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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
2.5 stars from me. Nothing special. And for being in the YA category, it wasn't something I'd want a young teenager reading.
Not gonna lie. I spent most of my time being angry at the MC the whole time.
I didn’t like the main character, so I found her actions and her thought-processes quite alien, and it made it hard to feel sympathetic for her. But it was a decent read.
This was one of my favourite books when I was in highschool, something about it was just soothing to me :)
Original rating: 3 stars
Updated rating: 4 stars
I liked it bc I like sarah dessens writing and there was some good character development but it’s definitely not my favorite. I don’t think any of the characters are really my cup of tea which is why I’m a little iffy. Overall: good, better than I thought from my first read. But definitely not a favorite.
Updated rating: 4 stars
I liked it bc I like sarah dessens writing and there was some good character development but it’s definitely not my favorite. I don’t think any of the characters are really my cup of tea which is why I’m a little iffy. Overall: good, better than I thought from my first read. But definitely not a favorite.
Hated the love interest, Dexter, and his complete lack of respect boundaries. However, I really loved the main character, Remy, and I really liked the arc with her romance-novelist mother's endless string of failed marriages, so this one worked for me after all.
read-read June 17, 2013
Increased the rating by one star because I enjoyed it much more this time. I finally GOT Dexter and the 'natural chemistry' between Remy and him.
Increased the rating by one star because I enjoyed it much more this time. I finally GOT Dexter and the 'natural chemistry' between Remy and him.
3.5/5 Stars
JUST FYI: If I could rate this book solely for Dexter, it'd get a solid 4.5/5 Stars.
Yup, this was the November pick for the Sarah Dessen Book Club, and I completely failed by finishing it the first week of December instead. Well, I read it and that's what really counts, folks!
Besides [b:Just Listen|51738|Just Listen|Sarah Dessen|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1358270741s/51738.jpg|1032901], [b:This Lullaby|22205|This Lullaby|Sarah Dessen|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1361392868s/22205.jpg|132402] is probably my favorite Sarah Dessen novel, except for very different reasons.
Now, for posterity, I must say, though I appreciate the depth of the storyline, in my opinion, it isn't the strongest premise in the world. Remy is, essentially, afraid to love because she has watched her mother go through many marriages. Though this is a logical issue that could stem from such a scarring situation, most of the time Remy's refusal to love felt like just that: it seemed like a stubborn teenage girl set against following her emotions, even when they all point to one conclusion and one conclusion only; even when it's obvious that Dexter isn't fitting into her "typical boyfriend" paradigm, she continues to treat him as scum even though he is as atypical as they come. I DID, however, appreciate how Dessen showed two different outcomes of Remy's "broken" families: her brother is the unfailing optimist constantly striving for love and willing to compromise in order to please the woman he cares most about, while Remy forces herself to become a cold, detached relationship machine. I found that divergence in the siblings to be fascinating and well-done.
In the end, though, I never felt there was truly a "good" enough reason for Remy to treat Dexter the way that she did; it felt like a weak excuse in my opinion, because things were obviously going so differently in her and Dexter's relationship. I did, however, appreciate her wisdom and objectivity on all things heartbreak; in many ways she WAS a strong female protagonist who never let any guy walk all over her or any of the people she cared about. On the same token, it was hard to decipher moments when she was taking a stand for a noble reason between times when she was just out for revenge on the opposite sex because of all of the men who divorced her mother.
I still love how entertaining yet meaningful this story was. I still believe that Dexter is one of Sarah Dessen's best-written male leads; he was absolutely hilarious, unique, and true of heart. I maintain that the scene with Dexter and John Miller musing drunkenly in front of the convenience store ("huffah!") is one of the best scenes in any of her books--nay, perhaps in all of YA contemporary. It definitely ranks up there. I like the honesty and texture he brought into the plot, and he was just such a well-written protagonist.
As usual, the themes and symbols were consistent throughout and I thought they were strong enough to stand on their own. True, as I've said before, sometimes the "symbolic moments" can be a little transparent and flimsy, but if you just go with it, it can still work. Overall, still a narrative powerful within its own right.
