Review: Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen.

 

Book:  Saint Anything 

Author: Sarah Dessen 

Pages: 391 

Read On: My iPad 

How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days 

Plot Summary: Peyton, Sydney's charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion's share of their parents' attention and—lately—concern. When Peyton's increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction, and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident?

Enter the Chathams, a warm, chaotic family who run a pizza parlor, play bluegrass on weekends, and pitch in to care for their mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Here Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance. And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time.

General Thoughts: This is the second Sarah Dessen book I've read, I read Whatever Happened to Goodbye in 2012 and I quite liked it. I also own copies of Just Listen and Along for the Ride and I hope to read them soon. This is her newest novel and the premise sounded interesting and therefore I got to it first. 

Things I Liked: 

1. I enjoyed the authors writing style and story-telling. 

2. Books about families are some of my favourtie things to read about and I loved reading about this family- a family that is going through the incarceration of their son and living their life dealing with the complications it brings in it's wake. 

3. Sibling relationships is another thing I thoroughly enjoy reading about. I really like Peyton and Sydney's sibling relationship. It used to be a close bond but for a long time it's been a little broken. I also liked the sibling ties of Mac and his sisters. Very different from Peyton and Sydney but intresting and complicated in it's own way. 

4. In this book we essentially see two families that are so different from each other in every way- class, bonds, ideology and even closeness. It was nice to see two sets of family units deals with similar situations and see how the same situation is handled differently by different people. 

5. I really loved the Chatham family. 

6. The other thing I found interesting in this book was how Sydney's mother's character is crafted. She is so real and I actually know women like her. Women who turn motherhood into something else all together. Women who don't see their children's flaws at all. Some might find her annoying and oblivious to the truths right in front of her eyes but I found her real, flawed but so real. 

7. I also love reading books where in a family one child shines bright whereas the other is often sadly neglected or not given as much importance. As much as parents like to say they love their kids equally and give them equal attention and importance, we all know that's not always the case. I like reading about these situations and I like that this book shows this phenomenon in a such a real way. 

8. I also loved the love story and the pace it took. 

9. This book has lots and lots of pizza in it. So that was nice :) 

10. Apart from the main characters, even the side characters are all very well crafted. And there are quite a few of them and they are all memorable and very likable.

Rating: 4/5