Just Listen by Sarah Dessen, published by The Penguin Group.
Okay, I put Sarah Dessen on my new favorite authors list. This novel was also exceptionally well-written. I didn't like it as much as TTAF (The Truth About Forever) but it was still captivating, charming, and full of deep dark truths. Bad things do happen to everyone, and that means they can happen while you're still too young to know what to do about them. You can either choose to bottle them up and pretend they don't exist, or confront them head on by fronting a brave face through a long struggle. In this novel Annabel Greene had a horrible trauma happen to her and it'll take the reader halfway through the novel to discover just what it is that Annabel is hiding. (I guessed it pretty early on, so you might too.)
What I appreciated was that Dessen allowed the reader a chance to see what had happened through Annabel's eyes before Annabel herself even thought about bringing it to the surface. It was like a small step of courage for her to relive it and I appreciated that she could share it with us first before the other characters in the novel.
This novel seems to speak about relationships more than anything else. (If you think the book is purely about the music then maybe you should go back and re-read it). There's the faulty relationship between Annabel and her mother. Her mother still looking at Annabel as a young girl with a modeling dream and refuses to see that she is all grown up and dreaming on her own. Annabel's relationships with her sisters are just as troubling. She has two older sisters who are polar opposites. While there is a huge focus of the family on Whitney's problem: an eating disorder, and Kirsten's exciting new discovery: she wants to go back to school, Annabel feels left in the dust. She is ostracized at school since her friendship with Sophie, the most popular girl in their grade, ended bitterly over the summer. Her loneliness and isolation allows her to befriend Owen, a major music enthusiast who is just as isolated from the high school world as Annabel.
Owen and Annabel seem an unlikely pair from the beginning but they form an honest friendship revolving around finding your identity. Owen believes it can be found through honest communication and the world of music, whereas Annabel was used to putting on a face that everyone wanted to see and saying the words everyone wanted to hear. Through a trusting and at times, uncomfortable friendship with Owen, Annabel learns who she really is and how much she can handle after all. She surprises herself and readers in this gripping tale about a young woman's journey to figure out her place in the world.
On a side note, the music that is featured in this novel does not sound like anything I would ever listen to. I loved Owen as a character but as an enlightened listener, no thank you. However, the title did work perfectly; Just Listen could refer to just listening to what your memories are telling you, just listen to your family and friends when they have a problem, or just listen to the music, that's what it was intended for. Don't judge, just listen. Give it a chance. It could blow your mind.
Favorite Quote: "I was beginning to see, though, that the unknown wasn't always the greatest thing to fear. The people who know you best can be riskier, because the words they say and the things they think have the potential to be not only scary but true, as well," (pg. 67).
P.S. I just realized what I really like about the two novels by Sarah Dessen I have read so far is that the young girl may be struggling and she may meet a young, cute, insightful guy, but that guy doesn't rescue her. You may think you like novels where the guy comes and rescues the girl and they live happily ever after. It's not the truth. It's not reality. It'd be nice if life worked that way, but alas, it doesn't. What happens in these novels is more realistic: the guy comes along and offers witty, charming insight and the girl starts to think and she comes to terms on her own. She learns with his help and she makes life changes and discoveries and falls in love, but it's due to her own strength and determination. Very feminist. Which of course means I love it. And I love insightful hot male leads.
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