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What are readers saying about Just Listen?
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jaquese posted a review at 2009-11-20 16:48:39.
(Language: English)
 
loved it!
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A reader posted a review at 2009-11-12 17:52:49.
(Language: English)
It's everything I love and have been looking for in a book. Music and love. That's what I'm talking about.
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Jennifer posted a review at 2009-11-10 19:28:26.
(Language: English)
Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com Up until now, THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER has always been my favorite Sarah Dessen book. Now that I've read JUST LISTEN, however, I think there's a tie! The characters of this latest release are so honestly real, their dialogue perfectly placed, that you can't help but be pulled into the life and times of Annabel Greene. Of course everyone thinks that Annabel has the perfect life. She's a model who has been in television commercials, in print ads, and in fashion shows at the local mall. She's popular at school, even if it is mostly because she's best friends with Sophie, the high school girl who demands attention. Her father is an architect who designed their house of glass; her mother lives for Annabel's modeling; she has two older sisters, Kirsten and Whitney, who are both former models themselves. Under all of that perfection, of course, lies the real Annabel. The one who suffered from something so horrible at the end of the last school year that she's lost not only her best friend, but her self-respect. Her family is so consumed with Whitney's eating disorder, with Kirsten's college life far away in New York, with keeping everything under control that Annabel doesn't tell them what's happened--the things that are still happening every day she goes to school just dreading the day. She doesn't want to add more problems to the mix; in fact, she lies by omission, simply avoiding the truth rather than shattering her family's illusions. But then Annabel meets Owen Armstrong, a boy she once watched punch out another student, then calmly walk away. Owen keeps to himself, never seems to be without his iPod, and doesn't appear to need any friends. But after he reaches out a hand to her, literally, after she's sick outside of school one day, a budding relationship of friendship begins to build between the guy who never lies, no matter what--and the girl who lies to protect other's feelings, namely her own. I loved JUST LISTEN. Owen is a character that will immediately grab your interest, especially with lines like "...for me, not saying how I feel when I feel it is a bad move. So I don't do it. Look at it this way: I might be saying you're fat, but at least I'm not punching you in the face." As for Annabel, the things she's holding inside are tearing her apart, and, in the end, it's the strength of her sisters that gets her to ask for help. The characters of Kirsten and Whitney are complicated and complex, and I have to admit that there's a part near the end of the book in which the sisters come together that had me crying like a baby. As for Annabel, it's not all about telling the truth, but about listening, not just to others, but mostly to that voice inside of her: "...this is what happens when you try to run from the past. It doesn't just catch up: it overtakes, blotting out the future, the landscape, the very sky, until there is no path left except that which leads through it, the only one that can ever get you home."
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A reader posted a review at 2009-11-10 13:44:42.
(Language: English)
I've never been partial to real life fiction (More into fantasy) but this is a really good read. Cracking plot, great characters and a good ending, this is defintely a book to snuggle up with in the evening.
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Emily posted a review at 2009-11-06 11:12:53.
(Language: English)
Sarah Dessen is a master at capturing the thoughts and feelings that come from a teenager struggling to make it through a crisis. Annabel is the perfect girl on the outside: a modeling career that is ten years strong, two sisters and parents who love her... and yet she has lost all respect from her peers, lost her best friend over something she didn't mean to happen, was recently sexually assaulted and has no real friends, except maybe one weird guy at school with anger management issues. This story is an ever evolving, sweet and bitter story of one year in a girl's life.
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Kim posted a review at 2009-11-04 09:15:40.
(Language: English)
the only thing you can do is JUST LISTEN. the book is filled with the angst of a girl trying to find her own place in a world gone mad. you can't help but listen and try to understand the way she tries to tell her side. you end the book with seeing a piece of yourself in her.
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Amanda posted a review at 2009-10-28 23:10:55.
(Language: English)
If you ever read the book Speak, and liked it then you'll love this one.
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A reader posted a review at 2009-10-26 16:17:07.
(Language: German)
Ein bisschen schlicht erzählt und ein bisschen zu happy das Ende, aber gut für einen Ferientag.
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Erica posted a review at 2009-10-26 15:18:56.
(Language: English)
This book was truely amazing,it was like the characters became part of my life. i couldnt put it down. once i finished i felt like i was missing a piece of me.
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A reader posted a review at 2009-10-22 21:38:43.
(Language: English)
Wow. This book is amazing. Out of the Sarah Dessen books I've read, I would definitely say this was the best. The complexities of modeling, eating disorders, friendship, and misunderstandings really grip you throughout the story. I read this book in one sitting, I was so absorbed in the story. It almost got 5 stars, but there were a few places that left me confused, and I had to read on, then read back several times to make out what was happening. So, if you love Sarah Dessen or read books about real-life situations, this one is a must.
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