Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of This Lullaby

This Lullaby
This Lullaby
Author: Sarah Dessen
Genre: Teen & Young Adult
Book Type: Paperback
ScoutDarcy avatar reviewed Missed the mark... on + 19 more book reviews


To start, I've already read two of Dessen's-- Someone Like You and Dreamland. I had high hopes for this one, as most of the people I knew who'd read Sarah Dessen named this as their favorite. However, for some reasons, this one disappointed me.

First, I never did quite see what Remy saw in Dexter. Granted, lately, my literary crushes have been of the Mr. Darcy/Jay Gatsby type, but I wanted to like Dexter. I did. And did I? I actually thought he was plain annoying, for the most part. I felt that there weren't enough scenes of them as a couple to really convince the reader they had something.

Second, some critical reviews call the family and friends of Remy and Dexter well-fleshed out and such. Are they really? In the end, Don is just a jerk, Remy's mother magically no longer needs Remy, and the bandmates just... complain. A lot.

Third, everything was wrapped up a bit too conveniently. Two major events in Remy's family just *happen* to happen on the same day, leading to an epiphany.

There were some things I liked about this book. One of them was the character cameo from another of Dessen's books, and my personal favorite. Another was the occasional bits of humor. But I couldn't sympathize with Remy, and overall I just didn't relate to any of the characters.

I know I'm bucking the trend and knocking a fan favorite, but this one didn't exactly hit the mark for me, sadly.