Once and for All

by Sarah Dessen

[girlinthepages]

I am a true lover of Dessen books, but I have to admit that I finally found one that didn't quite work out for me. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed aspects of the book- the wedding planning premise, the side characters (William and Louna's mom were hilarious, I need a book based just on their misadventures in wedding planning!) and of course the timeline of an entire summer, when so much growth can happen. However, I just couldn't connect with Louna in any way and she felt like the least dynamic Dessen protagonist I've come across, so reading her narrative eventually left me feeling sluggish and uninterested and I really had to power through the end of the book.

I was really excited going into Once and for All, as it has all of the trademarks of a good Dessen book- set in the summer, a budding yet unlikely romance, a quirky element, and a darker shadow hovering over the plot of the story. However, the tragedy that befell Louna feels inorganic and hard to connect with. Without mentioning too many spoilers, it seemed like the tragedy was so big and publicly known that it almost lost some of the intensity of the demons her other protagonists face, which are much more rooted in the personal and private spheres (such as Caitlin from Dreamland and Annabelle from Just Listen).

I also had a major problem liking, or even tolerating, the main characters. Louna was just so boring. I know Dessen's protagonists are generally more on the quiet side, the silent sidekick to a more dynamic supporting cast, but I felt like I wasn't getting anything from Louna at all. She didn't have Auden's bitterness or Halley's recklessness or Caitlin's depth. She was just there. Ambrose annoyed me 110% of the time. I'll be the first to admit I'm not always smitten by Sarah's love interests, but even if I don't find them swoonworthy I can still appreciate the romance and relationship that develops between the two main characters. Ambrose, however, was so infuriating that I could not come around to liking him even though you can tell as a reader you're supposed to find his lack of a filter and brutal honesty endearing after a time. I however think that just because you admit you're a certain way doesn't give you an excuse to continue on with that behavior (aka him always saying things like "I'm not for everyone") and really found the eventual slow burn romance to be really unbelievable.

However, my experience with this book wasn't wholly negative. The easter eggs were REALLY fun to spot (I'm sure I missed some but there were some awesome ones like Eli and Auden in one of Louna's flashbacks) and since I purchased the Barnes & Noble special editions, I had a bonus epilogue at the end of my book which was hands down my FAVORITE thing about reading this book. It pulls in the favorite band we all love to hate, plus many of the major players from Saint Anything and was so much fun to read.

Overall: This book had a really fun and unique setting with the wedding planning backdrop, and it was nice to return to Lakeview and spot all of the easter eggs from Dessen's past books. However, the novel really didn't work for me as it felt more like it was following the formula of previous Dessen books without the heart or depth that her other books have. I definitely seem to be in the minority with this opinion though, so if you're a Dessen fan I think you should definitely still give Once and For All a shot!This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages