The strongest aspect of this book is definitely the setting. While the general direction of the plot - the childhood friend love interest, the compulsion to meet the expectations of a dead parent, the pressures to succeed - focuses on fairly standard plot elements, the picture of Tobago and the difference between what tourists see and life for the average citizen makes for pretty interesting reading.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I really loved being immersed in the Tobagonian culture and it felt like I was a part of the group. I didn't necessarily like Reyna or Aiden and certainly didn't like them together, unfortunately. I lowkey hoped that Reyna and Fish and Eliza and Aiden would end up together. I loved Fish and his personality. All in all, I think this is a pretty good YA novel that immerses you in another culture.

Such a wonderful book and a perfect summer read! Sarah Dass weaves in her culture in such a beautiful way that enriches Reyna’s story. There’s certainly room to see more of these characters and I hope Reyna’s journey continues!

Sarah Dass did a beautiful job of creating this story from the imagery of Tobago and island culture to Reyna's experience of love lost and found. The audiobook was just as engrossing.
Reyna and Aiden make such a sweet and creative couple. While I could feel the chemistry between them sometimes, I kind of hoped for a bit more backstory to what they were like together as teens. There are flashbacks but so many of them are cut short by interruptions, which drives home the reality of strict Caribbean parenting, but made their relationship seem not as deep as the author was trying to imply it was.
Although this story is primarily a second chance romance, it also focuses a significant amount on Reyna's memories, grief, and relationship with her mom. This gave the story more roots, I think. Like many, Reyna struggles with building up her mom in her memories as an ideal woman but keeps remembering the rifts. She strives to make her mom proud and seems to feel as though chasing her dreams would somehow disrespect her. The Plumeria was a core part of who her mother was and it makes sense that in Reyna's grief she would cling to it. It's difficult to avoid almost deifying our family members who have passed away because it's a comfort to remember only the best of them, but that's not fair to the living and the harm that their loved ones might have inflicted. This quote felt so real to me:

"I braced for the overwhelming swell of grief that usually followed memories like this. It did not come. The memory still held a somber edge, but there was a sweetness to it as well."

Moving on from loss is different for everyone, but it was nice to read a description of how I feel when I remember them.
I love that Reyna's best friend Olivia gave her some tough love. She knew that her friend was going through something that only she could pull herself out of and that she'd regret her decision to walk away from painting later. In fact, most of the folks that Reyna interacts with are pretty supportive. They may step away from conflict sometimes, but they always address it in order to move on. This book is about moving on, but it's also about realizing (with age) that the lessons and relationships that may not have worked in the past can become better when reexamined.

This is the first second chance romance I've ever read and I think I'll be reading more after this! The Soca playlist is such a bonus, too! You can access it on my Bookish Playlists page.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for an ARC copy of this book.

3.5**
I have not read Jane Austen's persuasion so I cannot speak to that, however it was a good read.

This book reminded me a lot of Summer Bird Blue in the retrospect of grieving over a loved one and feeling trapped. I loved the Caribbean atmosphere and it really made me want to read it outside in the sun. You can also really feel the love for music in the writing which was enjoyable as hell.

My issues with the book however were that I didn't care for any of the characters and it is really hard for me to care when I do not connect. I think if it wasn't for the other elements or shortness of the book it may have been a DNF. The pace and drama were also not for me.
BUT there was redemption in the fact that there was character development.

I think readers can really enjoy this book, especially in the summer on a vacation

A sweet story about love lost, following your dreams, and love found again. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. This was just what I needed after reading some pretty heavy reads.

Full review to be posted on Forever Young Adult's blog. Mini review posted on Instagram.

BOOK REPORT for Where the Rhythm Takes You by Sarah Dass
Cover Story: Montell Jordan
BFF Charm: Big Sister
Swoonworthy Scale: 3
Talky Talk: Travel Brochure
Bonus Factor: Vacation Activities
Relationship Status: Vacation Lookie-Loo

Cover Story: Montell Jordan
How cute is that cover girl?? I love the fun summery colors, and the leaf/bird motif brings to mind Reyna’s art, so A+ for it all making sense within the context of the story.

