What can I even say about this book?! I’ll start with I loved to SO MUCH! It was a fun and refreshing read! The 2000s emo throwbacks made my former emo girl heart so happy, and made me feel so nostalgic. Damon is what dreams are made of, and Dam was so relatable. Plus, the magical realism and alternate timeline with the CD player kept me completely sucked in! I also loved following along on Sam’s path of navigating the feeling from her past and family struggles alongside her reunion with Damon when she returned to Tybee. I really just cannot recommend this book enough! It was the cutest!

Thank you to @netgalley and @erinlarosalit for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

Cute!!! It was fun & flirty but also had a lot of depth which I personally appreciated. The plot was unique & something I hadn’t read before, but it felt nostalgic (especially for teens in the early 2000s!) & hit close to home. I couldn't help but relate to Sam and the need to find herself before pursuing other things in her life.
I also thought that Erin did a beautiful job describing depression & the urge to fight or flight. Some characters did rub me the wrong way and I found it difficult to empathize with them, but I feel like that is sometimes how life goes. We don't always forgive and forget or completely understand someone's actions.
Rated 4 stars. I thought it was new and exciting. Will be recommending to follow readers and followers!

I absolutely loved this story! In a small village, a long-ago romance between best friends became lovers is given a second chance, in addition with a dash of magical time travel.

Sam returns home after a long absence to help her grandmother Pearl with housecleaning before she moves into a retirement community. In addition, she hopes to get back in touch with Damon, her former best friend. She finds her old CD player and the last mix tape Damon prepared for her—which she has never listened to—while tidying her room. Every song immerses her in a different world, showing what may have happened if she had returned Damon's kiss when they were fifteen.

Although it sounds like a really sweet rom-com from the book synopsis, I believe there are also some deeper themes included. The idea of finding your own self before sharing your life with someone else, no matter how much you love them, is also explored in the book, as is the idea of being with the right person at the wrong moment.

The main characters were fantastic! They were very lovely and relatable, and, omg, Grandma Pearl was seriously hilarious!
The way that each song tied to a plot aspect in both the other universe and the present was such a amazing idea. Fantastic selections of music!

I really enjoyed the book and can't wait to read more books from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

To be honest, it took me awhile to get into this book. I started, and kept stopping to focus on other books/projects. Finally, I picked it back up again, and I'm so glad I did.
I was hoping from the very beginning that the 2000s, millennial, elder emo nostalgia would scratch an itch, and like I said, eventually it did, but not at first. The first 25% felt kind of flat to me, but I did binge the last 50%

I would've loved to Damon's POV and a more in depth look at Sam and his relationship as adults.

Overall, a very cute book that I enjoyed.

This is my first book from Erin La Rosa. If you are a Millennial who loved 13 going on 30, then this one is for you. This is about a girl who is trying to outrun the small town life she was afraid to get stuck in. When her Grandmother calls saying she wants to sell her childhood home but is currently injured and needs help cleaning up and cleaning out, she has no choice but to return home. On her first night there, she finds an old CD player that had a mixtape that her best friend made while they were in high school. Every time she plays a track she is taken back to see a different outcome had she chose to stay. The playlist is full of emo/punk rock that brought me back to the mid 2000s. This was a fun read.

The Backtrack by Erin La Rosa is a nostalgic love story that resonates with those who have remained loyal to their high school music tastes. This novel serves as a heartfelt tribute to both pop punk music and the relationships we often outgrow. Set against a picturesque seaside backdrop, The Backtrack offers a whimsical exploration of the question "what if." A charming and eccentric cast of characters brings the story to life, making it an irresistible read for anyone seeking a blend of romance and nostalgia.

THE BACKTRACK is a funny and charming romance set in the quaint tybee island, georgia. it's all about sam, who left her hometown as quickly as she could so she could travel the world as a pilot. but when her grandma pearl asks her to come back home so she can help her pack up her childhood home to be sold, sam finds her old CD player with a mixtape by her best friend, damon. when the nostalgia hits and sam puts her headphones on to listen, she finds herself transported back in time to 2005, where she watches what she thinks is a memory of her teenage self about to kiss damon. except, she remembers things a little differently... turns out, each track on the CD shows her a different vision of what her life might have turned out if she had kissed actually kissed him that day. as she grapples with what these visions mean, along with reconnecting with damon as adults, and unpacking her childhood home and the memories it brings (both physically and psychologically), sam wonders whether she missed her chance with damon all those years ago.

this romance had some of my favorite tropes: childhood friends to lovers, second chance, small town romance... all with a side of millennial nostalgia that had me reminiscing for the mid to late 2000s. i found sam and damon's relationship (both past and present) to be so sweet. there's just something so special about being known so deeply and for so long. along with that, i absolutely loved grandma pearl, her best friend jessie, and all the other side characters, and i found the whole family story to be really touching.

read if you like:
- emo millennials
- sassy octogenarians
- a touch of magical realism

thanks to netgalley and canary press for the advanced copy! THE BACKTRACK comes out july 16.

