3.5 stars. I got an arc of this and it was my first book by this author. I liked the characters and the storyline. It held many emotions and it definitely made me tear up. This book was very heavy on music. I like music in general like most people however it was somewhat hard for me to follow and I definitely didn't know at least half of the songs mentioned. Tropes/themes in this book include college romance, bad boy musician, workplace, he falls first, light sports and forbidden. Content warnings: mention of drug use, cancer, abuse, murder, suicide, sexual assault/rape, grief, car accident and injury.

THE SOUND OF US by Sarah Castille is a contemporary, new adult, erotic, romance story line focusing on journalism student Skye Jordan, and twenty-three year old, law student/ DJ Dante Romano.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Skye and Dante) THE SOUND OF US follows the building relationship between on journalism student Skye Jordan, and twenty-three year old, law student/ DJ Dante Romano. Approximately eighteen months ago, in an instant, Skye Jordan’s life spiralled out of control. Fast forward to present day, after a leave of absence, in the hopes of making the women’s basketball team, Skye returns to Havencrest U, where she will meet bad boy and DJ Dante Romano but all does not go according to plan, and Skye finds herself on the precipice of change, including the possibility of starting over somewhere else. At the proverbial eleventh hour, Skye is offered a journalism scholarship, an internship at the campus radio station where she will fall for a man whose own demons are dangerous and dark. As Skye begins to research a series of questionable events for her journalism assignments, our couple find themselves struggling to move on from the past.

The world building focuses on several pathways including the revelation of Dante’s demons, and Skye’s past but as Skye begins to dig deeper into a couple of stories, everything becomes personal and dangerous for the people she loves. Meanwhile, Dante is battling his father for control, a man who doesn’t like to be told no.

The relationship between Dante and Skye is one of immediate attraction based on a love of music. Their back and forth communication using song lyrics, titles and playlists was complex; their lack of communication and misunderstandings were the catalysts for many arguments and withdrawals. The $ex scenes are intimate and impassioned.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and energetic secondary and supporting characters including co-workers, friends, family, athletes, and mentors, all who play a significant role in our couple’s lives. I hope the author has plans for some of the other characters.

THE SOUND OF US is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and obsession, power and control, family and friendships, acceptance and love. The premise is dramatic, haunting, emotional and thought-provoking; the romance is spicy and seductive; the characters are animated, sassy and determined.


THE READING CAFÉ: https://www.thereadingcafe.com/the-sound-of-us-by-sarah-castille-a-review/


GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6593378468


BOOKBUB: https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/405964685


B&N (Sandy_thereadingcafe) https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sound-of-us-sarah-castille/1144473345?ean=9781250289919&bvnotificationId=6f1c65f4-ad22-11ef-88b6-0afffb83998f&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=hotmail.com#review/326249022


GOOGLE PLAY (Sandy Sch) posted

BINGEBOOKS (Sandy Sch) posted

I just want to wrap my arms around Skye and Dante, two college age students who have been through so much, and find themselves connected by music. This book will get you in the feels have tissues near. This is not a light read, yet I could not put it down. Skye is strong, she has been through a lot, but never backs down, but she does need to be pushed, that is what best friends do best. Even as circumstances derail her path, one her father wanted, she discovers her happiness with a pivot.

Skye and Dante struggle in the beginning with miscommunication and perception. Their love of music will bring them back, as that is how they communicate best.

Song titles cleverly lead us in every chapter, communication, and job interview. The spice level is high, the topics included can be troubling to some, do your research. The story is deeply emotional but worth the read. I finished this book a few days ago, and the characters and story are still with me.

My first time reading this author, and I plan to read more.

Thank you to the Author for the advanced copy; this is my voluntary review.

The Sound of Us is a contemporary college, workplace romance and follows Skye and Dante We are taken on an emotional journey with these two, who forged a connection through their shared love for music.
While they both have past traumas to overcome the undeniable attraction they feel towards each other draws them together.
Both characters were likable and well developed and I loved seeing their growth both individually and together.
I loved the music references throughout the story and at the start of each chapter and I loved the found family aspect of the story.
This was an enjoyable tale filled with angst, miscommunication, secrets, love and music. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to romance lovers.

