This book is touted as a contemporary update of Sense and Sensibility. I'm not familiar with the plot of that novel, so I can't speak to it's connection to this book.

I chose to read this because I'm a cruise lover and obviously I have to read everything I find that is set on a cruise ship. So I had really high hopes for this one going in.

Unfortunately, my high hopes dropped fast. While I really enjoyed the beginning of this novel and was excited to read - I quickly realized that the characters did nothing for me. I wasn't a fan of any of them, except maybe Brandon, poor guy! And it's hard to get into a story when the characters are just so unlikeable.

I also felt like a lot of what was happening in regards to life on board the cruise ship seemed a bit unrealistic and was a stretch to believe.

Margaret is going on a cruise with her sisters the summer before she starts college. She learns a lot about her sisters and their personalities she didn’t really understand before. Now she’s trying to find out who she is by herself. Cruise ship, beach settings, a little romance. It wasn’t my favorite, but it doesn’t mean it won’t be someone else’s and it was a cute read overall.

📖 The Details:
Dashed by Amanda Quain

⏱️ Quick Summary
Margaret and her sisters, Marianne and Elinor, embark on a summer cruise for Elinor's husband's job. As they board, Marianne announces she broke up with her long-term boyfriend, so Margaret makes it her mission to find a new guy for her on the ship, enlisting the help of a new friend, Gabe, who also works on the cruise.

💁‍♀️ My Take
Not a huge fan of this one. Maybe I was in a mood, maybe it's because I had never read Sense and Sensibility, which this is based off of, but I just didn't vibe with it at all. The writing was ok, the characters were meh, the storyline just didn't interest me. I had a lot of questions for the characters, mostly, why?? I think it's probably a great read for someone who enjoys super cheesy, easy YA and has probably read some Jane Austen. 2 stars, sorry! ⭐️⭐️

This was a cute summer read, and I especially loved that it took place in a cruise ship. However, I found Margaret to be annoying at times, which is why this rating is only three stars. The role that her family played in the book was an interesting one to see, since in so many young adult books, the MC’s family are just minor characters. In this book, I’d definitely say the family element is the main theme of this book, with the romance as more of a side story, which was nice to see.

Thank you to St. Martin’s press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dashed is a modern reimagining of Sense and Sensibility. I feel like the author did an outstanding job of capturing the essence of the original characters and putting them in a contemporary setting. Margaret has one more summer before she heads to college. She will be spending the summer on a cruise ship with Elinor and Edward and it seems idyllic. That is until sister Marianne unexpectedly turns up freshly out of a relationship with Brandon to throw the summer into chaos. Margaret vacillates between being like her controlled and in charge sister Elinor and trying to be like free spirited romantic Marianne. With the help of Gabe a member of the crew, Margaret tries to find a new romance for her sister Marianne. Of course, she wants no part of her growing feelings for Gabe, because love is messy and hurts people.

There were many parts of the book that I really liked. I think the ending had potential but didn't quite make the mark for me. I appreciate the sentiment that was being reached for but I needed it to feel more authentic. I still recommend this delightful YA romance as it is a enjoyable read.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

It seems like ages since I started and completed my project of reading the 5 Austen novels I never had. P&P is my favorite, but I thought Northanger Abbey was fun, so I reviewed and enjoyed Ghosted. That led me to try this newest novel in Quain’s set of retellings.

I had a long break in the middle of reading S&S, so I’m not as familiar with that one. I couldn’t even remember that there was a younger Dashwood sister! Because of that, I can’t say whether Margaret’s characterization felt accurate. I appreciated Quain’s strategy of using her to highlight the differences between Elinor’s sensibility and Marianne’s passion. It was definitely a more modern approach than following the elder sisters’ quests to land husbands.

This might be intended as a retelling, but it’s also a story of summer love and finding yourself. This was more clearly a romance novel than Ghosted, and I don’t read many romances, but there was enough character and plot to keep me going.

I really loved the overall idea behind this book. The story is about sisters Elinor and Margaret Dashwood who book a cruise specifically without their sister Marianne. Marianne has other plans and needs this cruise to get over a recent break up. I enjoyed seeing a cast of characters I loved and admired so much in Sense and Sensibility, but got sort of tired of the relationships and did not finish reading. This book would perfect for avid Austen fans and retelling fans! It just was not my typical genre and I would encourage anyone to read it to form their own opinion.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this!

Take Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and set it in modern day and on a cruise ship, and you’ll get this fun rom-com read!
In Amanda Quain’s Dashed, we follow Margaret as she has a summer filled with adventures, family drama, love, and finding out who she really is.
Highly recommended!

