Book Review - Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

Hey, all!  I'm back with another book review this week.

For about the last 6 months, I've been slowly reworking my way through Sarah Dessen's books.  I read and ate up everything she had out when I was in high school, but for some reason, I stopped after I graduated.  And she's written several more books since I graduated from high school a million years ago.  More reading for me!

Now that I started rereading the ones I'd read before and reading the ones I never had, I've managed to get about halfway through her works.  Mostly thanks to a thrift/consignment store chain in Iowa called Stuff! that had almost all of her books in at one time or another when I was there.  Tangent, Stuff! is the best store ever when it comes to used books.  If an item hasn't sold in 60 days, they mark it half off.  If it still hasn't sold in 90 days, it's 80% off.  I got books there for literally 20-40 cents on clearance.  AMAZING.  I miss the good book deals now that I don't live near there anymore.  Sigh...

Anyway, one I hadn't read yet was called Saint Anything.  This book came out in 2015, so it was during my I-don't-have-time-to-read-for-fun-anymore college time.  And I happened to find it in the bargain section at Books-a-Million (sadly, not Stuff! but BAM is great for bargains on new books).

It sat on my shelf for a couple months, then got packed up when I moved.  I only just uncovered it the other day when I was searching for a different book.  I gave up on the other book (like, I got 80 pages in and nothing had happened yet, and I figured the other 400 pages were going to be just like that, so I quit reading it) and settled in with Saint Anything instead.  And I'm so glad I did.

My copy!

This book is about a girl named Sydney.  Sydney's always felt invisible next to her outgoing older brother, but when her brother starts getting into trouble, her whole life changes.  It's told in first-person (which is my favorite) and is just from Sydney's perspective.

Being the invisible child myself, I could completely relate to Sydney.  And even if you weren't invisible compared to siblings, you'll still relate either to Sydney or to the new friends she makes.  It's such a sweet story and I just found myself wanting to hug Sydney and tell her things were going to be okay while simultaneously punching her parents in their faces for their lack of interest in their one child who isn't going to jail.  Not a spoiler, by the way.  It says he does on the back cover.

See? I told you so!

But, oh my god, the characters are so real.  The dialogue is on point.  The friendships reminded me of my own.  It's just so sweet.  This is, without a doubt, my favorite Sarah Dessen book I've read - I do have some more to read still though, so that could change.  For a contemporary YA teen romance, this one knows what it's doing, and it does it well.  It's amazing.  I absolutely loved it.  I honestly cannot think of a single complaint.  If I was giving out grades for books, I'd give it an A+.

So, if you've ever thought about rereading a book you haven't read since high school, give it a chance.  Plus, who knows how many books that author might have written since then!

Now, to get back to my own writing.

Write on!
Amy