“I had always imagined meeting someone who wanted to hear the soundtrack of my life—the roadmap of the major milestones that got me to where I was at that moment in time—because it meant they truly wanted to know me. There was no point denying it existed, and I was sure he had one, too."

The Sound of Music is a New Adult/College Romance about two young adults who are learning how to navigate life on their own after shattered dreams and horrific childhoods. It’s also about found family, hope, healing, and the power of music. Told through dual POV, the physically and emotionally broken characters learn how to live with the scars from their past and how to rewrite the lyrics for the soundtracks of their lives.

I am a huge music lover, so I really enjoyed the representation of the power of music and the passion for music that the MCs shared. I also loved how each chapter was titled the name of a song. There were music/song references galore, which I loved.

The first half of the story was heavy and mostly character development which felt a little longer than necessary. However, once the plot picked up it had me hooked. I was interested in both of the characters' backstories, but honestly wasn’t too invested in their relationship story together. Their lack of communication, angst, bickering, immature jealousy and the on again/off again roller coaster relationship was just too much for me. Lack of communication is definitely one of my least favorite tropes, plus the spice was over the top, eye rolling, cringe. I am sure these were more ‘me problems’ and that the story will appeal more to young adults, but the story as a whole just wasn’t for this older adult.

The narrators did a great job bringing the story to life. They portrayed the characters exactly how I had envisioned them.

Thank you to @netgalley, @macmillanaudio, and @torpublishing for the #gifted ARC/ALC in exchange for an honest review.

A quick college romance with a music element. I really enjoyed reading this one. I love a good love at first sight romance. I really enjoyed all the different types of music involved. It definitely deepened their relationship for me on a different level. The audiobook was just ok. I liked the different narrators for the main characters, but the quality of the production was a little off. You could tell which places in the audio were redone. It didn't change the story at all, but it was noticeable. Overall, a quick, spicy college romance with music you know and love!

*Thank you partner @macmillan.audio and @brambleromance for the #gifted audiobook and e-galley in exchange for an honest review.*

💜💜💜 ARC Review💜💜💜

I was captivated by this beautiful love story. Skye and Dante, two souls scarred by loss, find solace in each other's arms. Their passionate romance is tempered by the weight of their secrets, forcing them to confront their pasts and embrace the future.

Thank you @sarahcastilleauthor and @theauthor.agency for the ARC!

4.5⭐
The Sound of Us is a beautifully written, angsty, passionate college romance.

That sees music aficionado Skye Jordan return to college battered, bruised and scarred. After a car accident left her dad dead and his dream of her becoming a basketball star in tatters.

But after rehab and intense training Skye is back ready to try again. Even though her hearts not really in it.

What she really wants is to be a journalist and forget what it feels like to be that little girl unwanted and unloved.

But that's not as easy as it sounds. Until she meets Dante. A musician, radio DJ and loner.

Who doesn't do relationships, and whose ultimate goal is to destroy his father. After a childhood steeped in horror.

But everything changes after meeting Skye and even though they try to stay away from each other they can't.

Yet, each has baggage and secrets. Which could destroy everything.

And with great characters and the perfect mix of spice, found family and emotion. This was a beautiful read. That I'd happily recommend to all.

I loved this book. It even made me cry. I thought it was awesome there was a song for each of the chapters. They went so well together with what was happening. Some I knew and some I did not. I plan on listening to the ones I haven’t yet. The author perfectly brought the character’s alive and made you feel and relate to them. Guaranteed HEA. I will definitely read this book again and can’t wait to explore more of this author’s books!

I loved the musical references at the beginning of each chapter.

Dante and Skye are two individuals brought together by their love of music. They both have a past that is filled with trauma and neglect. Both characters go through growth throughout the story, but they do come across as a little juvenile at times.

I would consider this more of a slow burn and Dante and Skye have a few bumps in the road. They had such good chemistry though.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I’ve only recently started reading romance. This book had everything that I was looking for. The setting, characters and themes were well crafted.

