Chapter by Chapter

The Moon and More is the first Sarah Dessen book I have ever read. Shocker, I know! To be perfectly honest with you all, I hadn’t even heard about this author until I saw this book available for review! *ducks for cover* I’d been hearing how amazing her writing is, how touching her books can be, how unforgettable her reads are…so in all honesty, I had pretty high expectations for my very first Dessen read… And even though I wasn’t completely blown away…I fell in love with this story. The Moon and More is pretty much a story about self-discovery and was a fantastic coming of age story.Emaline is getting ready to graduate from high school and start a whole new chapter in her life at college. But before the big day arrives, she has one more summer left in her little town of Colby, and she’s planning on having the best summer. How can she not? She’s got a hot, sexy boyfriend that she’s been with since the 9th grade, Luke, and who will be going to the same college. She’s gets to spend an amazing summer with her best friend, Daisy, and try to continue their “best dressed” winning streak at an annual beach shin dig.But things don’t always go according to plan. Emaline has to work at her grandmother’s rental agency under the iron fist of her sister, things between her and Luke are not how they used to be, there’s a “famous” documentary director in town digging around for information about a local resident who has an assistant that makes things very interesting for her, and her pretty non-existent biological father decides to come back into her life…with his own secrets and problems that reveals more than Emaline has bargained for.I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again…daddy/daughter stories pull at my heartstrings! And this one was no different. My one wish was that I wanted more interaction and drama between Emaline and her father, Joel. With so much going on in her life this summer, her issues with her father, though great that they are, were more of a back ground story, where I would have loved it to be more in the forefront.The interactions, both past and present, between Emaline and her father were heartbreaking! And not only do we see how much hurt and disappointment Emaline’s father has put her through, we also see it in a younger generation through Emaline’s stepbrother, Benji. Bearing witness to the hurt Benji is going through was more intense than what Emaline went through, simply because it’s a 10 year old child.One part of this story that annoyed me was Emaline’s mother. I understand that she’s a young mom, having had Emaline at like 17 years old or whatever, but my first impression of her when she was introduced early on in the book was, she was more of a friend rather than a mother. Even with the way in which the mother interacts Emaline didn’t emulate “mom”. Don’t get me wrong, she had her moments where I was applauding and cheering the mom moments (in my head, of course), where there are little things that would comfort Emaline because it was a “thing” that is part of them.Author, Sarah Dessen’s writing style is one that flows across the pages. She has written a story that was difficult to put down and to forget. It’s one that I’m sure reader’s everywhere will find something that they can relate to, and one that will have you can look back on and appreciate. Although the story didn’t quite end how I hoped that it would, I’m a so thrilled to have been able to experience my first Sarah Dessen book, and walked away with a smile on my face.