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lucy_literary 's review for:
Once and for All
by Sarah Dessen
this probably isn’t the worst romance i’ve ever read, but it’s certainly far from being the best. unlike some of the other reviewers, i’d never read any of sarah dessen’s books, so i didn’t come into this with expectations based on what i’d read before. however, i have a few concerns here.
1. why the hell did ethan have to die in a school shooting?? it’s too much of a real-life fear for high schoolers, parents, and teachers. if he absolutely had to die for the story to work, why couldn’t it have happened in any other way? car crash, cancer, falling off a cliff while hiking….. honestly anything else would have been better.
2. if dessen really wanted to kill off louna’s first love, why wasn’t the book about her overcoming her grief? we barely saw that—she changes the radio station away from a news report about another school shooting (i would too! it’s awful!!!) and won’t wear or get rid of what she was wearing the night she met ethan. other than that, she’s just your typical seventeen year old cynic who doesn’t believe in love.
3. enemies-to-lovers tropes absolutely have to involve some level of redemption and character development. we never really see that with ambrose. sure, he’s a sweetie when he needs to be, and he’s clearly infatuated with louna. but he never really moves past the cocky, reckless womanizer we met in the beginning of the story.
4. what, exactly, is the message here supposed to be? it’s cool to stop hanging out with your bestie-since-birth once you both have boyfriends? everyone who’s cynical about love just hasn’t met the right guy? if you’re still grieving your first love’s murder nine months later, you’re not any fun and need to get out more?
i only read this because i’m taking a ya literature class and i’m required to read a romance and something by sarah dessen. i can absolutely say that this will not be in my future classroom for students to read, and i wouldn’t recommend it to young, impressionable teenage readers. is it well written? sure. i mean, i’ve read worse books. but this isn’t a good romance.
1. why the hell did ethan have to die in a school shooting?? it’s too much of a real-life fear for high schoolers, parents, and teachers. if he absolutely had to die for the story to work, why couldn’t it have happened in any other way? car crash, cancer, falling off a cliff while hiking….. honestly anything else would have been better.
2. if dessen really wanted to kill off louna’s first love, why wasn’t the book about her overcoming her grief? we barely saw that—she changes the radio station away from a news report about another school shooting (i would too! it’s awful!!!) and won’t wear or get rid of what she was wearing the night she met ethan. other than that, she’s just your typical seventeen year old cynic who doesn’t believe in love.
3. enemies-to-lovers tropes absolutely have to involve some level of redemption and character development. we never really see that with ambrose. sure, he’s a sweetie when he needs to be, and he’s clearly infatuated with louna. but he never really moves past the cocky, reckless womanizer we met in the beginning of the story.
4. what, exactly, is the message here supposed to be? it’s cool to stop hanging out with your bestie-since-birth once you both have boyfriends? everyone who’s cynical about love just hasn’t met the right guy? if you’re still grieving your first love’s murder nine months later, you’re not any fun and need to get out more?
i only read this because i’m taking a ya literature class and i’m required to read a romance and something by sarah dessen. i can absolutely say that this will not be in my future classroom for students to read, and i wouldn’t recommend it to young, impressionable teenage readers. is it well written? sure. i mean, i’ve read worse books. but this isn’t a good romance.