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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
I was so excited to finally purchase The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen. I have read quite a few of Dessen’s books, and have really enjoyed them all. Now that I have completed this book, I am can’t wait to get started on the rest of her novels that I haven’t yet read. Now, on to my review…
The main character in the story, Emaline, is such a headstrong young lady. (I love that Dessen always writes such strong heroines.) Emaline has so many decisions to make about her life now that she has graduated high school. Yes, her life is an emotional mess of confusion, and it only gets worse as the book goes along. But Emaline is surrounded by an amazing support system, and keeps a level head even through the worst. These types of characters make me proud; these are the characters that I love the most.
The love interest in the story is between Luke, Emaline’s high school sweetheart, and Theo, who has come to the island for the summer to work on a documentary. I don’t think that I would consider the relationships between Emaline and these boys as a love triangle. It was so much different than that. I liked Luke from the beginning, even though he made a few bad choices. Theo, on the other hand… Well, I liked him at first, but it just went downhill the more I read about him. Each boy had a different purpose in Emaline’s life. I feel that they both showed her how different life could be for her. In the end, I was really satisfied with the choice that she made for herself.
The relationship that Emaline has with her family is really heart-warming. Not only does she have a wonderful bond with her mother, but also with her dad, who is actually her adoptive dad and her step-sisters, who are so much more than that. I love that she was surrounded by so much love in her family. I also really loved her new found relationship with her half brother. He was super sweet.
The ending of the story took a completely different direction than I expected it to, and I loved Dessen all the more for it. I absolutely love the ending. It’s an ending that I am proud to have my teenage daughter read. You are definitely going to have to read the book to find out exactly what happens. The storyline is a great story that I think should be a recommended read for all teenage girls. It was a really great read, as all Dessen’s books are.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It would make a great summer/beach read. Of course, if you already love Sarah Dessen, you will definitely enjoy this book. Check it out!
Happy Reading!
As posted on TheReaderBee.com.
The main character in the story, Emaline, is such a headstrong young lady. (I love that Dessen always writes such strong heroines.) Emaline has so many decisions to make about her life now that she has graduated high school. Yes, her life is an emotional mess of confusion, and it only gets worse as the book goes along. But Emaline is surrounded by an amazing support system, and keeps a level head even through the worst. These types of characters make me proud; these are the characters that I love the most.
The love interest in the story is between Luke, Emaline’s high school sweetheart, and Theo, who has come to the island for the summer to work on a documentary. I don’t think that I would consider the relationships between Emaline and these boys as a love triangle. It was so much different than that. I liked Luke from the beginning, even though he made a few bad choices. Theo, on the other hand… Well, I liked him at first, but it just went downhill the more I read about him. Each boy had a different purpose in Emaline’s life. I feel that they both showed her how different life could be for her. In the end, I was really satisfied with the choice that she made for herself.
The relationship that Emaline has with her family is really heart-warming. Not only does she have a wonderful bond with her mother, but also with her dad, who is actually her adoptive dad and her step-sisters, who are so much more than that. I love that she was surrounded by so much love in her family. I also really loved her new found relationship with her half brother. He was super sweet.
The ending of the story took a completely different direction than I expected it to, and I loved Dessen all the more for it. I absolutely love the ending. It’s an ending that I am proud to have my teenage daughter read. You are definitely going to have to read the book to find out exactly what happens. The storyline is a great story that I think should be a recommended read for all teenage girls. It was a really great read, as all Dessen’s books are.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It would make a great summer/beach read. Of course, if you already love Sarah Dessen, you will definitely enjoy this book. Check it out!
Happy Reading!
As posted on TheReaderBee.com.
I'd just like to point out that Auden was the protagonist in Keeping The Moon, who is mentioned in this book, and Spinnerbait is mentioned in this book as well, first mentioned in The Truth About Forever.
However, that being said, I enjoyed the book. Dessen always manages to craft her stories that the focus isn't entirely on the star-crossed lovers, making it seem more realistic than a typical romance novel. Emaline deals with family issues, an estranged father and college among other things, things girls my age deal with. Good coming-of-age story.
