49 pages • 1-hour read
Sounds Like Love
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Chapter 35-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness and death.
Chapter 35 Summary: “(Take Me On) Take On Me”
Joni wakes to the sound of rain. The storm is moving up the coast. Gigi texts to say they should talk. Distracted by messages from Sasha, Joni doesn’t reply to Gigi. She and Sasha spend the next few days ordering takeout and working on their song. Joni’s emotions overwhelm her whenever they’re together. After one session, Joni starts worrying about the future; she can’t imagine what will happen when they finish their collaboration.
The rain continues for days. Meanwhile, Joni and Sasha keep writing. They reflect on their first meeting and their potential future together. The more they work on their song, the quieter their voices become in each other’s heads. One day, Rooney calls Joni to check on her songwriting progress. Joni says she’s working on something new, which Rooney suggests they sell to Willa. In addition, Rooney announces that Joni has “been asked to perform at the VMAs,” which could lead to a Grammy nomination (290). Joni is shocked and thrilled. After the call, Joni can barely breathe. She can’t hear Sasha’s voice in her head. He comes to her side and comforts her, but she’s terrified of losing him.
Chapter 36 Summary: “(We Would Never Break) The Chain”
The power goes out at Sasha’s rental during the storm. He and Joni learn that the city has issued a mandatory evacuation for all nonresidents. Joni insists that Sasha leave town before it’s too late. He’s offended and accuses her of pushing him away, using him, and making everything about her. Joni tries to protest, but he leaves without listening to her pleas.
Chapter 37 Summary: “(What You Did) As Long as You Love Me”
Joni joins her family, friends, and townspeople at the Rev. They’ve always used the venue as a storm shelter. She and Gigi sit together, make amends, and discuss what’s happening with Sasha. She shares her recent revelations about Van, her decision to leave Vienna Shores years ago, and her feelings for Sasha. Gigi apologizes for getting upset and explains what an inspiration Joni has always been to her. Mitch joins them, and he and Gigi announce that they’ve decided to leave Vienna Shores so that Gigi can pursue a music career, like Joni. They add that they’ve been engaged for weeks, apologizing for hiding the news from Joni. The conversation turns to Sasha. Gigi and Mitch insist that she go find him and make amends. The storm intensifies, and the power cuts out before Joni can do anything. She hopes Sasha is safe.
Chapter 38 Summary: “Wherever (You Go, There You Are)”
Joni is surprised and thrilled when Sasha appears at the Rev. They make amends, and Joni introduces him to Wynona, who realizes that he’s her late friend Ami McKellen’s son. Joni and Sasha are amazed that their mothers knew each other. They decide to share their new song.
Chapter 39 Summary: “(Just as Long as You) Stand by Me”
Joni and Sasha play their song. They discover that it’s a version of a song Wynona has been tinkering with for years. She and Ami started the song together but never finished it before Ami’s death. As the lovers perform, Joni is overcome by emotion and feels as if she’s home.
Chapter 40 Summary: “Closing Time (You Don’t Have to Go Home)”
Everyone applauds and congratulates the lovers after they finish their song. Wynona is particularly excited. Sasha reveals to Joni that he never left town.
Everyone settles in for the night. Joni curls up next to Sasha but can’t sleep. She gets up and joins her mom. They have an intimate conversation. Wynona apologizes for keeping so much from Joni and expresses her hopes for Joni’s future. They admit their fears and regrets and express their love for each other. Afterward, Joni rejoins Sasha.
Chapter 41 Summary: “(When I’m Gone to) Carolina in My Mind”
In the morning, the storm is over. Everyone races outside to see the damage from the hurricane. A pack of wild horses passes by—they gallop through town every year. Feeling emotional, Joni realizes that this is where she belongs.
Chapter 42 Summary: “(In the Spring Becomes) The Rose”
That evening, Joni and Wynona “watch the sunset” in the garden (338). Sasha and Hank join them in the yard, and everyone shares their memories of Ami.
Over the following days, the Vienna Shores townspeople clean up after the storm. The following week, Sasha returns to LA to pack up his life and relocate to Vienna Shores. He and Joni have decided to take over the Rev. They’ve agreed that they’ll do anything to be together. Over the following months, they reignite the business and gradually settle in North Carolina together. The Rev is hard work, but Joni doesn’t regret her decision. She now understands that Hollywood was never the place for her.