The Deal:
Sometimes when your family runs a beautiful seaside resort that famous people want to go to, you’re going to encounter guests you’d rather you didn’t. Such is the case when, to Reyna’s dismay, internationally-famous music group, DJ Bacchanal, arrives with entourage in tow for a three-week vacay.
Reyna’s main issue is that her ex-boyfriend and amazing guy she let slip away, Aiden, is one of those DJs, and it’s clear from his expression that it wasn’t his choice to return to Tobago and see her. Her other issues? Her dad is barely participating in the running of the Plumeria while an over-eager new manager is intent on changing everything that Reyna’s mom loved about the resort, and her best friend is about to leave for their art school dream in just a few weeks. Can Reyna figure out how to fix her life before everything falls apart?

BFF Charm: Big Sister
Reyna will tell you she’s happy, but she’s a little too world-weary for a seventeen-year-old. And I get it: when your mom passes away from cancer during the formative years of your life and you feel a desperate need to continue her passion so her memory doesn’t fade…that’s gonna cause a lot of mental trauma. I longed to drag Reyna to a therapist, because the way she held herself to such exacting standards and denied herself the old pleasures of her art, her hot boyfriend, and happiness, well: the lady is careening towards a breakdown by the age of twenty.

Swoonworthy Scale: 3
It pains me to give such a low rating for the romance, and YMMV, but I was not feeling the romantic tension, like, AT ALL. Where were my tortured looks and breathless touches? The flashbacks to Reyna and Aiden’s childhood didn’t add much to convince me of the depth of their love, either.
Reyna spent too much time actively avoiding being around Aiden and was entirely too successful at it. And, unfortunately, Aiden himself was just kind of a wet blanket. I know, this trip was sprung on him and he wasn’t ready to see Reyna either, but his personality was the equivalent of a nap you wake up from still feeling unsatisfied. I guess in that aspect, he and Reyna are perfect for each other. You’re young, people! Go have fun!

Talky Talk: Travel Brochure
This is a Persuasion retelling, so the romance aspect not working for me was a big bummer. Some of the characterizations, especially for Aiden’s friend group, felt a little one-note, in that each person had their defining characteristic and that’s how they acted for most of their scenes. But I liked when Reyna had scenes with them, because, regardless, they loosened her up (the chemistry between DJ Fish and Reyna was actually much more palpable and I was totally rooting for her to get over Aiden and date his friend #sorrynotsorry).
The book’s saving grace was the setting. Goodreads informs me that Dass has lived in Tobago since she was two, and it’s apparent that she loves it because she was making me fall in love too! From the vacation-fantasy of the Plumeria to the hard-working, close-knit community of islanders, I was way more curious about how Reyna’s everyday life went than her love life.
I also highly recommend reading this while hanging out ON the beach, because hearing the waves crash on the shore only enhanced the immersive reading experience.

Bonus Factor: Vacation Activities
Reyna’s dad forces her to act as a local tour guide for Aiden’s crew—ugh, how awful!— and so she ends up joining them while they do fantastic things like horseback riding on the beach, hiking to and swimming in beautiful crystal-clear waterfalls, dancing at local restaurants, and having seaside cookouts. My god, what parental torture will he think of next?!

Relationship Status: Vacation Lookie-loo
I don’t know about you, but when I’m traveling somewhere, especially a lazy beach vacation, I always find myself people-watching. What kind of vacation are other people having? How much do the employees of this tourist attraction or resort hate the guests? My point is I will totally be peering over the top of my sunglasses at this Book, watching its drama unfold in public for all to see, but I’ll soon forget all about it once I turn back to my tropical mixed drink.

FTC Full Disclosure: I received my free review copy from Balzar + Bray. I received neither money nor peanut butter cups in exchange for this review. Where the Rhythm Takes You is available now.

A fun contemporary, perfect for those who love Jane Austen retellings!!!! Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this advanced reading copy.

This is one of my favorite books this year so far. For one thing, it's set in Tobago, the sister island to my island, Trinidad. Secondly, the main character and I share a name (just a different spelling). Also, the author includes a calypso playlist at the end, many of which I've either heard before or are already on my own playlists. Another thing is that I can actually read this book and hear my native accent through the writing; I bought the audiobook the day the book came out and the narrator also has my native accent, and I love the authenticity of that. Finally, the book is inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion, which I have yet to read but definitely will after reading this book.

