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Where the Rhythm Takes You
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Seventeen-year-old Reyna has spent most of her life at her family’s gorgeous seaside resort in Tobago, the Plumeria. But what once seemed like paradise is starting to feel more like purgatory. It’s been two years since Reyna’s mother passed away, two years since Aiden – her childhood best friend, first kiss, first love, first everything – left the island to pursue his musi
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Start your review of Where the Rhythm Takes You
May 17, 2021
Lia Carstairs
rated it
liked it
Shelves:
childhood-friends-to-lovers,
romance,
physical-arcs,
owned,
diverse,
young-adult,
contemporary
I'm having really bad luck lately disliking the mcs and love interests in contemporaries :/
But overall, it was a solid story with a really great message—to do what you want and not what other want/expect of you. Live your own life, not the life of others. Do what make you happy or you might regret it for the rest of your life.
Since she was a kid, all Reyna has known is life at the family hotel and she plans to continue workin ...more
But overall, it was a solid story with a really great message—to do what you want and not what other want/expect of you. Live your own life, not the life of others. Do what make you happy or you might regret it for the rest of your life.
"It had my heart, even when my dreams were somewhere else."
Since she was a kid, all Reyna has known is life at the family hotel and she plans to continue workin ...more
Feb 06, 2021
BookOfCinz
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2021-read-caribbean,
all-the-feels,
loved,
young-adult,
debut,
romance,
surpisingly-good,
2021-reads,
arc,
caribbean-books
Felt the rhythm and I was moved!
In Sarah Dass’ debut novel Where The Rhytym Takes You we are taken to the beautiful twin island Tobago where seventeen-year-old Reyna is helping her dad manage her family resort Plumeria. Reyna who lost her mother at a young age and the love of her live decides to give up painting and is going through the biggest tabanca she’s ever experience- granted she is just seventeen. The cause of Reyna’s tabanca is Aiden, her first love, who left her and Tobago behind ...more
In Sarah Dass’ debut novel Where The Rhytym Takes You we are taken to the beautiful twin island Tobago where seventeen-year-old Reyna is helping her dad manage her family resort Plumeria. Reyna who lost her mother at a young age and the love of her live decides to give up painting and is going through the biggest tabanca she’s ever experience- granted she is just seventeen. The cause of Reyna’s tabanca is Aiden, her first love, who left her and Tobago behind ...more
Reyna is a 17 yr old girl living in Tobago working at her family's resort still grapping with the loss of her mother two years later. She still has feelings for her first boyfriend, Aiden who moved to the US and became a Grammy winning musician. As the front man of DJ Bacchanal he mixes island sounds with EDM that has taken the music scene by storm. So she's shocked when he's back on the island with his band in tow and a new girl at his side who also happens to be her half sister's sister-in-law
...more
Wow, more people need to be picking this book up! Where the Rhythm Takes You is a modern retelling of Persuasion by Jane Austen (great job of making the plot beats believable for a modern audience!) set in Tobago. It's a touching, joyful romance and coming of age story, one of the best YA romances I've read this year.
Reyna is a 17 year old girl living in Tobago, helping out at the hotel that her family owns and operates. She's grieving the recent loss of her mother and kind of stuck in a rut wh ...more
Reyna is a 17 year old girl living in Tobago, helping out at the hotel that her family owns and operates. She's grieving the recent loss of her mother and kind of stuck in a rut wh ...more
4.5 🌟
2nd Update, 12 hours later...: I love reading romance to get that giddy headed feeling, the jaw-dropping moments, the shrieks and flustered hand fanning, the thrills that make you roll in the bed with excitement and collapse back on the pillow, the groans when your favourite characters are making all the wrong decisions. Young adult authors are a treasure in their ability to give us lightness, excitement, fun while mixing in heavy sombre topics that anchor narrative and flesh out characters ...more
2nd Update, 12 hours later...: I love reading romance to get that giddy headed feeling, the jaw-dropping moments, the shrieks and flustered hand fanning, the thrills that make you roll in the bed with excitement and collapse back on the pillow, the groans when your favourite characters are making all the wrong decisions. Young adult authors are a treasure in their ability to give us lightness, excitement, fun while mixing in heavy sombre topics that anchor narrative and flesh out characters ...more
me every five minutes while reading this: opens up google earth to drop the little man onto all the places they go to in tobago so that i feel like i’m ~there~ with them
I. AM. CRYING. I won't be doing a full review of this book until closer to it's release date but OH MY GOD MY SOUL. I've finally been represented in a book, and to explain these feelings of incredible joy and love to you will be impossible...but I will try.
MY SWEET SWEET TNT. This book felt like a love letter from Tobago, addressed directly to this little Trini girl (trapped here in quarantined Canada and missing her island immensely).
AND ALL OF THE SOCA!!! Did I mention that I'm crying!? I ca ...more
MY SWEET SWEET TNT. This book felt like a love letter from Tobago, addressed directly to this little Trini girl (trapped here in quarantined Canada and missing her island immensely).
