Title: This Lullaby
Author: Sarah Dessen
Published: May 27, 2002
Page Count: 352
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
My Rating: 4.5/5
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 those love songs are all about? From acclaimed author Sarah Dessen, this is a captivating novel about a tough-as-nails girl and the unexpectedly charming boy who’s determined to soften her up.
I’ve been a fan of Sarah Dessen for a little over a year now, and I’m slowly working my way through all of her books. This Lullaby is one of her better ones and it absolutely did not disappoint.
Remy was a character that I felt close to almost immediately. She was the “responsible” one in her family – taking care of everybody else, organizing everything for her mom and brother, planning her mother’s wedding, making sure groceries were bought and the house was cleaned. And because her mother had been married so many times, Remy was sure that this whole love thing was just a bunch of BS. Until Dexter came around – and I have to say, that while I liked Remy a lot, I REALLY liked Dexter. He was fun, and funny, and a super sweet guy who really just cared for Remy no matter how far she pushed him away from her. Dexter was so far opposite Remy that it didn’t make any sense in the book when they got together. Except that it did, because Remy needed someone like Dexter to chill her out and help her have some fun in her life.
I liked Remy not because I related to her (I really didn’t, I’m perfectly happy in my marriage and I do believe in love) but because I could tell that what she was really experiencing was pain and loneliness and just masking those feelings with a tough exterior. I really felt for her. Not only did I feel for her, but I was praying throughout the entire book for her to get a happy ending. I didn’t want a perfect life for her, because I like my books to be realistic, but I did want her to finally understand that she deserved happiness.
One thing that Sarah Dessen does marvelously well is make the reader really connect to the characters in her books. As you can see from the paragraph above, This Lullaby is no different. While I was reading it, I sort of felt like Remy was a friend (more like a little sister I guess) and I just wanted to shake her for pushing Dexter away and at the same time comfort her because of all the pain she was carrying around with her. And Dexter, well I really just wanted to be friends with Dexter. He was such a great character in this book – he was hilarious and exactly what the book needed to balance out Remy’s personality.
I highly recommend This Lullaby as well as any of Dessen’s other books for fans of YA.
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