Monday, June 25, 2012

Book Review: The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen


Title: The Truth About Forever
Author: Sarah Dessen
Published: May 11th 2004

Genre: Teen/YA, Contemporary
Pages: 374
Rating: 4 out of 5

a long, hot summer...

That's what Macy has to look forward to while her boyfriend, Jason, is away at Brain Camp. Days will be spent at a boring job in the library, evenings will be filled with vocabulary drills for the SATs, and spare time will be passed with her mother, the two of them sharing a silent grief at the traumatic loss of Macy's father.
But sometimes unexpected things can happen—things such as the catering job at Wish, with its fun-loving, chaotic crew. Or her sister's project of renovating the neglected beach house, awakening long-buried memories. Things such as meeting Wes, a boy with a past, a taste for Truth-telling, and an amazing artistic talent, the kind of boy who could turn any girl's world upside down. As Macy ventures out of her shell, she begins to wonder, Is it really better to be safe than sorry?

My Review: 

Even though this is my first Sarah Dessen novel I feel like she is the YA version of Nicholas Sparks.  Her novels could easily be made into movies. The plot just flows smoothly you never get to the part where you say Oh this is boring. She makes the most common things seem interesting. I can say with certainty that The Truth about Forever won’t be the last Dessen book I will read.

After her father’s death Macy is trying so hard to be the perfect daughter, sister and girlfriend. Her mother is always tied up in work, her boyfriend dumped her over an email and her now she is stuck doing a summer job she hates, just so she wouldn’t fail him.  Everything changes when she meets Delia and her catering crew.  She finally relaxes and slowly lets go of the sorrow.  I read a bunch of reviews where people were nagging about how Macy couldn’t stood up for herself, but you know what? Everybody has had the same problem in their life. They say I am not going to let them  push me around but it takes a lot of  courage to finally put up a fight. So I had a lot of respect for Macy and she is a sort of person I would like to hang around with.  

The romance was slow and came a little too late for my taste but I didn’t care much because  Wes was such a sa-wooning character as the girls in this book say about him. He is an artist with a troubled and painful past.

If you are, like myself, a fan of Elizabeth Scott, Jennifer Echols, Jenny Han or any other YA contemporary author, you will enjoy books by Sarah Dessen. 


4 comments:

Anna said...

This is one of the few Sarah Dessen books that I still haven't read but desperately want to. I agree about her being the YA version to Nicholas sparks. Great review!

Zemira said...

I was thinking about reading Along For The Ride and This Lullaby. They seem interesting.

Glass said...

Along For The Ride is my favorite.

LisaILJ said...

Sarah Dessen is my favorite. I'm glad you enjoyed this book. My favorite by her is probably This Lullaby.