Author: Sarah Dessen
Genre: Young Adult, Fiction
Pub Date: May 1998, Speak
Paperback, 281 pages
Book Source: Purchased online from Books-a-Million
Synopsis
"Life is an ugly, awful place not to have a best friend."
Halley and Scarlett have been best friends ever since they met. Halley has always been the quiet one; Scarlett braver and more outgoing. Halley has always turned to Scarlett when things get rough, and Scarlett has always known just what to do. It's the perfect setup. But everything changes at the beginning of their junior year. Scarlett's boyfriend is killed in a motorcycle accident; then she finds out that she is carrying his baby. For the first time ever, Scarlett really needs Halley. Now Halley has to learn how to be strong for Scarlett. It won't be easy, but Halley knows that she can't let Scarlett down. Because a true friend is a promise you keep forever.
My Thoughts
I enjoy that Sarah Dessen's books are always an easy read, and provide a nice break from the books I generally read. I believe this is about the 6th of Dessen's books that I have read, and I have to admit they do all start to sound the same after awhile. Girl has a best friend, one of the two of them finds a boyfriend and has a new facet to their life... Girl meets boy, boy ends up not being the right kind of guy for her (not always the case, but often)... Girl's relationship with boy causes her to do things she normally wouldn't and she grows apart from her mother/family...
Don't get me wrong, it's a formula that almost always has me reading her books in one sitting, but after awhile I do feel like I'm reading similar stories over and over. Dessen's writing and depiction of the events in Someone Like You don't fail to please, and it is another great potentially relate-able piece of fiction for teenage girls. I have to admit that I generally can't relate to most of Dessen's stories, but I still find them interesting, perhaps because they are so different from the life I experienced growing up.
If you like Dessen's other books, I would think you would enjoy Someone Like You, as well. It's a quick read and perfect for a lazy Summer day or night.
My Rating:
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Posts
This one and This Lullaby are my least favorite of all the Dessen books I've read so far. But, I do really like her stories, even if they are a little formulaic. http://libraryqueue.blogspot.com/2008/09/someone-like-you.html
ReplyDeleteI too like Dessen for writing about the teenage life I didn't have. I enjoy reading the story, watching the girl find perfect guy thing unfold, and then I compare it to my own experience and just shrug my shoulders. It is what it is, and these books continue to be compulsively readable. Nice review!
ReplyDeleteI've never read any Dessen books, but I just ordered a couple of them the other day. I read these kinds of books to get a nice break from what I normally read, too ;)
ReplyDeleteThis was my first Dessen and I loved it!
ReplyDeleteI see Dessen everywhere. I must read some of these books...
ReplyDelete