I was immediately grabbed by the premise for this one. I’m a sucker for magical realism and a good alternative time element - so a cd player that links to an alternative version of the early 00s? Count me in. I was also excited by the whole nostalgia factor. I wasn’t an emo kid, but the 00s were my high school years so I knew all the musical references.

While I think the premise was a great one and I enjoyed the nostalgia factor (of the 00s references to style, music, etc.), the story itself left me wanting. The premise was solid, but the first half of the story felt very slow. I didn’t really get a feel of connection between our mains, which made it hard to root for them too. It felt like a lot of telling rather than showing.

Overall, a quick read that could be read in a day. I did enjoy the references, I wish the premise had come together more. The story and characters had promise, but didn’t quite come together for me.

Thank you @netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. I really wanted to like this book. The premise in intriguing and I’m in the right age group to love reminiscing about the early 200s. The nostalgia factor is fabulous but unfortunately it’s exactly that nostalgia that has me a bit unfulfilled. This book is an ode to pop punk, but then falls short in a couple of other key elements. The relationship between the main characters felt a bit lackluster, the spice scenes were short and a bit flat, the plot line regarding Sam and her mom felt shallow and a little too easily resolved. I’d recommend this book for anyone who does want an easy-to-speed-read walk down memory lane, complete with Hot Topic spiked belts and lots of body glitter, but it didn’t pack much of a punch besides that.

One of the less common going back in time tropes, as it's less of a stuck in a different time and more of brief flashes. In The Backtrack, we've got a possessed CD player that takes Sam Leto back in time to high school for the length of each song. With each song, she see's not her memories, but memories that could've happened, if she had kissed and then dated her best friend. However, she did not kiss him, instead she left Tybee as soon as she could and literally has never come back, until her grandmother needs her help, and her high school almost-boyfriend, well he's still there...

I really enjoyed the musical flashbacks, actually reminded me a lot of Signal to Noise which also has magical music. There is a heavy focus on relationships and life choices and paths, and lots of sappy cheesy moments, also some NSFW scenes. Occasionally the sappy scenes were a bit much and didn't seem to fit with the rest of the characters' actions, but for the most part it was a highly enjoyable read.

I received a copy of this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Backtrack sounded like the perfect romance novel for me: a 2000s emo nostalgia friends-to-lovers romance. Unfortunately, there was little to no chemistry between the main characters and the story itself left much to be desired.

The Backtrack follows Sam as she returns home for the first time to help her grandmother sell her house. Sam left her hometown as quickly as possible and abandoned her best friend, Damon, in the process. Sam has always wondered what would have happened if they dated all those years ago.

There was little to no chemistry between Sam and Damon throughout the entire novel. What little chemistry that had started to build during the flashbacks was quickly ruined as how the flashbacks progressed. Sam and Damon in the present were a mess together. La Rosa relied heavily on implied chemistry and connection from the past without ever showing readers.

Near the end of the novel, mental health played a prominent role in Sam’s relationship with another character. This portion of the novel should have been cut as La Rosa barely skimmed the surface of this relationship and the role mental health played in it. It felt like it was shoehorned in to check off the mental health representation box.

Spice level: 🌶️

Overall, The Backtrack was a disappointing 2000s nostalgia romance with a message about finding yourself before finding love that read as disingenuous considering the outcome of the flashbacks.

This is actually a new-to-me author, but I couldn't resist the promise of 2000s nostalgia and a time travel/timeslip element with the 'magic' CD player showing an alternate version of the main character's life. I mean, how cool is that premise?! I'm so glad I gave in now, because I ended up having such a great time reading The Backtrack. Sure, it took me a little while to properly warm up to the story, but especially the second half was extremely addictive.

The Backtrack gives us so much 2000s nostalgia, and as a millennial this was probably one of my favorite elements of the story. I was a teenager listening to the same type of music as described in the flashbacks, and this made it so much easier to connect to these parts... Including the fashion 'crimes' I was also guilty of during those years. I love that it was the CD player that was turned into the 'magical' object, and who didn't make their own mixtape back then (yes, both cassette and CD for me!). I can recommend listening to the songs while you are reading the flashbacks, as they really do fit each moment in the alternate world like a glove.