However, that being said, I enjoyed the book. Dessen always manages to craft her stories that the focus isn't entirely on the star-crossed lovers, making it seem more realistic than a typical romance novel. Emaline deals with family issues, an estranged father and college among other things, things girls my age deal with. Good coming-of-age story.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Book 3 of the PopSugar Reading Challenge: A Book with a Zodiac Sign or Astrology Term in the Title
I have loved Sarah Dessen’s books since I was in middle school and even though I’ve long outgrown them now, I still like to go back and read the ones I never got to. This was a good one. I think the family dynamics in this book were some of the best she’s written yet and the ending left me satisfied (let’s just say there’s a very formulaic thing that happens at the end of most of her books and it did not happen in this one).
I do think Dessen could improve on building her main characters and giving them more of a personality. In most of her books, the main character/narrator feels so bland. All of the quirks and personality are given to supporting characters. Just once I’d like to see her write a silly, extroverted, bold main character. I think that’s why I like “This Lullaby” the most out of her books, because the main character has somewhat of a personality. Otherwise, I digress- I did enjoy this book and am glad I read it!
I have loved Sarah Dessen’s books since I was in middle school and even though I’ve long outgrown them now, I still like to go back and read the ones I never got to. This was a good one. I think the family dynamics in this book were some of the best she’s written yet and the ending left me satisfied (let’s just say there’s a very formulaic thing that happens at the end of most of her books and it did not happen in this one).
I do think Dessen could improve on building her main characters and giving them more of a personality. In most of her books, the main character/narrator feels so bland. All of the quirks and personality are given to supporting characters. Just once I’d like to see her write a silly, extroverted, bold main character. I think that’s why I like “This Lullaby” the most out of her books, because the main character has somewhat of a personality. Otherwise, I digress- I did enjoy this book and am glad I read it!
[3.5]
I am back to write this review. Upon looking at my list of the 6 (really 8, but 2 need a re-read) Dessen books I've read and my rankings, this one and Once and For all are really competing, but what it comes down to why this is a 3.5 and not a 4, is the romance.
The more books I read of Ms. Dessen's, I'm reframing my expectations of what the "romance" of the story will be. I did not pull for Luke or Theo, and it honestly reminded me of my current (first watch, season 4) distaste for Jess in GG, and tbh Dean is so much like Luke. Also, I just had to remind myself that Luke doesn't get married in here.. or does he? (also pls no GG spoilers, stop right there, I know I have a lot to go through). Not only did I not root for Theo, but it was only weighted that I didn't when it felt like Emaline was completely NOT into the relationship the whole time.
One thing I did adore about this book were the Colby references. Being a book post-Along for the Ride's success, it is heavily apparent how Dessen set this up to please her readers and their obsession what AftR. There were also good profound moments per usual like the 2AM friend (unless that was a different one of her books..) [UPDATE: looked it up and that was definitely what happened to goodbye lmao] and being in a dating/hanging out relationship.
I think Dessen almost did a perfect job with the parental conflict in this one, though it made me 100% confident she had some sort of daddy issues herself after so many reads with girls who have major ones themselves. It takes one to know one... or write one well. I struggled to really feel the deep connection and "roots" as the synopsis says to her stepsisters when I feel like we didn't get too much of the interior monologue of her love for them when they were constantly bickering and at each other. Also, let's point out how FREAKING confusing the father/dad thing was in the beginning, and honestly, I KNOW I'm usually confused at the beginning of her books, but it took me a few rereads of a few pages to piece together that her mom was her biological mom and all the other pieces and how they fit together.
I would definitely recommend this for someone looking for a beach read or a AftR mega-fan, but not necessarily someone looking for the cutest romance of their life.
-----------
will write this soon.
I am back to write this review. Upon looking at my list of the 6 (really 8, but 2 need a re-read) Dessen books I've read and my rankings, this one and Once and For all are really competing, but what it comes down to why this is a 3.5 and not a 4, is the romance.
The more books I read of Ms. Dessen's, I'm reframing my expectations of what the "romance" of the story will be. I did not pull for Luke or Theo, and it honestly reminded me of my current (first watch, season 4) distaste for Jess in GG, and tbh Dean is so much like Luke. Also, I just had to remind myself that Luke doesn't get married in here.. or does he? (also pls no GG spoilers, stop right there, I know I have a lot to go through). Not only did I not root for Theo, but it was only weighted that I didn't when it felt like Emaline was completely NOT into the relationship the whole time.
One thing I did adore about this book were the Colby references. Being a book post-Along for the Ride's success, it is heavily apparent how Dessen set this up to please her readers and their obsession what AftR. There were also good profound moments per usual like the 2AM friend (unless that was a different one of her books..) [UPDATE: looked it up and that was definitely what happened to goodbye lmao] and being in a dating/hanging out relationship.
