Believe it or not, after reading Saint Anything and loving it, I wanted so bad to read all the Sarah Dessen books. Then I decided that this would be the best time to do it since she is the “Queen of Summer Contemps.” But then, Penguin decided they wanted to do the same thing and announce it the day before I had mine scheduled to go up -_____- lol But it’s all good, I still wanted to participate! But after seeing this graphic, I decided to go along with it but read them in a different way! I’m going in the opposite direction of them since I’ve already read and reviewed her latest installment Saint Anything! I’l more than likely review them two at a time!
That Summer by Sarah Dessen
Audio
If I had read (listened to) this back when it was the only thing Dessen had out and I could see the reviews that everyone had written about this book, I’d have thought everyone was crazy. Why on Earth was everyone obsessed with this book? And why would someone deem you the Queen of Summer Romance? Because it was ok as an audio book, but I’m not sure I would have sat down and read this. Regardless of how short it is.
As for Haven, she seemed like the typical teenage girl with a pretty weird family. Her sister Ashley seemed like the normal bride and her mother seemed like the weird mother who wanted to go out and live again after a divorce. The only one she thought she could hold on to was Sumner. And even that was a lie.
I ended up feeling really bad for her. But does that solidify my belief that Dessen is the Queen of Contemporary Romance? No. I definitely need to get my hands on her next book.
Audio
The writing style in this one is way better than That Summer. Also I understand the hype of Sarah Dessen way more now that I know Sarah Dessen’s books are more so just contemps and not just contemporary romances. It was a good story but pretty predictable and because of that it made it a little boring.
One thing I did like was the friendship between Scarlet and Halley. They will more than likely go down as one of my favorite womances ever. If there’s one thing that Dessen can do, it’s write a good friendship. Makes me think of Emery Lord and her books nowadays.
I also like how this book is different from what I’m reading nowadays. I heard it was banned in certain places with the death and the baby. Nowadays if this book was to come up anywhere, it would no doubt be banned or something. It makes one think about how time has evolved since then.
As for Halley, I felt sorry for her. Her parents sucked and her boyfriend ended up not being who she thought he was. She ended up being disappointed a lot in this book. I was just thankful in the end she finally found out who she was.
Have you read anything by Sarah Dessen?
Are you participating in Summer of Sarah Dessen?!
