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csnow33 's review for:
Just Listen
by Sarah Dessen
WARNING: THIS IS NOT A BEACH READ! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO NOT TAKE THIS BOOK TO THE BEACH!
I made the mistake of thinking this was a beach read, and my trip was subsequently ruined because of the depressing subject matter. The synopsis sounded fluffy and the BOOK IS ALL PINK WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO THINK??
After being disappointed withSomeone Like You I was weary about continuing Sarah Dessen's other works. I heard her writing is formulaic and basically all of the love interests are the same guy with a different name. While I have no burning desire to read more of her books at the moment, I will say that this one in particular was very relatable.
It's heartbreaking to know that not only do each one of these characters exist in real life, but somewhere in the span of my lifetime I've met every single one of them.
I know that one pretentious music obsessed person who thinks they're better than everyone else because they listen to "obscure" things like Mayan chants or five minutes of a faucet dripping; the girl who was abused and nobody ever knew because she was so good at hiding behind "placeholder" words; the angry obsessed girlfriend who manipulates and slanders her way to the top of the popularity pyramid; the frightening anorexic scare from someone close to you. I could pinpoint each and every character to someone I know, and that, in my opinion, is what a good contemporary needs in order to be successful.
Let's be real, a contemporary without stellar characters isn't worth reading. And the one thing that shines brightest in Just Listen is the character development.
One thing that often annoys me in YA novels are the parents of the main character. The parents are always practically guaranteed to be as clueless as a blind sheep, and for a while I feared Annabel's parents were going to fall under that horrid category. However, I'm sad to say that while her parents elicited traits of the stereotypical YA parent, there were too may similarities to actual parents I know that made it impossible for me to write them off like I usually do. I know parents like Annabel's. I grew up with friends whose parents ignored serious family problems by just pretending nothing was wrong, sometimes to the point where it started to drive each family member literally insane.
While not as powerful as Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Dessen addresses important topics that many teens deal with including bullying, parental pressure, sexual harassment, and rape.
Overall this was a quick read, and I would recommend it to lovers of contemporary. BUT FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, DON'T TAKE IT TO THE BEACH!
I made the mistake of thinking this was a beach read, and my trip was subsequently ruined because of the depressing subject matter. The synopsis sounded fluffy and the BOOK IS ALL PINK WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO THINK??
After being disappointed withSomeone Like You I was weary about continuing Sarah Dessen's other works. I heard her writing is formulaic and basically all of the love interests are the same guy with a different name. While I have no burning desire to read more of her books at the moment, I will say that this one in particular was very relatable.
It's heartbreaking to know that not only do each one of these characters exist in real life, but somewhere in the span of my lifetime I've met every single one of them.
I know that one pretentious music obsessed person who thinks they're better than everyone else because they listen to "obscure" things like Mayan chants or five minutes of a faucet dripping; the girl who was abused and nobody ever knew because she was so good at hiding behind "placeholder" words; the angry obsessed girlfriend who manipulates and slanders her way to the top of the popularity pyramid; the frightening anorexic scare from someone close to you. I could pinpoint each and every character to someone I know, and that, in my opinion, is what a good contemporary needs in order to be successful.
Let's be real, a contemporary without stellar characters isn't worth reading. And the one thing that shines brightest in Just Listen is the character development.
One thing that often annoys me in YA novels are the parents of the main character. The parents are always practically guaranteed to be as clueless as a blind sheep, and for a while I feared Annabel's parents were going to fall under that horrid category. However, I'm sad to say that while her parents elicited traits of the stereotypical YA parent, there were too may similarities to actual parents I know that made it impossible for me to write them off like I usually do. I know parents like Annabel's. I grew up with friends whose parents ignored serious family problems by just pretending nothing was wrong, sometimes to the point where it started to drive each family member literally insane.
While not as powerful as Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Dessen addresses important topics that many teens deal with including bullying, parental pressure, sexual harassment, and rape.
Overall this was a quick read, and I would recommend it to lovers of contemporary. BUT FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, DON'T TAKE IT TO THE BEACH!