Reading Under the Willow Tree

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The Moon and More is the first Sarah Dessen book I have read. I am well aware that I am considerably late to the party but I have just never gotten round to reading any of her work before. I have heard a lot about her books and the general conscientious seems to be that you either like it or don’t. After reading The Moon and More I can safely say that I fall soundly into the middle of those two categories because parts of this book were great but there were other parts that were not as impressive.

One thing I loved about this book was the writing. Sarah Dessen writes beautifully with an almost effortless charm. Her words flow nicely and suit the laid back story, which leads me to another thing I loved about this book: storyline. Frankly I could kiss Sarah Dessen for writing a contemporary young adult book about real teen problems that wasn’t ridiculously weighted down with unnecessary drama and romance. It was so refreshing to read something realistic and not something that walked straight out of an over done soap opera.

It is not only the lack of pesky drama that impressed me but also Dessen’s portrayal of everyday teen life. Everything was so normal and relatable even the characters struggles and concerns.

Unfortunately character relatability is where this book failed to deliver for me. I could relate to the situations and storyline but not the characters. I thought Emaline was likeable enough but I failed to really connect with her in any way. I felt quite distant from her even though I liked her.

The boys were less likeable I couldn’t really get behind either of them where the romance was concerned. Both Luke and Theo failed to impress me on numerous occasions and once again I failed to connect. Because of that the romance fell flat for me also but I did love the direction that aspect of the story took and the realisticness of it.

The Moon and More has a lot to offer and I really did enjoy it the characters however were not for me but hopefully that will not be an issue in all Sarah Dessen books because I plan on reading a lot more of them.


The publisher provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review