Dear Friends,
I have recently finished the book Just Listen by Sarah Dessen. I would give this book an 8 out of 10 because the beginning wasn't the best, but after that the book was really good! This book is about a girl named Annabel who is really big on modeling and used to have extreme popularity because of her ex-friend, Sophie. Annabel live a hard life at home and at school. This is because she and Sophie got into a really big fight and finally stopped being friends. Everyone at school hates her now because Sophie spread rumors about Annabel and because of her popularity, everyone found out. Annabel has a difficult home life because her sister, Whitney has an eating disorder and all of her parent's attention is on Whitney.
I really liked how the author would talk in the present, but then go back into a couple of weeks into the past and explain why these events are occurring in her life. I liked this because it really helped me understand why her life is not the best at times, and since the book doesn't explain her entire life story, then this is really helpful.
The narrative voice in the story is in the first person in Annabel's perspective. I know this because of the use of the words "I" and "me" and it talks about Annabel's family and friends. I think this book would change dramatically if it were in Sophie's perspective. I think this because Annabel and Sophie have two different sides to their fight that they are in.
This book reminded me of a book that I previously read called Thirteen Reasons Why. It reminds me of that book because they are both about a girl who has rumors constantly being spread around about them, and there is only one person who cares about them and becomes their friend later on in the book. The endings are way different though. In Thirteen Reasons Why, the girl ends up committing suicide, while in Just Listen, Annabel ends up falling in love.
The quote in this book that really stood out to me was, "So I move closer to Owen, leaning my head on his shoulder to listen, as we settled into the sunlight coming through the window beside us. It was bright and warm, catching the ring on my thumb as Owen reached for it, spinning it slowly, slowly, as the song played on."
I really liked this quote because it shows when your life is really bad, you can find some way to find happiness again. This happened to Annabel. Everyone at her school hated her, but she found one friend who changed her life majorly. Then, Owen introduced her to more people who later became her friends.
I'd say the theme of the book would be, when you feel like you're all alone, don't give up, because soon you will find happiness. I would say this is the theme because Annabel's confidence had been completely ruined and she had lost all of her friends, but she didn't give up and she was then introduced to new friends.
I chose this book because I really enjoy reading books by this author, and I have read many of them. I plan to continue reading books by Sarah Dessen and even continue reading books kind of like this book.
Your Friend,
Sarah C.
