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A review by bookish_platypus
The Backtrack by Erin La Rosa
4.0
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!