Book Review: Just Listen

Title: Just Listen
Author: Sarah Dessen
Publisher: Speak (a division of Penguin Group USA), 2006
First read: March 10th, 2010
Page total: 371 pages
Genre(s): Young Adult; Realistic Fiction

Synopsis: "The girl who has everything" That's the role Annabel Greene had played in the commercial. But that was before the big fallout with her best friend, Sophie. Now Annabel has no friends, wants to quit modeling and is afraid to tell the truth - what really happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.
But then she meets Owen Amstrong, a fellow student who's determined to tell only the truth. It is him who changes the way Annabel views the world. But can he help her emerging from her safely guarded shell?

A bittersweet story. It's amazing to see how I grow slowly yet steadily fond of the characters. When I first read the book -which was 11 months ago as you can see- Annabel honestly freaked me out. I couldn't understand why she wouldn't just stick to the truth. Why she would prefer slumming in her cocoon. After going back to the story and savoring each and every word, I can finally say I can understand what she must feeling. I took the time to get close to her, and didn't let the prejudice standing in our way. It's probably weird to bond with a fictional character this way but Sarah Dessen's characters don't feel fictional. They feel real because they're not perfect. They make mistakes. They try to make it good. They're unsure of themselves.
I don't seek confrontations like Kirsten, the oldest of the Greene sisters, but unlike Annabel, I don't shy away from them either. Also, I'm not used to the silent treatments the way Whitney, the middle girl, is used to. If you ask me, I'd say while I don't like confrontations, I do what I have to do - I deal with them in order to protect myself. For Annabel, it was holding back the truth, hoping everyone -including herself- would forget the incident soon.
Several important topics are touched in this novel, such as Whitney's anorexia, Annabel's speaking up for herself, Owen's anger management. Each character struggles to live with her/his problem and while Annabel's clearly the major character, the others don't feel like left out, either - they're just as real as Annabel is.
At the end, Annabel learns to stand up for herself, and that while running away may be the easiest way out, it is not always the right way to deal with problems. And for that, I truly admire her.

Also, this book is packed with wisdom we all know subconsciously but that has never been pointed out to us. So, some quotes:
"But being nice wasn't as easy as it seemed, especially when the rest of the world could be so mean."
-Annabel

"I was beginning to see, though, that the unkown wasn't always the greatest thing to fear. The people who know you best can be riskier, because the words they say and the things they think have the potential to be not only scary but true, as well."
-Annabel

"What's wrong with nice?"
"Nothing. Except it usually involves not telling the truth."
-Annabel and Owen

"Anger's not bad. It's human. Anyway, just because someone's upset doesn't mean they'll stay that way."
-Owen

"Don't think, or judge. Just listen. [...] And then [...] you can make up your mind. Fair enough, right?"
-Owen.

This is a great book.
Sarah Dessen is an amazing author.

Keeping the Moon

Book Name: Last Chance

Author/s: Sarah Dessen

Language English

Original Title: Keeping The Moon

Publisher, year: Hodder Children's Books, 2009

Page total: 260

Date Read: August 10th-11th

Genre/s: YA, Coming of Age, Realistic Fiction

First line of Book:My name is Nicole Sparks.

Synopsis: "Never in one place long enough to make friends or put down roots, Colie doesn't expect her trip to the North Carolina coast to change a thing. Always the outcast, she's resigned to a holiday with only her eccentric aunt Mira for company. But when she finds a job waitressing at the Last Chance cafe, she also finds acceptance, new friends, and the beginnings of romance..."

Review:

I have this huge love-hate long-distance relationship with Sarah Dessen, you know? Love, because her books are unique and all set in the same world, which means there are references to other books' characters and sometimes they even appear briefly on other stories, which kills me, but I love it. It makes a book so much more interesting, don't you think? Hate, because it's never healthy to love someone's stories so much (though I must be crazy too because I don't actually care!) and long-distance because I've never actually met her *huge theatrical sigh*, but i have hopes!!

But back to the review, I have to admit that the first thing I though when I read the name Nicole Sparks was "What? Poor Nicholas!" (really!) but then I obviously stopped thinking that.