In the fall, Joni takes Wynona and Sasha to the VMAs. She and her mom spend as much time together over the following months. Eventually, Wynona’s health fades, and she passes away.
Chapter 43 Summary: “Vienna (Waits for You)”
Over the following two years, Joni and Sasha establish their life in Vienna Shores. Gigi and Mitch have been living in LA, but they still return to North Carolina to visit. One night, Gigi performs at the Rev. Joni is thrilled for her friend and feels happy. While watching Gigi, Joni and Sasha profess their love for each other.
Epilogue Summary: “Such an Old-Fashioned Word”
Joni hangs the photo of Wynona and Ami at the Rev. She revisits it often, reflecting on her love for her mom and all she taught her about music.
Chapter 35-Epilogue Analysis
The novel’s final chapters lead Joni and Sasha toward their “happily-ever-after” ending. Throughout the novel, they’ve encountered numerous personal and interpersonal conflicts. While these professional and romantic tensions intensified Joni’s emotional state, they also facilitated her self-examination, propelling The Journey Toward Healing and Self-Reclamation as a theme. Although Sasha isn’t solely responsible for Joni’s growth, he encourages Joni to see herself in new ways. Unlike Joni’s previous boyfriends (particularly Van), Sasha sees Joni’s heart and relates to her spirit. The way he regards Joni offers her perspective on her character, gradually inspiring her to claim her strengths and build a fulfilling future for herself. Joni’s growth journey parallels her romantic journey. As she gains more confidence in herself, she opens her heart to love and embraces a new life with Sasha.
The life that Joni and Sasha establish together by the novel’s end reiterates The Transformative Power of Love and Intimacy as a theme. For years, Joni felt unhappy and unfulfilled. She secured the glamorous life for herself in LA that she had once imagined, but these circumstances failed to fully satisfy her heart’s longings. When she and Sasha get together—artistically and romantically—Joni discovers who she is and what she wants. Her internal monologue amid her and Sasha’s performance at the Rev conveys these aspects of her internal change:
My panic melted. My soul came back. This was my dream—not sparkly fame or big-city lights—but this. This feeling, this certainty. I felt whole. And it hadn’t taken a Grammy or a hit or a famous person singing it—it just took the act of creating something new and sharing it (320).
Joni’s references to “creating” and “sharing” capture the essence of her intimate connection to Sasha. Their relationship is founded on mutual artistic creation and reciprocal emotional exchange. These relational patterns redefine Joni’s understanding of love itself. Love isn’t limited to physical desire but is the feeling of comfort, acceptance, and belonging. She finds an emotional home in Sasha, which in turn inspires the romantic counterparts to build a tangible home life together in Vienna Shores.
Once Joni accepts who she is and what she wants, she rediscovers her relationship with music, thematically foregrounding Music and Songwriting as Self-Expression. Via her relationships with Sasha, Wynona, and Gigi, she remembers what making music means to her. As she and Sasha play together, for example, Joni feels that they’re connected by “threads [of] chords and counterpoints” (321). Her and Sasha’s completed song, “Sounds Like Love,” connects them to their mothers, their pasts, and each other. In addition, it reminds Joni that “romance [is] a work of art,” too (321). Rediscovering her musical passion empowers Joni and leads her toward ultimate personal and vocational fulfillment.
The novel ends on a bittersweet and hopeful note through its closing images of Joni studying Wynona and Ami’s photo at the Rev. Joni is sad over her mom’s death. However, she honors her mom’s memory by hanging and visiting the photograph. The photo symbolizes her and Sasha’s familial and artistic origins. The couple is continuing a tradition via the Rev while paying tribute to their pasts.
Pop song titles continue to reflect the story’s events and moods. For example, Chapter 41 (in which Joni feels profoundly connected to her North Carolina hometown) takes its title from James Taylor’s “Carolina in My Mind,” while the title of Chapter 42 (in which the family shares their memories of Sasha’s mother, the town cleans up after the storm, and Wynona passes away) refers to Bette Midler’s “The Rose.” Chapter 43 (in which Joni and Sasha build a life together in Vienna Shores and Gigi performs at the Rev) derives its title from the Billy Joel hit “Vienna” and its lyric “waits for you.” Even the novel’s title derives from a song, “Sounds Like Love”—the one that Joni and Sasha write together.
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