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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
good written and kept my attention but not one of my all time favorites
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Mass/school shootings
Minor: Car accident
Like for many readers, Sarah Dessen was my gateway author to contemporary young adult novels. Every time I hear that she has a novel coming out, I get excited and mark it on my calendar. Once & For All sits somewhere in the middle of her books (rating wise) for me. It was a good book, but it didn’t stand out as much as others. Louna works for her mother’s company, Natalie Barrett Wedding Planning, helping make people’s wedding dreams come true. Between a current tragedy in her life and the cynicism that can come from dealing with so many stressful weddings, Louna has a guarded heart and believes that love may not be for her. There are so many cute aspects about this story, like how Louna’s father was not present in her life, so her mother’s best friend and business partner, William, filled the paternal role in his own unique way; or how her best friend Jilly’s family is such a handful. Crawford, Jilly's little brother, was a delightful addition with all his side comments and observations. Ambrose was fun; he was not my favorite of Dessen’s leading men, but I felt like there were moments between him and Louna when their different personalities proved they should open up to one another. This was a fun book that I couldn’t get enough of over my lunch break, so I would rush home and start reading again. Dessen will always have a spot on my bookshelf.
I have always loved Sarah Dessen's work ever since I first discovered her books. Once and for All is a light read, it isn't as emotional as Dreamland or as romantic as This Lullaby (which are my 2 favorites). But the romance Sarah Dessen brings out in her novels is still as strong as ever and I am more than satisfied with this book.
Sarah Dessen’s previous book, Saint Anything, came out in 2015, and every time Dessen publishes a book, she tells us to not have any expectations of her and she tells us that she fears that the book she just published might be her last. And every time Dessen tells us that her latest book might be her last published work, my heart starts to thud and fear begin to pool in my blood because she is such a marvelous author. Thus, I have long since stopped having any expectations of her. Once and For All came as a welcome surprise to me and was the perfect way to start off the summer.
I have to disclaim right from the beginning that I read this book the day it came out but I had been unable to write a review for it until now due to school being back in session. However, since I have finished my finals and it is now currently winter break, you can expect a lot more reviews from me in the months of December and January. Additionally,
And now onto the actual book. In this book, like most of Dessen’s classic chick lit novels, we are told the story from the point of view of a teenage female character, in this case: Louna. And yes, there is the typical love interest that is essential for every successful chick lit novel: Ambrose, although I wouldn’t really say that Ambrose is the typical leading male?
Louna works for her mom, who is this really famous and always stressed out wedding planner, and her mom’s gay wedding planning business partner, William, over the summer. And the three of them are basically depressed single people who are very cynical about love. In fact, the first time Louna sees Ambrose at the beginning of the story, it is at his mom’s wedding which her mom helped plan. Their meeting up is actually very awkward and not cute or instanteous heart eyes which I appreciated.
The story really gets going after her mom and William hire Ambrose to work for them over the summer because he’s a mess and he ruined their office supplies, and that’s how Louna and Ambrose get their love story going. Louna is cynical and mean to Ambrose while he is mostly a happy-go-lucky guy. But we don’t understand why Louna is so cynical about love until we do through a series of flashbacks.
The story was very cute and a very enjoyable one that could easily be read in two to three hours. There are a few things about the story which I did not enjoy, mostly how there were just a lot of other girl love interests for Ambrose and how Louna had a boyfriend too because that’s just too much for me. I understand that maybe Dessen was trying to make the story more realistic and prevalent with today’s teens but no teenage boy, that acts like Ambrose, goes through as many girls as Ambrose does, it’s actually kind of disgusting. And as for Louna, between the guy she dated before she met Ambrose (a.k.a the reason why she was so abrupt with Ambrose) and her boyfriend she dated to get over Ambrose, it just seemed unnecessary. And I do not approve at all about how Dessen made the thing that happened to Louna’s old boyfriend (you’ll see) a plot device because it just seemed to take away from the realness of events like that that happen in real life.
