Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

Title: Saint Anything

Author: Sarah Dessen

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Release Date: May 5, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Peyton, Sydney’s charismatic older brother, has always been the start 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 see, for the first time.

The über-populär Sarah Dessen explores her signature themes of family, self-discover, and change in her twelfth novel, sure to delight her legions of fans.

Reading a book by a favourite author is like reconnection with an old friend after not having seen them for a long time. And that’s exactly how I felt while I was reading Sarah Dessen’s latest release, Saint Anything. 

Sydney has spent her whole life in her older brother’s shadow. Peyton has always been the charismatic, commanding everyone’s attention. But lately, the attention that Peyton is getting isn’t for the right reasons. When everything takes a turn for the worse, Peyton ends up in jail for drunk driving and Sydney can’t seem to figure out where she fits in with her family anymore. Starting over at a new school, Sydney meets Layla Chatham. The Chatham family is so completely different from her own, and instantly Sydney feels comfortable and at home with them. And the more time she spends with Mac, Layla’s older brother, the more Sydney feels like someone is finally seeing her for who she is for the first time.

If I had to pick just two authors that are the reason I read YA, Sarah Dessen would be one of them, hands down (Meg Cabot is the other, in case you were wondering). I have been reading Sarah Dessen’s books since middle school, and every time she announces that she has a new book coming out, I get just as excited as I did the first time I read her books. And Sarah Dessen’s books are books I could read over and over again and never get tired of them. Which brings me to Saint Anything. I was so excited about this book when it was first announced. And then the early reviews started coming in and my excitement level went through the roof. And then I started reading and I was reminded (not that I really needed a reminder) of why I love Sarah Dessen’s stories so much. But Saint Anything is different. It’s darker than Dessen’s most recent titles. But it doesn’t hit you over the head with the darkness. There are parts of the book that are difficult to read. Parts that made me want to scream. Characters that drove me absolutely crazy. But put it all together, and I loved this story. It was understated, it was quiet, but it made me feel all the feelings I’ve come to expect when reading a Sarah Dessen book. Also, the title? When you finally find out what it all means? The feelings. Just all the feelings.

I absolutely loved Sydney and I felt for her. I can only imagine what it would feel like to grow up in her family, always feeling like you don’t matter all that much because your sibling has such a big personality. While reading, I just wanted to give her a hug, to tell her that even though her parents might not, I saw her and I cared about her. To be completely honest, for much of the book I wanted to yell at her parents. Her dad just seemed so oblivious to what was happening in his own home while her mom was so busy worrying about the son that got sent to jail that she forgot about the daughter she still had at home. Let’s just say that neither of Sydney’s parents are going to be winning any “Parent of the Year” awards. So I was really happy when she found the Chathams, this family that just took her in and pretty much treated her like one of her own. And the Chathams were pretty fantastic. I loved Layla’s bubbly personality and her obsession with French fries, the way she just took Sydney in without any questions and how she was there for her friend. And though he was more quiet, Mac stole my heart pretty early on. He was always there, sort of in the background, but you could just tell that he cared for his family and for Sydney. The whole Chatham family was just fantastic and I loved them all. 

I won’t ever tire of reading Sarah Dessen’s books. For me, reading them is like coming home and with Saint Anything it was no different. Fans of Sarah Dessen everywhere will love this book and new readers will discover just how fantastic a storyteller this author is. 

Blog Tour - The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Title: The Moon and More

Author: Sarah Dessen

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Release Date: June 4, 2013

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby? 

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going?

Sarah Dessen's devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer.

If you've been reading this book for any length of time, you have probably heard me say at some point just how much I love Sarah Dessen. And I was so excited at the prospect of having a new book of hers to read. Almost immediately after receiving my copy of The Moon and More, I started reading and I couldn't have been more happy to be back in the world of Colby.

Emaline thought she had a plan: she was going to go off to college with the boy she has been dating since first starting high school. Everything was all set. But the summer before all that is set to happen, things change and suddenly everything Emaline knows is falling to pieces around her. She wanted to have one of those summers where she can be someone completely different, like the people she sees renting the properties where she works. The only thing Emaline couldn't have predicted was that at the end of it all, what she so desperately wants to get away from is what will make her want to stay with everything she is familiar. 

I will apologize in advance if this seems to be turning into an ode to Sarah Dessen and her books, but here it goes anyways. Here's the thing about Sarah Dessen and her books, they make the absolutely perfect summer read. But they aren't all just fluff and fun times in the sun. Often there is something more going on with the story and the characters and that is typically what makes me love these stories so much. With The Moon and More, I felt like I could relate to the story in a way that I can't always relate to other stories. That feeling of leaving home for the first time and being excited about it, but also kind of afraid of what the unknown holds. This story was very much about that. The main character, Emaline, was really excited at the prospect of leaving home, but at the same time she wants to hold on to everything that feels familiar around her. And that aspect of her story, and the greater story, is something I could really relate too and I'm sure I wasn't the only one. What I really enjoyed about The Moon and More as well was that it didn't really follow the same pattern that typical Sarah Dessen stories do. There were those elements to the story that I have come to love, but the way it all played wasn't necessarily what I expected to happen but it was something I enjoyed seeing. I can't help but come back to the fact that Sarah Dessen knows what she is doing. She knows what works in her stories and that's what makes it so I keep loving her books, even after having read so many of them. And The Moon and More was everything I hoped it would be.