The Sound of Us is an emotionally impactful book that connects two characters through music, so prepare yourself before reading it. You’ll need tissues at times. Any author who can evoke strong emotions in me about the characters’ experiences is definitely someone I want to read more of, and that is what Sarah Castille did while I read Skye and Dante’s story. I loved how Sarah included a different song at the beginning of each chapter and incorporated music throughout the book because it’s important for Skye and Dante’s journey.

In the beginning, these two characters faced significant struggles, largely stemming from their past traumas. Skye’s life changed dramatically after a car accident while Dante was still grieving the loss of family members. Additionally, Dante had a father who was pressuring him to join the family business despite Dante’s desire to distance himself from that life. I couldn’t blame him; his father was a terrible person, and Dante deserved to live free from his father’s control, especially given the damage his father had caused to their family.

I really enjoyed the way Dante and Skye first met in the story, even though they struggled with their relationship at first due to complications, mostly with Dante. Dante, who has a reputation as a player, unexpectedly falls for Skye, something he has never experienced before. Although he frustrated me at times because he struggled to navigate his feelings, I understood his hesitation. Their situation was complicated since he had helped her secure an internship at the radio station where he worked, making their connection somewhat forbidden. If there’s one trope I love in romance novels, it’s the forbidden romance, and Sarah did it well.

I absolutely adored Skye because she was such a strong female lead, and I really rooted for her to find her own path after everything she endured. She deserved to discover her own happiness rather than simply fulfilling her father’s wishes. It took her some time to figure that out. I empathized with her feelings for Dante, especially since he seemed to lead her on at first. She just wanted to feel wanted for once. Skye went through so much in her life, and if anyone deserved love, it was her. Her story definitely impacted me, and I’m glad she had friends who were there to support her along the way.

While reading, I found moments of miscommunication between the characters frustrating, but they ultimately resolved these issues. It simply took some time for them to make amends. Aside from that, this book is one I will never forget, and I hope Sarah Castille writes more stories set in this world, particularly featuring the secondary characters she introduced.

Please be aware that this book contains content that may be unsettling for some readers, so it’s important to check for any triggers you may have. There is a mention of sexual assault in the book, but it does not involve the main characters.

Overall, I give this book four stars, and I’m excited to read more from Sarah Castille. Before I conclude my review, I want to highlight that this book does include spicy scenes (very spicy scenes in random places on campus). The connection between Dante and Skye is intense when they finally give in to their feelings for each other.

Single/Dual POV: Dual POV

Standalone or Part of Series: Standalone.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy deep, emotional romance stories about two characters who have endured trauma in their lives but find love with each other through their shared passion for music. You may want to add all the songs from this book to your playlist after reading it.

What to Expect:
🩵Contemporary College Romance
🩵Workplace
🩵He Falls First
🩵Bad Boy Musician
🩵Sports
🩵Forbidden

A contemporary, steamy college romance featuring music cleverly ingrained not only how the characters connect, in chapter titles, the meet-cute, but it also drives the plot. Both characters have trauma in their past preventing them giving it all to each other-their journey to admission/openness, acceptance, connection and intimacy were compelling; I couldn’t help but root for them. I found myself playing the songs mentioned in the titles or within the conversations throughout the book-it really added an extra dimension of relatedness and heightened the reading experience.

Skye & Dante are two lost souls who find each other is music & love. Both are dealing with past trauma. They are going through the motions and being something they not instead of being who they want to be.
Both of them have walls up & not fully letting anyone in. They find they both have this love of music and the chemistry is undeniable.
I loved the way Skye & Dante’s relationship grew. This was more than just a romance between two people. It was trying to find their real passion and finding not only each other but also finding a group of friends who stand by you and believe in who you truly are, even when you don’t believe in yourself.
This is my first book of Sarah’s. The way she wrote these characters was so beautifully done. Adding the music to each chapter was just a bonus. The secondary characters also elevated Skye & Dante’s story. I found myself crying & wanted to make a playlist of my life.
“Do you know what I hear?” “The soundtrack of your life.”

