So can I just say that I loved this book? I love any Sarah Dessen book is so amazing but this one is probably my all time favorite.
Along for the Ride
Sarah Dessen
Speak Publishing
399 pages
Published April 5th 2011
It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.
A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.
Along for the Ride just seeps summer to me and I love it. It is my ideal contemporary book to read. The characters are so real, even the supporting ones. Auden’s parents aren’t perfect, far from it, and it makes her story so real. Who has perfect parents? (If you do is there any chance I can take them please?) I really loved the friendships that developed over time and weren’t perfect. They were complicated and complex. The emphasis on how women don’t have to restrict themselves to one role or image was perfect. Auden’s mom was a really successful professor and her step mom was in the retail business as the owner and manager. It was so great to see the two sides of the spectrum collide and help shape Auden into who she became. The setting of Colby was perfect. I can just get a sense of the beaches and the shops that line the streets. I love the settings that you can just immerse yourself into. I loved Auden going through her list of things to do to sort of make up her childhood. She got a sort of second chance that most people never get and she took advantage of it. Even when her and Eli had an argument she still continued on with her quest, she didn’t really need him to be who she wanted to be and I love seeing that in characters. I hate it when one character is so reliant on the other. I would rather them be independent than needy. I loved Along for the Ride so much! I reread it just about every summer and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read it.
Have you read Along for the Ride?
What did you think?
Let me know below!
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