Emotions. That is the word that resounded throughout the book. Sisters feelings, love emotions, and even in-law emotions. I like the whole cruise setting. The story is a bit quirky and fun too. But when it comes down to it who can you count on to look for you in a storm? How we perceive other peoples lives isn't always the real story. An entertaining book

Amanda Quain knows her primary source material, and I'm a huge fan of her reimaginings of Jane Austen. I studied Austen fairly in-depth in college, and one of my papers was about Margaret Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility. She is the youngest of the Dashwood siblings, and there's a fairly significant age gap between Elinor (sense) and Marianne (sensibility) in the novel. She seems to be a superfluous character with no real purpose in the novel. I concluded that she does have a purpose. Marianne's sensibility, untempered by sense, sets an example that puts Margaret's future in doubt should she choose the path of the middle sister. ( I could get into some Jacobin vs. Anti-Jacobin politics too, but I don't remember much about it). Austen, however, drops the Margaret Dashwood ball. We are left to merely infer that she will be okay because Marianne's romantic nature has been tempered at the end of the book by her marriage to Colonel Brandon.

Enter Amanda Quain, who picks up the ball and runs with it. Time and place are updated to a modern cruise ship (love that for a quest of self-discovery) as in Margaret's age. She is now 18 and about to leave for college. She has been modeling herself on her always prepared, safe sister Elinor and her equally stable husband Edward Ferrars, a minister. Margaret has seen the hurts, both physical and emotional, that her sister Marianne's emotion-driven lifestyle has incurred and is determined to live a careful, planned life. As a graduation present she joins her brother-in-law and sister for six weeks on a cruise ship where Edward will be serving as the chaplain. Immediately, a hyper-emotional Marianne shows up unannounced to join the trip, wounded from a recent breakup and wanting to be around her family. At first, Margaret attacks the problem of Marianne like she thinks Elinor would- sensibly and logically. She wants to prove to Elinor that she has become a capable adult. To her consternation, Marianne is a force that blows past the boundaries of anyone's plans and, even worse, sometimes, it's actually a more fulfilling and enjoyable way to experience life. Margaret finds herself untethered because the life she had planned isn't working for her, but she also knows the dangers of only following one's heart. Eventually, Margaret starts to realize she isn't Elinor OR Marianne and will have to figure out what it means to be Margaret herownself. Like all Austen's heroines, romance with a suitable young man is also at stake in learning who she really is. Will Margaret get it together in time, or will her hopes be dashed?

After her second book, Amanda Quain had become a must read author for me... and Dashed did not disappoint.

I actually went on my first ever cruise this year, so I was extra excited to see Jane Austen characters reworked into a modern setting on a cruise!

I also love the idea of taking a character I tend to forget even existed (Margaret Dashwood) and making her the centre. And as a fellow Margaret who is affectionately called Mags... that thrilled me as well.

The romance is sweet and once again I found myself rereading passages because they were just so delightful.

Most of all, though, I really enjoy how the author treats Edward. It felt like an excellent capture of his character and was a reworking/modernization done perfectly - in my opinion.

I thought this was a great book. It discusses how grief and love can change the way you view your life. I also liked the setting of a cruise ship because it made things seem more chaotic and fun! I like Amanda Quain’s writing style. She knows how to craft a story that’s fun but also full of hope. This is a great book for young adults and adults alike!

This book is perfect for Jane Eyre lovers - a modern Sense and Sensibility!

This was a story about Margaret and her sisters as they battle loss and try to find love. It was set on a cruise ship which is just SO fun to me. Margaret is preparing for her final summer before college and gets to join her brother in law when he works on a cruise.

Getting to cruise all summer would be a dream - and with your siblings?! It was so fun to watch these sisters grow and understand each other better!

I really enjoyed Margaret and Gabe. They had a very innocent and sweet “first love” relationship feel!

It’s definitely written for the YA audience - if you are looking for a cute summer read, this was very entertaining!

Thank you Netgalley and St Martins Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Boats, beaches, sun, summer and a reboot of a classic? This was so fun! A fun take on Sense and Sensibility and overall a really enjoyable summer time read.

It is the summer before her freshman year in college and Margaret is about to embark on the summer of her dreams. Free from the drama that is her middle sister, Marianne,. Margaret tags along with her eldest sister and husband as he works as a chaplain on a cruise ship. As they are about to depart, Marianne crashes the trip informing the family she just broke up with her boyfriend.

This was a DNF at 21%. There are just so many aspects of this that don’t make sense to me. Let’s pretend that Elinor’s husband gets to bring his family with him as a cruise member. How does that possibly extend to his sister-in-laws? Six weeks for free on a cruise ship? I’m not buying it, especially the last minute addition of Marianne. Elinor doesn’t bat an eyelash at her proclamation. It’s like no additional arrangements were required? You can just decide your going on a cruise the morning of? The author touches upon family hardship growing up so they certainly weren't paying their own way.

