Reviews with content warning for Death - Once and for All

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Once and for All by Sarah Dessen

10 reviews

ayuming_reads's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective 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? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

enchantedsleeper's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I enjoyed this book and I raced through it in two days, but I also agree with a lot of the gripes that other people have raised in the reviews.

The way that Sarah Dessen uses a school shooting to engineer a tragedy wherein the main character loses her first love felt... off. Hollow. I originally thought that the "loved and lost" that the blurb referred to was a bad breakup, and I kind of wish it had been. When she referenced the school shooting to show what had happened to Ethan it just felt like - really? We're going there? And while I felt like the young love element was handled well, Ethan's actual death felt less so. She never went to the memorial, and that's it? Wasn't she in touch with any of his friends, his family? They might not have been together for long, but everyone knew they were in a relationship! Did no-one reach out to her?

I think Louna's actual response of being jaded and cynical about love fit better with a bad breakup (and her background in the wedding industry), not traumatically losing a teenage love. I don't think she would be in the place where she was for this book just seven months later, much less willing to date around random guys because of... what, a bet? As others have pointed out, there was also no space on the page devoted to the horror of gun violence or any of those implications. It was just treated like "something that happens". And I'm not from the US, but I can't believe that anyone who is is that inured to it that they wouldn't dwell on the circumstances of how he died. Campaigned over gun rights. Been angry at the senselessness of how Ethan's life was taken. Not "I was SUPER SAD for seven months but I'm mostly okay now and ready to move on".

Ambrose as a character was okay. He was very much a retread of Dexter from This Lullaby, right down to the little dog, and started off as this arrogant guy but then actually wasn't? Possibly because Dessen realised this made him too unlikeable? Instead he's just clumsy and scatty, except that he's actually super reliable and great, and he juggles women constantly but that's their fault for getting attached to him, he never promised them anything. Geez. I think I preferred the relationships that all the background characters were getting into. William and the cheese guy were totally cute; I found the mum's romance with mister Work Clichés a bit convenient, especially the timing, but it was nice to have a parent figure - two, really - who actually communicates and is honest. Natalie and William being platonic besties was also adorable. I'll take a whole book about them navigating their new relationships alongside their close friendship with each other.

People have mentioned Jilly actually being a crummy friend to Louna and I kind of agree. She sets her up with clearly terrible guys and doesn't look out for her at a party. She's unimpressed by Ambrose when they first meet, which I get, but then does a complete 180 and is fine with him. And then she tells Ambrose about Ethan without even asking Louna? Even though she knows that Louna hasn't told him herself and must know that she doesn't want to? Nope, nope, nope. Do not do this to your friends, ever. I felt like that part, the patented Sarah Dessen moment where everything falls apart but it's fine because it will be solved by the end, felt a lot more contrived than usual. I was actively groaning when it happened. And I don't enjoy that part in any of her books, but in this one it felt particularly forced, because of how it happened. I had been preparing for Louna and Ambrose to finally have the conversation about Ethan, and in the end it wasn't even her that brought him up. She would have been justified in feeling seriously betrayed by Jilly, but it wasn't even an issue between them? And poor Ben. The Paul of the story (referencing This Lullaby), but at least Remy had the good grace to break it off with Paul before she reunited with Dexter (and did it for reasons unrelated to Dexter), whereas Louna straight-up abandoned Ben on her birthday, with no explanation, and then came back saying "I'm with this guy now"? Meanwhile her mum, William and their respective significant others are looking on? Yiiiiiiikes.

There were things to like about this book and I did find her romance with Ethan compelling, unlike some who found it unrealistic. But most of what happened in the present day? Not super sold. I think the wedding industry + a bad breakup would have been enough to make Louna cynical without needing to bring a *school shooting* of all things into the equation. Or if you're determined to do the tragedy, then do it right. Maybe make them friends at the end of the book for once instead of a couple. But that's not how The Formula goes.

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sofiajearally's review against another edition

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hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.75

This book was so fucking dumb.

