Monday, May 30, 2011

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen



Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
Published: April 6, 2006 by Puffin
Received: gifted from Farrah at I Eat Words - thank you!!
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. [goodreads]

I enjoy Sarah Dessen's books because even though they may look light & fluffy on the cover, the story within is always deeper and meaningful.  She has a gift of writing stories about characters with problems that are identifiable, something that we can all relate to.  I think she is one of the best YA authors out there at the moment who can send young teenage girls profound messages in such an easy, calming manner - instead of shoving morals down your throat.

Just Listen is about a girl named Annabel who is the youngest of 3 girls in her family.  From the outside, her home looks picture perfect - literally. She is someone who is considered popular at school & appear to have the "perfect" life.  Over time these picture perfect qualities begin to break & shatter in to a million little pieces.  Annabel's family is now dealing with her sister's anorexia problem.  At school Anabel is shut out from the popular crowd, mainly by the ring leader Sophie (her ex-best friend), because of an incident that was misunderstood placing Anabel at the wrong place, at the wrong time.  Just when Anabel's world is closing in on her, she meets Owen - the bad-boy-turned-good-again who reaches out a hand and asks her if she needs help.  It's through his love of music that he slowly rebuilds Anabel's faith in herself, her friends at school, and even her family.  The power of shutting out the negative and "just listening" to the silence around you.

The beauty of Sarah Dessen's writing really shown through in the family's struggles with anorexia.  She did not create the story around that, but merely introduced it in appropriate places.  The evil that surrounds an eating disorder was present and I felt that Dessen did a good job of showing the ugly side, but also representing the positives on how one can seek help for it.  The characters in this story felt very real to me.  I could see the wrong choices that Anabel had made and wanted so badly to shout them out to her, but just like every other teenager - I knew she had to figure it out for herself.  The relationship between Annabel and Owen was very sweet.  I give praise to Dessen for not throwing an instant romance in to the mix, but more so a slow build to a lasting friendship.

If you have not read anything by Sarah Dessen, I suggest starting with this book.  It's just the right amount of heart-felt laughter mixed in with genuine honesty.  I also enjoyed this book due to it's musicality references :-)  And as Sarah Dessen writes... "Don't think or judge, just listen."

12 comments:

  1. I have to read more by this author - what I have read I have LOVED!

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  2. I read this book just last week and I also thought it was really good. I like the meaningful stories and layers that Sarah Dessen is able to build up. (I also wanted to shout at Annabel too!) :) Great review, Ginger.

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  3. Of the two Dessen books I've read, this is by far my favorite.

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  4. I have only read one Sarah Dessen and I didnt think it was great but this one sounds right up my street, my try her books again with this one! :) thanks

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  5. Wonderful review! I definitely agree, Dessen is skilled at creating realistic characters :)

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  6. I read Someone Like You and Dreamland years ago but I don't remember either of them that well. Once I re-read both of those, I'll make this the next Dessen on my list!

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  7. This was my first Dessen, and you're right - it was the perfect intro read. It was a beautiful balance, and it was so sincere. Fab review, G :)

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  8. Loved this review! I think the title of the book say it all, just listen. I adore Sarah Dessen, her books are great!

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  9. I read this book over a year ago and scenes and chapters still stay with me. Loved it!

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  10. This is one of my absolute favorite Sarah Dessen books. I loved the whole music aspect but what I thought really was amazing was the deeper story behind it all. There were a lot of little parts to it but that one big part was shocking & heartbreaking at the same time.

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  11. I think I'll have to start with this one when I read through Sarah Dessen's books. Reformed bad boys are totally my thing!

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  12. This was my first Sarah Dessen book & I loved loved loved it! It was one of those books that made me want to immediately run out and buy everything else the author ever wrote!

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