Then it just gets downright unbelievable when Margaret enlists Gage, a member of the theater’s tech squad and a lifelong cruiser, to help her find a man to distract her sister with. So she auditions them. Literally, they take turns like a talent show on a stage auditioning for the position of Marianne (whom they’ve not met)’s date. Marianne is also 8 years older and would be 25. If the author had made it so that Margaret was secretly interviewing people without their knowledge to see if they were candidates for her sister, I would have bought that but not presented this way. You either need to be so far from reality that suspending my disbelief is inevitable or you better stick to reality because I don't know how to process anything in between.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm sorry, but.....I could not stand Margaret. She kept acting like her life was SO hard and.....it really wasn't. She was on a cruise for crying out loud.
Margaret made it seem like her sister joining her was the worst thing in the world, her excuse? "I don't want to get roped into her drama", and yet....she would stick to her like glue, not letting Marianne do ANYTHING alone. And she had to nerve to call Elinor suffocating? Ugh.
Elinor was nothing but sweet and I just hated how Margaret would go on and on about how her sisters made her life hard when it did it all to HERSELF!
The novel was so repetitive! The amount of times Margaret would be all "I'm making myself into Elinor", "I'm trying to channel Marianne", "I'm copying my sisters" while also "They don't let me be me booo" smh
The book gets two stars though. One for Gabe, who was WONDEFUL and the best part of this book, and the other for Elinor and Edward, who I can't believe Margaret dismissed as "sensible couple" just because they lacked PDA smh
This is the 21st century, people don't actually (or rarely) do marriage of conveniences. And she knew Marianne could be toxic but decided to copy that instead? All while using and abuse a boys heart? Gabe took all of it like a champ and she didn't deserve him.
She was purposely hurting others supposedly so SHE wouldn't get hurt, but she was the only one hurting herself! Her life approach was very unrealistic and illogical and dumb smh
Yeah....I've had enough of Margaret and glad it's over 😅
Such a shame because I really REALLY loved Gabe. Also the family moment they had in the end? Good! Unfortunately it came way to late, with Margaret being annoying for 85% of the book 😮‍💨

I loved this retelling of Sense and Sensibility! Amanda Quain's previous retelling of Austen's works have been spot on, and Dashed doesn't disappoint. The setting was perfect-what beats a cruise ship for six weeks?!?-and Margaret and her sisters made for wonderful leading ladies. A must read for any lover of YA romance novels!
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

A Sense and Sensibility inspired romance, Dashed is a quirky story of the loveable Dashwoods on a cruise.

Margaret has the trip of a lifetime planned, a 6 week tour on a cruise along with her older sister and husband. She is sworn off romance and prepare to have a fantastic time relaxing with her sister. As they board, however, her other sister appears. Marianne has left her boyfriend and will be sharing Margaret's room and impeding on every single one of her plans.

Margaret knows her sister and she knows that all she needs to do is to find her a new love. When this idea takes shape, she becomes obsessed with creating the summer romance of a lifetime for Marianne. With help from others, she rushes forward into uncharted waters and may miss the signs of romance for herself.
So cute, and fun, this is a perfect summer beach read or boat read if you are lucky en0ugh to go on a cruise! .#stmartins #dashed #amandaquain #dashwoods

This was a cute YA modern retelling of characters from Sense and Sensibility. I thought it was a lot of fun to have it all take place on a cruise ship (I absolutely love cruises). It wasn’t overly deep; most of it revolved around Margaret trying to decide which sister she wanted to be like. However, it was a sweet read and now I want to watch the movie version of Sense and Sensibility again and swoon over the love stories.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

I'm a sucker for a Jane Austen retelling, especially since I think Sense and Sensibility might be my favorite.

This one is told from Margaret's perspective, the youngest Dashwood sister. She doesn't get a huge role in the book, so that made things interesting. After the year where their father died, Marianne got her heart broken and that lead to a car crash that almost killed both Margaret and Marianne, she's sworn off love. No more being nonsensical.

Elinor and Edward are married, and he's the chaplain on a cruise ship. As a graduation present, Margaret gets to join them before she starts college. Then Marianne comes in announcing she's broken up with Brandon, the man who saved both Margaret and Marianne. Knowing she will need to take care of her sister, Margaret goes to create a summer of distraction for Marianne, only to find herself distracted.

Cute. I love Quain's Austen retellings and I'm here for them. Thanks, NetGalley!