Confession: even though Dessen's novels are generally cheesy and melodramatic, I could not resist picking up Lock and Key. The blurb made it sound good; unfortunately, it is not.This is the story of 17-year-old Ruby Cooper. Her mother recently abandoned her, and she's been living in squalor for the past few months. When social services is alerted to her situation, Ruby is removed from the house and taken to her older sister's home. Cora, who is ten years older than Ruby, hasn't seen Ruby since t...

I really enjoyed following Ruby and seeing her life change & grow in this book! I do wish there was a little more romance and that the book moved faster but other than that, an enjoyable read.

I am about to trash this book in the most spoilerific way possible so if you feel as though reading my review is not worth spoiling this book for you... TURN BACK NOW!YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! SERIOUSLY THERE IS NO RETURN BEYOND THIS POINT! ...Alright, everyone gone? *cracks knuckles*I LOATHED this book. Holy fucking shit. I really don't feel like I can properly explain my criticisms without going into detail... so here we go!Our story begins with the arrival of Ruby (a.k.a. redhead, pale skin, ...

4.5 stars

Another hit for Dessen! This one was darker like Dreamland and I really love that about it. It felt like I was there, a fly on the wall. I appreciated the MCs and the supporting characters in this one.

This book was so beautiful, it taught me so much and I felt so good after reading this book. The thing about Sarah Dessen's books are that it isn't always about the romance. There is a more important story taking place and on of the side stories is the romance. If the book only focused on romance, it wouldn't have been as impressive as this actually was. “We can't expect everybody to be there for us, all at once. So it's a lucky thing that really, all you need is someone. ” A few months be...

4.5 stars. My favourite Sarah Dessen book so far! Before I read this book I was unsure about whether I would like it or not. The plot didn't sound very good or appealing but honestly this book was so so good. I loved it. The best things about this book were the characters and the way the characters interacted with each other. There are so many different relationship dynamics in this book and I loved every single relationship. I liked all of the characters but I absolutely adored Jamie. He was su...

so the Sarah Dessen Reread Extravaganza continued and this particular installment may not have gone super well but you know what? you simply cannot win them all.this was just veryyyyy dramatic to me and the characters were boring and floated in and out of existence and there were just So Many Quasi Profound themes and ahhh!! also it was very long.the progression of time also could NOT HAVE BEEN MESSIER IT WAS DRIVING ME UP A WALL. hard to create a neat linear timeline, I guess, when you have to ...

"What is family? They were the people who claimed you. In good, in bad, in parts or in whole, they were the ones who showed up, who stayed there, regardless." Seventeen-year old Ruby has been living on her own for the past two months since her mother left. She has no idea where her mother went, and hasn't heard from her since. Ruby has been getting by, just barely but this is about to change when the landlords of the tiny house they've been renting, discover she's alone. They alert the author...

This was my second book by Sarah Dessen and it didn't disappoint. In this story we meet:~Ruby who is trying to find, and come to terms with a new life away from her 'loving' but negligent mother. Only having ever been told one side of the story by a woman embittered by her feelings for Rubys father, Rubys view on life and living has been tainted. Nate, (Rubys next door neighbour) who's a great guy who seems to have it all but does he? Ruby soon finds out things she doesn't want to know and whils...

That was a shock. Definitely nowhere near as good as I expected it to be. I mean, maybe Just Listen heightened my expectations, but hey, this was not even comparable to her earlier books. *sigh* Where to begin... -Ruby gets absolutely no resolution, IMO. It's great that she and Cora get along, but what about the potential Dad search? And her mother's not any better. What happens to the yellow house? -The key. You don't do that. That's not how you tie loose ends up. She needed to have kept that k...