At first I was a little put off by the book. But since I love Sarah Dessen, I knew that if I stuck with it that it would get better. When me first meet Colie, we are going through a flashback type thing. She is remembering when both her and her mother were fat, and traveling across the country. When the story really gets going you find out that Colie and her mom are both now skinny, and her mom has turned into this fitness/weightloss guru. Colie is being shipped off to her Aunt Mira's in Colby, North Carolina.
Colie is only 15, so she can't really be left at home for the summer while her mother goes on tour for her fitness program. So Colie gets on a train and travels from Charlotte to Colby, where she is picked up by Norman, her Aunt's boarder. Norman and Aunt Mira turn out to be a little wierd, well wierd to most people. Mira's house is strewn with items that only half work, and Mira herself seems a little off the norm. Mira is overweight and in her world it doesn't bother her. Colie knows that while she is there for the summer that she really can't just sit around, so when she ends up at the Last Chance Bar and Grill, she meets Morgan and Isabel; two best friends that have been together since at least high school.
Colie soon lands a job at Last Chance, and becomes somewhat friendly with Morgan and Isabel. Morgan is the sweet one while Isabel is a little rougher and at times can seem just downright mean.
While working at Last Chance, Colie watches the way that Morgan and Isabel interact and while she never had a friend like either of them before, she learns that they would do just about anything for each other.
Isabel kinda takes a liking to Colie about half way through the book, when she happens to overhear some nasty things that a girl from Colie's hometown has to say about her. Isabel then helps Colie recognize her self-esteem through the rest of the book.
Keeping the Moon is a great coming of age/self-esteem book for young girls. And by the end of the book I was almost in tears with the transformation of Colie. ( )

This was a nice basic summer romance. Not a lot happens. Colie is visiting with her eclectic aunt for the summer and trying to figure out who she is. She befriends a couple of girls who live next door. One of them is really nice but for the most part the other one can be a bit mean.
At times it was hard reading about how people can be so cruel to others as Colie and her aunt both have people bullying them. They deal with it very differently though.
I enjoyed it but it's not one of my favorite books by Sarah Dessen and I don't think I would read it again.
There is a fair bit of blasphemy. ( )

This book was a my first ever sarah dessen read. I really did like the small town this book was set it and also the main character. It was a super fast pace read and just the prefect summer read. I want to feel more connected to most of the characters but I really did enjoy the lead girl. I liked how this book focused a lot on self discovery and and also on self confidence. I also liked the unique female relationships we explored in this book. I def want to read more sarah dessen this summer and this was def a good start! ( )

This book was a my first ever sarah dessen read. I really did like the small town this book was set it and also the main character. It was a super fast pace read and just the prefect summer read. I want to feel more connected to most of the characters but I really did enjoy the lead girl. I liked how this book focused a lot on self discovery and and also on self confidence. I also liked the unique female relationships we explored in this book. I def want to read more sarah dessen this summer and this was def a good start! ( )

CW: Slut shaming, fat shaming. ( )