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A review by lololovesthings
The Backtrack by Erin La Rosa
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5 stars.
"The Backtrack" by Erin La Rosa is the kind of book that is made for someone like me, full of 2000s era nostalgia and earmarkers of my youth. That's what drew me to this novel in the first place. I am of the age where all of the songs, bands, and cultural phenomenon discussed in this book we're relevant to me and my friend group. I love the idea of a possessed Walkman used as a conduit to show the main female character, Sam, what could have been if she had only done one thing differently in her life: kissed her best friend, Damon. When they were teenagers, Damon asked if he could kiss Sam... and she declined. Shortly after their high school graduation, she left their small Georgia town and never looked back. Since then she has become a pilot, But is seemingly haunted by her decision not to kiss Damon. Circumstances are such that she must return to her hometown after promising not to. She has to move her grandma Pearl ut of her childhood home and has come to help. This means drudging up old memories, including the ones attached to the mixtape/mix-CD Damon made for her when they were younger. Whenever sam listens to one of the tracks on her Walkman, She is transported into a timewarped alternate reality where she had kissed Damon and her life was drastically different, some good, some bad. I liked about fifty percent of this book. Once Sam's mom, Bonnie, comes back into the picture, I think the book's pacing really slows to a crawl. While I don't hate this storyline, I think it is so slowly paced ompared to the rest of the book that I almost did not finish it. I liked Sam and Damon as characters individually, but I did not feel a lot of chemistry between them as a couple. In both timelines, I did not feel anything for them. There is not a lot of banter and not a lot of pining despite years of time between them. Even when they finally get over all of the obstacles in their way in the present actual reality, I can't really say I was rooting for them or excited when they got together. I really liked how Sam wanted to take care of herself above all else because the role model she had in her mom growing up was not good/was absent. She wanted to be the complete opposite of Bonnie, and she managed to somewhat do that... but at what cost? Despite Bonnie showing up about sixty percent into the book, it feels like there is not a lot of resolution until the very last bit of the story. Sam gains a new perspective on Bonnie being a teenage mother and comes to terms with the fact that she was not there for her while she was growing up because of her own trauma related to being a teen mom and being scared. Apart from sam I did not have any big feelings towards any other character in this book. I did not like Sam's present day best friend, Rachel, at all. Though the circumstances were a little zany, I felt like she was not a very good, supportive friend to Sam. I was excited to see the saucy grandma character, Pearl, and learn about her shenanigans because I love a good nasty/dirty old lady character, but she felt flat for me as well. All in all, this book is a mixed bag.
Thank you to NetGalley, Erin La Rosa, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Canary Street Press for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.
"The Backtrack" by Erin La Rosa is the kind of book that is made for someone like me, full of 2000s era nostalgia and earmarkers of my youth. That's what drew me to this novel in the first place. I am of the age where all of the songs, bands, and cultural phenomenon discussed in this book we're relevant to me and my friend group. I love the idea of a possessed Walkman used as a conduit to show the main female character, Sam, what could have been if she had only done one thing differently in her life: kissed her best friend, Damon. When they were teenagers, Damon asked if he could kiss Sam... and she declined. Shortly after their high school graduation, she left their small Georgia town and never looked back. Since then she has become a pilot, But is seemingly haunted by her decision not to kiss Damon. Circumstances are such that she must return to her hometown after promising not to. She has to move her grandma Pearl ut of her childhood home and has come to help. This means drudging up old memories, including the ones attached to the mixtape/mix-CD Damon made for her when they were younger. Whenever sam listens to one of the tracks on her Walkman, She is transported into a timewarped alternate reality where she had kissed Damon and her life was drastically different, some good, some bad. I liked about fifty percent of this book. Once Sam's mom, Bonnie, comes back into the picture, I think the book's pacing really slows to a crawl. While I don't hate this storyline, I think it is so slowly paced ompared to the rest of the book that I almost did not finish it. I liked Sam and Damon as characters individually, but I did not feel a lot of chemistry between them as a couple. In both timelines, I did not feel anything for them. There is not a lot of banter and not a lot of pining despite years of time between them. Even when they finally get over all of the obstacles in their way in the present actual reality, I can't really say I was rooting for them or excited when they got together. I really liked how Sam wanted to take care of herself above all else because the role model she had in her mom growing up was not good/was absent. She wanted to be the complete opposite of Bonnie, and she managed to somewhat do that... but at what cost? Despite Bonnie showing up about sixty percent into the book, it feels like there is not a lot of resolution until the very last bit of the story. Sam gains a new perspective on Bonnie being a teenage mother and comes to terms with the fact that she was not there for her while she was growing up because of her own trauma related to being a teen mom and being scared. Apart from sam I did not have any big feelings towards any other character in this book. I did not like Sam's present day best friend, Rachel, at all. Though the circumstances were a little zany, I felt like she was not a very good, supportive friend to Sam. I was excited to see the saucy grandma character, Pearl, and learn about her shenanigans because I love a good nasty/dirty old lady character, but she felt flat for me as well. All in all, this book is a mixed bag.
Thank you to NetGalley, Erin La Rosa, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Canary Street Press for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.
Content Warnings
Minor: Infidelity, Miscarriage