I think Dessen almost did a perfect job with the parental conflict in this one, though it made me 100% confident she had some sort of daddy issues herself after so many reads with girls who have major ones themselves. It takes one to know one... or write one well. I struggled to really feel the deep connection and "roots" as the synopsis says to her stepsisters when I feel like we didn't get too much of the interior monologue of her love for them when they were constantly bickering and at each other. Also, let's point out how FREAKING confusing the father/dad thing was in the beginning, and honestly, I KNOW I'm usually confused at the beginning of her books, but it took me a few rereads of a few pages to piece together that her mom was her biological mom and all the other pieces and how they fit together.
I would definitely recommend this for someone looking for a beach read or a AftR mega-fan, but not necessarily someone looking for the cutest romance of their life.
-----------
will write this soon.
Going into this book initially I was pretty excited. I had liked Sarah Dessen's previous work "Along for the Ride" and "Just Listen." However, "The Moon and More" is not what I expected at all.
In fact, I am severely disappointed.
Sarah Dessen I have noticed likes to keep with a formula, and as long as she keeps to it she is successful. I don't know why this bothers me a lot, but the woman can write but yet does not do ANYTHING NEW. In fact, what I did like her for previously is so OVERDONE in this book. I'll explain.
Themes
She is entirely WAY TOO FORCEFUL with her themes and what you are supposed to get out of this book. There is no trying to figure this out for yourself, she TELLS YOU WHAT YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF THIS BOOK. On every page it's some platitude people hear all the time. Platitude after platitude. In fact, this entire book is way too preachy. Her other books were not this extensive. They had symbols and metaphors, but "The Moon and More" takes it to the extreme that one cannot stop eyerolling at every single sentence.
This is not to say I don't enjoy learning things from what I read. I do VERY MUCH ENJOY learning from reading, but I like to THINK FOR MYSELF and NOT HAVE EVERY SINGLE LESSON POUNDED INTO MY HEAD WITH A HAMMER. This gets excruciatingly annoying and difficult to deal with as I progressed through the novel because it just gets worst.
Characters: The Love Interests
I normally liked the guys Mrs. Dessen writes about, at least when it came to "Along for the Ride" and "Just Listen." The only guys I like in this novel is Emaline's ten year old brother Benji and her friend Morris. The two love interest in this book nauseated me.
Theo:
At first I liked him. He was the ambitious outsider and film student at NYU who was working on a documentary about an elusive Colby beach artist. He was pretty interesting to hear about, and I was rooting for Emaline and Theo. Then came the 70% mark and everything fell to pieces. The guy is a pretentious jerk who only gives a care about himself and has no sense at all when it comes to thinking about his future. He would rather throw away his education to chase after an artist who doesn't even like him? That's not smart. It's suicidal. Every bit of sympathy I had for him went down the drain. One of the WORST characters she has ever written. EVER.
Luke:
He's got no backbone. He is the initial love interest where he had been with Emaline since her ninth grade year (who's with their boyfriend for all four years? That doesn't make any sense to me at all and it's not even that realistic). He gets mad at Emaline for hanging out with Theo, and he makes assumptions and then cheats on her at a dingy bar. Honestly, I can't root for the guy when I never really liked him. He's just a stereotypical unfleshed out boyfriend who cares for his girlfriend then gets jealous, but then still wants to be a friend to her later on when everything goes down the drain. There isn't much development there at all.
The supporting characters
I actually quite enjoyed Daisy, Clyde, Morris, and especially Benji. In fact, the relationship between Benji and Emaline was the best part of this book how she helped her half-brother get through a difficult time in his life when his parents are going through a divorce. Probably the best part of the book. Daisy was a fun character and had a lot of quirks that I enjoyed a lot. Morris was also a very interesting character and Daisy's love interest too, which was interesting seeing they are a study of opposites. They were the funnest characters.
The adults (besides Clyde): Sarah always writes about divorces or about family problems, which makes sense since everyone to some extent deals with these issues. I just wished she would give her adult characters more room to grow as characters since they are seen as the "bad guys" who leave families who don't take care of their kids. They have personality faults, but I just wish it wasn't so black and white with Sarah Dessen. Life is full of shades of gray. I wish she could start writing more ambiguity, especially at the age between adolescent and adulthood. In some of her other novels she handled this better, but not in this one. I guess I do like Emaline's mother and dad, but her father I do not.
