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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This one was my second favourite Sarah Dessen book so far. I really really enjoyed this particular story and all of its characters. Remy is a more complex protagonist than most of the other protagonists Dessen has written; she has multiple inner issues that she has to work out which wasn't completely centred on the love story. I also loved all of the quirky and loveable characters there were, and how the story didn't seem as formulaic as her other ones. I also felt that this one was more realistic, and the dialogue more realistic than her other books. This story was really quirky and I laughed out loud at times, especially at Dexter. Dexter is not Dessen's typical romantic interest, which I enjoyed a lot. He wasn't the tall, tan, buff but not too buff gorgeous type that we see so very often; Dexter had lots of odd quirks and mannerism that made him extremely interesting. I wished that I could have gotten a little more in depth with Remy's issue with "This lullaby", because I feel like it wasn't part of the story enough. Overall I really enjoyed it and I would recommend it to fans of contemporary.
This book legit never gets old. Still my favorite of hers ever. I adore Dexter so much
2.5 Stars, I think. It’s difficult, honestly, for me to gauge books fairly in their respective genres. After reading books this year that made me think hard and feel a lot of emotions, this Young Adult romance was just kind of... there. Obviously, I wasn’t expecting a cerebral book, but I guess I was hoping for a light hearted and fun book to end the year.
I don’t know. Wasn’t awful, but probably won’t ever waste time reading a Sarah Dessen book again.
I don’t know. Wasn’t awful, but probably won’t ever waste time reading a Sarah Dessen book again.
Love all books by Sarah, This Lullaby is no exception. Made me want my own Dexter.
This is my least favorite Sarah Dessen book so far. I was underwhelmed by the romance, by the plot, and by the writing. It was too schmaltzy. I couldn't bring myself to like any of the characters. Perhaps I should blame it on the audiobook performance - the voices created for some of the characters, like Lissa and Dexter, were beyond grating.
I swear, it just gets better every time I listen to it!
2nd time reading. This Lullaby is my favourite Sarah Dessen novel because Remy seems to be the only one of her female protagonist's with a frickin' backbone. This book is a little different from her other books too, in that her ending isn't really definite. A good YA read.
“The fate of your heart is your choice and no one else gets a vote”
Let me start this review with one important disclosure: I was not expecting to like this book. I know, that's crazy, because then why would I check it out from the library in the first place, but really, I thought this was going to be nothing but a vapid summer romance. But I'm going to be attending Bookcon this year and the person I'm going with, my friend Elizabeth, wanted to see this author more than any other, so we're going to her signing, and I thought I might as well give her books a try if I was going to be waiting that long in line for her.
So given my low expectations, this book really blew it out of the water for me. I guess I was just as much a cynic about love as Remy was throughout the book.
I really only have one absolute negative thing to say about this book. I thought the secondary characters just faded into the background, and by the end of the novel, they were still completely flat and two dimensional. I could only tell you cursory details about them like that two of Remy's friends don’t like each other (which is just oddly in there with no real purpose) or that Lissa is the soft one. And that’s more than I can say for Dexter’s band. The only thing I know about them is that Ted is a snob when it comes to music and has so-called “musical integrity” to uphold and hates performing covers. I couldn't even tell you the names of the other people who live in the yellow house.
The other minor negative was the writing. I know this might come off snobbish, but honestly, I didn't find the writing to be all that great. For example, her use of commas is extremely overwrought and only makes for long, run-on, confusing sentences that take you out of the story. Seriously, of all things, freaking commas are my kryptonite. Here, just read this sentence: "One of Don's nephews, who went to Princeton, was busy hitting on Chloe, while Lissa, in the ten minutes I'd been gone, had crossed over from happily buzzing to completely maudlin, and was now well on her way to flat-out weepy drunk." THE FREAKING COMMAS, MAN. I only note this as a minor inconvenience because it didn't retract from my enjoyment of the story. It's only when writing is atrociously bad that it becomes a major point of contention.
Interestingly, the parts of the book that kept me wanting to keep reading most were those not related to the main plot, the romance. I knew going in that I would probably roll my eyes at this book once or twice, and that I did, but it really had some depth that I wasn’t expecting from a cutesy summer fling type book. Things like her relationship with smoking and alcohol were a nice touch that brought needed layers to Remy as a character. They weren’t the point of the novel, or even big parts of it, but the sprinklings of it were a nice touch.
Remy’s non-romantic relationships are what really make this book shine, what made me rate this book so highly. Her relationship with her mother and her husbands really created
What was interesting about the writing of this story is that it is told in three parts: June, July, and August. (There's also November, but that's only a chapter at the beginning of the book.) I really liked this element of the story because it brought to the table originality that set it apart from a lot of other chick-lits. At times I did feel like it was used to justify rushing Remy and Dexter's relationship like in between June and July, there was just something missing that could have brought them from the point they were at the end of June to where they were at the beginning of July. But in other instances, such as in between July and August, I think it really helped the story. It was useful for cutting out unnecessary filler just to get to the end of summer, and it also made their relationship feel more real because you could really see the passage of time, rather than mentioning a couple of dates here and there.
I also enjoyed the frank portrayal of the teenage experience. I don't know if this is a common theme among her books because this is my first one, but she doesn't shy away from what teenagers are actually doing and actually talking about. Remy is very honest with the reader about taboo subjects such as alcohol consumption, sex, and cigarettes. I feel like nowadays it's more the vaping than the cigarettes, but this book was published in 2002, so you know, I gave it a break. The sex aspect in particular was interesting because it seems to be stigmatized more than anything else in the novel. There's no on page graphics or anything like that, but the main character was honest about her experiences. There's a whole nother discussion to be had about whether this belongs in a YA novel (which, I think it does) but, nonetheless, it was refreshing to see.
