I love how this book basically shows the story of a "love cynic" and how she sees tht her ways ideas can not be applied to everyone because everyone is different. This nook has some REALLY REALLY good quotes in it. I basically folded every page because I wanted to remember every quote. haha. i just can not see myself returning this book to the library. It is the kind of book that makes you want to read it over and oever and over, even when you already know how the stories going to end.....it'll give you hope. :)

Reviewed by Jocelyn Pearce for TeensReadToo.com

Sarah Dessen's THIS LULLABY is one of the best teen books I've ever read. It's the story of Remy, a girl who has no faith in love. Part of this is because her own father never even saw her, only wrote a now-famous song, called "This Lullaby," about her before he died. It certainly doesn't help that her mother has been married four times, and, at the beginning of the novel, is about to have her fifth wedding. Remy says about her mother's marriages, "She takes on husbands the way other people change their hair color: out of boredom, listlessness, or just feeling that this next one will fix everything, once and for all."

Remy likes to feel in control of things when she's got a boyfriend. She knows all about getting into relationships, the first romantic rush, and ending them before there's any emotional attachment. She's almost always the one to dump guys, not the other way around. She's got plenty of practice at it, too.

One day, at the car dealership owned by her mother's next husband, she meets a guy named Dexter. He's very determined to get to know Remy, and, at first, she thinks he's ridiculous and ignores him. Dexter, however, is persistent. When the two finally get together, everyone is shocked that Remy's staying in the relationship. Dexter is so many things Remy could never put up with. He's messy and impulsive, but, most of all, he's a musician. Until Dexter came along, Remy had a "no musician" rule, and now she's broken it.

Signs point to Remy ending this relationship and not looking back. Everyone thinks that's what will happen. Everyone except Dexter, who wants it to be more than a summer thing, who has faith in their relationship. How will it all end?

This is an amazing young adult book by a brilliant author. Sarah Dessen, author of several other books including THAT SUMMER and SOMEONE LIKE YOU, does an awesome job of keeping the reader's attention throughout THIS LULLABY. She does it with her original story, told in Remy's unique voice. It doesn't hurt that Sarah Dessen is great at creating fresh, original, believable characters. Thoughtful and powerful, this book also has its moments that will make readers laugh, which is a nice change of pace in the story. Every aspect of this novel surpasses expectations. ( )

Sarah Dessen is the kind of author that you can always expect great things from. This story is definitely not an exception. While it wasn’t one of my favorites from hers, I wasn’t disappointed at all.

I was a bit annoyed at times. Remy’s character is so headstrong, and she’s so full of attitude, but it makes for a great read. Without that bitterness to her, the relationship between her and Dexter wouldn’t have been so .. beautiful. Even though Remy has her issues, and she’s so dead set against a full-term boyfriend, they ultimately become each other’s best friends.

It didn’t hook me nearly as much as some of Dessen’s other novels did, but I certainly enjoyed it a lot. I went from rolling my eyes at Remy, to literally wanting to be her. (Because admit it- who doesn’t want someone like Dexter?)

Overall, I really liked it. I wish I could write a longer review about it, but the story is very basic and though there’s definitely plot twists and big gasping moments, I don’t want to give any of those away. I definitely recommend checking it out! ( )

I came at this book with the wrong expectations. Reading the description, I was expecting a typically silly (I mean that in a good way) teen romance. But This Lullaby is less a romance than it is a novel about love. Let me explain. Remy's mother's experience has unintentionally taught Remy to believe that love cannot last, and therefore, it is not worthwhile. Remy has a timeline for her boyfriends, and as soon as the first rush of pure lust is over, she dumps them. That's all she allows herself to believe in, and she's not looking for anything more.

When Remy meets Dexter, she's forced to reconsider her position. As far as I'm concerned, this novel is really about whether love exists, and if so, whether it's worth the risk. It sounds heavy, right? It really doesn't feel that way as you're reading. There's lots of comic relief to be found in Dexter's band members (reminds me a bit of the movie That Thing You Do - which I love.) Their big original song is called "The Potato Song." Ah, love in the produce aisle. Remy's friends and their antics also keep Remy's self-reflection from feeling too intense.

Dessen truly has a gift for transporting the reader into the life and emotions of a character. Even though Remy and I are extremely different people, I felt myself getting deeply involved in her story. I love when a book gives me that sense of getting outside myself!

This is only my second Dessen book (my first was The Truth About Forever), and I'm struck by the way they both explore slightly dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships. In The Truth About Forever, Macy and her mom are stuck in their grief over Macy's father's death. In This Lullaby, Remy's mother's life history has given Remy some very messed-up ideas about life and ways of relating to people. I have Along For the Ride waiting on my shelf, so I'm curious to see if there's a similar theme there.

I really liked this book. I read it in one feel swoop, ending at 2am (which, for me, is practically an all-nighter... I'm a mom.) I definitely recommend it. ( )

Full review at http://yannabe.com/2009/07/03/review-...

Summary: In the summer between high school graduation and college, Remy has a plan to tie up all her loose ends so she can start fresh. Until a clumsy musician named Dexter—the exact opposite of her type—barges in on her neat little plan.

Review: A perfect read for my summer beach vacation. This is my first Dessen book, and I will definitely be reading more.

I got so wrapped up in this romance that I stayed up two hours after my family went to bed to see how it would turn out.

Here’s where Remy meets Dexter:
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I just looked at him. Wrong day, buddy, I thought. You caught me on the wrong day.

“The thing is,” he said, as if we’d been discussing the weather or world politics, “I saw you out in the showroom. I was over by the tire display?”

I was sure I was glaring at him. But he kept talking.

“I just thought to myself, all of a sudden, that we had something in common. A natural chemistry, if you will. And I had a feeling that something big was going to happen. To both of us. That we were, in fact, meant to be together.”

“You got all this,” I said, clarifying, “at the tire display?”

“You didn’t feel it?” he asked.
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I also loved the banter between Remy and her closest girlfriends. Kind of like the Sex in the City gals, YA style. ( )