Review: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

The Moon and More
Author: Sarah Dessen
Genre: YA Contemporary
Release Date: June 4, 2013
Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Description:

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?

Sarah Dessen's devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer. 

The Moon and More is a young adult contemporary novel that follows lead character Emaline as she makes her way through the summer before starting college in the fall. Emaline lives in the small coastal town of Colby, where all of her family is, where the family business is located, and where the college she'll be attending is as well. Emaline also has the perfect boyfriend - Luke - who is gorgeous, kind, and who loves her. Emaline seems to have a great life, but something inside of her is begging to see what lies beyond the town of Colby. Enter Theo, a vacationer from New York, who also thinks that Emaline is destined for bigger things than Colby can offer. Emaline wants to get all she can out of life, but does that mean staying in Colby or seeing what else is out there?

This was a light and quick contemporary read that was perfect for the summer. Emaline is a good main character and I could easily identify with her early on in the book. She's smart, driven, a devoted girlfriend, friend and daughter, but she's always felt like there's more to life than Colby. There's a bit of a love triangle in the book, which I hated. I always seem to go for the sweetheart guy in books, and Luke - Emaline's boyfriend - definitely fits the bill. I was rooting for their relationship from early on and I hated when they threw Theo into the mix. The plot was realistic and definitely deals with topics that most teens and young adults can identify with - especially those who are going to be graduating. It talks a lot about expectations - your own and others - as well as friendship, love, family, and being true to yourself. There were great underlying messages throughout the book, which most readers can identify with. I did feel that some of the plot was cliched and stereotypical, especially when it comes to escaping small town life and wanting more out of life than you had planned. It seemed a bit worn out and tired, which made me roll my eyes at the characters more than once. Overall, this is a great YA contemporary novel that fans of the genre will not want to miss out on - and is definitely a perfect summer read!