Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Mental illness, Abandonment
Minor: Cancer, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Car accident
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is absolutely my favorite Erin La Rosa book - I loved the nostalgia, I loved the characters, I loved the magical realism.
I love the idea of creating a playlist about my life and every single song invoking a memory - but I also love even more the idea of a song showing me how life could have been different. And I loved that as Sam got through the playlist created by Damon, it showed her that life truly worked out for the best even though she wondered if she should have done things differently.
I realized that I want to read more books that bring about the nostalgia of the 90s and early 2000s. (Even though I will make a correction that Taylor Swift was not pop in the early 2000s but actually considered country/pop music
I love the idea of creating a playlist about my life and every single song invoking a memory - but I also love even more the idea of a song showing me how life could have been different. And I loved that as Sam got through the playlist created by Damon, it showed her that life truly worked out for the best even though she wondered if she should have done things differently.
I realized that I want to read more books that bring about the nostalgia of the 90s and early 2000s. (Even though I will make a correction that Taylor Swift was not pop in the early 2000s but actually considered country/pop music
This book was so up my alley, it’s a bit ridiculous. The music used in The Backtrack was exactly what I listened to in high school. The nostalgia was so real.
Sam fled her hometown after high school, not wanting to get stuck there. Unfortunately, that meant leaving her best friend Damon behind. Now she has come back due to her grandma preparing to sell her childhood home. And Damon is still there. She finds an old CD player in her room. There is also a mix that Damon had made for her. When she plays the CD, an alternate version of her life starts to take place.
It was so interesting to read what was gonna happen next and which songs would be featured. I really enjoyed this book.
Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.
Sam fled her hometown after high school, not wanting to get stuck there. Unfortunately, that meant leaving her best friend Damon behind. Now she has come back due to her grandma preparing to sell her childhood home. And Damon is still there. She finds an old CD player in her room. There is also a mix that Damon had made for her. When she plays the CD, an alternate version of her life starts to take place.
It was so interesting to read what was gonna happen next and which songs would be featured. I really enjoyed this book.
Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.
Audible+
Charming, nostalgic. I enjoyed the surrealism. Good music.
Charming, nostalgic. I enjoyed the surrealism. Good music.
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Backtrack is a second-chance romance with a magical twist. It has Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist vibes with the mixtape element and the whole book is a major throwback in the best way.
There's a lot to unpack with this story. Along with the expected romance, the plot also follows along with the goings on in Sam's family and issues with her upbringing. Themes of depression are also dealt with here. Much of the ending of the book focuses on tying up all these loose ends with the family drama and I think I could've used a little more couple time at the end instead. Damon and Sam do these fun date-like things earlier on in the book with ice cream and kites, but I wanted more of them just having fun together like that as the book progressed. The spice level was a lot lower than expected too - about a 1/5 (I expected a 3/5).
Overall, the best parts of this book are all the nostalgic things:
“Having nostalgia is romantic,” Damon insisted. “It’s the ability to never forget something you love.”
This hits SO HARD. While the music in particular is the most nostalgic part of the book, there's also references to Lisa Frank notebooks and Twilight and lava lamps. The flashbacks themselves feel like stepping into an old photograph or opening up a time capsule. The book as a whole feels like a love letter to those of us who grew up in the early aughts. (Also Fall Out Troy is a great coverband name).
I enjoyed a lot of aspects of this story, but I think it might be my least favorite Erin la Rosa so far (but ya know the others are 5 stars and I gave this one a 4 so that's definitely not to say this book is even remotely bad). I do think maybe an extra chapter or 2 with more Damon and Sam would've given me what I was looking for. Still, I definitely recommend reading this book especially if you too were an emo kid who's biggest childhood dreams were going to Warped Tour.
Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, Erin la Rosa, and GoodReads for the ARCs!
There's a lot to unpack with this story. Along with the expected romance, the plot also follows along with the goings on in Sam's family and issues with her upbringing. Themes of depression are also dealt with here. Much of the ending of the book focuses on tying up all these loose ends with the family drama and I think I could've used a little more couple time at the end instead. Damon and Sam do these fun date-like things earlier on in the book with ice cream and kites, but I wanted more of them just having fun together like that as the book progressed. The spice level was a lot lower than expected too - about a 1/5 (I expected a 3/5).
Overall, the best parts of this book are all the nostalgic things:
“Having nostalgia is romantic,” Damon insisted. “It’s the ability to never forget something you love.”
This hits SO HARD. While the music in particular is the most nostalgic part of the book, there's also references to Lisa Frank notebooks and Twilight and lava lamps. The flashbacks themselves feel like stepping into an old photograph or opening up a time capsule. The book as a whole feels like a love letter to those of us who grew up in the early aughts. (Also Fall Out Troy is a great coverband name).
I enjoyed a lot of aspects of this story, but I think it might be my least favorite Erin la Rosa so far (but ya know the others are 5 stars and I gave this one a 4 so that's definitely not to say this book is even remotely bad). I do think maybe an extra chapter or 2 with more Damon and Sam would've given me what I was looking for. Still, I definitely recommend reading this book especially if you too were an emo kid who's biggest childhood dreams were going to Warped Tour.
Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, Erin la Rosa, and GoodReads for the ARCs!
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
To put it very simply, this book is like the poem "The Road Not Taken", just an extended version. When FMC Sam returns to her hometown and begins pondering her life decisions, she listens to an old CD which makes her see flashbacks from her past, if she made a different decision. The concept is quite wonderful, but that's all I have to say for this book. The characters were very basic and had barely any chemistry. The writing wasn't all that engaging either, The book's also supposed to be nostalgic, with it's references and flashbacks and I was not the intended audience. If you don't have similar experiences as these characters either due to a different age or culture, you may struggle to connect.
This was a wild read, and I'm not gonna lie.....I'm actually not sure exactly how I feel about it. So for now, 3 stars and one comment: Pearl and Jessie 1000% end up together