Book Review: This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

US Cover

At First Sight: Remy Starr is kicking off the summer before college by finalizing the details of her mom's latest wedding - number 4 if you don't count her Dad, which Remy doesn't. 

That's also when she meets Dexter, a boy who literally crashes into her, and upsets the balance of Remy's life. Remy isn't interested at first, but Dexter is persistent and gets under her skin and, after a series of casual, random encounters, they start dating.
 

Now, Dexter isn't at all like the boys Remy usually dates - he's messy, a musician and a bit of a vagabond, with no ties other than his dog Monkey and his band, Truth Squad - but Remy, the Queen of Breakups, can't seem to break away from him no matter how much she tells herself he's just a fling like many before him. 

But things are changing, Remy's knows she's leaving soon, her friends claim she's smitten with Dexter and, at home, she has to deal with a new stepfather she doesn't entirely like, a possible future-sister-in-law who's forever reading self-help books and a brother who, despite all their shared experience, still believes in love. 

The only thing that never changes is This Lullaby, the song Remy's father wrote for her upon her birth even though he never met her. The song she uses as a compass in relationships -which states clearing in the first verse 'I will let you down' - a reminder of how love really is... even if she isn't so sure anymore.

UK Cover

Second Glance: I've always thought that This Lullaby is a bit of a turning point for Sarah Dessen. Up this point, she had only written about the quiet-sidekick girls, the best friends, the girls that don't get noticed, the girls that watch; but with Remy, I think she wrote about the other girl, the girl who did and had a strong personality. 

Remy is the gravity center of her group of friends, in some ways she is the thing they have in common. She's hard to like at times - a self proclaimed cold-hearted bitch - and in this read through I had to admit I didn't like her friend Chloe all that much either. But there is plenty of charm in this book, and humor. Dexter is both of those things - charming and funny - and sort of carefree and optimistic. 

The guys in the band were funny in their own ways and I have so many favorite scenes in this book - Monkey the dog always steals the show - and even though it took me a while, I did like Remy in the end.

Bottom Line: This Lullaby is a bit different from Sarah's earlier books, but it has a large dose of awesome, a nice, funny guy and a heroine I grew to respect and like. Also, more than other of Sarah's books, it is a love story at it's core.

Favorite Quote:"Hate Spinnerbait!"

1/3

Sarah Dessen Week is an event hosted by Heidi @YA Bibliophile and  Jacinda and Jasmine @ The Reading Housewives of Indiana