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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
I am so thankful to have received a digital ARC through NetGalley
I was so SO excited to read this book, as I am a huge fan of Sarah Dessen, and have been reading her books since I was in junior high. I didn’t think anything was ever going to top Just Listen for me, but Once and for All just blew that theory out of the water.
Once and for All tells the story of Louna, who helps her mom run her successful wedding planning business, who gets stuck putting up with Ambrose, the brother to one of her mom’s high profile brides. Ambrose is one of my favourite Sarah Dessen characters ever. Yes he is annoying, but he knows he is annoying, and he just works so well with the story. He is such an endearing and charming character that you can’t help but like him. He is the perfect counterpart for serious, guarded, and cynical Louna. Their chemistry literally sizzles off of the page, as cheesy as that sounds.
This book was just so well written, and I will gladly sing the praises of Sarah Dessen again, as this was just such a well written story. Told in both the present and flashbacks, Dessen did an amazing job of drawing readers in and keeping them hooked. I literally could not stop reading this book.
I was so SO excited to read this book, as I am a huge fan of Sarah Dessen, and have been reading her books since I was in junior high. I didn’t think anything was ever going to top Just Listen for me, but Once and for All just blew that theory out of the water.
Once and for All tells the story of Louna, who helps her mom run her successful wedding planning business, who gets stuck putting up with Ambrose, the brother to one of her mom’s high profile brides. Ambrose is one of my favourite Sarah Dessen characters ever. Yes he is annoying, but he knows he is annoying, and he just works so well with the story. He is such an endearing and charming character that you can’t help but like him. He is the perfect counterpart for serious, guarded, and cynical Louna. Their chemistry literally sizzles off of the page, as cheesy as that sounds.
This book was just so well written, and I will gladly sing the praises of Sarah Dessen again, as this was just such a well written story. Told in both the present and flashbacks, Dessen did an amazing job of drawing readers in and keeping them hooked. I literally could not stop reading this book.
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This review appears on my blog: https://confessionsofabookwormweb.wordpress.com/2018/08/17/book-review-once-and-for-all/
Sarah Dessen has a way of making readers feel all the feels in almost all of her books and Once and For All was no exception.
I like how we, along with Ambrose, were kept in the dark about Louna is so cynical when it comes to true love – the reason made sense and was very fitting with today’s current events and when it is revealed it is hard not to cry!
I liked all of the characters, although I found Louna to be a bit too mopey at times, although it did make sense. Ambrose was also interesting, although his way of trying to win Louna is ridiculous. I also enjoyed the side characters: Natalie (Louna’s mom) and William and their whole wedding planning business.
As I mentioned before, Sarah Dessen has a way of writing books that have readers tear up at some point, and there was scene towards the end of the book that had me in tears because of the build up to it, and Dessen makes the reader think that something similar happens to Ambrose that happened to Louna’s first love.
This was a good contemporary read that has a lot of perfect fluffy moments, but yet still has scenes that are tear-jerkers, which is a perfect reminder that life isn’t all rainbows and unicorns, and that bad things do happen. 3.5/ 5 Stars.
Sarah Dessen has a way of making readers feel all the feels in almost all of her books and Once and For All was no exception.
I like how we, along with Ambrose, were kept in the dark about Louna is so cynical when it comes to true love – the reason made sense and was very fitting with today’s current events and when it is revealed it is hard not to cry!
I liked all of the characters, although I found Louna to be a bit too mopey at times, although it did make sense. Ambrose was also interesting, although his way of trying to win Louna is ridiculous. I also enjoyed the side characters: Natalie (Louna’s mom) and William and their whole wedding planning business.
As I mentioned before, Sarah Dessen has a way of writing books that have readers tear up at some point, and there was scene towards the end of the book that had me in tears because of the build up to it, and Dessen makes the reader think that something similar happens to Ambrose that happened to Louna’s first love.
This was a good contemporary read that has a lot of perfect fluffy moments, but yet still has scenes that are tear-jerkers, which is a perfect reminder that life isn’t all rainbows and unicorns, and that bad things do happen. 3.5/ 5 Stars.
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
slow-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
Content Warnings
Minor: Mass/school shootings
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Sarah Dessen has written another lovely book about grief and romance, two themes that can never go stale. This time, her protagonist is Louna Barrett, who works for her wedding planner mother, and is thrust upon the world of romantic endings. Yet, she also works with cynics, who see weddings as a business, a job which entails things that go unexpectedly awry. This includes overbearing mothers, controlling grooms, scene-stealing bridesmaids...the list goes on and this book is a delight to read when it comes to exposing what goes in behind all the white gowns and fresh peonies. Yet, a story of first love and a grieving young girl blends with the shenanigans of the weddings that Louna's mother plans, and is made even more colourful with the presence of girl magnet Ambrose. Impulsive, charming and rebellious, he is not Louna's type at all, but Louna finds herself wishing for second chances after knowing him. This is a truly delightful story, and Dessen proves once and for all what a talented storyteller she really is.
Would have loved to start off 2018 with a great book but alas it was not to be. I didn't dislike this novel, there's parts of it I didn't but really it was just a meh book, not boring exactly like Dessen has this magic where she writes stories about nothing and I can't help but find something there but overall it was a bland book.
I quite liked the past when it focused on her romance with Ethan and what happened to him that I felt had the book explored that more and had just been about that instead I would have really liked it but we got weddings like loads of them, cynics who turn into love struck it's so obvious you choose a career of planning weddings now, a forced love interest, cheating and new love saves all.
