Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Rest of the Story

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen

26 reviews

radient_cake's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

Emma Saylor's dad really ruined this book for me. He has a lot of trauma that goes unresolved, and the way he treats his daughter because of it is not okay. He's pretty stuck up and snobby, which was infuriating.
The Calvander side of the family was great - all very loveable!

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jeanettesreadingcorner's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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mmadill227's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I added this book to my TBR after hearing Sarah Dessen talk about it years ago at BookCon.
"The Rest of the Story" follows a teenaged girl named Emma. Emma's mother passed away when Emma was ten. Emma does not have a ton of memories of her mother, but she does remember her mother talking about the beautiful lake she grew up at. When plans go awry, Emma has to spend her summer at the lake with her mother's family, whom she has not seen since she was very young.
This was a very heartwarming story about growing up and discovering yourself. Emma is still trying to figure out who she is, and she often finds that to be a more difficult task because her father never talks about her mother. Emma wants to remember her mother, and she wants to know more about where she came from. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Emma's family's history, and slowly learning the entire story of her mother.
Upon arrival at the lake, Emma is reunited with a boy named Roo. Roo and her were best friends when they were little, and I loved seeing them navigate this next chapter of their relationship. Roo is such a hardworking, great guy and despite not seeing Emma in years, he still cares for her.
This book was well-written, and I think it did a great job at remaining a Young Adult story, while tackling adult issues. I am no longer the target audience for this book, and it just did not hit the same for me personally, but I think this book is still great, and I would recommend it to a younger reader.
I am definitely intrigued, and curious to read more from Sarah Dessen in the future.

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