Penguin is hosting a 12-week social media campaign for all things Sarah Dessen! With her new novel Saint Anything finally out, she is the queen of modern contemporary and the weaver of love stories and romances. I've found myself loving her cute and unique writing style as she writes from the lives and perspectives of teenagers so it's totally relatable! I'm so glad to be apart of the campaign and introducing all of you guys to the infamous author, Sarah Dessen.
Title: Someone Like You
Author: Sarah Dessen, duh
Pages: 281 pages
Published: June 2012
Genre: YA Contemporary
Source: Copy from Penguin
Rating:
The world is a terrible place not to have a best friend.Scarlett was always the strong one.Halley was always content to follow in her wake.Then Scarlett's boyfriend died, and Scarlett learned that she was pregnant.Not Halley has to find the strength to take the lead and help Scarlett get through it.Because true friendship is a promise you keep forever.
Get it now!
**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**
Summer should be a season fun of light and fluffy contemporaries so it wasn't to anyone's surprise that I was ecstatic when I received another Sarah Dessen book since I'd only read two before this one. It's funny because contemporaries and romance books are not the kind I usually go to if I want to just read. I prayed to the book gods that this book would change my perspective on Sarah Dessen books and the contemporary genre altogether. I'm not disappointed to say that it has tremendously!
It's obvious that you won't be getting the same action and romance as a fantasy novel in a contemporary novel but one thing was definitely the same: the angst and suspense! This book follows our main character Halley who is sort of the shy one and the follower in the presence of her best friend Scarlett. But everything changes when Scarlett's boyfriend dies and Halley becomes the one that has to pick Scarlett up and put her back together again. It's a great character dynamic: the leader becomes the follower and vise versa. I loved the switching of roles and it was a fun thing to read about.
This book is excellent in giving you the best of both worlds, or aka both the tragedies and the comedies. There are some super serious parts talked about in this book but then there are the lighthearted comments and jokes between the characters that give this book its name in the contemporary genre.
I know it's not commonplace for contemporary books to have shocking plot twists, but this one did!! And when I read it... ohh when I read it... I was like "oh crap, what is she gonna do now?" I was blown away by this book! My first Sarah Dessen novel, The Truth About Forever, didn't impress me very much but I feel like her writing really grows on you as you keep reading. I'm a Sarah Dessen now!
As an experienced reader with this author, I would say that Sarah Dessen's books are more mature and not the average light and fluffy contemporary. Each book and story packs a punch that follows a bigger moral and lesson that is told through the eyes of book characters. You should know that before you start reading.
Did anyone else hate the main character in this book? She never learned from her mistakes and she barely listened to her mother when she told her to stay away from a guy that could possibly lead her down a dangerous road. Well, what can I say? She's a rebellious teenager, just like me! So I kind of related to that part and wow, Dessen's characters are realistic and relatable. So relatable, in fact, now I know how other people view me!
She disobeys her mom and sneaks out of the house in the middle of the night. Like, c'mon girl. These rules weren't made for breaking. And haven't you learned that moms are ALWAYS right! I love you mommy, if you're reading this post. She also doesn't understand or notice when a guy is just with her to have sex with her. I guess she was just too blinded by the fact that this popular and handsome boy really liked her. And boy, was he a real douche.
The best friend Scarlett was like the Wise Owl. Even though, yes, she had sex with her boyfriend without protection and ended up getting pregnant with his baby shortly after he died, Scarlett was a sole person in Halley's life and told her to stop seeing Macon because he was kind of being a bad influence on her. She's definitely the friend I wish I had. So yes, there was a great wheel of characters.
Sarah Dessen is well-known for her romance, and I'm glad to say that I had no qualms with the romantic dynamics of this book. The romantic relationship in this book was a little weird. The guy took advantage of the girl and that was so interesting!! The main character in this book falls into a deep and passionate relationship and doesn't realize that he's those kinds of guys who only want something from her. I did not see that coming at all in the beginning and would have never expected a plot twist from a Sarah Dessen book. Overall, my favorite part about this novel was the romance and you can tell, it was a highlighted factor.
As an experienced reader with this author, I would say that Sarah Dessen's books are more mature and not the average light and fluffy contemporary. Each book and story packs a punch that follows a bigger moral and lesson that is told through the eyes of book characters. You should know that before you start reading.
She disobeys her mom and sneaks out of the house in the middle of the night. Like, c'mon girl. These rules weren't made for breaking. And haven't you learned that moms are ALWAYS right! I love you mommy, if you're reading this post. She also doesn't understand or notice when a guy is just with her to have sex with her. I guess she was just too blinded by the fact that this popular and handsome boy really liked her. And boy, was he a real douche.
The best friend Scarlett was like the Wise Owl. Even though, yes, she had sex with her boyfriend without protection and ended up getting pregnant with his baby shortly after he died, Scarlett was a sole person in Halley's life and told her to stop seeing Macon because he was kind of being a bad influence on her. She's definitely the friend I wish I had. So yes, there was a great wheel of characters.
Have you read this book yet? Have you read any other Sarah Dessen books?
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