Where the Rhythm Takes You is a fierce reminder to let people in and let your emotions out. A beautiful coming of age story set in Tobago and filled with love, Dass's debut novel is stunning.
Reyna is stuck. She has been ever since her mother died. She doesn't know how to grieve, doesn't know how to honor her mother while still moving forward with her life. So she stays. She works at her mother's hotel. She gives up the things she's passionate about. And she doesn't even realize the toll it takes on her.
Aiden moved on. He picked up and left her to go to America with his mother so he could pursue a career in music. Now his group is famous and they're coming back to celebrate his birthday. He can't get Reyna out of his mind since their breakup two years before.
This is a second chance love story, but it's also a story of self discovery and learning to grieve appropriately. Reyna and Aiden are both learning to find their voice to stand up for what they want. They don't want to settle for going with the flow anymore. They have worthwhile ideas to put out there, And they're no longer afraid to do it.
Their romance is passionate and nostalgia. Tension builds throughout the story as they battle their emotions independently before things come to a head. Once the dam breaks and they talk it all out, their reunion is tender. I loved the world building around the hotel Plumeria, and wanted to spend more time in their world. I've never spent much time considering Tobago, and now I feel I've been missing out on such a resplendent island.

In this story, Reyna is going on about her everyday life working in her family’s seaside resort in Tobago. That is until her childhood love Aiden comes to town with his friends as a VIP guest at the resort. This first love second chances book played in my head as a Caribbean style Hallmark movie. Hallmark movies aren’t crazy original, but they’re cute and feel good entertainment . This book is warm and sweet. I particularly love the Caribbean representation!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced e-ARC

Are you looking for a romance that covers that limited period of time between finishing high school and life as you’ve known it and stepping into a world ruled by the whims of you and your peers? Are you into romances full of mutual pining from the point of view of one lovestruck person in the main relationship? Where The Rhythm Takes You, a debut novel by Sarah Dass, is just the book you may be looking for!

DJ Bacchanal is your average chart-topping, reggae-influenced modern boy group—there’s the mysterious flirt, Fish, the friendly and dashingly handsome Leonardo Vale, and Aiden, the thoughtful and emotionally unavailable heart of the group who just so happened to break the heart of this novel’s protagonist, Reyna, two years prior. Children of Tobago, Reyna and Aiden spent many of their middle to high school summers hanging out when he wasn’t taking on a side hustle and she had time away from the seaside resort that her family owns and runs. Initially connected via their shared passion for creativity—she’s a painter and he composes music—their friendship grows into a romance that neither of them can let go of even after losing touch by the time he becomes an international pop star and she’s heading towards high school graduation. In fact, the book opens on Reyna learning that the two of them will be reunited after years apart at her family’s resort of all places. What unfolds over the course of the novel is a whirlwind of emotionally heavy weeks where multiple feelings get hurt, a video goes viral, Reyna’s closest relationships are pushed to their limit, and she is forced to examine her goals in life.

As someone who considers herself Type A, I enjoyed following Reyna’s journey to figuring out where her true desires lie versus the responsibility she feels towards keeping her mother’s dream to run the resort going long after the latter has passed away. It was Reyna’s uncertainty of whether or not her passion for art betrayed her mother’s vision for her life and if it was a dream better left to fall to the side that I most identified with. Having recently reconciled that I can follow my professional and creative pursuits simultaneously, I readily identified with Reyna’s—headstrong and misguided—decision to let go of her unrealistic dream in favor of a guarantee. However, there were some lingering questions that I had about some interactions towards the end of the book (which I’ll avoid digging into here in lieu of spoilers) that I feel went without clarity in her thought process. For instance, her father has a major reveal that I feel like Reyna reacts to without nearly enough questions. This may be left for reader interpretation but the ways in which this and components of her relationship with Aiden are left unexplained made me feel slightly unresolved with the ending.
Overall, Where the Rhythm Takes You was a delightful romance to pick up, particularly after more than a year of quarantine. Many of the descriptions of the island and people who make it a special place brought me into a vacation state of mind while also driving home what it is to lead a life in a landscape that others only think about for short periods of time. For this and the character work in much of the opening acts alone, I cannot wait to see the works Sarah Dass puts out next!

Reyna is 17 years-old and works at her family's hotel, the Plumeria in Tobago. Her days are spent ensuring the hotel runs just as smoothly as when her mother was alive since her death two years ago. It has also been two years since Aiden, her childhood best friend and first love, who moves to the U.S. when his mother remarries. Reyna has put her whole life on hold: school, moving on from Aiden (even though she says she's over it...), friendships, and what she wants for her own future. Her endless loop comes to a screeching halt when Aiden returns as a VIP guest to the Plumeria having made it big in the U.S. following his musical aspirations and is now a member of the hottest band, Grammy-nominated DJ Bacchanal.

