Mysterious lover? Friend or both?

By Sydney K.

          My book is called Along For The Ride. Sarah Dessen is one of my favorite authors because the flow of her writing. Her writing is similar to a music key, there are parts of the book where major scenes tie the whole thing together.  The climax of the story is when Auden West meets a boy named Eli,a fellow insomniac who Auden spends a lot of time with.  Auden learns a lot from Eli  and gains new experiences. Is Auden actually along for the ride or will the ride be bumpy for her?

       Auden West is a high school graduate who spent most of her high school career with her face buried in her text books. Socializing wasn't her strongest point and making friends was hard for Auden. Things changed when Auden spent her summer in Colby, a small community near the beach. Colby is where Auden's dad Robert West lived. In Colby, Auden meets a boy named Eli. Both characters can't sleep at night and spend it adventuring at convenience stores, supermarkets, late diners & a hangout spot that Eli introduces Auden to. It's new to Eli to spend most of his free time with someone by his side because usually he's always by himself.

   At first coming to Colby was a rough for Auden. From being shy and reserved, letting loose is what Auden needed. On her first night in the town Auden went walking and ran into a party on the beach. At the party Auden got wasted and ended hooking up with a guy there. After hooking up with the cute boy she barely knew Auden finds out the boy she hooked up with was Eli's brother. Eli and Auden's relationship was never defined but there was spark about them two being together that made me want to continue reading the book. Are Eli and Auden together? That's a question all readers will be asking themselves. Eli is that boy. A boy character that is very hard  to understand. Dark haired and mysterious is the definition of Eli. After the passing of his best friend Eli becomes distant towards everyone until he met Auden.

    Most of Sarah Dessen's books are romantic love stories with a mysterious twist. This author will have you crying and wanting more. After reading Along For The Ride I had to pick up another one of her books. Another book I picked up is called The Lullaby.The ending of Along For The Ride was unexpected. If there will be a sequel to Along For The Ride I will definitely pick it up with no hesitation. Overall I recommend this book and Sarah Dessen as an author.

On Tue, Jun 7, 2016 at 9:14 AM, Sydney Kham <tiepy92@gmail.com> wrote:

Matched review

By Sydney Kham

  Matched by Ally Condie, this is the first book I've read from this author. It's a dystopian novel with a so called perfect society. The society makes all the rules. The society has even found cures and a way to get rid of cancer and anything to make a perfect world. The society monitors everything. Throughout the book, Cassia does realize the society isn't perfect. She learns the past and learns how to write her name. Writing is a thing of the past and isn't taught by the society. Cassia is the main character of the book.

       I liked the suspense created in the book. The love triangle between the main characters Cassia , Ky and Xander made the book more of a juicy read and makes you want to continue reading more. The main character Cassia is matched up with Xander by the society. On a card is information about everything about her match Xander. All of a sudden another boy's face appears which is where the character Ky comes on. I didn't like how the society kills people at the age of 80 when their perfectly healthy. Also I didn't like how no one had any privacy. When sleeping, citizens wore sleeping tags which the society monitors. I honestly disliked how the society gave people limited options, barely any freedom to live. To add on, I disliked how the society chooses your career or job because you didn't have a choice. The life the citizens are living are not for themselves but for the society.

   In the end the society is behind everything. Also , the one thing that bothered me most was how the main character Cassia constantly kept secrets and kept adding more problems towards the story.  Another book similar to this book is called 1984.Overall the book was a good read but different from the books I usually lean towards too since i like romantic books but I will definitely check more books out by this author.