This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen, published by Penguin Group.
I can't pass up a Sarah Dessen book now that I've been introduced to her! This one was no different. I happened to have some motivation to hit up the library one day. I sat there for literally an hour and read the first two chapters of this book. I liked it so much that I went out and bought it the next day. There's just something so enchanting about her books that makes you want to read them in one sitting but at the same time want them to last forever. That's exactly how I felt when I read Audrey, Wait! Remy, the main character, is a recent high school graduate who is in control, organized, and thinks she knows what she wants in life. She doesn't believe in love lasting forever and she is constantly finding flaws in her endless stream of boyfriends. Her recent ex is Jonathon who she dumps in the beginning of the novel. She plans to have fun during her last summer before college and wants to spend it with Lissa, Jess, and Chloe, her three best friends. They remind me of the three best friends from Before I Fall. Just like Oliver's characters, Dessen gives personalities, histories, and dreams to all of her characters, no matter how minor.
Remy's mother is constantly falling in and out of love. She's been married several times and this novel features her latest marriage to Don, a car salesman. And if there isn't enough focus on love in Remy's life ... her brother Chris is also in love with his girlfriend, Jenny, Lissa with Adam, and even Jess becomes infatuated with a few boys. It's up to Remy and Chloe to remain cynical about the four-letter-word. However, Dexter has the power to change everything. He's a musician, like Remy's father who abandoned her when she was young but left her with a hit song to remember him by, and he's quirky, clumsy, blunt, and in love with her. She allows him a chance, despite his many flaws, but she still doesn't know if she can allow herself to be vulnerable enough to really let him in.
Sarah Dessen always develops her characters really well. They have flaws, they have promise, they have lovable traits, but they also have a past. That is the most intriguing part about Remy. She has this past of upsets that her mother caused. She has this really interesting backstory of watching her mother's failed marriages and her mother wrapped up in her latest novel (her mom is a romance novelist) and a bad reputation for allowing boys to go all the way, drinking, and smoking too much. I felt like there was this whole other story about Remy that I was missing. It's like you're really good friends with a person, you know everything about her, and then she disappears for two years. When that friend comes back things are just like old times, except no matter how much she fills you in on those two years you're still going to be out of the loop. You weren't there to experience it with her. Just like with Remy when she explains her bad side: "Her hair was flat, her face a little sweaty. She looked drunk, but I would have known her anywhere. It was everybody else who always liked to think she was gone for good" (pg 101). This made me wonder if something especially bad had happened to her. Was she taken advantage of in the past? Had she let someone in before only for him to break her heart? I felt like there was a strong backstory that just lingered around waiting to be explained. "How did I know this would be any different? The story could have been the same, easily; me drunk, in a deserted place. Someone there, reaching out for me. It had happened before. Who could blame me for my cold, hard heart?" (pg 108). Only that's the extent that Dessen shares with us.
The other really amazing thing about these characters is that they all influenced each other. Every character had a part in creating the way the rest of the characters turned out. Remy's mother clearly affected her perspective on love, but Remy (maybe inadvertently) also affected the way Chloe dealt with boys; "Because if I wasn't cold, hard Remy, then she couldn't be the Chloe she was, either." If Remy can fall in love with Dexter and throw all of her rules about boys out the window, then Chloe has the chance to fall in love also. I think that scares Chloe just as much as it scares Remy. I also think that one of the main influences on Remy's new view of love (besides Dexter) is her brother Chris. He's seen the worst of what it can do for someone, just like her, yet he focuses on seeing the best it can do.
So, in case you can't tell, I was in awe of Dessen's talent when I read this. I must have highlighted something every five pages. It was definitely worth the 8.99 for paperback.
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