Book Review: Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen

Halley and Scarlett have been best friends for years, sharing secrets, clothes, and crushes. People know Scarlett as the popular, flamboyant one; Halley's just her quiet sidekick. Then, at the beginning of their junior year, the balance shifts. First, Scarlett's boyfriend Michael is killed in a freak accident; soon afterward, she learns that she is carrying his baby. For the first time, Scarlett really needs Halley. Their friendship may bend under the weight, but it'll never break--because a true friendship is a promise you keep forever. Sarah Dessen's poignant, funny voice has earned her raves and legions of teenaged fans.

I've been reading about how great Sarah Dessen is for quite a while now. I'd even bought and added three of her books to my ever growing TBR pile. But somehow, I never got around to reading them. And that whole time my expectations kept building and building. Now usually when this happens, when I do finally get to the book in question, I end up mildly disappointed.

But this was so not the case when it came to Dessen! I first devoured Someone Like You and then proceeded to stay up the whole night to read Just Listen.

The story starts of with Michael's death. Halley rushes home from camp to be with Scarlett, just to be there for her. One of my favorite things about this book was Halley's friendship with Scarlett. It's so very real, almost tangible and completely symbiotic. Then Scarlett realizes she's pregnant. With Michael's baby. And Halley's falling for the elusive rebel-without-a-cause Macon. Scarlett is in over her head and Halley find herself battling her self esteem issues. And the two girls find themselves depending more on each other than ever before. Halley and Scarlett make some tough decisions that summer -- about love, responsibility and sex.

Halley's relationship with her mother was another aspect that I could relate to all too easily. She'd always been close to her mom, but she finds herself slowly and surely snipping away at the umbilical cord as she grows closer to Scarlett and falls more in love with Macon. She finds her mother way too domineering, and her mother is trying to deal with the fact that Halley is almost grown up and doesn't appreciate her interference, no matter how good her intentions.

Though Someone Like You is as much about Scarlett as it is about Halley, it is also pretty clear that Halley is the main protagonist. For one thing, the entire book is in first person, Helley's person. But it isn't just that. Though the characterization is amazing, the only character I got a concrete hold on was Halley. I saw the rest of the characters only through Halley's eyes with all her prejudices. Dessen's writing grabbed me and pulled me into Halley's character so completely, that I thought what she thought, believed what she wanted to believe, was in denial when she was. That's how amazing Dessen's writing is.