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Book Review of Just Listen

Just Listen
Just Listen
Author: Sarah Dessen
Genres: Children's Books, Teen & Young Adult
Book Type: Hardcover
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Helpful Score: 1


Over the course of just one summer before her junior year of high school, Annabel Greene has managed to lose all her friends. Always the quiet, "nice" one, a misunderstanding at an end-of-school party results in Annabel losing her gregarious best friend, Sophie, a complicated go-getter with many mood swings and only two sides to friendship. You're either her friend, or you're her enemy. Being Sophie's friend has caused the nice Annabel to lose several of her old friends as well, including her former best friend, Clarke, whom Sophie indirectly deemed "nerdy" and thus dropped like a hot potato.

Suddenly, Annabel finds herself all alone. She sits on the wall at lunch next to Owen, the loner boy who exudes an aura of intimidation for his gigantic stature and the omnipresence of earphones in his ear. Meanwhile, Annabel's situation at home is not too great either. The past year was focused mostly on middle sister Whitney's eating disorder, and Whitney and eldest Kirsten's constant clashes and subsequent falling-out in the face of Whitney's anorexia/bulimia.
Now, Whitney's at home and slowly recovering, but she's still taking up most of their parents' attention. Thus, Annabel feels unable to tell her mother that she wants to quit modeling, something that all of her sisters have done and grown out of. Annabel is the last one left, and as a result, she feels pressured to stay on it in order to make her mother happy.

In the middle of Sophie's attacks, her mother's inattention, and Whitney's glowers, Annabel strikes up an unexpected friendship with Owen. Turns out Owen is obsessed with music - and telling the truth all the time. With him, Annabel feels like a different person, one who can say what she wants to say all the time, instead of holding everything back like she usually does.

That is, until her past catches up to her. By trying to suppress all horrible memories of what happened to her that night at the party, Annabel is gradually but steadily ruining her future, including a possible romance with Owen. She must first admit to herself the truth before she can tell others and start on the path to recovery.