AND ALL OF THE SOCA!!! Did I mention that I'm crying!? I ca ...more
October 07, 2020: alright, alright, the cover has made me even more interested ahhh
I really loved this book. I read it in two sittings, and seriously fell in love with every part of it. It felt a little different than other contemporaries, maybe just due to the fact that it was a remixed version of Persuasion. I loved the setting, the characters, and the story itself. Enough to have me tempted to read Jane Austen.
CW: illness and death of a parent (prior to beginning of book), grief, kissing.
Reyna was a lovely main character, who felt very real and relatable. She was a painter ...more
CW: illness and death of a parent (prior to beginning of book), grief, kissing.
Reyna was a lovely main character, who felt very real and relatable. She was a painter ...more
Nov 27, 2021
CW (The Quiet Pond) ✨
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
diverse-shelf,
has-poc-rep,
contemporary,
romance,
young-adult,
realistic-fiction,
audiobook,
2021
Read my review on my book blog, The Quiet Pond.
Loved this gorgeous loose retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion. It's set in seaside resort in Tobago, and I just loved all of the story's emotional beats.
- Follows Reyna, a Tobagonian teen who runs her family's resort business following the death of her mother. When an old flame visits and stays at her hotel, their reunion sparks memories and old feelings - in which Reyna will have to choose between following her heart or letting go of the past.
- I ...more
Loved this gorgeous loose retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion. It's set in seaside resort in Tobago, and I just loved all of the story's emotional beats.
- Follows Reyna, a Tobagonian teen who runs her family's resort business following the death of her mother. When an old flame visits and stays at her hotel, their reunion sparks memories and old feelings - in which Reyna will have to choose between following her heart or letting go of the past.
- I ...more
Oh I just adored this modern day Persuasion retelling set in Tobago. Everything about this worked for me — the vivid Caribbean setting, the second-chance romance and the adventures. I loved the whole cast of characters and the family story, too!
Aug 13, 2021
Anniek
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
black-author,
2-ya,
3-contemporary,
author-of-colour,
black-mc,
mc-of-colour,
1-2021-releases
This was an incredibly fun read, with a lot of yearning! Perfect summer read that I could see myself rereading a bunch
*3.5
I’m always a sucker for second chance romance! This one was super fun and I loved the setting ~ wish we got a little more romance on the page but still was a sweet time
I’m always a sucker for second chance romance! This one was super fun and I loved the setting ~ wish we got a little more romance on the page but still was a sweet time
First book I've finished in a long time.
...more
Want to see more bookish things from me? Check out my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfer...
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review*
17 year old Reyna lost her mother two years ago, and everyone seems to be moving forward. Her best friend Aiden left Tobago to pursue his music career and she hasn't seen him since their messy breakup. Lately, her father has been putting a lot of the responsibility to run the family's resort on Reyna. Th ...more
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review*
17 year old Reyna lost her mother two years ago, and everyone seems to be moving forward. Her best friend Aiden left Tobago to pursue his music career and she hasn't seen him since their messy breakup. Lately, her father has been putting a lot of the responsibility to run the family's resort on Reyna. Th ...more
Imagine being 17, talented, motherless, and afraid to dream for fear you'll opt to follow it as opposed to staying still and being miserable.
That's Reyna. In a nutshell.
Although this is a YA Book, these characters were far too "grown up" to be living the lives they were living; and no, I'm not one of those who believe YA characters can't be layered and have maturity some adults have yet to master, but Reyna's burden was a lot to reconcile. Too much, to be honest.
For one, she's practically run ...more
That's Reyna. In a nutshell.
Although this is a YA Book, these characters were far too "grown up" to be living the lives they were living; and no, I'm not one of those who believe YA characters can't be layered and have maturity some adults have yet to master, but Reyna's burden was a lot to reconcile. Too much, to be honest.
For one, she's practically run ...more
Yes it's predictable summer readbut I really liked Reyna, romance whole family dynamic and Caribbean vibes.
...more
4.5 stars
Where the Rhythm Takes You by Sarah Dass is one of the best YA romances I've read recently. Second chance romance is my favorite trope, and I loved Reyna's and Aiden's angsty love story. I also loved the friendships, music references, and most of all, the location. It's the first book set in Tobago I've read, I enjoyed learning about the island and the culture. I was so invested in the story, I finished reading the book in one day. If you are looking for a diverse, well-written YA roman ...more
Where the Rhythm Takes You by Sarah Dass is one of the best YA romances I've read recently. Second chance romance is my favorite trope, and I loved Reyna's and Aiden's angsty love story. I also loved the friendships, music references, and most of all, the location. It's the first book set in Tobago I've read, I enjoyed learning about the island and the culture. I was so invested in the story, I finished reading the book in one day. If you are looking for a diverse, well-written YA roman ...more
🎧🎧🎧🎧 Four Stars (As rated in the songs Aiden won't let anyone listen to yet)
Synopsis: Inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, Where the Rhythm Takes You is a romantic, visceral novel about taking risks, chasing your dreams and giving lost love a second chance.
“I stood, my resignation giving way to reluctant amusement when he offered his hand like we were characters in some nineteenth-century novel."