This story is mostly contemporary romance with only a mild dose of magical realism along the way in the form of the timeslip/flashback moments. Since each flashback only lasts as long as the duration of each song, the magical realism element isn't overpowering at all... And you should be fine even though it isn't your favorite genre. The Backtrack focuses a lot on family as well as the question 'what if', and the romance is a mix of friends-to-lovers and second-chance-romance. I could have done without the love triangle vibe and the cheating, and I kind of wish there was more chemistry between the main characters, but as a whole it was still interesting to see the two connect in past and present. There is also some steam involved, but thankfully it's just one scene that is easily skipped.

Like I said before, The Backtrack isn't just a romance read. Instead, there is a lot of focus on family with Sam returning home after years to help her grandmother. I could have done without all the drama surrounding her absent mother, and I wasn't a fan of how this part of the story was resolved... But that might just be a personal pet peeve. Abandonment isn't the only more serious topic in play though, as there is also focus on alcoholism, mental health, toxic relationships, bullying and miscarriage among others. Not what I expected, but I guess they do help create more balance the plot.

In short, if you like a good romance with a twist and like the sound of a healthy dose of emo 2000s nostalgia and music, The Backtrack will most likely by right up your alley. It might take a little while for the story to get the ball rolling, but the second half is a true pageturner!

I really enjoyed the concept of the story. It was essentially about right person, wrong time. It was a mix of 13 going on 30, The Greatest Hits, and About Time. Two characters who had to go through what they had to go through, to learn and find themselves so they can be the person they can be 20 years later. Sometimes, love makes you do crazy things and in reality, sometimes love is only just a feeling. To make a relationship work, each person must find and know themselves first before diving into a relationship. And it’s clear that these two characters had to mature and live life the way it intended to happen to finally find their HEA.

This was so cute and chaotic and had such a solid level of that very specific weird high school nostalgia where you admire it but you’re also a little horrified by it. The depiction of low-rise jeans and axe body spray and tie-front shrugs was so visceral I had a war flashback.

Damon just instantaneously deciding that he was going to reinsert himself as Sam’s bestie despite not seeing her for years was so Down Bad coded and I love him for it. Also, in her absence he still followed HIS dreams and still hoped she was finding happiness with hers.

Sam is so pointy and rough around the edges and I am so here for angry and confused FMCs who are still absolutely adored by their partners because that is real life and grumpy girls deserve love too.

I've been a moderate fan of Erin La Rosa. And I was really hoping this book would be it for me that turned me to her full fledged, but that did not happen. The book wasn't terrible, but it fell lackluster for me and the whole magic-esque vibe just didn't work for me

4.5 rounded to 5 "The Backtrack" by Erin LaRosa impressed me with its unique twist on a familiar concept, using timeline hops through a playlist to allow Sam to reflect on past events and "what ifs" while staying in the present. I particularly enjoyed how Sam was able to involve [name redacted] in her experiences, helping them understand what she was seeing. However, the book skimmed over some heavy familial issues and resolved them too easily, which detracted slightly from the overall impact, earning it a half-star deduction.

We all think of the ‘what if’s’... so what if a magic CD player with a disk of early 2000’s alternative rock songs gives you all the answers? It’s "13 Going On 30" (2004) meets "About Time" (2013).

Sam has spent her adult life running from her past at Tybee Island and dedicating her time to her career as an international pilot. She’s brought back after 11 years to help her grandmother move to a nursing home and confronted with her former best friend, Damon. Back in high school, Sam rejected a kiss from Damon, which led to years of ‘what if’s’ that an old CD player comes to life to answer. As Sam gets through the tracks, she starts to wonder if her feelings for Damon might not be gone after all, but maybe she’s a few years too late.

***THE PLOT***
This novel transports us back to the early 2000’s–a time of Dunkaroos, JanSport backpacks, and Lisa Frank, well, everything. I’m personally a big fan of authors including playlists with their books. BUT to have a book that has a playlist in it?? I loved this concept.

Each song Sam listens to takes her to a different scene of her life if she would’ve kissed Damon in high school… and the results…. aren’t so good. She assumes that the two would’ve been made for each other, but she discovers that first they needed to find themselves.

There are also a few subplots including Sam’s grandmother, Pearl, preparing to move herself into a nursing home. Then there’s the fact that Sam’s mother left when she was 13 never to be seen or heard from again. There’s not a dull moment in this book, though some parts might be a little longer than necessary. It does really help get a full view of what the characters are going through.