Honestly the best part of the novel was the leadup to the incident that happened with Ethan. I just think the novel should have focused on that. Talking about school shootings and then go forward to Louna falling in love with another guy as just a big no, maybe Ethan should have died a different way. Like if you're going to include school shootings, don't let it be a very small side plot where the focus is on Louna being a cynic because her first boyfriend died. School shootings shouldn't just be inserted to be a small drama, they are devastating events that are happening more and more and for them to be such a small insignificant thing in this felt somewhat off.
Also when it comes to Ethan, we got so little from him but the bit that we did, I liked him. Had he been a more focus, had Ambrose not been included, had this been about Ethan I would have liked this more but one of the most interesting characters in the novel got next to nothing page time sadly.
Ambrose and Louna could have worked, until they kept talking about these moments they had that were so lack luster moments, beating you over the head that these two really like one another by telling us over and over because there is nothing to show. Her romance with Ethan didn't have those beating over the head moments, it didn't need it, I felt it but with the second romance nothing. I guess you shouldn't try to write two romances for your character in a 357 page book, not both of them are going to work.
Also cheating is not okay, I don't care if your current boyfriend is very meh to you and you get a scare that the one you actually love was in an accident, you don't cheat! Then go back to the house where your nice boyfriend is, proceed to tell him about this love between you and new guy where nice bf gets angry and you're just like oh well, I hope he forgives me one day. Are you for real? No he shouldn't just forgive you, be real.
And to be honest when Ambrose was dating Lauren just so he could get a date with Louna put a bad taste in my mouth like it's not fair on the girl you're actually dating to be only dating her for a) a dare and b) to get another girl at the end of it. That's just wrong.
I found this book so meh. The weddings were okay, mainly because it focused on the planning which is way better then the actual event and the disasters that went with it which again is way better then the perfect wedding but there was just too much of it. And Louna like most of Dessens protagonists just wasn't that interesting of a person and though I kinda liked the secondary characters none of them really stood out to be, apart from William whom was the best thing in this novel. And he was the gay one which I swear I don't hate straight people but out of everyone he was the most likeable.
And then we have the end where a wedding goes off without a hitch (boring) everyone is paired up (because apparently there's nothing great about being single) and a girl of seventeen is on her second epic love story of her life (bitch please).
Sidenote-I'm so sick of hearing about the if you don't love love you're a cynic. Like if you're going to include LGBTQA+ diversity, you're not doing a good job by promoting someone not wanting to find love is being a cynic because not all the time it's not. I'm not mad about it because almost every ya writer does the same and the only novels I actually don't find it in is written by those who are LGBTQA+. Like I know it isn't but the only ones I've found are.
I quite liked the past when it focused on her romance with Ethan and what happened to him that I felt had the book explored that more and had just been about that instead I would have really liked it but we got weddings like loads of them, cynics who turn into love struck it's so obvious you choose a career of planning weddings now, a forced love interest, cheating and new love saves all.
Spoiler
Honestly the best part of the novel was the leadup to the incident that happened with Ethan. I just think the novel should have focused on that. Talking about school shootings and then go forward to Louna falling in love with another guy as just a big no, maybe Ethan should have died a different way. Like if you're going to include school shootings, don't let it be a very small side plot where the focus is on Louna being a cynic because her first boyfriend died. School shootings shouldn't just be inserted to be a small drama, they are devastating events that are happening more and more and for them to be such a small insignificant thing in this felt somewhat off.
Also when it comes to Ethan, we got so little from him but the bit that we did, I liked him. Had he been a more focus, had Ambrose not been included, had this been about Ethan I would have liked this more but one of the most interesting characters in the novel got next to nothing page time sadly.
Ambrose and Louna could have worked, until they kept talking about these moments they had that were so lack luster moments, beating you over the head that these two really like one another by telling us over and over because there is nothing to show. Her romance with Ethan didn't have those beating over the head moments, it didn't need it, I felt it but with the second romance nothing. I guess you shouldn't try to write two romances for your character in a 357 page book, not both of them are going to work.
Also cheating is not okay, I don't care if your current boyfriend is very meh to you and you get a scare that the one you actually love was in an accident, you don't cheat! Then go back to the house where your nice boyfriend is, proceed to tell him about this love between you and new guy where nice bf gets angry and you're just like oh well, I hope he forgives me one day. Are you for real? No he shouldn't just forgive you, be real.
And to be honest when Ambrose was dating Lauren just so he could get a date with Louna put a bad taste in my mouth like it's not fair on the girl you're actually dating to be only dating her for a) a dare and b) to get another girl at the end of it. That's just wrong.
I found this book so meh. The weddings were okay, mainly because it focused on the planning which is way better then the actual event and the disasters that went with it which again is way better then the perfect wedding but there was just too much of it. And Louna like most of Dessens protagonists just wasn't that interesting of a person and though I kinda liked the secondary characters none of them really stood out to be, apart from William whom was the best thing in this novel. And he was the gay one which I swear I don't hate straight people but out of everyone he was the most likeable.
And then we have the end where a wedding goes off without a hitch (boring) everyone is paired up (because apparently there's nothing great about being single) and a girl of seventeen is on her second epic love story of her life (bitch please).
Sidenote-I'm so sick of hearing about the if you don't love love you're a cynic. Like if you're going to include LGBTQA+ diversity, you're not doing a good job by promoting someone not wanting to find love is being a cynic because not all the time it's not. I'm not mad about it because almost every ya writer does the same and the only novels I actually don't find it in is written by those who are LGBTQA+. Like I know it isn't but the only ones I've found are.
I did not like this book. I found the plot to be lacking. Not to mention I found the main character Louna wasn't that interesting and Ambrose was annoying. You can check out my full review here: https://afictionreality.wordpress.com/2018/11/09/once-and-for-all/