Sarah Dessen

When Auden impulsively goes to stay with her father, stepmother, and new baby sister the summer before she starts college, all the trauma of her parents' divorce is revived, even as she is making new friends and having new experiences such as learning to ride a bike and dating.

Along for the ride

Ari 😚

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to, fits this page so wellllll!

This was a good book! Her style of writing was a bit hard to understand... But overall It was cute! I loved the cover, it gave... To be honest a nice homey book feeling! 

Okay so I feel like doing a much more fun review.

I had run my fingers along the keyboard. Much more could I write? I had finished a good book, I wanted to tell people about it. I wanted to make sure everyone knew that this book would for surely put a smile on their face. But everything in my mind wasn't great to be typed. How could I ever explain? How would people know what I meant? Then an Idea popped in my head, just say what you want to say in what you do best. writing. It was my solution! I could just write what it was like, how it was when I was writing, reading it, or even thinking about it. For sure I knew people would have a smile on their face. Knowing I put my time and effort to brighten their day.

This was a good book! Her style of writing was a bit hard to understand... But overall It was cute! I loved the cover, it gave... To be honest a nice homey book feeling! 

Okay so I feel like doing a much more fun review.

I had run my fingers along the keyboard. Much more could I write? I had finished a good book, I wanted to tell people about it. I wanted to make sure everyone knew that this book would for surely put a smile on their face. But everything in my mind wasn't great to be typed. How could I ever explain? How would people know what I meant? Then an Idea popped in my head, just say what you want to say in what you do best. writing. It was my solution! I could just write what it was like, how it was when I was writing, reading it, or even thinking about it. For sure I knew people would have a smile on their face. Knowing I put my time and effort to brighten their day.

nany

When I was in the middle I wasn't sure if this book was a 5 star book but I just finished it and I really feel it's a 5 star book. I really enjoyed it.

Along for the Ride

Bria

This book is a typical Sarah Dessen summer romance novel, which I always have a soft spot for. When I read her books in middle school, I was always daydreaming about being a teenager in high school, and reading them now as a young adult, I reminisce on my high school/early college days. Sarah Dessen is probably the first author I got really into in middle school, so I will always love her work.

Ryan 

3.5 stars (maybe 3.75 stars???)

it’s been a while since i had read a good book for once, and i enjoy the book a lot. this book was just a breath of fresh air, though the first chapter was a bit hard to adapt dessen’s lovely writing style. the characters were raw and authentic. i think it what i loved most about the book: the characters. they really made the book so great for me. i would’ve bump up the rating a star up to 4 but for some reason, i felt like i wasn’t too immersed with this book. maybe because i’ve read this in the wrong time since it’s set during the summer and before college, which would’ve been smart to start reading at that point. also, from the few reading updates i mentioned how i hated auden’s dad (i sort of still do) and this one scene when one of the girls in the book, belinda, called auden out because she was hitting eli - and just to give you background, belinda was eli’s ex - and called her a skank. and lastly, i expected this book to be light - because it was a contemporary romance novel and just from the appearance of the cover - but from the first few chapters i learned that it was not exactly what i thought it would be. the book also discussed dysfunctional families and while i connected with that concept and plot, i didn’t really wanted to read a type a book like that. it was fine, but i really wanted a light-hearted book.

Mae Erceg

I fell in love with this book. As the first book I read by Sarah Dessen, I was really impressed because I assumed she wrote more on the preteen side but was proven wrong. I pictured Cam Gigandet as Eli (lucky me) and completely fell in love with it. READ IT. You know you want to :)

Abbie Clarke

Read it after watching the netflix film. If you thought the film was good, you're going to love this more.

Jeannette Ordas

Man, I just zipped right through this book. A fast and joyous read. Near-perfect!

Siya S

3.5 STARS 

Let's talk about EVERYTHING that is wrong with this hideous cover:

1. THAT JEANS
2. THAT POSE
3. OK, read the synopsis, the boy 's supposed to be into BMX. BMX!! like who the fuck would wear that doing extreme parkour stuff???
4. THAT JEANS
5. THAT JEANS



Can someone fix this please? it hurts and I'm dying.

So I'm not like a fan of Sarah Dessen or anything, but I have to admit I've read almost all of her books. As I've mentioned before in my review of Saint Anything that if you've read enough of Dessen's works you'll start seeing the pattern of the plot of every single one of her novels, which of course isn't necessarily a bad thing if you had the skills to pull it off smoothly like Ms.Dessen kinda does. Along For The Ride, for example, is probably one of the best of her stacks of best-selling books yet. 


  Never before had it been so obvious that although I’d spent my entire life learning, there was a lot of stuff I still didn’t know. 


You got that right. Our heroine was a clueless, annoying snob. That self-absorbed, know-it-all, hyperactively focused one in high school who everybody disliked but knew would go very far. A classic overachiever she was.

Auden was a textbook privileged, middle class kid. A straight-A student who's never step out of the line. In fact, she missed out all the fun (e.g. parties, boys, girlfriends) being busy and attentive over her strict, demanding (and also a literary-snob, feminism-for-breakfast-lunch-dinner kind of a) mother. Now that college matter was settled, she decided to shy away from her mother's lifestyle (e.g. academic dinner parties, grad student flirts) and spend some quality time with her father and his new wife, Heidi (whom her mother didn't even give a thought about due to her feminine, stereotypically girly tendencies) and their newborn daughter Thisbe.


