Review. Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

Title. Saint Anything
Author. Sarah Dessen
Published May 5th 2015 by Viking Juvenile
From Goodreads.

Peyton, Sydney's charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion's share of their parents' attention and—lately—concern. When Peyton's increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction, and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident?
Enter the Chathams, a warm, chaotic family who run a pizza parlor, play bluegrass on weekends, and pitch in to care for their mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Here Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance. And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time.
The uber-popular Sarah Dessen explores her signature themes of family, self-discovery, and change in her twelfth novel, sure to delight her legions of fans.

First of all, let me get it off my chest,

I love this title!

Before I read it I thought it was a play on words about...

But it wasn't. But the reason why it is called this is even more awesome (if possible).

Anyways.

I've missed Sarah Dessen. 

That's what I first thought as I read the first few chapters. I've forgotten how she always manages to make a story seem easy, relatable. Her main characters are always so easy to like, to root for. Saint Anything was not different.

I can't pinpoint what exactly makes her stories so magical but that's undeniable. Saint Anything trapped me. In a world where Sydney was perfect on the outside (and pretty much on the inside too, I know I would have thrown plenty of fits if I were in her place) yet very vulnerable, it made you instantly love her. 

Then came the Chathams, especially Layla and Mac, who were the most amazing, most welcoming family Dessen has ever written (possibly). I loved them and their chamadery. I loved that they had a pizzeria. I loved everything about them.

I am trying to remember if there Dessen has ever written a boy as shy as Mac. I can't remember (it's been a lot of books and a lot of boys) but I absolutely adored that Mac was the shy one for once. He grew up being overweight his whole life and now with a recent healthier body he is kind of apprehensive of people (no blame). He was absolutely perfect and adorable.

And as much this is 2015, and this is a new, different story, it still felt familiar, like seeing your childhood best friend again and realizing you missed them more than you noticed. I loved to read this, Sarah, my old pal. Thanks for forever bringing me reading pleasure, circa 2007.

Review: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Title: The Moon and More
Author: Sarah Dessen
Published June 4th 2013 by Viking Juvenile
Goodreads / Amazon
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I honestly cannot believe I am going to read a 'meh' review for this book, but sadly, my heart isn't in it because I did not find it that great.

 

Y'all know I love Sarah Dessen. She's one of the writers who got me into YA, also the author of many of my favorite books. I love her as a person and as a writer. So it's hard for me when I less than love anything she writes.

 

This time though, I gotta admit that I had a hard time connecting with her story. Emmaline is a beach girl who is going through the phase of branching out of her old routes and leaving Colby (I know! Colby where Auden and Eli met!) her hometown. But is the outside everything that's cracked up to be? or is she not appreciating what she has now?

 

I, for the life of me, could not care about Emmaline, I feel like Sarah Dessen tried to make her likable by making her situation with her dad a very unfortunate one, but even then, I just couldn't muster any warm feelings towards her and her first world problems. I couldn't get over that she kissed Theo hours after she broke up with Luke, her boyfriend of years.

 

And then I didn't even liked Theo from the beggining, so I felt like I was waisting my time since I didn't care where their relationship went. I liked Luke but he wasn't in the book that much anyway.

 

The only reasonably good parts where when Emmaline's brother, Benji, was in the picture. He was a cutie that brighten the scene he was in. And also, Colby, for a hardcore fan like me, re-visiting Colby was one of the great perks of this book, made me wish I was at the beach reading.

 

So there, I didn't really liked this book but honestly, nothing Sarah Dessen writes can ever be bad, so it's just not for me.

 

 

 

 

Review: What Happened To Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

What happened to Goodbye
Author: Sarah Dessen
Published May 10th 2011 by Penguin Young Readers Group
Click to go to its Goodreads page

I know you don't know me (yet) but I have to say that everyone in real life knows what a HUGE Sarah Dessen fan I am. I even have her name tattooed on my bicep ;)

She's one of the first YA authors I ever read and her books have a place close to my heart. So excuse me if I might have been over-excited when I heard about this book. She didn't published anything in about 2 years so I almost had a heart attack and maybe just maybe I set my expectations HIGH.

WHTG is the story of a girl named McLean. Her parents divorced after her mom cheated on her dad and McLean has been angry at her mom ever since, so she lives with her dad. Problem is that her dad is a chef and he has to travel a lot, checking on his boss' restaurants and McLean, hurt as she is, doesn't want to get involved too much with anyone.

So she lies. She makes up names and personalities for her to have at each town they go to. But this time is different, she didn't choose it, she didn't think about it but she find herself changing this time around.