Colie is a very relatable character, who hasn't been bullied one time or another? And her growth throughout the book was not miraculous, it was very realistic and I could actually picture it happening.

I love the idea of Kiki Sparks, and all her inspirational phrases, like, if it were someone else saying it, it'd sound like a bunch of crap, but when Kiki said it, it actually made sense (creepy, huh?).

Morgan and Isabel were two people I just LOVED. They've so much fun together, and when they let Colie be a part of it, it's an important step towards confidence. And as BFFs, they were awesome, they even bickered! Of course the next minute they'd be all over each other again, but that's part of it. Also, I could understand both Morgan's and Isabel's attitudes to Colie in the beginning. Isabel's actions are not really explained but the reader understands them anyway-I did, at least.

Aunt Mira was fantastic, I loved her eccentricity and originality. She got me hooked by the time I read about the nude mailman (Yeah, I'm serious; No, I won't tell) and things only got better and better. She has a unique personality. <3

Rating:

Quotes from book:

"You should never be surprised when someone treats you with respect, you should expect it."

"All the bitchy girls in the world are just a training ground for what men can do to you."

"As Isabel acted out her date, both of them laughing, I stayed in the kitchen, out of sight, and pretended she was telling me, too. And that, for once, I was part of this hidden language of laughter and silliness and girls that was, somehow, friendship."

Book Review: This Lullaby (Leonor)

Book Name: This Lullaby
Author/s: Sarah Dessen
Language English
Original Title: This Lullaby
Publisher, year: Hodder Children's Books, 2008
Page total: 384
Date Read: june 16-17 2010
Genre/s: YA, chick-lit, romance, fiction
First line of Book: "The name of the song is 'This Lullaby'"
Review: Remy doesn't believe in love. But would you believe in love if your mother had gone through four failed marriages, getting into her fifth?
Remy's father was a musician, none of his songs is famous, except for one, called 'This Lullaby', which was written for her on the day she was born.
Both facts above mentioned contributed to Remy's cynical opinion of love. She's with a guy for a couple of weeks and then dumps him, not wanting to get emotionally attached. Then, she meets Dexter. Messy, disorganized, impulsive Dexter, who is everything she hates, and worst, a musician like her father. But what if he's just what she needs to comprehend love?
This book made me gag, gasp, shriek, cry out loud, grin from ear to ear, laugh, say 'ooh's and 'aah's and, finally, shut up.
Amazing.
Have you ever got that feeling that makes you want to erase your memory after reading a book, just so that you can reread it and feel everything all over again? That's what I want to do. For indefinite times.
Rating: 5/5 kisses




Quotes from book:
"Love is needing someone. Love is putting up with someone's bad qualities because they somehow complete you."
---------------
"No relationship is perfect, ever. There are always some ways you have to bend, to compromise, to give something up in order to gain something greater...The love we have for each other is bigger than these small differences. And that's the key. It's like a big pie chart, and the love in a relationship has to be the biggest piece. Love can make up for a lot."
---------------
"You know, when it works, love is pretty amazing. It's not overrated. There's a reason for all those songs."
---------------
"Everything, in the end, comes down to timing. One second, one minute, one hour could make all the difference."
---------------
"What did it feel like, I wondered, to love someone that much? So much that you couldn't even control yourself when they came close, as if you might just break free of whatever was holding you and throw yourself at them with enough force to easily overwhelm you both. I had to wonder, but he clearly knew: you could see it, feel it coming off him, like a heat. I almost envied him that. Almost."
---------------
"Love is so unpredictable. That what makes it so great"
---------------
"If what you're asking is how I debated whether or not to love her the answer is I didn't. Not at all. It just happened. I didn't ever question it; by the time I realized what was happening, it was already done."
---------------
"I know there were no guaratnees. No way of knowing what came next for me, or him, or anything. Some things dont last forever, but some things do. Like a great song, or a good book, or a good memory you can take out and unfold in your darkest times, pressing down the corners and peering close, hoping you still see the person you see there . . . That was the thing, you just never knew. Right now, though, I wanted not to think forward or backward, but only to lose myself in the words."


C=

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I took a picture with Cassandra Clare too (just found it on the internet) sorry im not looking to the camera - i dont think the woman was very competent




here's cassandra