But other than those few things, like I said I enjoyed the story and it was well written and it would definitely be a story that A would have been all over in middle school and maybe even high school.
I’m sorry if this book review is too short but that’s because it is hard for me to remember a lot of things about it since seven months have passed.
I have to disclaim right from the beginning that I read this book the day it came out but I had been unable to write a review for it until now due to school being back in session. However, since I have finished my finals and it is now currently winter break, you can expect a lot more reviews from me in the months of December and January. Additionally,
And now onto the actual book. In this book, like most of Dessen’s classic chick lit novels, we are told the story from the point of view of a teenage female character, in this case: Louna. And yes, there is the typical love interest that is essential for every successful chick lit novel: Ambrose, although I wouldn’t really say that Ambrose is the typical leading male?
Louna works for her mom, who is this really famous and always stressed out wedding planner, and her mom’s gay wedding planning business partner, William, over the summer. And the three of them are basically depressed single people who are very cynical about love. In fact, the first time Louna sees Ambrose at the beginning of the story, it is at his mom’s wedding which her mom helped plan. Their meeting up is actually very awkward and not cute or instanteous heart eyes which I appreciated.
The story really gets going after her mom and William hire Ambrose to work for them over the summer because he’s a mess and he ruined their office supplies, and that’s how Louna and Ambrose get their love story going. Louna is cynical and mean to Ambrose while he is mostly a happy-go-lucky guy. But we don’t understand why Louna is so cynical about love until we do through a series of flashbacks.
The story was very cute and a very enjoyable one that could easily be read in two to three hours. There are a few things about the story which I did not enjoy, mostly how there were just a lot of other girl love interests for Ambrose and how Louna had a boyfriend too because that’s just too much for me. I understand that maybe Dessen was trying to make the story more realistic and prevalent with today’s teens but no teenage boy, that acts like Ambrose, goes through as many girls as Ambrose does, it’s actually kind of disgusting. And as for Louna, between the guy she dated before she met Ambrose (a.k.a the reason why she was so abrupt with Ambrose) and her boyfriend she dated to get over Ambrose, it just seemed unnecessary. And I do not approve at all about how Dessen made the thing that happened to Louna’s old boyfriend (you’ll see) a plot device because it just seemed to take away from the realness of events like that that happen in real life.
But other than those few things, like I said I enjoyed the story and it was well written and it would definitely be a story that A would have been all over in middle school and maybe even high school.
I’m sorry if this book review is too short but that’s because it is hard for me to remember a lot of things about it since seven months have passed.
This was the first book by Sarah Dessen that I’ve read, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this was a delightful read. It’s romantic and has some big issues to deal with too. Even though it is emotional, it’s never maudlin. Frothy and fun. Except for the tragic bits.
The teens seem like real people, not perfect, not a two-dimensional angst-y portrait of what people think teens are...
Ok, so, Louna spends her summers working for her mother’s wedding planning business, which is an unexpected and great backdrop for the story: lots of opportunities for whacky characters and low key drama.
Then we learn that Louna has a real reason for resisting her best friend’s attempts to get her back into the dating scene. This is hinted at, with the backstory and current events twisting through the book in a way that makes it in-put-down-able.
The teens seem like real people, not perfect, not a two-dimensional angst-y portrait of what people think teens are...
Ok, so, Louna spends her summers working for her mother’s wedding planning business, which is an unexpected and great backdrop for the story: lots of opportunities for whacky characters and low key drama.
Then we learn that Louna has a real reason for resisting her best friend’s attempts to get her back into the dating scene. This is hinted at, with the backstory and current events twisting through the book in a way that makes it in-put-down-able.
Really disappointing compared to Dessens last two books. There was literally like no plot and no chemistry between the two main characters and way too much time spent on fluff. I really should give it 2 stars tbh. Wayyy too long of a book.
This was a short, fun, summer read. Nothing too special about it, but I liked the enemies to lovers, he fell first trope. It was just an over all fun read.