Carey on: The Moon and More Book Tour

This was my third time meeting Sarah. Once when What Happened to Goodbye came out, and the second was for the paperback tour of WHTG. The event that I went to was held on June 3rd, at The Regulator in Durham, NC. I was lucky, because I live literally twenty minutes from Sarah, that I got to go and see her a day before pub day. It was probably the best night I've had in a while. I sat next to my favorite book bloggers, Magnet 4 Books, Alli and Tiffani, and also met Lauren (Nose in a Book). Alli, Tiffani, and I were the last three people in line to have Sarah sign our books. We got to talk to her for around fifteen, twenty minutes. It was absolutely amazing. Apparently she dated my high school counselor. She actually asked me to record a video message of her to show him so I have a video of her talking directly to me and my counselor and she told me to do it, and I couldn't believe it. I also won the first trivia question (in The Truth About Forever, my favorite book by her, what was Wes's brother's first car when he got his license? AN AMBULANCE, DUH.) and I got this fabulous Colby Reality shirt. It's soooooo soft, and it's perfect for my super bad sunburn right now. And I got some Colby stickers for my car.

Picture time!

"Don't give up on your dreams---- they will soon be a reality!" I thought of this quote literally as I was waiting in line. She signed maybe four of my books at a previous event saying, "Never give up!" I didn't want all of my books to say the same thing, and I thought this was absolutely perfect. As my future is becoming a lot closer, and the possibilities are coming at me, this is so true. Plus, considering the fact that some people I know think that I am way too ambitious. But hey. When I'm a best-selling author, I can rub it in their faces and tell them that they were wrong. 

The morning after the event, I decided to tweet this picture and say, "Reppin Colby Reality! @sarahdessen" and she retweeted me. She never retweets fans!  I literally fangirled so hard.

Review: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Title: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
Released: June 4, 2013 by Viking
Pages: 435
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Reviewed by: Carey

If you're familiar with Dessen's novels, you would know that she tends to tie in past novels to current ones. The Moon and More is set in her fictional town of Colby, where high school graduate Emaline lives. When the book starts off, she's dating Luke, who's perfect in all aspects. Enter Theo, an movie-making intern, who immediately falls for Emaline. Her father and half-brother show up with some big news, which of course causes some drama. And all her mom wants to give Emaline is the moon and more.

First off, I want to say that this is Dessen's longest novel ever, beating What Happened to Goodbye by around 33 pages, and Along for the Ride by 40. Props to her. This is the only reason why I gave it 4.5: it took me a while to get into it, and it sort of dragged on for a bit. To be honest, it wasn't typical Dessen Style. But it was still fabulous and I did love it. It got so emotional towards the end--- I would say why, but I really don't want to spoil it or anything. Dessen is right on point when it comes to teenage problems. How nerve wracking it is the summer before college, having siblings in your room, break ups, new relationships, etc. Everything Dessen is writes about it right on point, in every single book she writes. And I loved the fact how she described the differences between dad and father.

As for the characters: I loved Emaline. She didn't want to let people push her around, and I love that. She was so kind to everyone, even someone she didn't really like. Luke, despite the reason why he and Emaline broke up, was literally perfect. I was really expecting them to get back together once they went of to East U, and I was truly disappointed when they didn't. Morris made me laugh every single time his character showed up, and I'm actually really excited for his character to show up in later Dessen novels. Theo, though. I disliked him so freaking much. I'm pretty sure that he's my least favorite in any of Dessen's novels. He was so... arrogant. Too clingy. I hated it. But hey, he was a dater who loved events and was just really arrogant. That's who he was. And I hope that he's one of those characters that stays in the vault and never shows up again. Sorry, Sarah.

Anyways, Dessen always brings the same thing to the bookshelves: true things that happens. I hope that made sense; I wasn't really sure how to word it. This book, although not my favorite, was fabulous, and as she is my favorite author ever, I do recommend this novel, along with all eleven others. Overall rating, 4.5.

Carey on: New Sarah Dessen Covers?

Two weeks ago, Sarah Dessen announced that her paperbacks were going to get new covers. At first I was sort of "eh" about it. I love the original covers of any book more than their new ones (except for So Much Closer by Susane Colasanti, I think the paperback cover is better than the hard cover, sue me). So I was nervous about how Penguin was going to do with them.

And then they started to be released, one a day for each book on a different website. And oh my gosh I loved them all so much! Well, for the most part, at least. Check them out (and my opinions because I can):

Before|After

I love the sunglasses, and how they're closer to the camera lens than the couple. I think the color scheme is a lot better than the original as well.

