Saint Anything | Sarah Dessen

Review

Title: Saint Anything
Author: Sarah Dessen
Publication: May 5th 2015 by Viking Juvenile
Format: Hardcover
Source: Independent Bookstore
Genre: YA; Contemporary; Romance

Peyton, Sydney’s charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion’s share of their parents’ attention and—lately—concern. When Peyton’s increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction, and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident?
Enter the Chathams, a warm, chaotic family who run a pizza parlor, play bluegrass on weekends, and pitch in to care for their mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Here Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance. And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time.

Thoughts:

It had been an extremely long time since I had picked up a Sarah Dessen book.  We’re talking 3+ years amount of time.  Although Saint Anything didn’t get a ton of hype, when I saw it at a independent bookstore signed, I felt like it was destiny.  It just so happens that later that same week Lara rec’d Saint Anything to me for our Epic Rec’s that month (even though she hadn’t read it yet)! 🙂  Thanks Lara for this fun read.

Starting off in Dessen’s signature style, the story revolves around two (interconnected) dynamics + a romance.  Those dynamics were of course family and friends.  Upon meeting Sydney, although I couldn’t relate to her life I did connect to her view on life.  She had very relatable struggles when dealing with her parents and the weakness of elder generations to want to ignore issues.  Her friend dynamics were interesting, because who hasn’t been new at some point, and found themselves wrapped up in a group with tons of baggage.  All of Sydney’s friends were very original, and in classic Dessen style had perfect backstories that weren’t at all distracting from Sydney.

As Sydeny grapples with her brother’s mistakes and her families response I gorged myself on the story, tearing through realistic teenage settings in a feeble attempt to care even more about these delicate characters.  The narration was broken by the occasional smattering of song lyrics, articles, and texting.  These elements brought Saint Anything to life in a way that I don’t recall her other books doing.  Atlhough Dessen is more of a teller than a shower, the classic contemporary romantic tension was not over done.  I would go as far as to call it a romantic sub-plot (which are my favorites by the way).  Although Sydney is a teenager and hormones and emotions do strongly affect her, Sydney is not at a point in her life where relationships (romantic) are everything that she thinks, and I appreciated that.

This book was not without its faults, however.  I think that while Sydney was a relatable person, her story was hard to relate to and at times as a reader I felt distanced from the situation.  Dessen’s classic romance formula fit well with the novel that she wrote, but I wish that she broke her pattern on occasion and let her characters discover themselves in a different way.  Without spoiling anything, I also want to note that the ending of the book felt very rushed.  If Dessen had taken her time and let the characters react to everything that happens post climax in a realistic manner I think that the conclusion would have been more successful.  There is particular moment that was completely glossed over and the implications of that made me uncomfortable.

Final Thoughts:

Saint Anything is a contemporary gem.  While comfortably familiar, Saint Anything tackles tough issues and shows extraordinary efforts to present realistic characters and situations.  Dessen’s protagonist and secondary characters were as fleshed out as always, though quirkier in ways that make Saint Anything unique.  Although Dessen didn’t break away from every contemporary standard (and she did fall into some well done clichés) Saint Anything is warm enough to sooth your heart and serious enough to feel real.  Any fans of hers should of course pick this up, but fans of Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda and Since You’ve Been Gone will likely enjoy this too.

Other Opinions:

Emily | Loony Literate

Kayla | The Thousand Lives

Wendy Darling | The Midnight Garden *Q&A W/ Sarah Dessen about Saint Anything