All in all, I still enjoyed my reread of This Lullaby and its story and characters still rank high with me even though the premise could be argued to be the least enthralling of Dessen's stories. Still a quick, satisfying read for which I thoroughly savored the experience!
JUST FYI: If I could rate this book solely for Dexter, it'd get a solid 4.5/5 Stars.
Yup, this was the November pick for the Sarah Dessen Book Club, and I completely failed by finishing it the first week of December instead. Well, I read it and that's what really counts, folks!
Besides [b:Just Listen|51738|Just Listen|Sarah Dessen|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1358270741s/51738.jpg|1032901], [b:This Lullaby|22205|This Lullaby|Sarah Dessen|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1361392868s/22205.jpg|132402] is probably my favorite Sarah Dessen novel, except for very different reasons.
Now, for posterity, I must say, though I appreciate the depth of the storyline, in my opinion, it isn't the strongest premise in the world. Remy is, essentially, afraid to love because she has watched her mother go through many marriages. Though this is a logical issue that could stem from such a scarring situation, most of the time Remy's refusal to love felt like just that: it seemed like a stubborn teenage girl set against following her emotions, even when they all point to one conclusion and one conclusion only; even when it's obvious that Dexter isn't fitting into her "typical boyfriend" paradigm, she continues to treat him as scum even though he is as atypical as they come. I DID, however, appreciate how Dessen showed two different outcomes of Remy's "broken" families: her brother is the unfailing optimist constantly striving for love and willing to compromise in order to please the woman he cares most about, while Remy forces herself to become a cold, detached relationship machine. I found that divergence in the siblings to be fascinating and well-done.
In the end, though, I never felt there was truly a "good" enough reason for Remy to treat Dexter the way that she did; it felt like a weak excuse in my opinion, because things were obviously going so differently in her and Dexter's relationship. I did, however, appreciate her wisdom and objectivity on all things heartbreak; in many ways she WAS a strong female protagonist who never let any guy walk all over her or any of the people she cared about. On the same token, it was hard to decipher moments when she was taking a stand for a noble reason between times when she was just out for revenge on the opposite sex because of all of the men who divorced her mother.
I still love how entertaining yet meaningful this story was. I still believe that Dexter is one of Sarah Dessen's best-written male leads; he was absolutely hilarious, unique, and true of heart. I maintain that the scene with Dexter and John Miller musing drunkenly in front of the convenience store ("huffah!") is one of the best scenes in any of her books--nay, perhaps in all of YA contemporary. It definitely ranks up there. I like the honesty and texture he brought into the plot, and he was just such a well-written protagonist.
As usual, the themes and symbols were consistent throughout and I thought they were strong enough to stand on their own. True, as I've said before, sometimes the "symbolic moments" can be a little transparent and flimsy, but if you just go with it, it can still work. Overall, still a narrative powerful within its own right.
All in all, I still enjoyed my reread of This Lullaby and its story and characters still rank high with me even though the premise could be argued to be the least enthralling of Dessen's stories. Still a quick, satisfying read for which I thoroughly savored the experience!
This is the second book of Sarah Dessen that Ive read so far. She's one of my favorites because her book are deep & intimate, and you pick up a lot of good advice from her. Her books aren't all about the kind of young love where the protagonist is a shallow teenager, because Dessen Girls are always special. The pace is slow and unhurried, and the stories are usually nice and sweet. This is the kind of books we need these days.
Remy's life is fairly uncommon. I admire her for the brave way she handles things, and for playing the responsible kid at such a young age. She's a girl who's seen too much, and lost all faith in love. I admire how she's planned her life out so when she makes mistakes, they're big and beautiful. And, WOW, Dexter is one adorable guy. This is, like, the turning point of Remy's life. I love every inch of him, flaws and all. It helps that he sings too.
So, to cut it short, really good book but not Dessen's best.
Remy's life is fairly uncommon. I admire her for the brave way she handles things, and for playing the responsible kid at such a young age. She's a girl who's seen too much, and lost all faith in love. I admire how she's planned her life out so when she makes mistakes, they're big and beautiful. And, WOW, Dexter is one adorable guy. This is, like, the turning point of Remy's life. I love every inch of him, flaws and all. It helps that he sings too.
So, to cut it short, really good book but not Dessen's best.