Saturday, August 13, 2011

Review - Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Title and Author: Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Publication Date: April 6th, 2006
Paperback/Hardcover: 384
Genre: Young Adult


Summary:
Last year, Annabel was "the girl who has everything"—at least that's the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf's Department Store.This year, she's the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling. With Owen's help,maybe Annabel can face what happened
the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.

Review:
I’ve read Just Listen a while back, and like every other book by Sarah Dessen I’ve read so far. I really liked it.
Annabel is a teenager trying to deal with several different issues. She tries to pretend everything is okay but it becomes increasingly hard to pretend her family is falling apart and that her best friend no longer speaks to her.
Annabel tries to pretend her life is perfect but she quickly realizes nothing is perfect, especially when she befriends Owen, who forces her to see things in a different way
In this book Sarah Dessen writes in a mixture of flashbacks and present situations, revealing more and more about Annabel’s story as time goes by.
I think it’s easy to relate to Annabel. Even though some people seem to think she was weak but I think she was simply confused. She kept too many things to herself. When she meets Owens he starts to change. He forces her to start being honest with others, and most of all, with herself. Her carefully constructed façade of everything is fine starts to crumble then.
Owen is a good character as well. Sarah Dessen definitely knows how to make her male characters extremely likeable and all around amazing. I loved the fact Owen is extremely honest and that music meant so much to him. Owen looks like your average bad boy but he’s much, much more than that.
I enjoyed the relationship between Annabel and Owen and now it developed. They are two very different people but they somehow fit well together.
All in all I really enjoyed this book. It deals with issues some teenagers, and adults, as well, have to face like the importance of family, friendship and of being yourself. I loved the fact music played such an important part in the book as well.
This book is extremely well written and the dialogue between the characters is great.. It a fast read I think any YA fan will be able to enjoy.

Rating: Worth Your Time (4 Stars)


7 comments:

  1. This is my favorite Sarah Dessen book. Didn't ya just love Owen?

    Andrea @ Reading Lark

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  2. This was my first Sarah Dessen book. I'll always remember it for that. Loved it!

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  3. I think Sarah Dessen is the Queen of contemp YA! She writes characters just about any girl can relate to, all the while touching on some sensitive issues for teens. Good review!

    Jen

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  4. Sarah Dessen is such a great author. I think the best thing about her is her characters. They are real people going through real issues teenagers face everyday. They just seem to jump off the page and into your life effortlessly.

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  5. I have never read anything by Sarah Dessen, but this books seems good, especially the characters.

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  6. I haven't read any book of Sarah Dessen. Usually I don't read books like these stories but Just Listen sounds great. The characters seem very interesting.

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  7. I do enjoy reading Sarah Dessen but only really when I'm in the mood. Her books all have the same kind of feel to them and are great for a nice, quick read but I don't find her work to be outstanding.

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