{Review} This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

This Lullaby
by Sarah Dessen
Pages: 345
Release Date: May 27, 2002
by Speak

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When it comes to relationships, Remy doesn't mess around. After all, she's learned all there is to know from her mother, who's currently working on husband number five. But there's something about Dexter that seems to defy all of Remy's rules. He certainly doesn't seem like Mr. Right. For some reason, however, Remy just can't seem to shake him. Could it be that Remy's starting to understand what all those love songs are all about?

*This review contains a spoiler, but I have marked it off with brackets like [[[this]]].

Sarah Dessen just kind of... speaks to me. All of her books follow the same pattern, and you know what to expect when you're about to read one of her books, but they never get old and her characters are never weak. They're just pure and raw and emotional and amazing.

All of the Sarah Dessen books that I've read have followed the same storyline. Girl with unusual name meets boy with unusual name. Girl with unusual name is struggling with something or other with her life. Boy with unusual name falls in love with girl with unusual name, and after a little bit (the time varies), girl with unusual name falls in love with him, too.  This might bore some people, but I've found that Sarah Dessen's books are of such beauty and quality that I honestly don't care.

Remy is one of my favorite Sarah Dessen protagonists that I've read about yet. At first I disliked her attitude towards boys. You see a lot of books and real-life stories about boys treating girls like shit, but in this case, Remy treated the guys she dated like shit. As she said in the book, she was in it for the sex, and I hated that. But she stands out among the other protagonists Sarah Dessen has portrayed--Annabell, Ruby, Macy, Colie, etc. She's none of them.
Don't get me wrong, though. Remy does have certain qualities of a Sarah Dessen heroine. She's blond, pretty, and is going through a tough situation with her life. Her personality is so different though. Case in point: she's tough as nails, indestructible, NOT soft at all. BUT BUT BUT, this is only her outside appearance. Inside of her lies someone who hasn't decided to show herself yet. And as you go through this book, you really get to see how Remy evolves into this completely new girl. It was mind-blowing, truth be told.

And Dexter-- Oh my gosh DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED!!! AHH! I love him soooooooooooooo much. <3 <3 <3 I could write paragraph after paragraph about him and still not get tired about writing him. In a few words, Dexter was clumsy, lovable, and charmingly imperfect. I have this thing for musicians, and guys who totally aren't perfect, and Dexter fit those two things. Seeing his relationship with Remy evolve, then fizzle out, then evolve again was amazing. Not to mention nerve-racking. **SPOILER[[[I hated when they were broken up, It totally killed me]]]
I loved all his bandmates, too. They never really failed to make me smile.
Remy's friends somewhat annoyed me, especially Chloe. She was selfish, arrogant, bitchy, and for lack of a better word, a slut. Remy compared herself to Chloe, saying that they were similar, but they were so much different. Lissa annoyed me with her constant Debbie-downer attitude and how she couldn't get over the fact that her boyfriend broke up with her. I just kind of felt like slapping her when she said something like, "I planned my whole future around him!!" Well, don't plan your future around a guy, because chances are it's not gonna work out--especially at the age of 18.
Don and Patty--ughhh. Just ughh. I hated them.

The ending was left up to your interpretation, I guess, which isn't typical of a Sarah Dessen novel. I was expecting things to be less open-ended. I was a little disappointed in this, but at least it made me think.

Anyway, This Lullaby was amazing as always for Sarah Dessen and she hasn't failed to make me amazed yet. One of her best, I must say, and her cast of characters is genius. Wow just wow... I'm still in shock, and I finished it last night.

This lullaby is only a few words
A simple run of chords
Quiet here in that spare room
But you can hear it, hear it
Wherever you may go
I will let you down
But this lullaby plays on..

(Gosh, Sarah, why don't you take up songwriting instead? Those lyrics are gorgeous)

COVER TALK: I like this cover a lot! It really speaks to the story and totally stays true to it. I like it better than the other edition of the cover (it has a paper heart on it), and I love how it's purple ;P