Just Listen

Title- Just Listen

Author-Sarah Dessen

Rating- 4/5

Comments- At first glance, it looks like one of those chick lits. The slightly cliche title (Just Listen), the pretty cover that looks as though it would appeal to teenagers, not to mention the blurb that could possibly be introducing a typical story of teenage drama with evil popular girls, silly boys and endless ranting about how much life sucks.

Yet when you actually start reading the book, it seems that that isn't the case. Alright, it does deal with a teenage girl and her issues with life, including ruined friendships, high school, family drama and falling in love. But surprisingly enough, the problems being dealt with were of a much more serious and mature level, involving a lot more concentration and thought from the reader.

It was impressive how Sarah Dessen managed to entwine the entire story together by referring to and repeating several very symbolic objects and actions. It was cleverly planned out and there was always such a flow to the story.

And the most amazing thing about this story, was there was probably not a single mention of the word "love". Absolutely none. I have to say that I was terribly impressed, because Dessen managed to prove that love can be conveyed between characters and the reader without actually mentioning the word.

So I can safely tell you, that looks and in this case, descriptions, have been proved deceiving. If you're in for a serious read about high school drama, I can highly recommend Just Listen. It's very much worth it.