Released: May 14, 2009 by Viking
Pages: 320
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by: Carey
At the beginning of her sophomore year, Marisa is ready for a fresh start and, more importantly, a boyfriend. So when the handsome and popular Derek asks her out, Marisa thinks her long wait for happiness is over. But several bumps in the road—including her parents’ unexpected separation, a fight with her best friend, and a shocking disappointment in her relationship with Derek—test Marisa’s ability to maintain her new outlook. Only the anonymous DJ, whose underground podcasts have the school’s ear, seems to understand what Marisa is going through. But she has no idea who he is—or does she? In Waiting For You, this third romantic novel from Susane Colasanti, Marisa learns how to “be in the Now” and realizes that the love she’s been waiting for has been right in front of her all along.
**
If Susane Colasanti does just one thing well and right (she definitely does more than just one thing well, though), it's the way that she makes her characters so original and different from each other. Waiting For You is Colasanti's third book, and the first one that has only one person POV. Even then, you can tell the difference in the minor characters (Sterling, Nash, Derek) and the main character (Marisa). Their attitudes, how they talk and present themselves, and quirky habits are personal to each character. And it's flawless.
Waiting For You starts off with fifteen-year-old Marisa just getting back from summer camp and having dinner with her best friend, Sterling. Just like in When It Happens, Marisa wants to sort of reinvent herself and find true love. She, just like Sara, has this idea of the perfect package in the popular hottie. Derek and Marisa end up dating, and things do go well for the first few months. He was her first kiss and boyfriend (cue the awwwwws). In the midst of things, her childhood best friend and lab partner Nash, who is totally not boyfriend material, forms a crush on Marisa, which makes things awkward for a while, which causes them to stop talking for a while. Sterling and Marisa are in a fight for a good portion of the book, just like any true best friends would be. There are problems going on at home with her parents, and her younger sister Sandra gives Marisa a hard time for being who she really is. In the end, everything turns out okay. Marisa is happy, she's healthy and is working on overcoming her depression, Sterling and her are no longer in a fight, and she finally found what she was waiting for.
Colasanti gets pretty deep in this one. Marisa struggles with anxiety and depression, and she definitely writes and plays it out just how it really is. Colasanti describes how she's spiraling down, how all she wants to do is sleep, and who cares about homework? It's hard to describe depression and anxiety. She was spot on with it. Props to her.
One of my favorite things about Colasanti is the writing style. She uses first person, but she uses it in a different way than most authors I've read. She'll use "say" instead of "said," for example. But she brings it to a whole new level. She makes it sound like character truly is telling the story and it brings in the character's personality because from time to time she'll write, "So I'm like, "blah blah blah." And I just think that's so original.
Susane Colasanti writes must-reads for teens, or anyone who reads YA. Not only do her books tell stories about young love, but they also deal with family life, friend problems, the senior year college anxieties, and pretty much any problems that are common today. She's a fantastic writer, and one of my biggest inspirations. Waiting For You just so happens to be my favorite book by Colasanti (thanks to the quirky, nerd, original Nash who has a fabulous alter ego , for many, many reasons. And that is why it receives five out of five stars.
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