BRO ITS FUCKING SARAH DESSEN. THIS BITCH IS MY CRACK, COCAINE, METH, AND HEROIN. I WOULD DRINK HER DOWN LIKE THE SMOOTHEST VODKA. ( )

Not quite up there among my favorites by this author but it’s still a solid read, especially if you’re looking for something set in the summer.

Auden is not the best at socializing and isn’t always nicest, so that was good, I like a heroine with flaws. Eli, Auden’s potential love interest, intrigued me early on with the brooding loner thing and distancing himself from his friends.

It’s just that once this hit the middle section neither Auden nor Eli held up as quite as interesting to me as they’d been at the beginning, they both kind of lost that bit of an edge to their personalities that they’d had in the beginning, which, I mean, that was growth, growth should be a good thing for a character and a story but maybe that growth came a little too soon or something? I don’t know, just pacing wise, somewhere along the way this lost some momentum, there was a chunk of this book where it didn’t feel like there was much going on, where it could have used a bit more plot, maybe some goals for these two to work towards or something. The joys of late night shopping and pie and the mini-mart, that stuff was cute, even relatable and memorable just not necessarily as page-turning as I would have liked.

But there were other things that staved off any actual boredom. I really enjoyed the friend group, they were a good mix of quirk and heart. I particularly liked Maggie, with her combination of book smarts, fashion sense, trick riding, a disapproving mom, and a guy cutely crushing on her, there were moments where I wondered if I may have preferred her as the lead character, it seemed like she had more potential story in her than Auden did.

Also, I don’t know how much the stepmom’s struggles with her awful husband and her newborn will appeal to this book’s intended teen audience but as an adult reader I was impressed by the messy realism there to the point where it got me hoping that Sarah Dessen may someday try her hand at an adult novel.

Lastly, I wanted to note that if you have the opportunity to read Dessen’s novels in chronological order, Along For The Ride continues her fun habit of inserting cameos/Easter eggs from her previous books, most of them are extremely brief like if you’re reading too fast you might even miss it, but when you do spot a certain character riding by on her bicycle or a key necklace makes an appearance, etc., they’re just lovely little bonuses to the reading experience. ( )

Green eyes strike again! Seriously...

Apparently I'm wild enough to not require a full translation of 'all that bike shit' into English. How cool is that?

I did it again. 1 book in 1 day. Wow.

I find myself inspired to give the bike thing another shot. Among other things.

Sigh.
Wonderful. Inspiring. Warm. Achingly hopeful.
Simply wow ( )

I missed out on this one as a teen. It was a good read. ( )

I’m a huge Sarah Dessen fan. Whenever I read her book, I just wish there were realistic books like this when I was a young adult. Instead I endured the Babysitters Club never-ending 8th grade year that included at least 7 Christmases and summer vacations or there was the Sweet Valley Series which sometimes had werewolves. Anyway- I’ve been excited about this book Sarah posted some teaser clips on her website earlier this year. In the end, I am not disappointed.
Along For the Ride introduces us to Auden West- a recently graduated High school student who has decided to step out of her box and spend the summer visiting her dad, stepmother and new baby sister. During the summer she learns new things about herself and her family.
Pretty vague summary and many of the reviews of this book has mentioned that this pretty much Sarah Dessen’s plot device for most of her recent novels
Awkward teen dysfunctional family new group of friends (and experiences) new slightly less awkward boy= Sarah Dessen book. I have to agree with this assessment. I noticed it as soon as I started to book and became worried that the story was going to feel “familiar”. I’m pleased to say there were no worried. Yes, it’s a similar formula, but I think what Sarah Dessen excels at is taking each one and making them unique and real. I loved Auden and I think her dad was one of the realest characters in the book (even though I didn’t like him). I liked Auden’s dynamic with her parents (or rather the way Sarah described it). It might seem like the same plot you read in Lock and Key or Just listen, but you soon realize that it’s very different and Auden feels so real and different from all the other characters. Although some people and places from Lock and Key and other Dessen books make appearances in this one- Along for the Ride is unique in its own way.
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