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the soundWhat: The Sound by Sarah Alderson

Who: Simon & Schuster UK

When: August 1st 2013

How: A copy of this novel was provided by Simon & Schuster Australia in exchange for an honest review.

When aspiring music journalist Ren Kingston takes a job nannying for a wealthy family on the exclusive island of Nantucket, playground for Boston’s elite, she’s hoping for a low-key summer reading books and blogging about bands. Boys are firmly off the agenda.

What she doesn’t count on is falling in with a bunch of party-loving private school kids who are hiding some dark secrets, falling (possibly) in love with the local bad boy, and falling out with a dangerous serial killer…

3cats2The Sound was my first foray into the world of YA contemporary thriller/mystery. Unfortunately, I was expecting a little more mystery and thriller, and a little less boy drama.

Whilst I am all for the inclusion of sex in YA (I mean, come on, young adults do think and partake in the stuff), I felt Ren was on the other side of the no-sex spectrum. Sex was pretty much all she thought about. She was constantly talking about quivering parts and imagining herself and a boy naked … it was pretty intense, and sometimes it felt a little inappropriate, especially for younger YA readers.

I felt like Ren had a lot of potential as a character. She was sassy and cute, smart and naive all at the same time. It was quite refreshing. Now I said ‘potential’, because she didn’t live up to it. I’ve heard of people mentioning a term called ‘slut shaming’ in books, and had never really understood what they meant until I read The Sound. There was slut shaming galore. And I found myself feeling really uncomfortable reading it. Just because a girl wears a short skirt means that she is worthy of Ren’s hatred and disgust? I found the whole thing a little hypocritical, especially considering Ren’s mind was on a one track whenever a guy came into view. I just really disliked that aspect of the book, and wish it had been cut out. If Ren was jealous, then that could have been written entirely differently. One can be jealous without the slut shaming that was so prevalent in The Sound.

The love triangle was bordering on painful. Ren clearly had feelings for Jesse even though she was fooling around with Jeremy. I don’t need to mention the hypocritical slut shaming again, do I? Jeremy was obviously just a player, and I almost couldn’t believe how blind Ren was to that.

Mystery! Thrills! Not so much in The Sound. I wanted to read this book because it sounded like there would be a bounty of murders, and creepy happenings. Murders and creepy happenings probably took up about 5% of this book, which was truly disappointing. Barely anything creepy happens, and there was only one thriller moment in the entire book. So, a bit of a let down for my first contemporary YA thriller/mystery.

There were a few aspects that I did enjoy, however. Like our resident bad boy but really good boy: Jesse. I guessed his motives from the get-go, however, so he was not at all mysterious to me. I did like how sexy he was, and how much an effect he had on Ren. That is realistic. Girls (ahem, me) can be completely disarmed by one glance on behalf of an extremely good looking boy.

The little girl, Brodie, that Ren is nannying for is absolutely adorable. I can only imagine what kind of teenager she would grow up to be. Fabulous, if my guess is anything to go by.

The one thing I didn’t guess was the killer. I suspected a whole lot of people, and was actually pretty surprised when they were revealed at the end. Again, I wish there had been more creepy killer stuff and less boy/sex drama.

Overall, The Sound was an addictive summer read (even though I read it in the heart of Winter *waves from Australia*), and I will most likely be checking out Alderson’s other titles.

© 2014, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.

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Posted on: July 18, 2014 • By: Chiara

8 Responses to Review: The Sound by Sarah Alderson

  1. Isn’t it so disappointing when you go into a mystery book expecting ACTUAL good mystery but what you get instead is lots of romantic drama? Most of the YA mystery books I’ve read have been like that, so I can totally relate to how you feel about this one.

    Okay, Ren sounds awful. I have nothing against sex in YA books either, but geez, that doesn’t mean authors have a free pass to just make their characters crazy about it. I don’t know how I’ll be able to enjoy reading things from her perspective, especially since she had so much potential, too! And ugh, her hypocrisy will probably just make me scratch my eyes out.

    I was also looking forward to some excitement about the whole “falling out with a serial killer” thing, but nope, doesn’t seem to be any of that. Oh, Chiara, I hope one day I’ll be able to love sweet bad boys as much as you do, but right now my mind is just too scarred from the horrible bad boys I’ve read. And Jesse is so not a bad boy name, which is kind of nice. It’s just tiring reading about guys with the name “Ryder” or “Stryker.” And lame. Very lame.

    I’m glad you were able to enjoy at least some aspects in this book, but overall, it sounds like a pretty meh read for me so I don’t think I’ll ever read it. It has SUCH a gorgeous cover, though! Thanks for the lovely review. :D

    • Chiara says:

      This was definitely more of a romantic drama than it was a mystery, which was kind of disappointing. I’ve read a few and they always seem to feature the romance quite heavily, amidst the mystery. I don’t know what is up with that! Surely a mystery can stand on its own two feet?

      Yes, there was a lot of sex in this book. Sometimes it even made me uncomfortable, to be honest. I was just like: girl, get your head outta the gutter. Haha. And the potential made it all the worse because I just know that she could have been fabulous, if given the chance. Yeah the hypocrisy was more than a bit irritating, I must admit.

      There have been some horrible bad boys that I have read, but I still hold a candle for the trope. I just cannot help it! I think Jesse is the best good-bad-boy name. OH GOD RYDER? STRYKER? What books have you been reading, Meg? D:

      I think with a few changes, it could have turned out to be a pretty fab book. Thanks, Meg ^.^

  2. UGH, I cannot STAND slut shaming. I would probably throw this book, lol. I really love YA thrillers, despite the fact that I haven’t read many, and I feel like (from what you’ve described) there probably isn’t enough thriller-y type stuff to keep my interest.

  3. “Quivering parts” <— that right there is why I'm not going to read it. *shudders* I just hate those words together in a sentence.

    If you want a good thriller/mystery, I suggest Far From You by Tess Sharpe. It also deals with addiction in teens and has a LGBT relationship that's VERY well done. Plus, FEELS. Painful, painful, heart-breaking, amazing feels.

    PS: Can I move in with you? It's so hot over here D: And we didn't even get a winter! It's been 70-105F every day for seven months now *cries*

    • Chiara says:

      It was in there so many times, Kayla! I was like WUT. WUT. WUT.

      Ooooo okay I am definitely going to run to Goodreads and add that book to the TBR then. :D OH GOD NOT THE HEARTBREAKING FEELS. What are you trying to to do me, Kayla?

      Ewwwww. You can totally fly down here until it gets cooler where you are ;D

  4. It always annoys me when books are marketed as thrillers and mysteries, but end up being simply romances with a hint of a mystery. This being said, I don’t think this would be for me, which is a shame because I LOVE mysteries. Nonetheless, thanks for sharing and, as always, BRILLIANT review! <3

    (P.S. If you’re looking for some amazing YA mysteries / thrillers, Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas & The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin are wonderful!)

    • Chiara says:

      I definitely wish there had been some more mystery in this one. I was okay with the romance, but I think there could have been some more thrills interwoven in the story, too. Thank you, lovely! <3

      Dangerous Girls is very high on my TBR and I will be sure to ads The Westing Game to my TBR! Thank you, Zoe!

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