Review : The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
Pages : 435
Genre : YA, Contemporary
Stand alone
My Rating : 4/5
About the Book :
Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo’s sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.
Emaline’s mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he’s convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?
My Thoughts :
I feel like you can never go wrong with reading Sarah Dessen! Granted, there are fewer books of hers I have read than books I haven’t read, but still, each of my experiences with her writing has been amazing.
And it’s impressive how she can draw so many emotions from you with a story that is so non-dramatic. Not to diminish Emaline’s experiences with life; it’s obvious that being abandoned by her father and being raised by a young mother has affected her life in some unpleasant ways. But here in this story there is no big, gigantic, life-altering drama. Emmaline is going through things we’ll all go through in life – heartbreak, summer jobs, family life, new romance, college pick – and the story of that one summer was one very easy to relate to.
Emaline was such a likable character. She has a bit of humor to her voice, she stands up for herself, she tries things and is quite honest with how she feels. She has a beautiful sensibility to the world around her, too, which was a great contrast to the character of Theo (who wasn’t a very likable love interest, surprisingly!) The Moon and More is a lot more than a cute summer romance: it’s a story of growing up, finding out who you are and how to compose with the different parts that shape your self – even when said parts want completely opposite things.
There’s a beautiful cast of characters surrounding Emaline, too. Her family was very present, which you guys know I always love. Each of them had a distinct personality, as well as her friends – whom I also really, really enjoyed. All of these relationships came together organically, and I quickly felt immersed into Emaline’s small town life. As for her relationship with her biological father, I thought it was very delicately handled by the author: it’s a complex one, one with no good answer, really, but the book doesn’t try to fix it with cheap excuses or an easy resolution. And as much as I wished something better for Emaline, I appreciated how true to life these moments were.
The Moon and More isn’t the most surprising or twisted summer tale, but it is one I very easily related too. Is it the best of Dessen? I couldn’t say, really, having not read her whole collection (yet!) But wihout a doubt, it was one of my favorite reads this summer!
I really want to try her work!
I think you would enjoy it!
Question for you: The summary begins with Luke, and then mentions Theo, so it sounds like it’s going to be a love triangle identity crisis kind of deal, but then instead it ends with discussing family and roots and change. This latter part is far more interesting to me than the boyfriend stuff – I’d be more interested in the book, for instance, if Luke hadn’t been mentioned at all – but I’m wondering how the balance is in the actual book?
I felt like the book was a lot more about family, roots, change and growing up. While there’s a romance with Theo, it’s really not a triangle kind of thing:
(Spoilers! Sort of!) Luke and Emaline break up early in the book, about when Theo enters the scene. Their relationship was that of an old couple, existing more because of habit than because of love (they’ve been together a few years). They break up, Emaline hurts, but she’s also feeling new things with Theo, and she jumps into that a bit quickly. But that’s about it. We see Luke a few more times, in passing, but there’s no triangle there. At most, I would say Theo is a trigger to Luke and Emaline’s breakup.
Outside of that, I would say the book is fairly balanced between family and romance – though I have a hard time to say it’s a romance, really. I thought Theo was annoying, and Emaline doesn’t seem to be in love, but more in lust with him. It’s realistic, maybe not as “cutesy” as most summer romances are!