Book Review: Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

Peyton, Sydney's charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion's share of their parents' attention and—lately—concern. When Peyton's increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction, and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident?
Enter the Chathams, a warm, chaotic family who run a pizza parlor, play bluegrass on weekends, and pitch in to care for their mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Here Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance. And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time.
The uber-popular Sarah Dessen explores her signature themes of family, self-discovery, and change in her twelfth novel, sure to delight her legions of fans.

It's been a long time since I read Sarah Dessen's books. Last time I tried and ended up not liking it. I didn't actually finish it either. Oops.

The last one I ended up loving was probably Along for the Ride. So it's been a while.

This wasn't bad. Not terribly great, but not bad. 

I liked Sydney (the narrator), I could relate to her and could understand how she felt about all the stuff in her life. I liked Layla (narrator's best friend) and her huge french fry obsession. Fries are serious business. Their friendship felt real and was good for both of them. I felt like their friendship should've had a better focus than Sydney's love life.

Her love life was a slow, slow burn. I'm all for that because I hate the whole "I just met you, and this is crazy but I love you" thing. But, damn, it was like they got together because they each smiled at each other. There was no other basis for a romantic relationship than continuing doing what they always had done but with the occasional kiss. There was no chemistry between them. It was like the were put together for the sake of a romantic plot.

Ugh. There were no swoons; hell, there were no purely romantic moments between them. I don't understand. I digress.

Now, there was the whole Creeper McCreep. You know from the moment he's introduced and Sydney's reaction to him that something bad will happen. I kept waiting for her to say something or for him to do something but it doesn't. It doesn't happen until like the last few pages. (Spoiler?) What the heck? Why hint at something that big only to have a quick thing happen as like a sidenote? I'm not trying to diminish the severity of situations like that, but it felt like it was being pushed to the side as a plot point. That kind of stuff is not a plot point and should be treating carefully and with respect to the victims of those situations. 

I don't know. This book just didn't do it for me. There was no pulse in the story. It was flat. Like it was a really long checklist of everything that could possibly happen to a teenage girl. 

Maybe it was just me but it just kind of fell flat for me. Which is sad because I like Sarah Dessen. She's not a bad writer. But this was a bit of a snoozer.

Whether I read her next book is undecided. I might just wait until the library has it. Maybe. 

Read: May 2015

My Rating: 3 stars / 5 stars