Along for the RideI just finished reading Sarah Dessen's newest book, "Along for the Ride." To give a basic plot summary: a girl who's always kind of kept to herself and been overly caught up in school goes away the summer before college, meets a boy, learns some things about herself, etc. As far as Dessen's books go, this character (Auden) has been the one I've been able to relate to the most. It wasn't my favorite book of hers, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it a lot. It's definitely worth reading. If you haven't read any Dessen before, I'll let you know that she constantly makes subtle (or not so subtle) references to characters/events in her old books in each of her new ones, so if you want to pick up on those, you might want to read the books in the order they were written. Some of the earlier stuff you can take or leave, but I definitely recommend "Someone Like You," "This Lullaby," "The Truth About Forever," and "Just Listen."
Okay. Now I just have to talk about Dessen's books in general. I always end up reading them the same way. I start out reading fast, because they're so easy and fun to read. Then I hit a certain point and I realize that I am now in a Sarah Dessen mood and don't want to move on to reading anything else, and then I start reading extremely slowly to make the book last as long as possible. This is not easy to do, because I really want to keep reading it quickly. Here's the thing: her books are predictable. They follow a sort of formula. They're a little cheesy. But you fall completely in love with them anyway. They're like Disney movies. You know how things will turn out, but you find yourself completely engrossed and enjoying yourself anyway. Plus, I have a lot of respect for her in that she can create these realistic teenage girls that I can totally relate to, and that she's writing teen fiction that's not all trashy and ohmygodyousleptwithmyboyfriend. Basically, I think Sarah Dessen rocks, and I give "Along for the Ride" 8 pretzel bites.
Okay. Now I just have to talk about Dessen's books in general. I always end up reading them the same way. I start out reading fast, because they're so easy and fun to read. Then I hit a certain point and I realize that I am now in a Sarah Dessen mood and don't want to move on to reading anything else, and then I start reading extremely slowly to make the book last as long as possible. This is not easy to do, because I really want to keep reading it quickly. Here's the thing: her books are predictable. They follow a sort of formula. They're a little cheesy. But you fall completely in love with them anyway. They're like Disney movies. You know how things will turn out, but you find yourself completely engrossed and enjoying yourself anyway. Plus, I have a lot of respect for her in that she can create these realistic teenage girls that I can totally relate to, and that she's writing teen fiction that's not all trashy and ohmygodyousleptwithmyboyfriend. Basically, I think Sarah Dessen rocks, and I give "Along for the Ride" 8 pretzel bites.
KAY
I love this review!! I agree she rocks because of her believable characters!
ReplyDelete