Review: The Moon and More

Posted by Nina L. on 12:00 AM in 4-star, contemporary, review, romance, Sarah Dessen, YA,

Author: Sarah Dessen

Release date: June 4th 2013

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Series: N/A

Age Group: Young Adult Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Purchase: Amazon | The Book Depository

Add to your library: Goodreads

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going? (via Goodreads)

I immediately got two signed copies of The Moon and More the moment I knew it's available in the bookstore. I love Sarah Dessen you guys. I won't ever get tired of reading her books. Ever.

The Moon and More is surely one of the most realistic novels I've ever read. NO KIDDING. It may be long, yes. Some may hate that. But I just love it all the same because every word I read made me feel the story, the characters, the depth of Emaline's problems and the realities that the novel reflect.

Emaline's character is definitely different from other Sarah Dessen's MC. I don't know why. But I felt like Emaline was the most mature of them all. Although she had an absentee father, she didn't hold grudge against him or against her Mom. I thought she was just repressing her grudge or anything. But in the end, I realized that she actually accepted that fact long ago, she just didn't realize it earlier. It's like, she just needed to see her father because that will be the concrete proof that he was totally absent from her life. She is truly one of the strongest female MCs I've known. And I'm so glad I met her!

True enough, the story is like This Lullaby merging with The Truth About Forever. Those two are my favorites but that doesn't really matter. In here, it's all about the dad and the step-family that Emaline had when her Mom married. But difference was that, Emaline was good enough for her step-family, her stepdad and her older stepsisters. They were like a real family. This is a good thing, right? Because things like that can actually happen in real life. Okay, it must be sad and painful not to have your real family but what's more to ask when there are people who love you even if you're not blood related? Isn't it just wonderful to think that life can be lived harmoniously? Of course, there will be difficulties. But that's just it. We have to learn how to face it, accept it and learn to live with it. That's how Emaline did it. That was why she didn't really felt much of the grudge for her father because she had a dad. 

The romance didn't disappoint either. There's Luke and Theo but read it so you'll know who she ends up with. This is another thing that felt realistic. How Emaline handled her love life seemed so true. Let's not forget Emaline's stepbrother, Benji! I love that kid. And in some ways, I pity him. I'm just so glad that Emaline's her sister. And oh, Emaline's best friends too. God, now I miss my best friends! Can I just say that all the characters were so great?

Oh, and one thing I forgot about Emaline, she totally is contented with her life. She doesn't need to be pushed around. She was her own self. She already knew who she was and that was a refreshing thing since the MCs before all seemed like lost puppies, in a nice way, okay.

The Moon and More is another hit by Sarah Dessen. You'll be surprised as to how realistic the book is. A lot of realities are reflected in here that will totally make you think about your own life. It will also make you be thankful for what you already have.