Review for Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Now after reading this book I can say that I’ve read every single book by Sarah Dessen to date, and this is definitely one of my favourites. Like all of Dessens books this is set over summer and is about a girl called Auden who never lets go and has fun. She’s always studying and doing well in school as a way to get her parents attention and approval during and after their divorce and because of this she’s never really had much of a childhood. It’s the summer before college and Auden goes to spend it with her dad and his new family in the beach town of Colby. Ever since her parents first began arguing at night Auden’s been an insomniac and even now their separated she still cant get to sleep at night so its during her nights wondering around a sleeping Colby that Auden meets Eli a fellow insomniac. As she starts to find out why Eli cant sleep at night and he begins to find out about her she realises that she missed out on a lot of things in childhood, sneaking in late, food fights and riding a bike to name a few. Eli thinks its not too late to change so he sets a quest for Auden to complete all of these things that she’s missed out on. But can people really change? And is it ever too late for second chances? Although it has to be said that Sarah Dessen certainly writes to a formula. I still always enjoy her novels. Our heroine Auden is slightly older than the usual characters in Dessens stories and I found that the summer before college made for a lovely coming of age novel. This book has everything a girl could want in a summer read and can be read and enjoyed any time of year so if your looking for a good chick lit coming of age novel I’d highly recommend this. I can’t wait to see what Sarah brings out next! 4. 5 stars. My Rating 4.5/5 stars ****1/2