The Sound by Sarah Alderson

The Sound by Sarah Alderson
Published: August 1, 2013 by Simon & Schuster UK
Source: Purchased from bookdepository.com

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... [goodreads]

This particular book had been on my radar for quite some time, and it's why I purchased a copy from the book depository as soon as it was available to ship across the pond to me.  With a description that says aspiring music journalist, set on Nantucket island, involving a local bad boy -- of course I want to read it!  I dove in right away with open expectations, perhaps a little too much hope that I'd love it, so maybe that's why I felt a bit up and down as I read this one.

Ren is spending her summer on the island of Nantucket, being a nanny for two small children.  She's a young British girl, venturing to the states for the first time with an open mind and a bruised heart.  Instead of sticking around London for the summer, watching her ex-boyfriend gallivant around with his new love, she finds the shores of Nantucket (as well as being thousands of miles away) to be refreshing.  Her personality immediately jumped off the page at me.  Her sarcastic tone and witty nature drew me in and I really enjoyed following her character as she learned to navigate a bicycle, as well as the unforgiving sunshine on her fair skin.

Since the family she is staying with runs with the elite crowd on the island, she's thrown into the mix of extravagant parties and the high life of summer in Nantucket.  Though she is surrounded by diamonds and champagne, she still remembers why she came here -- for a job.  Ren meets a few of the teenagers who vacation on the island with their parents for the summer, which she immediately recognizes that they are a world away from her.  But being the open minded girl she is, she still gives them the benefit of the doubt.  The more time she spends with them, she learns about the history of the island -- especially a certain history that occurred last summer between one of the elite and the local bad boy.  An altercation between these two boys remains unsolved, but Ren has a feeling she's about to find herself right in the middle of it.

The beginning of this story felt a bit slow for me.  But about half way through it began to pick up and I really enjoyed where it was headed.  Once Ren gets to know the local bad boy, Jesse, it was their interactions that kept me reading.  She's hesitant on getting close to him because of the rumors about him, yet she's starting to see a softer side to him, one that doesn't match up with what everyone else is saying.  In this case, I think I liked the dance that these two characters found themselves in.  The building tension kept me reading, but once things bubbled to the surface, I felt like the story fizzled out a bit.  What should have been the climax felt more like an understated drop off.

The enjoyable elements of this story still out weigh the let downs for me, which causes me to still recommend this novel to others.  However, be prepared for a story that will soon become predictable, with an ending that doesn't quite satisfy.  Thank goodness for the epilogue though, or else I would have always wondered what happened next.