Review: Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Title: Along for the Ride
Author: Sarah Dessen
Publisher: Viking Juvenile 
Summary: Goodreads
Buy: Amazon
Rating: 3.5 stars


Summary: 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.

In her signature pitch-perfect style, Sarah Dessen explores the hearts of two lonely people learning to connect

Review: I liked Along for the Ride, I didn't love it but I liked it enough. I don't know, maybe I just had too many expectation and then when I read the book it fell short. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't give the book a shot, because you should.

First off, the main character is kind of hard to like. I liked Auden and I understand why she thinks like she does and reacts to things but I couldn't help but roll my eyes and give an exasperated sigh every once and a while. Its like you know you shouldn't be mad at someone, they can't help the way they are and yet you still are. That's how I felt about Auden for a big part of the book; I hated certain things she would do and say but then I'd feel a little bad and then get pissed at her all over again. But she did have many good qualities, and I liked seeing things in her perspective. She sees things in a way only someone with fresh eyes to a scene can and sometimes that's the best way for things to be seen. 

Another things that was hard to like were her parents. Holy cow her dad is the most selfish character ever! And lets not even talk about her robotic feeling mother. Her parents are pretty tough to like and once you get to know more about them its easy to see why Auden ended up the way she did. But as you continue reading on they become more likable, well her mother does anyway, and her opinion on things is actually pretty amusing. 

But this book is all about second chances, something I definitely believe in. I loved how Auden got to finally have the child/teenage experiences that she missed out on and it really made me appreciate all the little things I did when I was younger. I can't imagine my child hood without seeing a bicycle for example. 

Overall this book is pretty good. I don't thinks its the best book Sarah Dessen has written but its still worth a read. And even though it was a little hard to like at first, I see myself picking this book up again and re-reading it again.