For Skye Jordan music is everything to her especially after her basketball career was taken away by a drunk driver that also killed her dad. She was in college with hopes of going on to play professionally but now after 18 months she's back at college now working in a journalism program. She is hoping to get an internship to be able to stay at Havencrest and if not she's back home.

Dante Romano goes to Havencrest University working toward getting into law school and is one of the DJ's at the independent campus radio station. He's known as Dante's Darkness and has the highest ratings of any late night shows in Chicago.
He also has a past that has haunted him, he's consumed with guilt and has lost everyone that has been close to him. He has no time for relationships and keeps to himself for the most part until a certain new intern shows up and she has the same passion he does when it comes to music.

There's a lot of angst in this story. The secrets they both hold and how they are drawn to each other but really need to stay away because of certain things.
It's also an emotional journey for both. The things that have happened in both of their lives have shaped the way they are.

For me the book was too long and drawn out and I got bored. I will say there were also some parts that just tore at your heart and I like how they all came together.

3.5-4 stars

Dante and Skye are both music lovers and music is also their method of coping with their respective troubles in life. Both of them are studying at Havencrest University and end up working closely together at the radio station. As the story goes on, their past is slowly revealed and there is so much pain and trauma in both their lives.

It was not easy to read this book because a lot of the dialogue between Skye and Dante made reference to various songs or musicians. The problem is I am not that familiar with these songs and it sort of hampered my understanding of what they were insinuating in those scenes. The push and pull between them was blazing hot but it slows down the pace towards the end.

I loved the found family vibes in the books especially with Noah being the “father” and mentor which Dante needed to push him through the darkest moments in his life. As for Skye, I loved how Isla and Hayley were always there for her too. On a side note, I liked the romance between Nick and Isla too.

Usually a good musical troupe works for me. This was ok, but I don't know that I would say it's a must run out and read. But grab it and toss it in your beach bag for a good chill vibe read!

2.5⭐️

Las historias de Skye y Dante me gustaron, por separado. Ella vive con la idea de ser lo que su padre adoptivo quería, se desvive por lograr la aceptación porque no quiere volver a sentirse rechazada por la gente. Él, por otro lado, tiene un objetivo: convertirse en abogado, acercarse a personas importantes y vengarse de la persona que causó la muerte de su madre y hermana.

Me gustó ver cómo ambos cargaban con muchas responsabilidades, pero seguían adelante sin dejarse vencer. Sin embargo, el romance arruinó todo.

Algo que tampoco me gustó y me incomodó mucho fue que había muchas escenas sexuales, incluso en momentos en los que no venían al caso. Por ejemplo, cuando estaban hablando del caso que Skye estaba investigando sobre la violación de alguien cercano a ella, y al poner en pausa el tema porque estaban esperando a la chica para hablar, de repente empiezan a tener relaciones, ¿cómo vas a tener cabeza para eso después de averiguar quién violó a tu mejor amiga???



Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a lovely book and I wish I read more from the author and which I plan on doing just off this book alone.

This book was so beautifully written and it show the ups and downs that the main characters had during whole book. Like her coming back to school after everything that she went through and he is just trying to become a lawyer and not go into the family business. Like then meeting each other at the one moment change everything for them and fallen in love with each other and then stuff happen and there were the letter at the end of the book.

As a fan of Sara Desai's works, I was super excited to read The Sound of Us, written under her other penname Sarah Castille! The Sound of Us is a New Adult college romance between a basketball player and a DJ. This book really celebrates music and radio, and the connections we form with people over our love of music. I really enjoyed seeing Skye and Dante bond over their favorite songs and artists. The way they express their emotions using music was very cool to see. Their romance was tender, steamy, and emotional. I was very pleasantly surprised to read a more serious romance from Sarah Castille. Under her rom-com penname, I usually find myself laughing out loud at how ridiculous her books can get. However, with The Sound of Us, the romance and drama is very grounded and consuming.

The characters in this book really stood out to me. Of course, Dante and Skye are the stars of the show, but I really loved the ensemble of characters surrounding them. Dante and Skye's classmates, friends, and mentors all help form a very well-rounded story. I can't wait to read the next standalone romance in this series next!