***THE CHARACTERS***
Sam, as mentioned, is a Twihard international pilot living in Paris. When she comes back, she keeps trying to make excuses for herself as to why she needs to stay away. Her commentary can sometimes be a little out of place, but overall I think she has a great story arc. I love seeing the contrast between alt-Sam and pilot Sam and how she ended up finding herself.

Damon is adorkable. I love that he was an emo kid wearing eyeliner and dying the tips of his hair red. He grows up to open his own brewery, which he’s thinking of expanding. He’s a bit of a mystery, and I would’ve loved to get a bit more of his story when Sam wasn’t there. I do love to see the ways they reconnect throughout.

Pearl is like one of those grandmothers from the movies that is a little goofy and often makes suggestive comments. She does offer good advice and support throughout to Sam, and her love for Sam is very apparent the entire time. It’s a sweet relationship, and I hope everyone can experience it!

This book was so sweet, and I’ve never read anything quite like it! It’s a great romance that definitely had me curling my toes, especially during the hurricane (you have to read it). It also has a lot of sweet moments unrelated to the romance that help with Sam’s overall development which I appreciate. Finally, I am absolutely going to be listening to all of the songs mentioned in this book so I can keep the good feelings going.

Thanks to NetGalley, Canary Street Press, and Erin La Rosa for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Okay I’m going to start with two things I really liked about the book. First, I genuinely loved the flashback scenes. Alt-Sam and Damon were my favorite part of this book and seeing their young love develop was sweet (I don’t even want to talk about the second to last song, I’m pretending that didn’t happen). Second, I thought the element of magical realism with the CD player was really fun and unique. Also the song choices were a fun throw back and it was cool to see how they related to the scenes.

That being said, this book really wasn’t for me. Friends to lovers and second chance romances are always hard tropes for me. I feel like they often rely on a relationship that was built off page and you’re just supposed to trust what you’re told about their dynamic rather than it being shown to you. This book has that exact problem for me. I found myself unconvinced and uninterested in the love story between adult Sam and Damon because I was never shown why these two people as adults are meant to be.

I found it really hard to like any of the characters in this book. Sam was a lacklustre FMC and oscillated between finding her selfish, annoying, or worst of all just plain boring. As for the MMC Damon, I just needed more. He was really cute in the flashback scenes and if this had been a YA novel I would have loved it but I needed way more from adult Damon to justify how crazy into him Sam was.

This book also deals with conflict in the weirdest ways. There are some serious familial issues and betrayals in this book and I don’t feel like any of them got the depth they deserved to be believable or to have satisfying resolutions. In general the approach to conflict seemed to be everyone makes mistakes, get over it. Even the eventual conflict between Sam and Damon, both in the past and in the present felt crammed into last few chapters of the book. The ultimate resolution felt rushed and the central issue this couple faced was solved with one conversation that could and should have happened way earlier. I think we could have spent less pages rehashing the visions associated with each song over and over again and devoted that time to more meaningful resolutions between the characters in this book.

Nostalgia overload! This story is filled to the brim with songs from “back in the day” that will happily play in a loop for the rest of the night. I loved the memories that each of these songs conjured up in my foggy memory. I felt like I was living a parallel reality with Sam, and it brought up my own “what if” questions too, which is always fun to daydream about. Life is full of crossroads, especially as a senior in high school and as much as you think you know it all, you don’t and that was fun to ride along with Sam’s alternate journey through the road not taken.

Erin is hilarious (also IRL!) and while I relished Sam’s individual relationships with Damon and her grandmother, I also was drawn to the humor that she brought with her side characters too! Byron and his kilt and Jessie and her… drawings made me lolollllll and brought a lightness to some otherwise super serious scenes. Overall, an enjoyable read that I plowed through in a day filled with whimsy, second chances and lots of great music. I’m going to listen to that Spotify playlist asap.

Time travel, second chance romance, and a wonderful feminist twist. We’ve all had those “what if” moments and this book dives straight into the deep end of that rabbit hole. It starts slow, but man did it end strong!

Sam needs to get out of her small town and she’ll do anything to achieve her goal - including turning down her high school crush. But years later when she has to return to her small hometown, she starts to wonder if maybe she made a mistake. What would have happened if she took that leap? What would have happened if she stayed?

This one hit home in so many ways. I loved the magic of seeing the past in a different perspective as well as the fantastic supporting characters. Like 13 Going on 30 (but in reverse), this book is a love letter to our younger selves.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin, HarperCollins, and The Hive for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.