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A review by writervid
Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
5.0
This was the Dessen book everyone said I should read. I read it in a sitting, so I'll also go off, I guess.
Dessen executed all of the writing techniques flawlessly. The foreshadowing of the reveal at the end was well done; it wasn't so obvious that I was thinking it right off the bat, but I had come to the conclusion .
There wasn't a lot of focus on the setting, but there didn't really need to be. This story is about the characters, and boy does it do that justice. I think this book is a great example of "your character's greatest strength is the greatest flaw." Annabel is sweet and a good listener, but she's complacent in the writing of her own story by the world, and keeps in all of her emotions in a quest to be "nice" and not hurt anyone. Owen is honest and doesn't want to be controlled, but that leads to issues with anger because he always wants to express his emotions.
The relationship between Owen and Annabel felt real and intimate, which, honestly, I prefer to a lot of flirting. My favorite thing about it as that they both had clear cut development from their interactions. And I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I wouldn't have minded them staying friends, even, because that's what they were. In order to have a good love story (at least for me), there needs to be a good friendship story first. That's what made this so perfect.
The other thing I liked about this was that it felt like a split from the same structure and tropes Sarah Dessen uses. This isn't about witty banter, or wedding planning, or the beach, it's about the complacency of women in a desperation to be perceived a certain way. At least, that's how I perceived it. I can't say that I got such a message from other books of hers.
I now get why people were more disappointed after certain other Dessen reads--which may cause me to rethink my ratings of previous her previous novels. Either way, my conclusion has to be:
So. Damn. Good.
Dessen executed all of the writing techniques flawlessly. The foreshadowing of the reveal at the end was well done; it wasn't so obvious that I was thinking it right off the bat, but I had come to the conclusion .
There wasn't a lot of focus on the setting, but there didn't really need to be. This story is about the characters, and boy does it do that justice. I think this book is a great example of "your character's greatest strength is the greatest flaw." Annabel is sweet and a good listener, but she's complacent in the writing of her own story by the world, and keeps in all of her emotions in a quest to be "nice" and not hurt anyone. Owen is honest and doesn't want to be controlled, but that leads to issues with anger because he always wants to express his emotions.
The relationship between Owen and Annabel felt real and intimate, which, honestly, I prefer to a lot of flirting. My favorite thing about it as that they both had clear cut development from their interactions. And I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I wouldn't have minded them staying friends, even, because that's what they were. In order to have a good love story (at least for me), there needs to be a good friendship story first. That's what made this so perfect.
The other thing I liked about this was that it felt like a split from the same structure and tropes Sarah Dessen uses. This isn't about witty banter, or wedding planning, or the beach, it's about the complacency of women in a desperation to be perceived a certain way. At least, that's how I perceived it. I can't say that I got such a message from other books of hers.
I now get why people were more disappointed after certain other Dessen reads--which may cause me to rethink my ratings of previous her previous novels. Either way, my conclusion has to be:
So. Damn. Good.