Written in first-person from Reyna's POV, this book is about second-chance love and childhood romance. The narration includes a few chapters of the past so that readers are able to get to know young Reyna and Aiden and their blooming love. Sarah Dass writes her debut novel as a love song to Tobago with details of food, music, scenery, and the island culture from a genuine perspective. Her characters are flawed and imperfect, but readers are able to empathize with each--even socialite sisters Hailee and Eliza. This was a bittersweet, sometimes frustrating (oh how youth is wasted on the young...), heart-wrench, body-grooving read that made me want to go on an island vacation with friends. Dass is able to capture the complex relationships between children/adolescents and their parents--and especially that of mother and daughter. I truly hope Dass continues taking us on a tour of Tobago with her complex characters...but I'm also ok with her taking us to London with Olivia...

This book was ok. The mc Reyna I didn’t connect with beside the aspect of her losing a parent. The plot of the relationship with her ex didn’t give me the butterflies like other YA relationships they felt really awakened to me idk. thank you fir the early review copy.

This story takes the bones of Jane Austen's Persuasion and moves them to modern-day Tobago. The setting was stupendous. I really got a feel for the island and the community. I liked the characters and their complexities. However, I felt like the main character got bogged down at times with all the tragedy of her back story. For that reason, the story felt slow in places. Overall, I enjoyed it and thought it was a good contemporary read.

Thank you to Netgally and the publisher for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

- hi hello yes I’d like a one way ticket to tobago so I can stay at the plumeria and do all the incredible things the group does please. YES for beautiful book settings
- THE ENDING. SO SWEET AND PERFECT! guess you’ll have to read it to see what happens;)
- I’ve never read persuasion, so I don’t know if this is a good retelling or not, but I loved the story. I’m not usually one for second chance romance books, but I liked this one because the setting drew me in so much, and overall it worked. it seemed like aiden changed so much since he left that it didn’t feel like a do over at love, it felt like reyna was falling for a new person
- people in the book speak in a realistic tobagonian dialect... this would be a really good audiobook!
- it definitely takes forever for the romance to start. at 60% aiden and reyna can still hardly talk to each other and if feels like not much has really happened. be still my romantic heart and let this unfold
- FISH, oh man, I want to be his friend
- love love love all the music in this. it’s so personal for all of the characters and backstories. all of the song lyrics were original and good. I’m ready for dj bacchanal to become real and release hyperbolic haha
- I love the interweaving of timelines. some chapters were in the present and some were in the past. it took a while for some things to be revealed, but once they were things clicked and moved faster

I received this young adult fiction novel from NetGalley as in ARC. Reyna And Aiden were childhood sweethearts before they had a falling out and he left the Caribbean to become a famous songwriter. For years she has stayed on her island mourning the death of her mother and helping her father run the family hotel. It isn’t until Aidan returns as a hotel guest that Reyna realizes she must face her true feelings about her first love. The setting of this novel was beautiful and the main characters were complex and likable. I would recommend this to any teen girls.

I’m a sucker for any Jane Austen retelling. The characters were wonderful and the story was really engaging. Never skimmed. A great read, would definitely recommend.

I really enjoyed this one! It follows 17 year old Reyna who is gearing up to take over her mother's hotel after her death on the island of Tobago. A group of celebrities decide to take a vacation at the hotel and one of them just so happens to be Reyna's ex Aiden. They broke up two years ago and now he's suddenly back in her life. Is this their second chance? I really love second chance romances. I'm a firm believer that just because a relationship doesn't work the first time doesn't mean that you can't grow separately and find each other later. It's cool to see this dynamic in a YA novel. I also love the exploration of grief in this book. Reyna is trying to come to reckoning with her moms death and at the same time try to live up to the ideals her mother had for her life. Parental expectations can be so hard to live up to so it's great to see Reyna figuring out how to go after her own dreams. Any teenager reading this can relate to this expectations and lets be honest your parents still have expectations when you're grown as well. I also love the exploration of Tobagonian culture. The author wrote such vivid imagery of the island from the ocean, to the waterfalls, to the storms. I could also imagine the food and drinks described and wanted so badly to try them. Overall, this is a fun and heartfelt story of second chance love and what it means to pursue your dreams no matter what others say.