I don't quite understand why exactly they're butterflies on the new cover. But I don't think there should be a couple (which there's not) on it, considering Macon and Halley don't end up together in the end. (Sorry for the spoiler if you haven't read it!)

I always thought that the original was so awkward. I mean, a picture of this girl's shorts is just so awkward! Although I do love the sunglasses there, the new cover is perfect! There were a lot of fireworks in the story and I love the model's positions. Plus, I bet that it was fun to shoot!

I think this is the only new cover that I don't like. I don't really understand at all. And I think that it's too bright for Dreamland. Dreamland is so dark and eerie that it deserves a darker cover. This just doesn't do it for me.

Love the color, love the guitar pick, and love the guitar. Perfect, perfect, perfect!

I wanted that bracelet the second that I saw the new cover. I even went over to AC Moore and got some beads and a wishbone charm to make one! Yeah, that didn't work out quite so well, so I just bought one on Etsy hehe. I love the colors, the bracelet, and it's just perfect. (This is probably my favorite Dessen book, by the way.)

How cute is that?! Answer: extremely.

I'm glad that they still kept her listening to music on the cover, considering that was a big part. I just like how you can see her entire body positioned how I always thought she was while she listened to the mix. The colors are perfect, too. I know I keep saying that...

This is my favorite new cover. I just like how it's so bold and it just shoves the key in your face. Once again, the colors are perf. Oh, and here's a fun fact. I named my new car after Ruby! Not because I'm "so obsessed" or anything. It's just that she's red, and Ruby was the first thing that came to mind. Plus, Ruby loves to get out and she drove around a lot with her mom. It was perfect! Look at her!

So quaint. 

I always thought that the original cover was adorable, yet sort of awkward and uncomfortable. I still think that it should have been darker outside in both covers, just because they're both insomniacs and they meet in the night a lot. But I love the color of the bike (of course I do, right?) 

What Happened to Goodbye, her latest novel (May 2011) isn't getting a new cover, considering the fact that it isn't out in paperback yet. And honestly, I thought that this was the only cover that should have gotten a new one. I don't know why I don't like it, but I don't.

Dessen will be coming out with her latest book, Someone Else's Summer in May 2013. Originally it was to be named The Best After Ever, but (and you can read on her blog why) her publisher decided to change the title. Someone Else's Summer is set in the fictional beach town of Colby, where several of Dessen’s novels take place, it features 18-year-old Emmeline, who is spending her last summer before college working for her family’s vacation rental business and enjoying a summer romance with a young aspiring filmmaker. It sucks that we have to wait another year until it comes out, but I'm sure it will be worth the wait! 

Review: Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen

Title: Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen

Released: May 1, 1998 by Penguin

Pages: 281

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed by: Carey

Halley has always followed in the wake of her best friend, Scarlett. But when Scarlett learns that her boyfriend has been killed in a motorcycle accident, and that she's carrying his baby, she's devastated. For the first time ever, Scarlett really needs Halley. Their friendship may bend under the weight, but it'll never break--because a true friendship is a promise you keep forever.

***

If you didn't already know this, Sarah Dessen is my all time favorite author. I've met her, I've been tweeted by her, and I've read all of her books. This is actually the first one that I read by her, back in 2008. I, of course, just re-read it. 

Sarah Dessen books always seem sort of the same to me, honestly. There's a girl who falls in love with a guy who's way different than her and her parents usually don't like them, and so on. Dessen always seems to incorporate something different in each though. A divorce, a new baby, moving around so many times, etc. In Someone Like You, it was Halley's best friend getting pregnant. I'm more surprised that there aren't more books about teenage pregnancy.  I think this is the only one I've read ever, if not one other. That's what I love about Dessen.

The first time I read Someone Like You, I was in love with it. I was in love with the Macon/Halley relationship, and how Halley changed throughout the book. The second time, four years later, I couldn't really get that into it, or at least not as into it. Maybe it's because I've seen How to Deal, and the entire time I  was thinking about Ashley in That Summer and I momentarily forgot that those were two different books (my bad) , but I just kept thinking about How to Deal and how they acted different (at least to me) from they should have in the book. I hate how movies ruin books sometimes, but that's just what happens. Books > movies. Always. 

But anyways, I just feel like, and maybe it's because I'm not into the partying crowd, but I feel like I just couldn't relate to Someone Like You as much as I wanted to. The story line was so perfect though, it really was. This really happens in real life. Teenagers grow apart from their parents, teens get pregnant, teens fall in love with other teens who change them even more. And Dessen proves that perfectly with all of her books. Overall rating, 3.5.

PS: I just LOVE the new paperback cover design! I love all of them so much.