From the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Once and for AllThe world is a terrible place not to have a best friend. Scarlett was always the strong one. Halley was always content to follow in her wake. Then Scarlett’s boyfriend died, and Scarlett learned that she was pregnant. Now Halley has to find the strength to take the lead and help Scarlett get through it. Because true … the lead and help Scarlett get through it.
Because true friendship is a promise you keep forever.
* “Dessen has written a powerful, polished story.”—School Library Journal, starred review
Sarah Dessen is the winner of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for her contributions to YA literature, as well as the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award.
Books by Sarah Dessen:
That Summer
Someone Like You
Keeping the Moon
Dreamland
This Lullaby
The Truth About Forever
Just Listen
Lock and Key
Along for the Ride
What Happened to Goodbye
The Moon and More
Saint Anything
Once and for All
more
I recommend this book to people who love to be around true love , but also some very reveling stuff.
This story makes you hink back to your first love and how that realtionship helped you become who you are now. I read it in one sitting! I adore Sarah Dessen’s books!
Another light romance read from Sarah Dessen. I enjoyed the story, but thought it took a little too long to get to the point. I always tend to read these during summer though and this felt just like a lazy summer afternoon. Excellent emotions and a good cast of characters!
LOVE THIS AUTHOR
An enjoyable read. Interesting characters, a good story arc, and a satisfying conclusion, though some plot twists were predictable.
I enjoyed this book so much! I honestly haven’t read this book in so long that I forgot a lot of what happened, but I was actually glad for that.
This book has romance, but it isn’t the main focus of the book. Halley is navigating her first serious relationship with a boy she thinks she loves. She goes through ups and downs, and eventually learns how she deserves to be treated because Macon sure doesn’t really know how to do it right.
Macon is your typical bad boy, but he doesn’t really have many redeeming qualities, and exhibits little to no growth throughout the novel. I feel like this is very realistic at times, especially for boys still in high school. Not everyone meets “the one” in high school, and that’s okay. This relationship teaches Halley a lot, though.
The mother-daughter relationship in this book is perfectly done. It shows that irritation I think most daughters feel with their moms, especially when they’re teenagers. Halley is growing up, and her mom hasn’t really adapted to this new version of her daughter. She’s still trying to navigate this relationship as she always has, but by the end of the book, she has realized that she needs to give Halley space to make her own decisions and mistakes.
Dessen has a way of making her teenage characters so relatable. I didn’t feel like Halley was annoying. I was placed right in her shoes, and felt for her. I got annoyed at her mother, and completely understood the things she was feeling. Dessen perfectly captures angst, and growing up, while still making the main teen character relatable even as an adult reader.
And the real heart behind this book is the friendship between Halley and Scarlett. It is so pure. They both love each other dearly and would do anything for each other. Good female friendships are really like this, so if you find a friend like Scarlett or Halley, never let them go. I love strong, believable female friendships, and this was one of them. These two tell each other the truth, but also, are there for one another if things go horribly wrong, and I love how open and judgment-free their relationship is. I would most definitely read a book about their changing relationship throughout the years into adulthood.
I really enjoyed Halley’s character, and didn’t feel like she was annoying or whiny. I like watching her growth throughout this book. She did some growing, and learned her self-worth, and even though she is still growing at the end, she comes so far, and that just made me so proud of her.
My very first booked I bought, and I loved this whole story line perfect, entertaining , made me cry so beautiful since this book I fell in love with the author her stories are great and these books keep me entertained and want to read all her books 🙂 Definitely recommend her books
This was one of the first Sarah Dessen books I read when I was a teenager, and it really stuck with me. When I was 16 I had a friend who was a lot like Scarlett, and who ended up in a similar situation to Scarlett. I gave it to her to read, and she found it really helped her even though Scarlett is not the main characte in the novel.
I have really come to love this author in the past few months. This book wasn’t my favorite by her, but it was very good in any case.
I did struggle a bit with the characters of Macon and Halley. I appreciate what the author was trying to do, making the story about the best friend of the girl going through stuff, but at parts Halley seemed a bit shallow and uncaring. She definitely redeemed herself by the end, and I guess that’s more realistic, that a girl in her position would end up a little selfish at times. Macon is another story, I didn’t like him from the very beginning and it was hard to wrap my mind around what the draw was, perhaps because I am too old to remember that bad boy draw! I think younger girls, like in high school, would probably relate.
I really liked the characters Cameron and Scarlett and I would love to see a spin off about their story. I feel like we didn’t get enough of them, but what we got, I loved.
It’s a good book for sure, and I enjoyed reading it, I just think I liked some of Dessen’s other novels better.
Excellent! Sarah Dessen has a knack for getting inside a woman’s heart and mind, picking a universal issue and dealing with it. And the writing is great too! Totally worth your time even if you’re not a young woman!