Thank you NetGalley, Wednesday Books and author Amanda Quain for this arc!

What a fun summer romp this was! Dashed is a super cute, modern YA retelling of Sense and Sensibility. … and although I’ve never read Jane Austen’s classic tale (gasp!) I didn’t feel like that took away from being able to enjoy and relate to these characters or this adaptation of the story.

It’s the perfect coming of age read with fake dating, light family drama, adventure, sisterhood bonds and sweet romance. Plus, the setting is 6 weeks living on a cruise ship … what’s not to love about that!

Overall this is a charming, lighthearted read that is fast paced and entertaining … a great choice for a few hours of blissful summertime escape!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

I really enjoyed "Ghosted" by this author. This one, however, didn't connect with me as much. I just didn't get our main character, Margaret. In fact, she was not a very likeable character. She used to want to be like her free-spirited sister Marianne until the accident. Then she avoided that sister and became obsessed with being like her sensible sister, Elinor. Margaret's whole plan on the cruise ship to me seemed cruel. Marianne's long-term relationship just ended, and she was going to force her into dating situations...not to mention how she treated Gabe.

Fast forward six weeks, and after everything that occurred there is an "aha moment" and a declaration of love. I just didn't feel very invested in the storyline. I still will check out future writings...

2.5 stars

3.5 ⭐️ rounded to 4

This book was a cute YA summer read. It uses some classic young adult theme such as identity searching and love. The story was entertaining and it was a quick light read. I loved watching Margaret evolve throughout the story and how she really got into her own by the end. One thing I had a harder time with is that it read a bit younger than what I’m used to (you see it mostly in Margaret’s internal dialog and how she acts and reacts) and there is some redundancy that can get tiresome. Overall I thought it was a cute story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun YA read with lots of summer vacay vibes so it’s a perfect vacation read! I loved that it was an updated version of Sense and Sensibility. I feel like each character in this novel had a unique personality and it would be easy for anyone to find a character in the story to relate to. I really related to Margaret’s need to follow her plans and to not be spontaneous. This part of her character really made me feel seen.

I thought the plot of this book was fun. Who wouldn’t want to spend an entire summer on a cruise ship with her sisters and a cute boy?! I thought the sister dynamics between the three girls was also very interesting. Although, the sisters were great, my absolute favorite character was Edward. He was just the best! The way he watched out for Margaret and the deep conversations they had were precious.

I ended up only giving this book 3 stars because I felt like it dragged on a bit. I really loved the beginning and the last 5 chapters or so really picked up pace, but there was quite a bit in the middle where I had to force myself to read and get through it.

Overall though, this is a fun YA book that would definitely make a good beach read.

A redo of Jane Austen characters on a cruise boat. What is not to love with that? Think this one will explode on social media because it's so fun.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. I have been very lucky to receive an ARC of each of Quain's Austen remixes and have really enjoyed them all. I do not know Sense & Sensibility as well as other Austen books (not surprising) so I did not recall a third Dashwood sister or her story. This, however, was a really great view into the original with a great twist. Readers will ask is it better to be an Elinor or Marianne and Margaret is our stand-in to answer the question. If you like Austen, you will like this. 4 stars.

I adored Ghosted, the last book by the author, so I had really high hopes for this one, but I didn't end up loving it. I thought the characters were really widely drawn, there was a lot of repetition, and I didn't understand why Gabe would be interested in Margaret. It seemed like she just kept asking him for things from the beginning and I didn't really see their actual relationship develop. Maybe this one will work for younger YA audiences? But even then I think there was just a lot in this one that didn't make sense or add up. Thanks for the opportunity to read it! I posted a spotlight of the book instead of a review.

Rating: 4/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

Margaret lives her life with lists, notes and plans just like her oldest sister. She chose this kind of life after her sister Marianne (who is the world’s biggest romantic) got her heart broken and crashed the car with Margaret inside. She used to be just like Marianne but after that day she decided to follow in her bigger sisters’ footsteps Elinor. So, when Elinor and her husband Edward go on a cruise for his work Margaret decides to come along because it’s her last summer with her family before she goes away for college. Little does the whole family know but Marianne is going to be on the ship with them the whole time, and not because she wants to be there for her family but because she is running from a problem that was caused in her relationship. Margaret will do whatever she can to make sure that she is not saddled with Marianne the whole time on the ship and finds men that will work great for Marianne, but while doing so Margaret finds out that her heart she thought once was made from ice, isn’t and she starts to fall for a cruise tech guy. How will the summer end? Will these sisters mend their relationships with each other and with love or will they find more heartache?

