Along for the Ride Review

Title: Along for the Ride 
Author: Sarah Dessen 
Publisher: Viking Juvenile 
Publication Date: June 16, 2009 
Pages: 383 
My Edition: ARC 
Reading Level: Young Adult 
Where I got it: won from Mishel at mis(h)takes! 

Summary from Sarah's website:

It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live. A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend. In her signature pitch-perfect style, Sarah Dessen explores the hearts of two lonely people learning to connect.

Review: 
Sarah Dessen always writes amazingly, great books and this one is just as wonderful. All of her stories are similar: girl and boy fall for each other then something happens where they stop talking, so then they either get back together or they don't. I couldn't stop reading and really wanted Auden and Eli to be together! I was worried they wouldn't be together, but the ending was perfect.

The story is cute, funny, and pretty good. I love all the characters because they all are unforgettable and very easy to relate to. Auden goes through a lot in one summer, and it great how much she grew during then. She makes new friends, learns to let loose a little, and even to love and forgive. This wasn't my favorite Dessen book, but I still like it a lot. If you're looking for a nice, quick, summer read this would be perfect. I can't wait to read future books from such a great author!
 

Rating:

Friday Firsts (7)

The first line can make or break a reader’s interest. Just how well did the author pull you in to the story with their first sentence? To participate in this weekly book meme is extremely easy.

• Grab the book you are currently reading and open to the first page.
• Write down the first sentence in the first paragraph.
• Create a blog post with this information. (Make sure to include the title and the author of the book you are using. Even an ISBN helps!)
• Did this first sentence help draw you into the story? Why or why not?

The book I'm currently reading is the Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen. I'm very close to finishing my books, so expect the Along for the Ride and the Treasure Map of Boys reviews sometime this weekend. I love all of Sarah Dessen's books and so far this one hasn't disappointed at all! This is the first sentence:

"THE EMAILS ALWAYS began the same way. Hi Auden!!"

 

This is a decent first sentence, but could have been a tad better. It got my attention and is kind of funny. Along for the Ride of course has a female main character who falls for a boy but then kinda blows it. I really like it and really just want to know it ends.

What's your current book's first sentence?

The Best and Worst of Covers (6)

Every Saturday, I will post one book cover I love and one I hate from books that I have read. I will post information on the edition of the book, the summary, and my thoughts of the cover. This week the cover I love is Masquerade by Melissa De La Cruz, and the cover I hate is Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen. Summaries from Amazon.

The Cover I Love: 
Title: Masquerade
Author: Melissa De La Cruz
Publisher: Hyperion
Publication Date: July 1, 2008
Pages:336 
Edition: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult   

Summary:
Schuyler Van Alen wants an explanation for the mysterious deaths of young vampires. With her best friend, Oliver, Schuyler travels to Italy in the hope of finding the one man who can help--her grandfather. Meanwhile, back in New York, preparations are feverishly underway for the Four Hundred Ball, an exclusive gala hosted by the city's wealthy, powerful, and unhuman--a true Blue Blood affair. But it's at the after-party, a masquerade ball thrown by the cunning Mimi Force, that the real danger lurks. Hidden behind the masks is a revelation that will forever change the course of a young vampire's destiny.

Thoughts of the Cover:

This cover is amazingly stunning! I love the big masquerade mask and the title font. This cover is my favorite out of all the Blue Bloods covers, even though I really like them all. This cover goes perfectly with the story, which is very good. I love this series and can't wait for the Van Alen Legacy!

The Cover I Hate:
Title: Lock and Key
Author: Sarah Dessen
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Publication Date: April 22, 2008
Pages: 432
Edition: Hardback
Reading Level: Young Adult
 
Summary:
What happens when your past is not just past, but wiped clean entirely? How do you figure out where you're going when you can't even claim where you've been? These were the questions that inspired Lock and Key. It's the story of a girl named Ruby who is abandoned by her mother and determined to make it on her own, even---and especially---when she is sent to live with her long-lost sister in a whole new world of privilege, family, and relationships. As Ruby learns, there's a big difference between being given help and being able to accept it. And sometimes, it takes reaching out to someone else to save yourself. 

Thoughts of the Cover:

This cover is very boring, kind of like the book. I really love all of Sarah Dessen's covers and books, but this one is probably my least favorite. The beginning of the story line starts off pretty boring, but once it gets going it starts to become good. The hardback cover could've been much better, like the paperback cover. The paperback is so mysterious and very pretty.

What are your thoughts on these two covers?

The Best and Worst of Covers (3)

Every Saturday, I will post one book cover I love and one I hate from books that I have read. I've seen other bloggers do cover memes, so I put a different spin on mine. For each cover, I will post information on the edition of the book, the summary, and my thoughts of the cover.

The Cover that I LOVE:

Title: The Truth About Forever
Author: Sarah Dessen
Publisher: Speak
Publication Date: April 6, 2006
Pages: 400
Edition: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult

Summary from Sarah Dessen's website:
Macy's summer stretches before her, carefully planned and outlined. She will spend her days sitting at the library information desk. She will spend her evenings studying for the SATs. Spare time will be used to help her obsessive mother prepare for the big opening of the townhouse section of her luxury development. But Macy's plans don't anticipate a surprising and chaotic job with Wish Catering, a motley crew of new friends, or ... Wes. Tattooed, artistic, anything-but-expected Wes. He doesn't fit Macy's life at all--so why does she feel so comfortable with him? So ... happy? What is it about him that makes her let down her guard and finally talk about how much she misses her father, who died before her eyes the year before? Sarah Dessen delivers a page-turning novel that carries readers on a roller coaster of denial, grief, comfort, and love as we watch a broken but resilient girl pick up the pieces of her life and fit them back together.

Thoughts of the Cover:
I really love all the newer covers of Sarah Dessen's paperback books. This one especially is my favorite because the flower is so pretty and the colors are really nice. I also love the story, so the cover really wraps everything together nicely. If you haven't read any of her books, I would strongly recommend it because most of them are really good.

The Cover that I HATE:

Title: Fly on the Wall: How One Girl Saw Everything
Author: E. Lockhart
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: November 13, 2007
Pages: 192
Edition: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
 
Summary from E. Lockhart's website:
Enter Gretchen Kaufman Yee.
Collector of plastic Chinese food.
Art student.
Spider-man fanatic.
Gretchen’s in search of a big life. A superhero life.
Enter the Art Rats, a group of guys at her NYC art school.
They’re loud. Sweet. Annoying. Confusing.
Gretchen can barely look at them, goes mute whenever they’re near.
Especially, Titus.
Delicious and smart. Absolutely on the radar.
Gretchen wishes she could be a fly on the wall of the boys’ locker room, just to see what these guys are like when they think no one’s watching.
And then… there she is.
A fly.
 On the wall of the locker room.
She sees…EVERYTHING.
And nothing is what she thought.

Thoughts of the Cover:
Fly on the Wall's cover is just plain weird and not very pleasing to look at. The book isn't the greatest either but it's much better than the cover. Fortunately I have the hardback, so I don't have this ugly cover on mine. The book is pretty fascinating because she turns into a fly and then lives in the boy's locker room, so she sees all that happens in there. This book is definitely not as good as E. Lockhart's other books.

What are your thoughts on these two covers?