Like I've already said, I could relate to Emaline's story and for that reason I could also really relate to certain aspects of her character. When I was getting ready to leave for college, I may not have been dating the same boy since the start of high school, but I could definitely relate to the part where you are eager to move on to the next part of your life while at the same wanting to hold on to everything that is familiar. For me, that made Emaline really likeable and made it so I really liked her. She was one of those characters that I found myself taking a liking to her right from the beginning and so throughout the story I was eager to see what would happen to her, the decisions she would make about the different aspects of her life. And those aspects of her life got pretty complicated after a while. Sure, the whole Luke vs. Theo part of things was mostly her own doing, but there wasn't all that much she could do about the situation with her father. And her father kinda annoyed me. I could see why he was doing what he was doing and could understand where he was coming from, but that didn't make him any more likeable to me. But Benji I loved. In some parts of the story, it felt like he kinda stole the show. But I also loved the side of Emaline that he brought out. I think it was a side of her personality that even surprised Emaline herself at times. The other thing about Sarah Dessen books is that more often than not, I can't help but fall a little (or a lot if that person is Wes) with her love interests. But with The Moon and More, that didn't really happen on the same scale I thought it would. Sure, I liked Luke and his familiarity just like I liked Theo and his newness. But beyond that they didn't necessarily impress me that much. But that's okay because in the end, I almost wanted Emaline to end up alone, because that would mean that she would be able to actually be herself and do what she wants to do. And that's what I wanted for Emaline.

So this is my ramble-y way of saying that I absolutely love Sarah Dessen and The Moon and More. If you have loved Sarah Dessen's books in the past, you won't want to miss out on this one. It may not have been exactly like I thought it would have been, but that didn't stop me from loving it just as much as this author's other books. 

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Title: The Truth About Forever

Author: Sarah Dessen

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Release Date: May 11, 2004

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

A long, hot summer...

That’s what Macy has to look forward to while her boyfriend, Jason, is away at Brain Camp. Days will be spent at a boring job in the library, evenings will be filled with vocabulary drills for the SATs, and spare time will be passed with her mother, the two of them sharing silent grief at the traumatic loss of Macy’s father.

But sometimes unexpected things can happen--things such as the catering job at Wish, with its fun-loving, chaotic crew. Or her sister’s project of renovating the neglected beach house, awakening long-buried memories. Things such as meeting Wes, a boy with a past, a taste for Truth-telling, and an amazing artistic talent, the kind of boy who could turn any girl’s world upside down. As Macy ventures out of her shell, she begins to wonder, Is it really better safe than sorry?

I don’t know how many times I’ve read The Truth About Forever, but every time I read it I just love it that much more. This is by far one of my favorite books ever and I just love reading it every so often. It’s basically my go-to book when I’m looking when I’m looking for a good read. Even if I’ve read it so many times before, I always find something new in it and I just enjoy rediscovering the story and characters.

Whenever someone asks her how she is feeling Macy always gives the same answer: she is fine, just fine. Since her father’s death, Macy has been striving to be the perfect daughter for her mother who seems to be drowning herself in work as a way to deal with grief. When summer begins, Macy is ready for her job at the library and to spend her free time preparing for the SATs. But one night she meets the people of Wish Catering and everything seems to start changing. She now as new friends and learns that everything doesn’t always have to be perfect, in fact it’s a lot better if you don’t expect it to be. And then there’s Wes, who seems to be the one who understands Macy the most and who may just be the cause of the biggest change in Macy.

Macy is such a great character. Out of all of Dessen’s characters I would have to say that Macy is the one I like the most. I find that she’s the one I can relate to the most. I haven’t lost a parent like she has, but I have a tendency to always want to be perfect and do what everyone expects me to do. You can really see that Macy grows throughout the novel, by the end she is the same person but different. I always love seeing her evolution every time I read the book. Macy is just a really likable and realistic character. And like I said before she is one of my favorites.

Wes. How to even begin describing Wes. The first time I read this book and found out about Wes was also the first time I basically fell in love with a fictional character. I don’t even know how to describe him. There is just so much to Wes and I’m afraid that any description I could give of him just wouldn’t do him justice. So instead I’m just going to tell you to go pick up the book and find out about Wes for yourself.

I’ve read about people saying that most of Sarah Dessen’s books have the same storyline. I’m going to have to disagree with that. I’ve read all of her books and I can honestly say that not one is the same. The only thing I find that come back from book to book are some of the characters and places. Personally I like it when that happens, it sort of allows me to see what happens to the characters after the books are over. That’s hardly enough to say that all her books are the same.

The Truth About Forever is one of my all-time favorite books. I’ve read it countless times and just love it even more every time I read it. There’s just something about the story that makes it so I can read it over and over again. If you’re looking for a new favorite, I definitely suggest you pick up The Truth About Forever...or any of Sarah Dessen’s books.