The blaring guitar solo wails plaintively before exploding into a burst of energy. The air buzzes while fans swoon and the temperature rises. A shift is happening in the crowd. Soon, that one spontaneous moment in time is gone just as quickly as it appeared. Raw, intense and alluring, these performances are what rock stars are made of. No wonder everyone wants a piece of that world.

In A Raw Mix of Carelessness and Longing, Calgary author Cecelia Frey dives into the heady, tumultuous and emotional life of rock stardom. The story is told through the eyes of Lilah Cellini, a young girl intoxicated by the charismatic rock’ n’ roll swagger of blue-eyed Jamey Popilowski, a musician itching to break into the music industry. From their families’ low-income accommodations on Terrabain Street, the two head towards the West Coast to “make it” — taking nothing with them but their spontaneity and ideals.

Frey tells a coming-of-age love story with a diverse soundtrack; however, that is simplifying it. Through a young Lilah, Frey takes readers on a whirlwind of touring and gigging. She exposes the soul and sometimes accompanying heartache of performing, while detailing the extreme highs and lows of the music biz from the eyes of teenagerdom.

Lilah’s narrative is interlaced with lyrics that, like any hit song, are crazy catchy. Frey’s background in poetry is evident, as the lines are eloquent and spare — a welcome change from the sometimes rambling narrative. The lyrics harmonize with the narrative, sometimes soaring over it, shooting straight for the reader’s emotional jugular. Frey also has a flair for dialogue, demonstrated by punchy conversations and the characters’ musical sparring.

Lilah and Jamey set out to live freely, and a great deal of living occurs within a short time, highlighting the excesses and costs of a rock n’ roll lifestyle. The book attempts to capture the dilemmas an artist faces, shown by the tension Lilah feels as she alternates between chasing a dream and the stability of a “normal” life. Jamey’s emotionality offsets Lilah’s rationality, but the fallout of success — the personas, the chasms, the shifting priorities — pit love for each other against love for music.

Frey is able to segue from a passionate, all-consuming young love story to equally consuming identity questions and familial issues that all people, especially artists, must contemplate. Although slightly uneven in spots (the book is broken up into four sections), when arranged as a whole, A Raw Mix of Carelessness and Longing is as intense, lovely and electrifying as the music coursing through the characters’ veins.