Sarah Dessen is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. Yes, the main characters suffer from what Lauren finds to be quite annoying - the inability and/or unwillingness to TALK to the people closest to them, but Dessen writes this out in a much more realistic way. This isn't a teenage girl who doesn't want to talk to her father about her teenage vampire boyfriend or the blood-thirsty monsters that are currently tracking her down - this is a girl who watched her father die and subsequently shut down emotionally and focused on anything that didn't remind her of her dad. Of course you would have trouble talking out those things. So it's not nearly as frustrating - it's "tragical" (which just happens to be one of my new favorite words thanks to this book). You can relate to the main character, Macy, because everyone has lost someone or something in their life and almost everyone has gone through a period of not talking about how that made them feel. It's hard and it's terrible and dealing with it is almost as bad as actually experiencing it.
Dessen let's Macy work through all of her grief in a very normal and realistic way - nothing unbelievable or extraordinary happens. It's summer, Macy's boyfriend leaves and she is stuck at a boring job with people she hates. She happens to find another job with nicer people who don't know about her situation and loves being anonymous and untroubled by what happened. Then they find out and end up being amazing people, supportive and loving.
My favorite of all is Wes (of course this is the guy she falls in love with because there is always a guy to fall in love with in books). He's quiet and sweet and artistic...I'm a sucker for those artistic types. He is the first one to really just let Macy say what she needs to say and the first one Macy will say those things to. He's one of the most perfect male characters I have read...flawed but better for it, attractive but unaware, kind and caring but protective and not overbearing.
I was surprised at how much I liked "Just Listen" and happy to find that I liked "The Truth about Forever" even more. I will definitely be reading the rest of her books in the near future.
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Yay Lindsey I felt the same way! I loved Just Listen but then I read The Truth About Forever and liked it even more. They're both so good. Mike even read The Truth About Forever and I think he claims it as one of his favorite books right now! I take credit for that one. :) But I have been wanting to read some of her other stuff so let me know if you get to it before I do.
I finished this book in 8 hours yesterday! It was great. One of the few YA books lately that didn't make me want to strangle the main character because she was being stupid. You could really see where she was coming from and how her inner struggles came to be. I just wish I could add it to my bookshelves and not have to return it to the library.
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