Book Review: This Lullaby

This book was a total surprise for me. It certainly wouldn't have been on my first to read lists, or even one that interested me. The thing is that I have this shallow outlook on books, where I must be interested in either 1) the flashy fun looking cover 2) the author or 3) the description on the back of the book. Truthfully, This Lullaby was kind of like an unremarkable unknown.

What got me reading it though, was my friend who bought it for me on my birthday. She reads more books than I do and has pretty good taste, so I decided to trust her selection. She's bought me several other books and I fell in love with them. Well, she has once again introduced me to my another love.

This Lullaby, by Sarah Dessen, is about a girl named Remy, who is totally cynical about the idea of love and all things associated with it because of the many marriages her mother has worked through. She's calm and cool, the Queen of Dating, picking up relationships left and right and then dumping them before they get too serious.

It's set in the summer before she's goes to college to leave behind her life and her mother whose about to be married to guy #5. Unexpectedly, she meets a young musician named Dexter who throws her for a loop. He's everything she hates about boys, and yet she can't seem to say stay away. She has to deal with leaving, her mother's new relationship and the big swirl of strange emotions and changes being made in her life now that Dexter has made himself a part of it.

I just really enjoyed reading this book. Remy and I have nothing in common, yet I can still feel what she's feeling clearly, and understand the reason why she acts the way she does. Every character was incredibly alive, with contrasting personalities I had fun watching develop. It's also reminded me about life, and how life is pretty much a long line of risks, as one of the characters says.

Strangely enough, considering how the main character Remy is, the ending was happy, and conclusive, so I didn't have to sit there staring at the last page of the book thinking "What the hell?" I'm looking forward to reading more of Sarah Dessen's books. Someone Like You is at the top of the list, with a following view of the movie of How to Deal, starring Mandy Moore, which is based on it.