Reviews - Just Listen | The StoryGraph

1.8k reviews for:

Just Listen

Sarah Dessen

4.0 AVERAGE

libreroaming's review against another edition

3.75

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Strong start but a weaker ending than her usual works.

Content Warnings

jrskelton's review against another edition

5.0

just fabulous- another favorite by her

pkgonzales7's review against another edition

5.0

emotional 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

Uno de mis favoritos y me alegro de leerlo en español también

embierman's review against another edition

5.0

Reread September 2019

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read this book. But it’s been awhile since my last re-read. I randomly decided to pick this up last night for the first time in years... and i couldn’t put it down. I think I had this rated as a 4 star read, but I’m bumping it up to 5 stars. This book has always been my favorite Sarah Dessen book (I’ve read them all, and she was my favorite author for years and years), and one of my all-time favorite books. Rereading it in the past 24 hours really reminded me why.

Like all of Sarah Dessen’s books, this one covers some “difficult” topics. It’s so relatable, though. This one in particular really hits me — which is probably one of the reasons why it’s my favorite.

Things I love:

- Annabel’s family and her relationship with her sisters. I also really love the sisters and their different personalities. I love seeing their growth throughout the book.
- the music aspect
- Owen. Owen and Annabel’s relationship and friendship. Owen’s honesty. His love and obsession with music.
- the hard hitting and relatable topics: sexual assault, eating disorders, depression

tw: eating disorders, sexual assault, depression

fimac's review against another edition

4.0

I enjoyed this book and feel that Sarah Dessen dealt well with sensitive topics.
The characters were believeable and you could see the development in the three sisters as well as the main male character.
I liked the premise of the story and how you got the back story in bits.

I think this is a good novel for teenagers to read and would recommend it to anyone.

tashaboddy's review against another edition

4.0

Just Listen is a really interesting read because actually, although it follows Sarah Dessen's formula, its slightly different from her usual style. Yes, you can guarantee that it follows the story of a teenager/young adult who falls in love/begins a relationship with a guy. Yes at some point they will split and have to work out their differences. Along the way, Sarah Dessen is able to weave a story about family and friends and the main character developing as a person. And Sarah Dessen seems to have a knack with making her stories extremely believable.

What I found interesting about Just Listen is how Sarah Dessen integrated the theme of rape within the narrative. I think it was extremely well done and makes it extremely easy to understand. Through Annabel you can understand the emotions that person is going through and the impact it has on Annabel's life. And I found this part of the plot extremely interesting. What also gripped me was the use of flashbacks to explore Annabel's friendships and I did really enjoy reading Just Listen. Its a very interesting and thought-provoking read.

ariehl's review against another edition

5.0

This was the first Sarah Dessen book I read and I loved it. It began a long pattern of reading and rereading her books. This one remains one of my favorites because the story layers together beautifully and the characters fit together in a way that is so reminiscent of reality. While it tackles some very serious subjects, there is humor and lightness as well, and the contrast is wonderful.