Review: This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen.

Main Characters: Remy, Dexter
Series: None

When it comes to relationships, Remy doesn’t mess around. After all, she’s learned all there is to know from her mother, who’s currently working on husband number five. But there’s something about Dexter that seems to defy all of Remy’s rules. He certainly doesn’t seem like Mr. Right. For some reason, however, Remy just can’t seem to shake him. Could it be that Remy’s starting to understand what those love songs are all about? From acclaimed author Sarah Dessen, this is a captivating novel about a tough-as-nails girl and the unexpectedly charming boy who’s determined to soften her up.

I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while now, ever since I started reading Sarah Dessen books but I haven’t gotten around to popping this sucker open until now. I’ve got to say that it was another winner for me. Not my favorite book by Dessen but a good one nonetheless. Dessen certainly delivered a story with characters that leaped right off the pages.

Remy is a cynical teenager who is spending one last summer at home before attending college across the country. Her mother is a romance novelist who is getting married for the fifth time. Her brother is an ex-pothead who has found love and her friends are all quirky and fantastic in their own way. One day, she’s at her stepfather’s car dealership when a total random guy comes up to her and announces that maybe they’re meant to be together and though she wants to have nothing to do with him…he walks away with a smile on his face and a determined look in his eye.

I instantly loved him.

His name was Dexter and he was a musician. Musicians were a big no-no in Remy’s book because her father was a musician and he wasn’t Remy’s favorite person. He wrote a song for called This Lullaby and she didn’t like the song. It reminded her of her mother’s revolving door on husbands and the song helped shape the person that Remy grew up to be.

Watching Remy’s last summer at home unravel before my eyes was interesting. The thing about Sarah Dessen books are they’re not wild and crazy with plot twists at outrageous settings. They’re everyday story lines featuring everyday Americans. I adore this about her. These books could have very well been someone’s story. Everyone who grew up in the good ol’ US of A will connect and see themselves in one of Dessen’s characters.

Dexter was so good for Remy and everyone was aware of the change in Remy. That change went along way to improving Remy’s attitude and though it came with a lot of fighting it, she came through it all in the end and I was happy for that. Remy was a strong character who looked at things a lot more cynically than anyone and I’m glad that the person who made her that way, fixed her way of thinking and I’m so frickin’ happy with the way that it all ended.

My favorite quotes were these ones:

“You know, when it works, love is pretty amazing. It’s not overrated. There’s a reason for all those songs.”

and…

“I just thought to my self, all of a sudden, that we had something in common. A natural chemistry, if you will. And I had a feeling that something big was going to happen. To both of us. That we were, in fact, meant to be together.”

…and my heart hurt during this quote:

“I meant what I said to you. I wasn’t playing some kind of summer game. Everything I said was true, from the first day. EVERY GODDAMN WORD”

This book was great, Dexter and Remy were great together and they were great a part even though Remy did a great job of getting on my damn nerves from time to time. In the end, it was all good in the hood. I adored all of the characters in this book from Remy’s friends, Chloe, Jess and Lissa to Dexter’s bandmates, Lucas, Ted and John Miller. They all added just that much more to an already great story. Even Remy’s family was the bomb. I liked Chris and Jennifer Anne and I thought Remy’s Mom rocked. It was kind of great to find a mother/daughter combo that didn’t have so much drama between them. Made for a nice change of pace.

If you haven’t already read this book, you should fix that. It’s a great addition to Dessen’s back list and I definitely recommend it.

Buy the book: B&N|Borders|Amazon
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com

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