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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
Don't think or judge, just listen
This was the book I read last week during Banned Books Week 2017. I wasn't aware that it was even on the frequently challenged list until I actually looked up the list in order to pick a book from it. I was amazed at how many challenged books were on there that I read in my high school English classes. This review might have some spoilers so please read with caution if you haven't read this book yet!
There comes a time when the world gets quiet and the only thing left is your own heart. So you'd better learn the sound of it. Otherwise you'll never understand what it's saying
This book begins at the start of a new school year, Annabel was one of the popular girls last year and this year she is an outcast. We learn pretty early on that an incident happened at a party that caused Annabel to basically fall from grace and her shutting everyone out didn't help her situation. Throughout the book we get flashback chapters of the night in question, how Annabel became friends with Sophie, and how she lost Clarke as a friend. With these flashbacks it did seem that the plot kind of dragged a little bit, but at the end it was worth it.
Not only do we slowly learn about what happened to Annabel, the book focuses on her sister Whitney and her eating disorder. Because of what is going on with her sister, Annabel feels that if she tells her mom anything (like what happened to her or that she wants to quit modeling) that it will destroy her. So what does Annabel do? She just stays quiet and keeps everything in.
Silence is so freaking loud
Annabel as the MC was alright in my opinion. She didn't really have that baby of the family attitude that I am used to seeing in my family or in books in general. But understanding what happened to her, her current personality makes sense. She does remind me of a bunch of other Dessen's main characters, but Annabels story itself is unique to the Lakeview world (community?).
Just like Annabel is a typical MC for Dessen, Owen our "bad boy" is kind of just the same. It seems as if there are two different types of guys that the main character falls for. We have the silent, sometimes moody bad boy vibe, or the quirky, all over the place but still kind of cute somehow guy. Owen is the first type, and honestly he isn't very rememberable amongst all the other bad boy types. His "quirk", I guess you could say, was that he is obsessed with music. Every conversation that he has with anyone has to deal with music. It's like he eat, breathes, and sleeps music.
I wondered which was harder, in the end. The act of telling, or who you told it to. Or maybe if, when you finally got it out, the story was really all that mattered
In typical Dessen fashion, her novels focus on a theme of friendship and then somehow a guy fits in to make the main character see that there is more than one way to view things. In Just Listen, I felt that Dessen went a little deeper and focused also on some harder themes, such as eating disorders and rape. This whole book (for Annabel) was to figure out how to live with oneself after such a traumatic experience and get the help that she needed. In her case it was finally listening to herself, finally telling her family, and then talking to the lawyer to help make sure this didn't happen again. I'm glad that Annabel finally stood up to her attacker (it did take basically the whole book though) and she was able to move on and even mend friendships along the way.
I understood now. This voice, the one that had been trying to get my attention all this time, calling out to me, begging me to hear it -- it wan't Will's. It was mine
Overall, this wasn't may favorite Sarah Dessen novel but it is in the top 5! Even though it was slow in the beginning, it did pick up around the middle. I liked that Dessen focused more on stronger themes in this book than she has previously, and I hope that in future books that she continues to do so.
This was the book I read last week during Banned Books Week 2017. I wasn't aware that it was even on the frequently challenged list until I actually looked up the list in order to pick a book from it. I was amazed at how many challenged books were on there that I read in my high school English classes. This review might have some spoilers so please read with caution if you haven't read this book yet!
There comes a time when the world gets quiet and the only thing left is your own heart. So you'd better learn the sound of it. Otherwise you'll never understand what it's saying
This book begins at the start of a new school year, Annabel was one of the popular girls last year and this year she is an outcast. We learn pretty early on that an incident happened at a party that caused Annabel to basically fall from grace and her shutting everyone out didn't help her situation. Throughout the book we get flashback chapters of the night in question, how Annabel became friends with Sophie, and how she lost Clarke as a friend. With these flashbacks it did seem that the plot kind of dragged a little bit, but at the end it was worth it.
Not only do we slowly learn about what happened to Annabel, the book focuses on her sister Whitney and her eating disorder. Because of what is going on with her sister, Annabel feels that if she tells her mom anything (like what happened to her or that she wants to quit modeling) that it will destroy her. So what does Annabel do? She just stays quiet and keeps everything in.
Silence is so freaking loud
Annabel as the MC was alright in my opinion. She didn't really have that baby of the family attitude that I am used to seeing in my family or in books in general. But understanding what happened to her, her current personality makes sense. She does remind me of a bunch of other Dessen's main characters, but Annabels story itself is unique to the Lakeview world (community?).
