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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
I love Sarah Dessen and I enjoyed this book, although I don't think it's going to the top of my favorites list.
Mclean is a teenage girl whose parents have recently divorced, and she has spent the last year or two moving around a lot with her father. Each new place gives her the opportunity to reinvent herself; she even chooses different names to go with each version. At the beginning of the book they are arriving in a new place where she may just end up being herself for the first time since the divorce.
This book doesn't contain a lot of action--it's mostly about character and emotion instead of plot. Mclean obviously hasn't dealt with her parents' divorce in any meaningful way, and I enjoyed reading about her journey in that sense. I also appreciated that the romance side plot was minimized and the story was mostly about Mclean discovering her independence apart from love.
I never felt all that invested in Mclean as a character, though. I'm sure this book would be great for anyone with divorced parents, but it just didn't resonate much with me. Also, this is a minor quibble, but Dessen sometimes goes out into left field with her protagonist's names-- Mclean, really? I don't like it.
Mclean is a teenage girl whose parents have recently divorced, and she has spent the last year or two moving around a lot with her father. Each new place gives her the opportunity to reinvent herself; she even chooses different names to go with each version. At the beginning of the book they are arriving in a new place where she may just end up being herself for the first time since the divorce.
This book doesn't contain a lot of action--it's mostly about character and emotion instead of plot. Mclean obviously hasn't dealt with her parents' divorce in any meaningful way, and I enjoyed reading about her journey in that sense. I also appreciated that the romance side plot was minimized and the story was mostly about Mclean discovering her independence apart from love.
I never felt all that invested in Mclean as a character, though. I'm sure this book would be great for anyone with divorced parents, but it just didn't resonate much with me. Also, this is a minor quibble, but Dessen sometimes goes out into left field with her protagonist's names-- Mclean, really? I don't like it.
It was good, but not as good as her other books.
I have loved all of Sarah Dessen's books and this is another great read!
This is standard Sarah Dessen, which is probably why I gave it 4 stars. I find her books to be soooo slow-paced. There is always very little action. She goes on and on about everything her characters are feeling. And the feelings aren't very interesting!
I find the Sarah Dessen formula is so blatant that it kind of gets repetitive. It's always about a girl of approximately the same age going through some kind of parent drama who meets a boy who she puts walls up with and yadayadayada.
My favorite Sarah Dessen books were "This Lullaby" and "Just Listen". I also quite loved "Dreamland". I'm not trying to slag her off. She writes quite well and she trys to develop her characters. She is also a great author to pick up if you want a summery-kind-of-read. I do think her books might be more interesting if she didn't drag them out so much!
For example, "Dreamland" was 250 pages and dealt with a girl in an abusive relationship. It was the PERFECT length. It really was an effective novel. It never got to the point where you were wishing for it to end.
"What happened to goodbye" got to that point very quickly for me. It felt like I'd read pretty much the same from Sarah Dessen. The parent drama has gotten a little old at this point. The whole "my parents are divorced and it sucks" thing is old news. The whole "I'm scared to let a boy know me because I don't want to get hurt" thing has been used by her in so many of her books.
Okay, the good. It's pretty well written, even if I thought it was too long. I really liked a few of the characters, especially Deb and Opal. I usually find Sarah Dessen's background characters the most interesting. I thought Dave was also pretty interesting. I would've liked to have read more about Riley and her friendship with Dave.
MacLean was a standard Dessen character. Pretty bland. She must go for fairly bland characters so that any girl reading can somehow relate to her. The Bella Swan tactic.
I guess my biggest issue with this book was I found it lacking in personality. The most interesting characters were hardly mentioned. I couldn't help compare it to authors whose books scream with personality. Stephanie Perkins, Sarra Manning, Morgan Matson, Megan McCafferty and Ann Brashares, to name a few.
I guess Sarah Dessen isn't always my cup of tea. I think my rating of this is between 3 1/2 stars and 4 stars. I'm conflicted and I don't know why.
For what it was, I think it deserves about 4 stars. It does what it's supposed to. It's typical Sarah Dessen. It didn't try to be anything different. Simple summer read. Pretty well written. It's like eating ice cream on the beach. At first it's pretty good but then it melts and your hands get all sticky. Then you wish you had chosen a less disappointing snack.