I don’t hate Jane Austen Sense and Sensibility but the way this author wrote this book I found myself loving it. I thought the vacation aspect of this book made it come to life and added a lot more complications and issues that these sisters had to work through. I also liked the romance side of this book, it wasn’t just 1 character that had to understand romance more but all of them had a little something to work on in their relationships, whether that be with their spouse or their family or a cute boy that they met on the ship. I found the plot to be something new, and that I just visited some of the places that the author wrote about in this book just earlier this year. I thought the romance side of this book was well done and the author didn’t rush into anything right away but definitely was a slow burn and took an “light bulb moment” to make everything click together. The characters in this book are what really made this a great read.

The characters are well developed, you will fall in love with these sisters and find yourself thinking of them as your friends. I liked that they were each relatable and easy to connect with. Even Gabe, the very attractive cruise tech guy that Margaret literally falls into his lap. I found Margaret to be the perfect middle sister even though she is the youngest of them. She has the best of both of her sisters, and she really doesn’t realize it until about 75% of the book and from there you will be swiped up into a beautiful wrap up of this book. Gabe was a gentleman and never pushed Margaret to understand her feelings but made sure that she understood she was safe with him. I think that is really what helped her to understand her own feelings towards him.

If you want a cute, fast-paced book, with great characters and a good plot for the summer you should read this book. I didn’t read the first two books and I was able to understand everything that was going on, but I will be adding them to my TBR.

I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin Press for the opportunity to review this book.

I don’t read a ton of retellings but a Jane Austen retelling sounded right up my alley !!!

I enjoyed this one and thought the setting of a cruise ship was super unique and a was pleasantly surprised that it played almost as much a character as the Dashwood sisters.

The Dashwood sisters love stories- both romantic and self love - were fully explored and each gave a unique perspective.

Would recommend.

A blatant cash-in that had nothing beyond names and narrator-told characteristics lifted from Austen's SENSE AND SENSIBILITY. Margaret was alternatingly annoying and unbelievable, and the other sisters were hampered by the narrative voice telling the reader what to think about them rather than letting them develop into their own characters.

I probably ought to have noped out at the start, when Margeret is oh poor me-ing all over the page, having to go on a cruise. This was obviously not the book to gain my sympathy, but others will disagree.

I usually love books by this author but this one didn't hook me like they normally do.

I think it's because I am not a fan of Margarets. She was too narotic and I just could not connect with her.

The plot was so great and I thought this reimagining was so clever I just needed Margaret to be... less.

Loved the ending! I also find sometimes it's my mood so I do have the audio coming up and my review may change yet.

3.5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via the publisher and Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This was a cute YA romance. It is super clean if you are looking for something a little more on the innocent side. This has some hand holding and kissing but nothing more than that, so it is perfect for younger readers despite the main character being 18. This follows Margaret or Mags as people close to her call her on her summer vacation. Her brother-in-law has landed a summer job as ship's chaplain on the Queen Mab and Margaret has decided to tag along for the summer with her older sister Elinor before she heads off to college in the fall. Margaret has been emulating Elinor for the past few years, despite her personality traits more aligning to those of their middle sister Marianne. Margaret isn't really sure who she really is because she is always trying to be care free, impulsive Marianne or practical, level headed Elinor. Their family was rocked by a year of tragedy several years ago and to cope with her trauma Margaret has decided she is going to do everything Elinor does.

Margaret has her entire cruise planned out, when Marianne crashes the cruise. Margaret does what she thinks is best and develops an elaborate plan to create dates for her sister to make her happy. While she is crafting this grand plan, she develops a friendship turned fake relationship with Gabe a member of the crew. They hit it off immediately and he and Mags spend lots of time hanging out and planning dates for themselves and Marianne. Margaret is determined to keep her feelings locked up tight, but Gabe is slowly breaking down her walls. When a hurricane derails the entire cruise Margaret has to face her feelings not only for the boy she has gotten to know over the last few weeks but all of the feelings she has kept bottled up about her sisters and her place in their family.

I really liked the character development in this. Margaret was slow to figure out what she needed to, but she eventually gets there. This read a little young for my tastes, but this will be perfect for younger readers. I loved Edward (the brother in law) he gave great advice and was an unlikely sounding board for our girl when she really needed it.

Overall this was a super sweet YA romance. It is a perfect summer read!

This was a solid attempt but was a bit lacking for me. Margaret was a tad irksome as the book went on and I wasn't invested enough in her because of this, as she is the main character this took me out of the story and I found myself skimming at points.

However, I do love the perspective of modernizing Sense & Sensibility and setting it on a cruise ship over the summer. I think this could be a really fun and sweet quick summer read for some, it was just a miss for me.