Just like Annabel is a typical MC for Dessen, Owen our "bad boy" is kind of just the same. It seems as if there are two different types of guys that the main character falls for. We have the silent, sometimes moody bad boy vibe, or the quirky, all over the place but still kind of cute somehow guy. Owen is the first type, and honestly he isn't very rememberable amongst all the other bad boy types. His "quirk", I guess you could say, was that he is obsessed with music. Every conversation that he has with anyone has to deal with music. It's like he eat, breathes, and sleeps music.
I wondered which was harder, in the end. The act of telling, or who you told it to. Or maybe if, when you finally got it out, the story was really all that mattered
In typical Dessen fashion, her novels focus on a theme of friendship and then somehow a guy fits in to make the main character see that there is more than one way to view things. In Just Listen, I felt that Dessen went a little deeper and focused also on some harder themes, such as eating disorders and rape. This whole book (for Annabel) was to figure out how to live with oneself after such a traumatic experience and get the help that she needed. In her case it was finally listening to herself, finally telling her family, and then talking to the lawyer to help make sure this didn't happen again. I'm glad that Annabel finally stood up to her attacker (it did take basically the whole book though) and she was able to move on and even mend friendships along the way.
I understood now. This voice, the one that had been trying to get my attention all this time, calling out to me, begging me to hear it -- it wan't Will's. It was mine
Overall, this wasn't may favorite Sarah Dessen novel but it is in the top 5! Even though it was slow in the beginning, it did pick up around the middle. I liked that Dessen focused more on stronger themes in this book than she has previously, and I hope that in future books that she continues to do so.
okay i absolutely love this book BUT i would not be able to stand owen irl sdkjfkjs he's a good guy but he's so pretentious about music, please enjoy a pop song once in a while my dude, i think a pop song is more likely to have some meaning behind it (which, to be clear, a song does not have to have a deep meaning to be good) than like five minutes of a dripping faucet or whatever
maybe it's just bc we as readers know WHY annabel just assumed her friendships with owen and clarke were over, and i know in both cases, she's the one who messed up, she hurt them, but like, she felt like neither of them would give her a chance, clarke ignored her, owen walked away, and it goes both ways, like?? they could've reached out to her and chose not to, especially i owen's case, he was still worrying, wanting to know what was wrong, but he just. didn't talk to her anymore
moving on: that flashback?? the girls must be 12 years old and she says chris pennington is 3 years older than her! and he pursues her! he's 15!!! that is so gross oh my god. and also afterwards referring to clarke, sophie is like "she's just a kid" like. you are also a kid. you are all 12 years old. you are not mature bc you're hooking up with older boys, the boys should not be interested in middle schoolers
omg owen having a playlist on his ipod of all the songs he and annabel talked about.........peak romance tbh
also i don't understand how in the aftermath of that party, sophie and emily ended up being friends? sophie didn't even like emily when annabel brought her around
and annabel thinking at the end of the book how she wishes she could fix things with sophie or whatever like i'm sorry, i know they were best friends and that's a difficult loss, but she has to realize she's better off, especially now, when she has actually good people in her corner. everything we were told about their friendship even before will assaulting annabel, sophie was just mean! she was not a good friend! like it's just not worth it
maybe it's just bc we as readers know WHY annabel just assumed her friendships with owen and clarke were over, and i know in both cases, she's the one who messed up, she hurt them, but like, she felt like neither of them would give her a chance, clarke ignored her, owen walked away, and it goes both ways, like?? they could've reached out to her and chose not to, especially i owen's case, he was still worrying, wanting to know what was wrong, but he just. didn't talk to her anymore
moving on: that flashback?? the girls must be 12 years old and she says chris pennington is 3 years older than her! and he pursues her! he's 15!!! that is so gross oh my god. and also afterwards referring to clarke, sophie is like "she's just a kid" like. you are also a kid. you are all 12 years old. you are not mature bc you're hooking up with older boys, the boys should not be interested in middle schoolers
omg owen having a playlist on his ipod of all the songs he and annabel talked about.........peak romance tbh
also i don't understand how in the aftermath of that party, sophie and emily ended up being friends? sophie didn't even like emily when annabel brought her around
and annabel thinking at the end of the book how she wishes she could fix things with sophie or whatever like i'm sorry, i know they were best friends and that's a difficult loss, but she has to realize she's better off, especially now, when she has actually good people in her corner. everything we were told about their friendship even before will assaulting annabel, sophie was just mean! she was not a good friend! like it's just not worth it
What I thought would be an easy fluff book to finish off my year ended up being a very interesting book about sisters, eating disorders and sexual assault. There was lots of character development, retribution, and closure. I’m so glad I read this book. Dessen never disappoints.