I'm not happy to say it because I've always loved, or at least liked, Sarah Dessen's books. This Lullaby was one of my favorite books when I was a teen. Maybe it's just that I'm not a teen anymore, maybe I'm too old for this. Or maybe the book is bad.

Okay, so we follow Louna, who can't get over her ex-boyfriend Ethan. She meets Ambrose and then it's your usual hate-to-love romance. There's really nothing else. There's barely even a plot!! And some elements of that "plot" are not believable one bit (like

Natalie hiring Ambrose

Louna having her first time on the beach at night with someone she met 3 hours ago

) or are disgusting (like the bet, which essentially means using other people to get what they want - each other). The only interesting thing was the wedding planner stuff.

Alright, maybe the plot is not the most important part of a romance book but there was no chemistry either!!! Louna and Ambrose are better off as friends. Which makes me think: I hate that there is no woman/man relationship other than romantic ones, except for William and Natalie, but they had to make him gay for that to happen!

The characters are one-dimensional as hell and William is clearly a gay token which is ewww.

I thought Louna wasn't too annoying at the very beginning but yep, she is in fact irritating. She has no personality except being "not like other girls" because she's cynical about love and
her boyfriend of a day died
. GIRL IT AIN'T THAT DEEP. You're 17, you don't know anything. Can we also talk about the sexist moments towards other girls? That made me roll my eyes so far back I thought I was going blind.
Ambrose is annoying from start to finish; he's a player and I do not believe that lOUna ChANgeD hIM (and him having ADHD is not supposed to be a redeeming quality). I don't get why we're supposed to root for him, and to be honest I wasn't.
As for Ethan,
I liked him, too bad he's dead.

The writing is fine but there are some of the stupidest, cringiest sentences I've ever read, like: "They fit me perfectly" (Louna, about her sandals), like OBVIOUSLY GIRL YOU BOUGHT THESE SHOES LAST YEAR??? Can someone also tell Ms. Dessen that people don't blush all the damn time? That was annoying as hell.
Some tropes that I hate were also there: "I DIn'T nOTIce WE haD CHEmisTRy" ; "date is suddenly turned into an asshole because he's a threat to the romance" (NEWSFLASH: you can have heterosexual people of opposite genders not date/not be attracted to each other while still being polite).

The structure was also weird toward the end, with chapter 25 (where

Ambrose and Louna reconcile

) being randomly put in the middle of the day before Louna's birthday, while it actually happened before that day. I took 10 minutes to go back and forth, trying to figure out the timeline, even though this book, which could have been 60 pages shorter, was already a colossal waste of time. And what was that

fake-ass suspense

at the end?

(Of course Ambrose is alive! Although it would have been more interesting if he wasn't.)

I'm definitely too old for this shit. The only people I would recommend this book to are 16-year-olds who still think fairytales exist and think they're deep AF when they haven't lived anything difficult in their life. And even then, I wouldn't encourage them. "I hoped that they would always prioritize their partner before everything else." Honestly, what kind of message is this sending to young girls? NO. You have to prioritize yourself for goodness sake.

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imlaurenshelton's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

