Boy): Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

The “Electric Touch” in Act Your Age, Eve Brown is a bit more literal than what the song mentions—she hits the love interest with her car. Eve starts working for B&B owner Jacob after accidentally breaking his leg, and as the two of them are forced together by circumstance, electricity builds between them. The song and book detail a relationship between two people—one put together, jaded, serious; the other chaotic, artsy, unafraid of emotion. Plus, Talia Hibbert and Taylor Swift have something in common: both make art about romantic love that is really about women coming of age. 

“Immortals”: If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich

“Immortals” is about the immortality of legacy—artistic or otherwise—and the invincibility of youth. The two main characters of If This Gets Out are young members of a boy band who fall for each other. When they decide to come out publicly, everything changes—and not necessarily for the better. “We could be immortals, but not for long” is a perfect summary of their situation. And if you look at the second verse of the song, you’ll see how well that fits with the story of two people figuring out who they are together. 

“The Phoenix”: The Dragon Republic and The Burning God (of The Poppy War trilogy) by R.F. Kuang

I paired these together for two main reasons: (1) In The Poppy War trilogy, there is literally a god of destruction called “the Phoenix,” and (2), this song has the repeated line “Put on your war paint,” and this trilogy is all about a magical version of the Opium Wars. Both involve violence and resistance and fighting spirit. They involve the atrocities of war and the consequences of those atrocities, no matter for what cause they were perpetrated. 

“I Am My Own Muse”: Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

While dealing with a narcissistic mother and abusive uncle, Starfish’s main character Kiko Himura gets kicked down even more when she’s rejected from an arts school. She is invited on a roadtrip to go tour more arts schools with an old friend, during which she is able to discover herself and her courage. “I Am My Own Muse” deals with a kind of destructive artistry in the face of an apocalyptic and pessimistic world in the same way that Starfish deals with an artist who is dealt blow after blow but doesn’t lose her creativity. Just like Fall Out Boy suggest that we “throw this year away like a bad luck charm,” Kiko learns to throw this art school rejection away in favor of moving forward. 

“Uma Thurman”: Landing On My Feet: A Diary of Dreams by Kerri Strug with John Lopez

If anyone could “move mountains” or “work a miracle,” it’s Kerri Strug, right? This book is the story of how Kerri Strug became the Olympic Gold medalist we all know for her badassery in the 1996 Olympics. She sacrificed a lot, including her physical wellbeing, to win the Gold in gymnastics. The line “the blood … of the lamb is worth two lions, but here I am” indicates Strug’s loss of innocence through this process, through gaining the knowledge that “tomorrow’s dreams … [are] not quite what they seem.”  In addition, Uma Thurman and Kerri Strug are both legendary women of the 90s—and, we can all agree, super cool. 

“My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)”: Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock’s Darkest Day by Joel Selvin

What happens when fans’ relationship with rock music becomes dangerous? This song and book both take a look at what happens “in the dark” of the rock music industry (particularly when fans get too invested, feel entitled, take things too far), although the former is much less concrete than the latter, as the latter deals with a specific event on a specific day. 

“Bang The Doldrums”: These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

In These Violent Delights, university students Paul and Julian strike up a friendship that evolves into an obsessive intimate relationship. Julian is erratic and exciting, and Paul does everything he can to live up to Julian’s expectations. “Bang The Doldrums” is about a toxic friendship complicated by lust, as is These Violent Delights. In both cases, the “best friends, ex-friends til the end” who are “better off as lovers” cause chaos and destruction because of the intensity of their relationship. Both the song and the book create a sense of foreboding and doom that surround these relationships, which are ill-fated for the two involved as well as the society in which they wreak havoc. 

“A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More ‘Touch Me’”: My Life with the Walter Boys by Ali Novak

My Life with the Walter Boys documents Type A, New Yorker Jackie’s experience going to live with her new guardians, the Walters, after her parents die suddenly. The Walter family consists of two parents and twelve sons that live on a Colorado ranch, and who are just as wild as the wildlife on the ranch. This FOB song has the hook “I don’t blame you for being you / But you can’t blame me for hating it,” which could definitely describe how Jackie feels when dealing with the Walter boys. The song details a girl who acts too good for the boy in her life (a la Sk8r Boi); if you replace the song’s narrator with the Walter boys, and the narrator’s muse for Jackie, it’s basically the same story. 

Bonus Tracks

1. “This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race”: Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong
2. “Twin Skeleton’s (Hotel In NYC)”: Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun
3. “We Didn’t Start the Fire” (updated Billy Joel cover): The Shortest History of the World by David Baker
4. “Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy”: Never Kiss Your Roommate by Philline Harms
5. “Saturday”: Some Girls Do by Jennifer Dugan

Conclusion

It was so hard to pick songs for this post because FOB have too many good ones, so thank you to my super cool sister for suggesting a few of these and making my life easier. I hope you enjoyed this post!

Happy reading, and happy listening!

-Ryn PB