top of page
Search

Spending the Summer at Run-Down Motel? The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen

  • Writer: Cassie <3
    Cassie <3
  • Jul 6, 2023
  • 3 min read

My rating: 4 Stars


I'm officially in my Sarah Dessen era and no one can stop me!!!


This is my third Sarah Dessen book and I have decided that Ms. Dessen took a lot of English courses and decided to follow those rules forever and I'm here for it. All of her books are guaranteed to have the following:


- overall theme that connects to the title

- character growth

- major event that mirrors character's said growth


And I eat it up every time.


The Rest of the Story might be Dessen's strongest book I've read so far as far as writing and storyline. With almost 450 pages, the plot and characters are super well developed and fleshed out. However, they strangely still lack some unique characteristic that makes me really connect with them.


There is a lot to love about this book. The setting is so much fun and gives heavy Outer Banks energy, just less murder-y and mystery-ish. But it 100% has that whole pogues vs. kooks storyline going on with Lake North and North Lake. And there's a lot screen doors slamming while everyone runs outside in shorts and flip flops ready to peel them off and jump in the lake at any moment.


While it did take me a minute to catch up with all the different characters, the family dynamics are really interesting. Once I could remember everyone, it was really immersive to sit in the kitchen listening to all these relatives knowing their backstories and histories with each other.


However, none of the characters really had anything all that interesting about them? They're all morally good characters who don't have any deep rooted flaws or weird interests to go anywhere with.


Emma doesn't have any personal demons or even a snobby bias against her cousins' socioeconomic class. She didn't really have anything to overcome...besides just being annoyed with her dad...which was valid because he is annoying for the majority of the book. She just has a curiosity about her family's past. Not much else to it.


She does of course have a cute love story! But since childhood besties to lovers isn't a fav trope of mine...I wasn't super into it.


So this book is basically just vibes. Vibin' out at the lake while Emma discovers things about her mom and lowkey falls in love with a cute little guy.


In conclusion: This was an immersive light read, but maybe a bit long considering the lack of plot. Still good! Def recommend if you like the childhood besties to lovers trope.


I shall continue my search for another Dessen book that's on par with Along for the Ride!!!


Synopsis:


Emma Saylor doesn’t remember a lot about her mother, who died when she was ten. But she does remember the stories her mom told her about the big lake that went on forever, with cold, clear water and mossy trees at the edges.


Now it’s just Emma and her dad, and life is good, if a little predictable…until Emma is unexpectedly sent to spend the summer with her mother’s family—her grandmother and cousins she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl.


When Emma arrives at North Lake, she realizes there are actually two very different communities there. Her mother grew up in working class North Lake, while her dad spent summers in the wealthier Lake North resort. The more time Emma spends there, the more it starts to feel like she is divided into two people as well. To her father, she is Emma. But to her new family, she is Saylor, the name her mother always called her.


Then there’s Roo, the boy who was her very best friend when she was little. Roo holds the key to her family’s history, and slowly, he helps her put the pieces together about her past. It’s hard not to get caught up in the magic of North Lake—and Saylor finds herself falling under Roo’s spell as well.


For Saylor, it’s like a whole new world is opening up to her. But when it’s time to go back home, which side of her will win out?


bookstagram: cassies.corner_

Purchase The Rest of the Story here:







Comments


me_edited.jpg

Hi, thanks for reading!

Subscribe for more random reviews!

Enter your email to subscribe!

  • Instagram
  • Amazon

Have a book recommendation? Let me know!

Thanks for submitting!

© 2035 by Turning Heads. Powered and secured by Wix

bottom of page