Ok, well now I guess we can get to what I’ve been circling around this whole review. The romance. Honestly, it was fine. Nothing special. I think the only thing that drew me into it was the way that her family shaped her opinion of love and how that effects her relationships. Her mother makes her a cynic, her brother's relationship with Jennifer Anne at first turns her off the idea of love, but eventually is a big factor in her learning to let go.
A lot of people in reviews her on goodreads have spoken about Remy's unlikability. And to a certain extent, I agree with them. Sure, she was melodramatic at time and not the most mature, but I had an easy time forgiving and brushing off these aspects of her character because, honestly, I was expecting that going in. From the blurb on the back you're immediately made to think that she's, in lame terms, a jerk, so to find that she had more layers than her exterior shell that were more than "I like you so I'm going to change my ways" was more than enough for me.
Let me start this review with one important disclosure: I was not expecting to like this book. I know, that's crazy, because then why would I check it out from the library in the first place, but really, I thought this was going to be nothing but a vapid summer romance. But I'm going to be attending Bookcon this year and the person I'm going with, my friend Elizabeth, wanted to see this author more than any other, so we're going to her signing, and I thought I might as well give her books a try if I was going to be waiting that long in line for her.
So given my low expectations, this book really blew it out of the water for me. I guess I was just as much a cynic about love as Remy was throughout the book.
I really only have one absolute negative thing to say about this book. I thought the secondary characters just faded into the background, and by the end of the novel, they were still completely flat and two dimensional. I could only tell you cursory details about them like that two of Remy's friends don’t like each other (which is just oddly in there with no real purpose) or that Lissa is the soft one. And that’s more than I can say for Dexter’s band. The only thing I know about them is that Ted is a snob when it comes to music and has so-called “musical integrity” to uphold and hates performing covers. I couldn't even tell you the names of the other people who live in the yellow house.
The other minor negative was the writing. I know this might come off snobbish, but honestly, I didn't find the writing to be all that great. For example, her use of commas is extremely overwrought and only makes for long, run-on, confusing sentences that take you out of the story. Seriously, of all things, freaking commas are my kryptonite. Here, just read this sentence: "One of Don's nephews, who went to Princeton, was busy hitting on Chloe, while Lissa, in the ten minutes I'd been gone, had crossed over from happily buzzing to completely maudlin, and was now well on her way to flat-out weepy drunk." THE FREAKING COMMAS, MAN. I only note this as a minor inconvenience because it didn't retract from my enjoyment of the story. It's only when writing is atrociously bad that it becomes a major point of contention.
Interestingly, the parts of the book that kept me wanting to keep reading most were those not related to the main plot, the romance. I knew going in that I would probably roll my eyes at this book once or twice, and that I did, but it really had some depth that I wasn’t expecting from a cutesy summer fling type book. Things like her relationship with smoking and alcohol were a nice touch that brought needed layers to Remy as a character. They weren’t the point of the novel, or even big parts of it, but the sprinklings of it were a nice touch.
Remy’s non-romantic relationships are what really make this book shine, what made me rate this book so highly. Her relationship with her mother and her husbands really created
What was interesting about the writing of this story is that it is told in three parts: June, July, and August. (There's also November, but that's only a chapter at the beginning of the book.) I really liked this element of the story because it brought to the table originality that set it apart from a lot of other chick-lits. At times I did feel like it was used to justify rushing Remy and Dexter's relationship like in between June and July, there was just something missing that could have brought them from the point they were at the end of June to where they were at the beginning of July. But in other instances, such as in between July and August, I think it really helped the story. It was useful for cutting out unnecessary filler just to get to the end of summer, and it also made their relationship feel more real because you could really see the passage of time, rather than mentioning a couple of dates here and there.
I also enjoyed the frank portrayal of the teenage experience. I don't know if this is a common theme among her books because this is my first one, but she doesn't shy away from what teenagers are actually doing and actually talking about. Remy is very honest with the reader about taboo subjects such as alcohol consumption, sex, and cigarettes. I feel like nowadays it's more the vaping than the cigarettes, but this book was published in 2002, so you know, I gave it a break. The sex aspect in particular was interesting because it seems to be stigmatized more than anything else in the novel. There's no on page graphics or anything like that, but the main character was honest about her experiences. There's a whole nother discussion to be had about whether this belongs in a YA novel (which, I think it does) but, nonetheless, it was refreshing to see.
Ok, well now I guess we can get to what I’ve been circling around this whole review. The romance. Honestly, it was fine. Nothing special. I think the only thing that drew me into it was the way that her family shaped her opinion of love and how that effects her relationships. Her mother makes her a cynic, her brother's relationship with Jennifer Anne at first turns her off the idea of love, but eventually is a big factor in her learning to let go.
A lot of people in reviews her on goodreads have spoken about Remy's unlikability. And to a certain extent, I agree with them. Sure, she was melodramatic at time and not the most mature, but I had an easy time forgiving and brushing off these aspects of her character because, honestly, I was expecting that going in. From the blurb on the back you're immediately made to think that she's, in lame terms, a jerk, so to find that she had more layers than her exterior shell that were more than "I like you so I'm going to change my ways" was more than enough for me.