Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen


Publication Date: June 16, 2009


Plot: It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.


A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.


In her signature pitch-perfect style, Sarah Dessen explores the hearts of two lonely people learning to connect.




MY THOUGHTS:

Love, love, love this book! I used to be OBSESSED with Sarah Dessen books in high school and college. You wouldn’t find a book of hers I didn’t have on my shelf. They were such incredible reads, and I always found her stories so relatable in a way I’d never related to another author's work before. Friends, the beach, the adventures, and the life lessons we learn as young adults coming into full-blown adulthood.


I picked Along for the Ride back up for a re-read before the Netflix movie was released, and now I remember why I’ve always loved her so much. It’s not a perfect adaptation, and yes things are changed but it worked well. I loved so many things about it, and it got me deep in my Sarah Dessen feels. This book feels like coming home.


If you’re looking for a book that gives off a spontaneous adventure vibe, this is it. It’s all about family, friends, falling in love, exploring, hardships, breakthroughs, and healing. Basically everything you could ask for in a comfort book. 10/10 recommend!

☆ Rating: 4.5/5 stars 

FAVORITE QUOTES


“Sometimes a question can hurt more than an answer.”


“Relationships don’t always make sense. Especially from the outside.”


“Life is full of screwups. You're supposed to fail sometimes. It's a required part of the human existence.”


“An ending was an ending. No matter how many pages of sentences and paragraphs of great stories led up to it, it would always have the last word.”


“So maybe it wasn't the fairy tale. But those stories weren't real anyway. Mine were.”


“It's still a memory worth having, even if it's not exactly what you imagined.”

FAVORITE QUOTES


“Sometimes a question can hurt more than an answer.”


“Relationships don’t always make sense. Especially from the outside.”


“Life is full of screwups. You're supposed to fail sometimes. It's a required part of the human existence.”


“An ending was an ending. No matter how many pages of sentences and paragraphs of great stories led up to it, it would always have the last word.”


“So maybe it wasn't the fairy tale. But those stories weren't real anyway. Mine were.”


“It's still a memory worth having, even if it's not exactly what you imagined.”