Thank you to Wednesday Books, St Martins Press, and NetGalley for the arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Sigh. This should be light and fun, a great beach read. Instead, it's obnoxious. Margaret is a very young 18 who models her whole personality around whichever sister she's not mad at that day. She is spending her summer out at sea with her oldest sister and brother in law. Then her middle sister shows up after a breakup and she decides the best thing for her is to immediately start dating again. Marianne agrees, but only if Margaret dates too. But Margaret doesn't date, so there's a whole fake dating scenario.

My main issue is that Margaret is so naive and absolutely immature. She's a little ball of confusion that takes it out on everyone in her life. It was hard reading from her perspective the whole time and I didn't enjoy it. Her sisters, in turn, where simply a mish mash of different tropes that were never filled in to form a real person. And don't even get me started on how Margaret treated Gabe.

Overall, it's just a lackluster fake dating book. There are far better ones. 2.75 stars.

I want to start by thanking the author and publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy of the book. I thought this book was just okay. I just didn’t buy in on the story line.

Amanda Quain's previous book, Ghosted, was pure fun, so I was excited to see her spin on Sense and Sensibility. Sadly, Dashed didn't work quite as well for me.

I appreciate that Quain's books aren't complete Austen retellings. It was a fun idea to focus on Margaret, who we don't get much of in Sense and Sensibility. I initially liked that Margaret has Marianne tendencies but very much wanted to be an Elinor; however, I never connected with any of the characters and some of the conflict felt forced.

Admittedly, Sense and Sensibility isn't my favorite book. I'll be on the lookout for future books by Quain and keep in mind that I'll probably like the ones that focus on my favorite Austen books best.

I picked this up because I was intrigued by the premise - not a straight modern retelling of Sense & Sensibility, but a modern continuation of the Dashwood sisters' story.

Margaret is a really fun character in this setting, trying desperately to figure out who she is away from the influence of her older sisters. I even really liked her sweet romance with Gabe, and the summer-at-sea setting.

What didn't work for me was the balance between Margaret's sister drama and her fake-dating-but-oops-I-fell-in-love love story. One always seemed to overtake the other and it kind of gave me whiplash, going back and forth between the two.

Yes, I laughed; yes, I connected with the sister dynamics; but overall it was just an okay story for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Genre: Romance
Age Level: Upper YA
Content: some language, kisses

This time, Quain treats us to a retelling of Sense and Sensibility, from youngest sister Margaret’s point of view—and sets it on a cruise ship!

Once again, Quain’s protagonist is trying to help her family to recover from trauma (again, the loss of a father) by turning herself into the perfect daughter and student, never causing trouble or drama. When her sister Marianne suddenly breaks up with boyfriend Brandon, Margeret is bummed that Marianne has invited herself on a trip that was supposed to give Margaret time with eldest sister Elinor. To fix the problem and get chaotic Marianne out of the way, Margaret decides to set Marianne up with a new romance, and enlists Gabe’s help to do so.

As Margaret and Gabe spend more time together in a fake-romance scenario so Marianne won’t worry about Margaret, they grow closer. Of course, things don’t always go smoothly, usually because of Margaret being so uptight and trying too hard to make things go as she thinks they should.

It takes a hurricane and a near-tragedy for Margaret to learn that many the things she thought about the nature of love and romance were untrue, and how to find love for herself.

As with Quain’s other books, the characters are all well-drawn, with enough similarities to Austen’s examples for us to recognize them, without resorting to sheer mimicry. She gives us a relatively minor character and brings her to life in the modern world, with modern problems.

But here’s the thing: I really hope Quain continues with her Austen retellings. But after three books, the basic premise of a young woman discovering what she really wants in the midst of a broken family is beginning to feel kind of…done. I hope she can find some new stories to tell us.

Possible Objectionable Material:
Swearing, including the F-word. Underage drinking. Kissing. References to sex. Parental death. Dysfunctional families. Same-gender couples.

Who Might Like This Book:
Those who, like me, enjoy a good Austen retelling. Anyone who likes to see characters grow and develop and find their voice.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

This book is also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2024/07/modern-jane-austen.html

I love a re-telling so I was super excited to receive the ARC of this one! The romance was sweet and I loved the idea of the book. But, I felt like something was lacking and felt a little bored. Would still recommend if you love re-tellings though.

3.5 stars rounded up. This was a cute modern take on Sense and Sensibility starring Margaret, the youngest Dashwood sister.

Margaret was a frustratingly relatable characters, often with an emphasis on the frustrating part. Her relationships with her sisters and Edward were the highlight of the book for me. Her romance with Gabe was cute but her actions there were often the frustrating ones I mentioned.

I liked the cruise ship setting and the way the characters were brought into the current era. I felt like the author did a pretty decent job of modernizing them. All in all, I'd say this was a cute, quick read that isn't nearly as good as the original (naturally) but fun to read in its own right.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.