Emaline herself...I have conflicted feelings. Her as a sister to Benji I do enjoy quite a lot, but she kind of sits back for most of the book and doesn't really do anything but what she is told. Then a BOY enters the picture and then everyone pounces on her, even though she had a boyfriend previously because he's not from Colby. Really? That's a pretty annoying reason for things to start to change, too coincidental for me. Her character change really isn't as developed as I hope it would be by the end. She doesn't start to change until a lot later in the book. I hate that! I really do.
Ivy...at first we are supposed to not like her. She's demanding, belittling, and pushy, but later on she starts to grow on you. I ended up liking her character A LOT MORE than Theo who I had liked for most of the book and not Ivy, but in the end I do.
Other Things
I know that Sarah Dessen likes to create her own universe with Colby and everything. It was nice to see that Auden and Esther were mentioned, as well as Clementines (and Tallyho). However, I do not like her replacements for things that we all know like Costco, Facebook, and anything else (also her facebook UMe.com allows ten year old users? In the real world it is at least thirteen!).
The plot felt extremely long and dragged out. Normally her novels are a fast paced read for me, but this one dragged on and on (and on). I wanted to put it down way too many times, and I ended up getting frustrated for most of the novel.
Conclusion
This novel by Ms. Dessen was so very dissapointing. Although, I can't say a lot about her prose I don't really like being preached at. This is by far the worst integration of themes and messages I have ever gotten from Ms. Dessen. This book didn't have a summery feel to it like all her other books do. In fact, I was so annoyed by most of the characters that I couldn't invest myself into them (if I did I found out they were not the people we should be rooting for). I dislike that this book is so black and white about messages, about getting out but knowing your limits. It's so passe and cliche, and I thought she would be able to string it together a lot better than she did. She didn't.
MTV calls her the "Grand Empress of YA contemporary" but that should really go to my favorite author GAYLE (FREAKING) FOREMAN! Who writes beautiful, beautiful books about good characters and it is not always so black and white. I'm not sure if I will ever read another Dessen book again, maybe one of her older ones but unless she changes her course and WRITES SOMETHING OUTSIDE HER COMFORT ZONE...then I will pass.
In fact, I am severely disappointed.
Sarah Dessen I have noticed likes to keep with a formula, and as long as she keeps to it she is successful. I don't know why this bothers me a lot, but the woman can write but yet does not do ANYTHING NEW. In fact, what I did like her for previously is so OVERDONE in this book. I'll explain.
Themes
She is entirely WAY TOO FORCEFUL with her themes and what you are supposed to get out of this book. There is no trying to figure this out for yourself, she TELLS YOU WHAT YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF THIS BOOK. On every page it's some platitude people hear all the time. Platitude after platitude. In fact, this entire book is way too preachy. Her other books were not this extensive. They had symbols and metaphors, but "The Moon and More" takes it to the extreme that one cannot stop eyerolling at every single sentence.
This is not to say I don't enjoy learning things from what I read. I do VERY MUCH ENJOY learning from reading, but I like to THINK FOR MYSELF and NOT HAVE EVERY SINGLE LESSON POUNDED INTO MY HEAD WITH A HAMMER. This gets excruciatingly annoying and difficult to deal with as I progressed through the novel because it just gets worst.
Characters: The Love Interests
I normally liked the guys Mrs. Dessen writes about, at least when it came to "Along for the Ride" and "Just Listen." The only guys I like in this novel is Emaline's ten year old brother Benji and her friend Morris. The two love interest in this book nauseated me.
Theo:
At first I liked him. He was the ambitious outsider and film student at NYU who was working on a documentary about an elusive Colby beach artist. He was pretty interesting to hear about, and I was rooting for Emaline and Theo. Then came the 70% mark and everything fell to pieces. The guy is a pretentious jerk who only gives a care about himself and has no sense at all when it comes to thinking about his future. He would rather throw away his education to chase after an artist who doesn't even like him? That's not smart. It's suicidal. Every bit of sympathy I had for him went down the drain. One of the WORST characters she has ever written. EVER.