My Review: This book was everything I wanted it to be. Sarah Dass stays remarkably true to Auste ...more
Wonderfully sweet and summery retelling
4.5 Stars!
I received a copy of the ARC via Literary Bound Tours in exchanged for an honest review.
I did a combination of a physical copy and the audiobook and I honestly really recommend doing this. It took me a second to get accustomed to the accent, but I felt like it added a level of authenticity and personality to the story that would otherwise be lost by just reading the book alone.
This book held so many layers. You have the layer of our MC grieving over not just the loss of her mother, bu ...more
I received a copy of the ARC via Literary Bound Tours in exchanged for an honest review.
I did a combination of a physical copy and the audiobook and I honestly really recommend doing this. It took me a second to get accustomed to the accent, but I felt like it added a level of authenticity and personality to the story that would otherwise be lost by just reading the book alone.
This book held so many layers. You have the layer of our MC grieving over not just the loss of her mother, bu ...more
PLEASE why have all the YA books I’ve picked up been so brilliant lately this was gorgeous
Her whole life, Reyna was being groomed to take over the family resort. The Plumeria Hotel was a constant in her life, and she loved the place with all her heart. But following her mother's death, she began to feel as though it was her only choice for the future, as she believed it was her responsibility to keep the hotel going. Then a person from her past returned and seeing how much his life had changed had Reyna questioning if the Plumeria was really her only option.
For my Austen fans out th ...more
For my Austen fans out th ...more
AMAZING!!! This book left me feeling happy, hopeful, and joyous. I don’t know what drew me to this book (other than the Maika and Maritza Moulite blurb) because I don’t usually reach for contemporary romance— especially with heartache and loss. BUT I am lucky because somehow I knew I had to read this and I am so happy I did. This book make me long to visit Tobago (the descriptions of the island’s sights and food were so vivid!) but I also adored the second chance romance. This book showed growth
...more
CW: loss of parent
Yayyyy, I'm so glad I got an ARC of this book! I came to the end it and just nodded and smiled when I saw that soca playlist. Great choice in songs as some of my faves were listed! This is my first time reading a book set in our sister isle written by a Trinbagonian. It really gave me a Tobago tabanca cuz I realized I haven't visited in ages!! Must rectify soon. Tobago as a setting just leaped off the pages and made me recall the many times I've gone. It was like a vivid charac ...more
Yayyyy, I'm so glad I got an ARC of this book! I came to the end it and just nodded and smiled when I saw that soca playlist. Great choice in songs as some of my faves were listed! This is my first time reading a book set in our sister isle written by a Trinbagonian. It really gave me a Tobago tabanca cuz I realized I haven't visited in ages!! Must rectify soon. Tobago as a setting just leaped off the pages and made me recall the many times I've gone. It was like a vivid charac ...more
Trigger warnings: death of a parent (in the past), bullying.
This is a YA retelling of Persuasion set in Tobago. I was somewhat hesitant going into this because YA retellings of Persuasion often don't work for me purely because of the lack of TIME. There's eight YEARS between Anne breaking things off with Wentworth and seeing him again. That's just not possible in YA books. But this one? This one somehow worked for me. I think in part it's because while they're 17, they both read older than they ...more
This is a YA retelling of Persuasion set in Tobago. I was somewhat hesitant going into this because YA retellings of Persuasion often don't work for me purely because of the lack of TIME. There's eight YEARS between Anne breaking things off with Wentworth and seeing him again. That's just not possible in YA books. But this one? This one somehow worked for me. I think in part it's because while they're 17, they both read older than they ...more
It’s been two years since Reyna’s mother passed away, two years since Aiden – her childhood best friend, first kiss, first love, first everything – left the island to pursue his music dreams. Reyna’s friends are all planning their futures and heading abroad. Even Daddy seems to want to move on, leaving her to try to keep the Plumeria running. Aiden comes roaring back into her life – as a VIP guest at the resort. Aiden is now one-third of DJ Bacchanal – the latest, hottest music group on the scen
...more
3.5* This second chance childhood best friends-to-lovers romance delivered on all its promises. It was a heartwarming, angst filled summer romance filled with food, drama and music. Sarah Dass describes Tobago with a captivating vibrancy that made me want to hop on a plane and see it for myself asap. Whilst this book didn't utterly blow me away, it was a highly enjoyable read.
(I also loved the audiobook narrator and is one I'd 100% recommend listening to!) ...more
(I also loved the audiobook narrator and is one I'd 100% recommend listening to!) ...more
This was SO cute and fun. I loved the setting and the characters and the nods to Persuasion were perfect. An ideal summer read!
The setting of Tobago was my very favorite thing about this book ❤️
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Sarah Dass was born in Trinidad but has lived in Tobago since she was two years old. A graduate of University College London, she works as an office administrator by day and writes stories about the Caribbean by night. When she’s not writing, she’s reading or taking walks with her dachshund.
Sarah’s debut novel is inspired by her childhood, spent in a seaside hotel.
Sarah’s debut novel is inspired by her childhood, spent in a seaside hotel.
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