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February 19, 2016

Review – Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Just Listen

 by Sarah Dessen

Last year, Annabel was “the girl who has everything” — at least that’s the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf’s Department Store.

This year, she’s the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong.

Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling. With Owen’s help, maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.

My Thoughts 

I rarely read contemporary. I average about 5 a year (out of 50) but I’m usually always pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy them.  This also was my very first Sarah Dessen book.

https://twitter.com/thebooktraveler/status/684455284874555392

I picked up Just Listen for $.10 at Salvation Army. It’s funny because I never actually planned to read it, I was going to offer to send it to friends who read contemporary. $.10 for a hardcover book was too cheap to pass up!

A few of my good friends Carrie, Jamie and Lisa were buddy reading it so I shoved my way into their buddy read. #sorrynotsorry

The Book:

I loved Annabel, I felt she was likeable and relatable.

This book also covered many important issues that I was glad to see.

Such as:

  • Rape
  • Eating Disorders
  • Honesty
  • Fear

I actually really related to this book on many levels. I’ve had some personal issues that for a long time I kept hidden from a lot of people because of fear of how it would affect my life. When you’re hiding something you live in fear.

Annabel was living in fear. She had something happen to her that she was too afraid to speak up about. Fear of disappointing others drove her actions which ended up in isolation, loneliness and constant fear. 

She also had many difficult issues that her family members were dealing with that she didn’t want to make things harder for others….so she kept quiet. Lying by omission is a huge theme in this book. One of which we are all guilty of at some point.

Owen. Annabel becomes friends with Owen a loner at school. He loves honesty and challenges Annabel to do the same.  He’s also obsessed with music! I mean, obsessed!

Through time, difficulties and new life experiences Annabel learns many things about her self and others.

Overall:

Overall this book was a fantastic read. I related so much to it. It was honest, real, and important. It covered a lot of heavy issues but dealt with them beautifully! It also was a lot of fun! I’d highly suggest you read it if you haven’t and if you haven’t read any Sarah Dessen books like me, I’d definitely start here! I have this book 5 stars!

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Filed Under: Contemporary, Review 11 Comments

Comments

  1. Bee @ Quite the Novel Idea says

    February 19, 2016 at 6:07 am

    I haven’t read any books by this author yet even though I see them around the blogosphere quite a bit. I’ll try to pick this one up when I can! It sounds good and I love contemporary, so. 🙂

    Reply
    • Sarah K says

      February 19, 2016 at 6:16 am

      I really had no idea what to expect plus she’s so popular that I was worried it was overhyped. But I can say, it was very good. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Pili @ In Love With Handmade says

    February 19, 2016 at 8:15 am

    I don’t think I’ve read any Sarah Dessen books myself but this one sounds like it’s be a good one to start!

    Also, YAY for awesome book sales!!

    Reply
  3. irena_bookdustmagic says

    February 19, 2016 at 8:38 am

    I have this book on my shelf for years now. I think it’s time to finally give it a try since I keep hearing only good things about it.
    I’m glad it was a winner for you! 🙂

    Reply
  4. Lefty @ The Left-Handed Book Lover says

    February 19, 2016 at 9:22 am

    I’m so happy you enjoyed your first Dessen experience. This is definitely one of my favorite novels by her (only one of them, because all her novels are great and it is impossible to pick just one favorite). Dessen really has a way of including important issues in a novel, but not making it seem too heavy. I hope this encourages you to read more of her novels. Great review!

    ~ Lefty @ The Left-Handed Book Lover

    Reply
  5. Carrie says

    February 19, 2016 at 11:05 am

    Yay for buddy reads! (And you weren’t intruding at all.) I’m glad you liked it too. I was hesitant at first, but it was wonderful. Like you, I was wary of the hype, but I want to read more of her books now. This is definitely the first contemporary in such a while that I really loved. I’m jealous you spent only $0.10 and got the hardcover. Such a great find.

    Reply
  6. Sarah Cone says

    February 19, 2016 at 1:23 pm

    I hadn’t heard of this author and don’t usually read contemporary either but with this review, this one is definitely going on my TBR. Thank you for bringing it to our attention! 🙂

    Reply
  7. Alexa S. says

    February 21, 2016 at 12:17 pm

    Yay Sarah Dessen! I absolutely adore her stories, and I’m so glad you wound up reading and liking Just Listen. It was one of the first books I ever read from her 😉 I hope you plan on reading more of her stuff!

    Reply
  8. Amber @ Book Stacks Amber says

    February 21, 2016 at 12:28 pm

    I love Sarah Dessen’s books and this is one of my favorites! I haven’t read any of her books since I was in high school and your review makes me want to pick them up again 🙂

    Reply
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