I find the Sarah Dessen formula is so blatant that it kind of gets repetitive. It's always about a girl of approximately the same age going through some kind of parent drama who meets a boy who she puts walls up with and yadayadayada.
My favorite Sarah Dessen books were "This Lullaby" and "Just Listen". I also quite loved "Dreamland". I'm not trying to slag her off. She writes quite well and she trys to develop her characters. She is also a great author to pick up if you want a summery-kind-of-read. I do think her books might be more interesting if she didn't drag them out so much!
For example, "Dreamland" was 250 pages and dealt with a girl in an abusive relationship. It was the PERFECT length. It really was an effective novel. It never got to the point where you were wishing for it to end.
"What happened to goodbye" got to that point very quickly for me. It felt like I'd read pretty much the same from Sarah Dessen. The parent drama has gotten a little old at this point. The whole "my parents are divorced and it sucks" thing is old news. The whole "I'm scared to let a boy know me because I don't want to get hurt" thing has been used by her in so many of her books.
Okay, the good. It's pretty well written, even if I thought it was too long. I really liked a few of the characters, especially Deb and Opal. I usually find Sarah Dessen's background characters the most interesting. I thought Dave was also pretty interesting. I would've liked to have read more about Riley and her friendship with Dave.
MacLean was a standard Dessen character. Pretty bland. She must go for fairly bland characters so that any girl reading can somehow relate to her. The Bella Swan tactic.
I guess my biggest issue with this book was I found it lacking in personality. The most interesting characters were hardly mentioned. I couldn't help compare it to authors whose books scream with personality. Stephanie Perkins, Sarra Manning, Morgan Matson, Megan McCafferty and Ann Brashares, to name a few.
I guess Sarah Dessen isn't always my cup of tea. I think my rating of this is between 3 1/2 stars and 4 stars. I'm conflicted and I don't know why.
For what it was, I think it deserves about 4 stars. It does what it's supposed to. It's typical Sarah Dessen. It didn't try to be anything different. Simple summer read. Pretty well written. It's like eating ice cream on the beach. At first it's pretty good but then it melts and your hands get all sticky. Then you wish you had chosen a less disappointing snack.
I had thought I had read this before but I was wrong. As per usual, Dessen did not disappoint. She promises slice-of-life feel-good stories, and that is exactly what you get. A perfect read as I relaxed in my new home!
You can read my full review here: http://www.blogher.com/bookclub/letter-dessen039s-mclean
Sarah Dessen as per usual. Unremarkable and quite bland. Cute references to her other books, but rather than read this to hear little glimpses of other characters, read Along for the Ride to get the actual story.
The characters were unusually flat for Sarah Dessen and the story was dull and predictable every step of the way. Another disappointment. This Lullaby and Along for the Ride are still her strongest works.
I love Sarah Dessen! I was sad to see this story end and I can't wait for the next one. I thought the story line was great and I was sucked into the plot as usual but it kind of felt like the strings were loosely tied up at the end. Either way I loved it!
Finally got through this after a brief interruption to review an audio book for SLJ.
I love Sarah Dessen's books. Somehow, she magically gets to the heart of what it is like to be a teenage girl. Whenever I read her books it is like I am thrown back to high school and right there in the main character's mind. I love that her main charaters are not rebels or drug addicts or ditzy. They are just normal girls dealing with normal girl problems.
I listened to the audio for this one and did not love the narrator. She sounded kind of goofy and her voicing for secondary characters was too similar to the main character. But this is a well-written book and the story kept me listening, a testament to a truly good book.
I love Sarah Dessen's books. Somehow, she magically gets to the heart of what it is like to be a teenage girl. Whenever I read her books it is like I am thrown back to high school and right there in the main character's mind. I love that her main charaters are not rebels or drug addicts or ditzy. They are just normal girls dealing with normal girl problems.
I listened to the audio for this one and did not love the narrator. She sounded kind of goofy and her voicing for secondary characters was too similar to the main character. But this is a well-written book and the story kept me listening, a testament to a truly good book.