When I picked up several Sarah Dessen books to take to the beach, I was expecting mainly some light, somewhat predictable young adult romance novels. And, since that's what I was expecting to read, that's what I was expecting to review. But this is not exactly what I expected.
Let's face it: novels are generally not as realistic as we think. Things just don't happen the way they do in novels or movies or television. Not in the real world. The romance in these books was, I admit, slightly predictable, in the sense that it's easy to know which characters will be a couple by the end of the story.
The actual relationships, however, I found to be more believable and realistic than expected. The characters went through real challenges and dealt with real issues and real emotions. They just did it together, some of the time. And while each of the books I read did include some summer romance, as Dessen is known for, the romance did not feel like the main story line in most cases.
These books dealt with a lot of difficult topics that I think a lot of authors, especially in more young adult genres, might shy away from. Drugs, alcohol, rape, divorce, abuse, insomnia, eating disorders, loss and so on. It wasn't all butterflies and rainbows. It was hard to read at times, but harder to know that things like that really happen.
Still, these books, more than anything, dealt with family. It was in how Ruby dealt with her mother. How Annabel dealt with her sisters. How Auden dealt with her parents and stepmother.
In Lock and Key, Ruby moves in with her sister after her mother abandons her in their tiny shack of a home. Ruby is used to fending for herself, and struggles to trust others and define what family means to her.
In Along for the Ride, Auden goes to spend the summer with her father, her new stepmother, and her baby stepsister at the beach before college. She is used to isolating herself for her studies, due to the influence of her intellectual parents, and now must learn to be her own person.
In Just Listen, Annabel and her sisters are young models, and have been since they were children. After having a rough semester at school following an incident with her best friend's boyfriend, Annabel is afraid of losing her friends, disappointing her mother, and telling the truth.
I really enjoyed these books, and if you like young adult romance and realistic writing, you definitely will too!
If you have a favorite book to suggest or a question about a book, feel free to leave me a comment!
Let's face it: novels are generally not as realistic as we think. Things just don't happen the way they do in novels or movies or television. Not in the real world. The romance in these books was, I admit, slightly predictable, in the sense that it's easy to know which characters will be a couple by the end of the story.
The actual relationships, however, I found to be more believable and realistic than expected. The characters went through real challenges and dealt with real issues and real emotions. They just did it together, some of the time. And while each of the books I read did include some summer romance, as Dessen is known for, the romance did not feel like the main story line in most cases.
These books dealt with a lot of difficult topics that I think a lot of authors, especially in more young adult genres, might shy away from. Drugs, alcohol, rape, divorce, abuse, insomnia, eating disorders, loss and so on. It wasn't all butterflies and rainbows. It was hard to read at times, but harder to know that things like that really happen.
Still, these books, more than anything, dealt with family. It was in how Ruby dealt with her mother. How Annabel dealt with her sisters. How Auden dealt with her parents and stepmother.
In Lock and Key, Ruby moves in with her sister after her mother abandons her in their tiny shack of a home. Ruby is used to fending for herself, and struggles to trust others and define what family means to her.
In Along for the Ride, Auden goes to spend the summer with her father, her new stepmother, and her baby stepsister at the beach before college. She is used to isolating herself for her studies, due to the influence of her intellectual parents, and now must learn to be her own person.
In Just Listen, Annabel and her sisters are young models, and have been since they were children. After having a rough semester at school following an incident with her best friend's boyfriend, Annabel is afraid of losing her friends, disappointing her mother, and telling the truth.
I really enjoyed these books, and if you like young adult romance and realistic writing, you definitely will too!
If you have a favorite book to suggest or a question about a book, feel free to leave me a comment!
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