The references between all of Sarah Dessen's books are a huge plus in my mind: this one includes Remy, Truth Squad, Boo Connell, Macy and Wes at World of Waffles, and more I'm sure. It's so cute :)
Young adult book that covers some sensitive topics. Contains mature content. Loved the character of Owen!
I read this book about about two-three times, and it gets me every single time. It's amazing and so captivating. The storyline draws you in and it continuously want to know what's going to happen next to Annabel and where her story is going to go. You find out a lot of things about her and you kind of dig deep into the past and you end up finding where she really is in her life and how everything had happened. I think it also kind of teaches you lessons along the way. You really do learn from this book and it does teach to just not think or judge, but to just listen.
Just Listen is indeed a beautifully written romance novel. But it was more than just hearts and flowers. there was depth in the story. I loved the plot. I'm glad I took my time reading it (even though it was examination week), instead of rushing to finish.
Annabel Greene's character was quite complex. I didn't expect her to have such an avoidant personality. She was the kind of girl everyone wanted to be but she was unhappy because she put her feelings behind everyone else's and she wasn't assertive. She ran away from confrontation and willingly swallowed her emotions for fear of hurting others. She kept everything to herself; she lost her friend Clarke that way after falling prey to Sophie's influence. Then the falling out happened and Annabel found herself shunned by her so-called friend Sophie and the rest of the student body.
But here comes not-so-bad-boy, Owen Armstrong who is a firm believer of honesty and not to mention a music connoisseur. Slowly their relationship blossomed and I'm driven into gleeful fits of laughter at their sweet moments. But Annabel still had problems lurking in her past. She lost all her "friends" after the almost-rape of her ex-best friend's boyfriend, Will Cash; she had a rocky relationship with her two older sisters; and she couldn't tell her parents the truth about her pent up feelings. All those emotions caught up with her and she ended up shutting herself out from Owen. By that time I got a little aggitated while I read on.
But in the tradition of happily-ever afters, Annabel overcame her fears and spoke out. She told Owen and her family everything. Will was sentenced to 6 years in jail for second-degree rape; Sophie lost her school cred; the Greene family became closer; and Owen & Annabel continued their romance. Now, that's a good story. Yeah, sure some people would find it all a bit corny and predictable. But the best thing about books is that it paints a picture of breathtaking triumph even in the most hopeless of times. Stories give us something to hope for; a light at the end of the tunnel that tells us how happiness is always within reach.
Annabel Greene's character was quite complex. I didn't expect her to have such an avoidant personality. She was the kind of girl everyone wanted to be but she was unhappy because she put her feelings behind everyone else's and she wasn't assertive. She ran away from confrontation and willingly swallowed her emotions for fear of hurting others. She kept everything to herself; she lost her friend Clarke that way after falling prey to Sophie's influence. Then the falling out happened and Annabel found herself shunned by her so-called friend Sophie and the rest of the student body.
But here comes not-so-bad-boy, Owen Armstrong who is a firm believer of honesty and not to mention a music connoisseur. Slowly their relationship blossomed and I'm driven into gleeful fits of laughter at their sweet moments. But Annabel still had problems lurking in her past. She lost all her "friends" after the almost-rape of her ex-best friend's boyfriend, Will Cash; she had a rocky relationship with her two older sisters; and she couldn't tell her parents the truth about her pent up feelings. All those emotions caught up with her and she ended up shutting herself out from Owen. By that time I got a little aggitated while I read on.
But in the tradition of happily-ever afters, Annabel overcame her fears and spoke out. She told Owen and her family everything. Will was sentenced to 6 years in jail for second-degree rape; Sophie lost her school cred; the Greene family became closer; and Owen & Annabel continued their romance. Now, that's a good story. Yeah, sure some people would find it all a bit corny and predictable. But the best thing about books is that it paints a picture of breathtaking triumph even in the most hopeless of times. Stories give us something to hope for; a light at the end of the tunnel that tells us how happiness is always within reach.
medium-paced