Goodreads Summary: Peyton, Sydney's charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion's share of their parents' attention and—lately—concern. When Peyton's increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction, and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident? Enter the Chathams, a warm, chaotic family who run a pizza parlor, play bluegrass on weekends, and pitch in to care for their mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Here Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance. And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time. I received the sneak peek of this book (the first 3 or 4 chapters) from NetGalley since it hasn't come out yet so I decided to share my review of it. I'll be doing a full review of the book once it does come out so this review will be spoiler free. I absolutely love Sarah Dessen so this was exciting for me to read. Dessen always has a serious issue going on in her stories that always makes them seem less shallow than it would have been without it but is still able to have a thorough plot about romance and not overwhelm the reader with real modern issues and this one is no different. The main's brother is jailed for drunk driving and injuring someone and we see the family slowly falling apart just within the first couple chapters, Dessen gets right to the point without writing unnecessary fluff. One can already tell the main character is relatable just like many of Dessen's characters and I appreciate she has continued putting her girls in high school so high schoolers can connect with them. Sydney (the main) has always been outshone by her older's brother's achievements up until those achievements changed to him being a juvenile delinquent. She's accepted her fate as being the "invisible" (I believe that will be a motif throughout the novel) though cherishes the moments she is given attention by her parents. Though up until the point I read to, she (obviously) didn't have much character development yet so she seems a bit like a Mary Sue archetype at the moment but a touch less of the "I'm lonely and beautiful" since she does have some close friends and is outshone by her brother's looks. Dessen's fans know that she likes to put special Easter eggs from her other books into her latest novel so her fans won't be disappointed by any lack of them since there is a healthy abundance of them within just the first few chapters. I'm really excited to learn the significance of the title, what do you think it means? Small spoiler of Dessen's last book, The Moon and More, ahead.
Dessen's last book was a little different than her previous ones since the main, Emaline, has broken up with her longtime boyfriend, Luke, at the beginning of the novel. One would expect that Emaline would then have her heart healed by Theo, a newbie in town, but she doesn't. Instead, she (rightfully, or so I think) back to Luke. This was so different than all her other stories since her protagonists usually end up with the new guy, this hasn't happened (once again, rightfully so) since Dreamland, which came out in 2000, FIFTEEN years ago. So perhaps Dessen will throw another lovely curveball at us, especially since the title is different than her other books Another thing different, one that I am sure of and don't like, is the cover. This frustration may come from the fact that I like my books to match and Dessen's do up until now. The last few publications of her books have had similar covers that all match each other with their own special symbol on the spine in pastel colors , white backgrounds, and representative pictures on the cover without showing the models' faces. But this one, as you can see, doesn't seem to have those. A comment from a friend called the cover "a mix between a Stephen King novel and and Jodi Picoult cover" since those two authors have distinct signature covers. This cover looks more like an adult book than a Young Adult book (which it is because Sydney is a junior in high school). The cover change could be because she switched to Viking Publishers (but she did that before The Moon and More and that matched the others) or the publisher could be doing this due to the fact that Dessen started publishing novels in 1996 so her first audience that's followed her throughout the years is considerably older now and wouldn't appreciate an obviously YA book cover. Either way, we wait in anticipation for Saint Anything, Dessen's twelth book in twenty years, coming out May 5th!
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