Luke:
He's got no backbone. He is the initial love interest where he had been with Emaline since her ninth grade year (who's with their boyfriend for all four years? That doesn't make any sense to me at all and it's not even that realistic). He gets mad at Emaline for hanging out with Theo, and he makes assumptions and then cheats on her at a dingy bar. Honestly, I can't root for the guy when I never really liked him. He's just a stereotypical unfleshed out boyfriend who cares for his girlfriend then gets jealous, but then still wants to be a friend to her later on when everything goes down the drain. There isn't much development there at all.
The supporting characters
I actually quite enjoyed Daisy, Clyde, Morris, and especially Benji. In fact, the relationship between Benji and Emaline was the best part of this book how she helped her half-brother get through a difficult time in his life when his parents are going through a divorce. Probably the best part of the book. Daisy was a fun character and had a lot of quirks that I enjoyed a lot. Morris was also a very interesting character and Daisy's love interest too, which was interesting seeing they are a study of opposites. They were the funnest characters.
The adults (besides Clyde): Sarah always writes about divorces or about family problems, which makes sense since everyone to some extent deals with these issues. I just wished she would give her adult characters more room to grow as characters since they are seen as the "bad guys" who leave families who don't take care of their kids. They have personality faults, but I just wish it wasn't so black and white with Sarah Dessen. Life is full of shades of gray. I wish she could start writing more ambiguity, especially at the age between adolescent and adulthood. In some of her other novels she handled this better, but not in this one. I guess I do like Emaline's mother and dad, but her father I do not.
Emaline herself...I have conflicted feelings. Her as a sister to Benji I do enjoy quite a lot, but she kind of sits back for most of the book and doesn't really do anything but what she is told. Then a BOY enters the picture and then everyone pounces on her, even though she had a boyfriend previously because he's not from Colby. Really? That's a pretty annoying reason for things to start to change, too coincidental for me. Her character change really isn't as developed as I hope it would be by the end. She doesn't start to change until a lot later in the book. I hate that! I really do.
Ivy...at first we are supposed to not like her. She's demanding, belittling, and pushy, but later on she starts to grow on you. I ended up liking her character A LOT MORE than Theo who I had liked for most of the book and not Ivy, but in the end I do.
Other Things
I know that Sarah Dessen likes to create her own universe with Colby and everything. It was nice to see that Auden and Esther were mentioned, as well as Clementines (and Tallyho). However, I do not like her replacements for things that we all know like Costco, Facebook, and anything else (also her facebook UMe.com allows ten year old users? In the real world it is at least thirteen!).
The plot felt extremely long and dragged out. Normally her novels are a fast paced read for me, but this one dragged on and on (and on). I wanted to put it down way too many times, and I ended up getting frustrated for most of the novel.
Conclusion
This novel by Ms. Dessen was so very dissapointing. Although, I can't say a lot about her prose I don't really like being preached at. This is by far the worst integration of themes and messages I have ever gotten from Ms. Dessen. This book didn't have a summery feel to it like all her other books do. In fact, I was so annoyed by most of the characters that I couldn't invest myself into them (if I did I found out they were not the people we should be rooting for). I dislike that this book is so black and white about messages, about getting out but knowing your limits. It's so passe and cliche, and I thought she would be able to string it together a lot better than she did. She didn't.
MTV calls her the "Grand Empress of YA contemporary" but that should really go to my favorite author GAYLE (FREAKING) FOREMAN! Who writes beautiful, beautiful books about good characters and it is not always so black and white. I'm not sure if I will ever read another Dessen book again, maybe one of her older ones but unless she changes her course and WRITES SOMETHING OUTSIDE HER COMFORT ZONE...then I will pass.
An enjoyable read. I loved seeing the "real" Colby, featured so often in other Dessen books. It made me want to be by the coast and luckily I had the opportunity to do just that while reading. I liked Emaline a lot, though my favourite character was actually Benji. The one thing stopping me from really loving this book was Theo. I just found him unbearable for such a central character. I much prefered Luke, is that allowed? The main story arc was interesting and the conclusion satisfying. I loved how Emaline grew as a character from start to finish. In all, a good read, perfect for holidays.
Sarah Dessen does it again. This is another one of my favorites that I will be suggesting to students and family. So good. One of the best books to end my summer with before work starts back up again.
There was an appearance of that theme of getting a do-over that Sarah cover's in her other books. However this book is different Emaline's story doesn't really have a happy ending where the girl is content in all sphere's of her life and she gets the guy. Emaline learns that life doesn't just include the good moments it consists the black, white and grey.