As a teenager, I enjoyed Sarah Dessen on multiple occasions. My favorite book of hers will forever be Lock & Key. I admired how she had the talent to talk about serious matters with grace and poise, highlighting the subject of the content matter rather than creating flash to draw readers in. So much about this book I love, first and foremost the revolving door of weddings (because I will always enjoy a good book with a wedding). I love Louna’s mom. I’m a hardcore fan, I think she’s funny and I completely understand her bitter (“cynical”) outlook on life, especially after what her husband did, but look at what she (and William) managed to do, while raising a child. William is the touch of love that’s needed throughout, always giving comfort and gentle nudges where needed. I sympathized with Ambrose, I saw a lot of my brother in him - especially with the tape dispenser scene. He’s just a young man trying to do right and people find him pre-emotive my annoying; of course there are some things he just gets utterly wrong, such as his revolving door of women and dates and animal theft behaviors. He’s the perfect charming, main-character-loves-to-hate love interest. I did not care for Jilly, I thought she was pretty self-centered and from my perspective, most of her actions towards Louna had an end-goal of helping herself out. As for Louna herself, she’s a character where my feelings get complicated. From what she experienced, I understand her anguish and bitterness towards love - but I don’t understand her dislike of Ambrose, not really. If she was someone who truly admired and believed in love and the process of monogamy, I would understand the dislike. However, she was built up as a cynical character who learned to hate love after listening to her mother and William after all these years. What Ambrose does shouldn’t affect her feelings about him, and yet she hates him instantly (coincidentally when he decides that he likes her). Her character was very wishy-washy, and maybe that’s in part to the consistent time jumps back and forth from present to a year ago.
At the end of the day, everyone gets their HEA and I did enjoy the book. However, I took off a star for the teenage sex (I don’t care if it happens in real life, I don’t like the idea of pushing teens to have sex) and the unlikable-ness of Louna. I think there’s an issue where all the supporting characters are more well-liked despite their flaws and the main character is meh. I would recommend this even still to anyone looking for a lighthearted summer romance.

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queenfury's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

"You can't measure love by time put in, but the weight of those moments. Some in life are light, like a touch. Others, you can't help but stagger beneath."

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galaxialternativa's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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lucyjo246's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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guardianofthebookshelf's review against another edition

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3.0

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theinfinitebookcase's review against another edition

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4.0

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nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I bought this at the airport while waiting for my plane in Chicago and, honestly, I kind of regret buying it…

First and foremost, I wanted to like this book a lot more then I actually did.

And I did like the book, up until a certain point.

That certain point, ladies and gentlemen, was when we found out Ethan and Louna’s back story. About their first time meeting at one of the many weddings Louna’s mother had planned, their romantic walk along the beach, and subsequent other things that happened on the beach that night as well. That whole chapter of them meeting was SO cliche that I almost did not finish the book.

I get that first loves are fast, yes, but within less then 12 hours of knowing each other, they had made a home run and then some. This guy was a complete stranger and yet Louna and Ethan said “I love you” to each other, they kissed, they also did more than just kissing in the sand (if you know what I mean) -– which is a whole other cliche that I’m not going to even delve into.

It was almost too unbelievably fast to believe. And quite frankly, I didn’t.

Louna also believes that because of this one perfect night with Ethan that no one else can ever live up to those expectations. Her and Ethan only spend ONE DAY together, the first day they meet, before he has to go back home with his dad. Her whole dating expectation is hinged on this one day with this one boy. Afterwards, the two carry on a long distance relationship for a few months before tragedy strikes.

I did like the Dessen talked about something that’s happening too often these days, school shootings. And I get that she didn’t want focus too much on that because the main character didn’t want to talk about it and also because it’s such a hot topic. But the background story of what happened is only told in snippets and occasional chapters. She could have maybe delved into those hot topics, waded through Louna’s opinion of where to draw the line at gun control, ect. But, instead, Dessen focuses on the wedding planning business and… Ambrose.

As other reviews that I’ve seen have pointed out, Ambrose steals a dog from an abusive owner but no ramifications happen for said stealing of said dog. He also delays his mom’s wedding because he’s flirting with a girl. He is also hired on the spot by Louna’s mother only to move the plot forward. His sudden infatuation with Louna seemed out of the blue random, at least to me, at the very end of the novel.

Ben felt like the most normal character. Dessen, for some reason, points out several times through out the book that Ben likes to document the two’s relationship, which annoys Louna to no end for some reason. And it seems to be the only flaw that Dessen can pin on the guy.

Louna can’t even make up her mind between Ambrose and Ben until she thinks Ambrose has died after being hit a car. Then Ambrose and Louna kiss in the street after she discovers he hasn’t died while poor Ben is still waiting at her house with a present for her birthday.

I did like it, don’t get me wrong. The wedding antics were hilarious, as were some of Ambrose’s many one-liners. Jilly’s family chaos was a nice touch as well. But, overall, I wish the book had been just a little bit deeper.

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