Sarah Dessen

Mostly loved this one.

When her mother disappears, nearly eighteen year old Ruby is sent to live with the sister who she hasn’t seen in a decade.

Boy next door Nate’s story concluded a little more hurriedly than I would have thought possible given the personality of a certain person in his life, but overall I was really pleased with the arc of the novel, the changes in Ruby emotionally, how it was a gradual process to let people in after years of relying on only herself, her journey had show more that two steps forward one step back quality that feels fairly realistic to me.

I loved how much the secondary characters added to and influenced Ruby’s story, the bond rebuilding between the sisters and the truth about Cora’s absence for the past ten years, Olivia’s gruff and secretly soft-hearted support, the ex girlfriend and the nerd who could have been stereotypes but happily were more than that, the boss who like Ruby struggles to lean on anyone else, and the friendship with Nate which mattered more than anything romantic (there is romance here but not at the forefront to the quite the same degree as a lot of contemporary YA).

And then there’s Jamie, I especially loved Jamie, Ruby’s brother-in-law, how he not only accepted Ruby, he very much welcomed her, and I loved the way he loved Cora, going overboard with holidays and really everything else to make up for the rough start his wife had in life, he’s easily one of my favorite nice guys in fiction. show less

With her mom away on business in Europe (she’s a diet/fitness guru), self-esteem challenged Colie is sent to stay with her eccentric and ostracized aunt for the summer, where Colie discovers the warm glow of friendship and the joys of a boy who isn’t her “type,” while she attempts to navigate the difficult path of bullies and how to become more comfortable in her own skin.

I liked that while the book addresses that physical changes like weight loss, make-up, a new hair color, etc., show more can help you feel superficially better about yourself (which is no small thing), at the same time, the book acknowledges that self-worth, the wounds and the healing of those wounds run deeper than appearance. I also thought it was realistic to show that there isn’t some one size fits all means of dealing with/conquering the hold bullies have on you, for every person like Isabel who needs to verbally fight back to feel empowered, there’s someone like Aunt Mira, who feels more empowered by turning the other cheek and reveling in her otherness rather than waste energy defending it. I liked that neither stance is presented as stronger or weaker, just what feels right for that individual.

Speaking of Aunt Mira, both she and Colie’s mom have had such interesting life journeys that I found myself wanting to get to know them better, wanting a few more scenes of each with Colie, and really wishing I’d seen their sisterhood and its undoubted complexities in action, but I am an adult reader so that’s probably in part why I was drawn to them where understandably the actual teen audience for this book might not have been, plus obviously it makes sense for a YA novel that’s kind of on the shorter side to keep the focus mostly on the YA characters.

There’s a little bit of romance in this one though the book doesn’t spend a ton of time on it which I found smart since Colie had some work to do on herself and if she’d spent the whole book mooning over a boy I’m not sure that work would have been convincingly accomplished. Colie and her guy shared a sweet chemistry by the end and I enjoyed that he’s a bit different from the stereotypical high school quarterback or bad boy who are so often the go-to love interest in contemporary stories (not that I dislike those, it’s just refreshing to switch things up every now and then).

The friendships in this one were also presented slightly differently. Rather than bond with girls her own age, Colie is taken under the wings of her two co-workers at a diner. Isabel and Morgan, waitresses in their early twenties were both fully fleshed out characters, I felt like I had such a solid understanding of who they are and why they do and say the things they do, the rocky moments and the loving moments between them felt authentic, and that, along with the way they welcome Colie into their fold, provided much of the heart in Keeping The Moon. show less

I didn't ever want to put this book down because the characters felt like friends and I wanted to keep reading about their lives.

Sydney was so much fun to read about. She was self-assured and confident but her hesitance and selflessness made her incredibly easy to feel a kinship with. She transfers high schools at the beginning, partially due to her parents' changing financial situation which made her a good one right off the bat.

She quickly falls into a group of friends, each with their own show more fun personalities, yet maintains her friendship with a couple of her old classmates. At the same time, she interacts with her brother Peyton, currently in jail; his best friend, who is creepy off the bat but adored by Sydney's parents; and her mother, lost now that her family isn't model perfect.

The relationships in this book were the type that had my stomach fluttering from the most PG interactions, which to me really exemplifies how strong Dessen's writing is. Dessen's locations were also well described and there were some scenes, such as those in the forest, that I could imagine extremely vividly.

The saint trope was well-played--subtle but touching--and a few of the end results had really subtle foreshadowing that allowed me to guess them before they happened.

This book had a lot of hype and I had high expectations based on other works I've read by Dessen. However, it exceeded them and this might be my favourite Dessen book yet. show less

I haven't read a Sarah Dessen book in ages - but my lord - did she become an even better writer? Or was I just so nostalgic to get back to her work that I ate this up? Either way, she's the queen of teen for a reason - this was a wonderful young adult contemporary romance with themes of identity, addiction, and family issues. Emma Saylor thought she knew how her summer would play out, hanging at her best friends house while her dad and new step mom honeymooned - but one family emergency show more later - Emma finds herself without a place to stay for the summer. It's eventually decided that she should go to the lake to spend the summer with her mother's family even though she hasn't seen them since she was four. As she gets to know her grandma, cousins, and other lake folk - she starts to piece together her mother's past and think more about her future. A wonderful coming of age story. I couldn't put it down! show less