REVIEW: Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

Sydney grew up in the shadow of her charismatic and fearless brother Peyton, but when the prodigal older son's streak of reckless and illegal behavior escalates and changes not only the whole Stanford family but throws an innocent for a loop as well. Sydney's mom treats it like the PTO, like it can all be fixed by cookie sales and dinners with the parents of other inmates-- yes, inmates. And Sydney's father is also  busy with his own life and his own messy relationship with his son. If Sydney felt invisible before, that was nothing compared to now. But after she switched schools, she met the open and warm Cathams- a new best friend Layla and her gorgeous and funny older brother Mac. Yes, Peyton changed everything, but Sydney is determined to change it for the better.

In classic Sarah Dessen fashion, this book weaves together themes with unmatched skill. Family, a classic Dessen theme, plays an integral part in this novel. She also explores self-discovery, as Sydney speaks for herself and grows up before the reader's eyes. The family dynamics set the storyline perfectly, and are realistic and believable. The dynamic between the Mrs. Standford and Sydney is tense, and develops appropriately through out the book.

The relationship I found most interesting was the relationship between the Standfords (and, more specifically, Sydney) and Ames, Peyton's old best friend, who became Mrs. Standford's replacement for Peyton. The relationship represents Mrs. Standford's immaturity when dealing with this situation, and the strained relationship- if you can call it that- set me on edge the way it was supposed to. The craftsmanship Dessen showed while executing this particular part of the story is impressive, and shows maturation in her work.

The voice and writing style is unique to this book, in the same way that the voice of The Moon and More marked a departure from the general tone of her books- which is not to say that they were all the same or bad. This just marks a new era of her work. Sydney writes with a voice mature and eloquent, and simple, but it is entirely appropriate for her age. In fact, Dessen is one of few YA authors who can capture the voice and mannerisms of young adults without making them sound immature. The biggest reason I put down YA books is that the voice of the narrator is too immature; for example, Geek Girl by Holly Smale. That book didn't require the same thought and careful consideration as this Saint Anything. Not to say it wasn't a good book; just obviously more suitable for a younger demographic.

The reason this book is likely to be a favorite of mine (it's too soon to say) is because it is so well written. I'm hard pressed to find a fault in this book; someone on Shelfari or Goodreads said this wasn't a stand-out in Dessen's catalogue, but I disagree. Sure, this isn't the most exciting book; it's not crazy eventful, and there is far more narrative than dialogue. That being said, as someone frequently guilty of skipping text that seems arbitrary or superfluous, I read every word of this book.

In short: buy this book literally now. Or hit up your local library.

Rating 5/5

Would I Recommend: YES YES YES

To: Sarah Dessen fans, high schoolers, well literally anyone

If You Liked...
Any Sarah Dessen book
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

My Playlist for this Book:

Running Out Of Time by Motion City Soundtrack

Practice Makes Perfect by Cute is What We Aim For

Brave by Sara Barielles

I'm Only Me When I'm With You by Taylor Swift

Links:
Buy it on Amazon here, Barnes and Noble here, Powell's here, or be a boss and Buy Independent!!!
See it on Goodreads here or on Shelfari here.
Read an article on the book from Entertainment Weekly here, and see the author's blog here.
She's going on tour for this book! See the tour information here.

Peace out girl scouts

R

xoxo

Book Haul: Independent Book Store Day, Amazon, and the Library

Hey there hey there :)

Let's jump right in, shall we?

Independent Book Store Day

A little while ago, on a fine may day, the nation celebrated Independent Book Store Day. So my sister and I trooped off to a local chain limited to our area. Here are the books I got:

Love and Other Theories by Alexis Bass
The one rule to not getting your heart broken in high school: don't fall in love.
A theory I don't subscribe to and probably should, this book follows the popular and beautiful Aubrey as she's put to the test when (you guessed it) a super hot and super different boy comes to the school. It sounds like a cliche, but here's hoping that it'll prove me wrong!

Life by Committee by Corey Ann Haydu
All's fair in love and war, right? At least, that's what Tabitha is telling herself to rationalize the fact that she is totally falling for someone else's boyfriend-- and not just from afar. Oh no, there are late night instant messages that drag on way past the sun's gone down, and some intimate moments that are usually just for between two involved individuals (and no, that's not a spoiler- it's on the back cover!). Then Life by Committee, a website dedicated to freeing us from our reservations and taking the chances we wish we would, falls right into her lap right when she needs it the most- or the least? I already read this one- review coming soon!

Amazon

Totally only ordered this because she's the bomb and it just came out... so it was shipped to me on the day it came out and I'm so glad because if I had had to wait another day I would have gone insane :)

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
Sydney's life turned upside down and inside out and she it seemed like she was the only one who really understood what was going on. Her mom definitely didn't get that Peyton, her only son, wasn't "away"; he was in prison. And prison couldn't be handled like all his school conflicts, no matter how hard she tried to treat it like PTO. The replacement son creeped Sydney out, and everyone treated her differently, so she changed schools. Follow her as her life changes :)
I've read this one already too (finished it the day I got it #shameless)
I actually also single-handedly convinced my local library to order it :) The amazing pull us long-time volunteers have!

The Library

Speaking of the library, I picked up three books when I was there the other day-- two off the display I was organizing for the middle schoolers because I am, as already stated, #shameless, and another because it had the word "band" in the title and because I live and breathe and dream marching band, I couldn't resist. I guess one good thing came out of me losing my favorite book- I found this one while trying to check it out of the library! Let's hope it makes up for it.

Geek Girl by Holly Smale

Harriet Grammars (yes, the name is perfect for her) had one friend and one stalker and absolutely no interest fashion- that was Nat's (the aforementioned lone friend) thing. But then suddenly Harriet- awkward, geeky, target-prone Harriet- is living Nat's dream. But can she pull this off, and more importantly, will she lose her friends, or family, or herself in the process?
*read my review of this book HERE! :)

Famous Last Words by Katie Alender

Another book I found when I was organizing the shelves for the middle school display, and I'm super excited to read this one. Because a thriller set in Hollywood- what could be better? I'm saving this one for Monday, when the pool opens. Not because it's a quote-unquote "beach read"(which aren't actually a thing, to be clear) but because the premise (and yes, the cover) just scream "pool!" and "summer!" to me :)
(Yeah, that's not a description... so click here to go to the Goodreads page :) )

Notes from an Accidental Band Geek by Erin Dionne

Forced to play an instrument outside of orchestra and- gasp!- stand while playing, Elsie joined marching band to go to an orchestra camp. But it's surprisingly fun (which is true in real life), and she starts to enjoy the music (and the cute boys).
(I'm tired. I don't know much about this book- sorry!)

Other review coming up: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien (I have to read it for English!)

Look for these reviews coming up :)

XoXo

R