  “Because who else but your friends,” Esther said, “would agree to help you re-create your past, just to fix some wrong that’s been niggling you ever since?” “Nobody,” Leah said. “Nobody,” Maggie repeated.


Then things happened and Auden found herself keeping the book for Heidi's clothes boutique downtown, which eventually became some kind of a job. At the store were a bunch of girls (Esther, Leah, Maggie) who Auden initially deemed not to befriend with (because she was shy and, of course, snobbish). But it's a small town, so eventually she came around. By knowing these girls, sharing secrets and do girlfriends stuff with them, Auden kind of got to learn a lot more about identity, expectation and what;s it like to be a girl of your own choice (encouragement game is on point, so as friendship game).

And then there's Eli, a mysterious BMX boy who somehow became one of her peers because they spent quite a time together at night, strolling around town, both unable to sleep. Eli also, of course, got a problem of his own. And as their friendship grew (with Eli and the girls) this might be Auden's final good chance to learn what it's like to live like a normal teenager for once (with no prejudice and all), one experience at a time.


  I’d always tell her, why can’t I do both? Who says you have to be either smart or pretty, or into girly stuff or sports? Life shouldn’t be about the either/or. We’re capable of more than that, you know?


I like this book because it deals with image and identity the generalization of people. What's wrong with liking fluffy, pink stuff anyway? Does that really make one look imbecile and weak? And why do we get to have only one word to define what we are? I realize this book is not as much about understanding others as understanding oneself.

Somehow this book reminded me of my younger self actually. I had so little friends growing up because I was always a bit of an odd one out, you know, reading lots of books and listening to The Cure instead of Backstreet Boys. And I know about a lot of stuff (because I spent so much time indoor, reading and watching TV), big deal, right? So I managed to build these walls around me as a mechanism to keep me from getting hurt. I began to mentally separate me and my peer apart as "me" and "them", thus people thought I was such a snob. But in truth I was just so scared of being rejected, you know, since I was so different. Somehow I thought none of us could become friends ever.

But then, if you gave people a chance, they would also give you a chance. By the end of high school years I finally learnt that my friends don't have to be like me, and I don't have to be like them. And I found a bunch of my best of friends when i was in college, the place where weirdos magnetize weirdos, so I've learned.

Anyway, AFTR is an exceptional, page-turner, coming-of-age story that will warm your heart, with great supporting characters and visible development of the heroine. If you're new to Sarah Dessen, this might be a great book to start a journey.

Find out more at:
https://thebleedingeyes.wordpress.com/

Barbara Kovács

I wish I could give infinite stars to this book.

Rebecca Self 

I loved this book way more than I was expecting to. Honestly I picked it up because I had never read a Sarah Dessen book and wanted to, and this one is coming out as a netflix movie next week. 

I liked it so much because Auden was so relatable to me. I tend to get worked up about how I need to finish whatever school work and feel like I can’t go out and do something fun because of it. But this summer, Auden didn’t try to get ahead in school and she just let go and had a summer filled with new experiences, new adventures, and new friends. 

I also think it was impactful in the idea of not being so over concerned about the future and instead enjoying where you are in that moment. 

That was how this book resonated with me, but there were so many other ways I think it could resonate with different people. I think that’s what makes it such a beautiful book.

sofia !

3.75-4 stars(?) the chapters were honestly the worst part- loooonng chapters makes for a somewhat boring story. however i feel like if i had the time i would've been able to fly through this within a few days. i really liked the premise and majority of the characters (not a fan of auden's dad) and the storyline was easy to follow without being entirely too predictable. an easy summer read, not sure how much i'd recommend it though.

Sarah Dessen was a staple in my younger years and now I remember why! This was a re-read from when I was in like middle school and I remember loving it; the second time did not disappoint!  A great YA romance with a good amount of family/friend drama as well. Of course a little predictable but that's one thing I like about YA. Cute and relatable, I would recommend!

Raquel I.

Kelli Grafton

I think I mostly love this book for the nostalgia, since I read it growing up, but the story never gets old for me. Sarah Dessen has a way of writing feel good romances with teenagers who actually feel real with issues that correlate with things most of us deal with. I read this book at least once a year!

Tracie McMurray

Typical teen read. A little longer than it needed to be.

lindsey

i'm just a sucker for the immaculate sarah dessen vibes what can i say

Alexis Martinez

An author putting a playlist at the end of the book should be illegal IM NOT LOOKING AT THE END WHEN I START IT!!! I NEEDED THAT AT THE BEGINNING!!!!!!!!

Penelope

This book was kind of pointless to me, the romance fell flat and there is absolutely zero ZERO spice. It's only two stars because the writing wasn't bad and I think if the relationship was more developed it would actually be a good book.

Megan 

This was a 400 page book that could have been written in 200. But I loved Auden and Heidi’s relationship

Rachel Estep

Delightfully emotional. A classic comfort read that makes you wanna light a candle a grab a blanket. It's a sweet coming of age story, in which Auden discovers more about herself and the world around her. Eli, recovering from trauma himself, learns to open up again while Auden learns to open up for the first time ever. Their well suited for teaching each other lots of young adult lessons, and wonderfully written, leaving their future open and up to the reader to imagine.

Kendall V

This is such a cute and heartwarming book. It is the perfect summer read. I loved all the characters as I felt like they were very well-rounded and relatable. They weren't perfect, and it made me love them a bit more because of that.

Elizabeth Neill

Jo Young

This book, just like all other Sarah Dessen novels, was amazing. I totally loved this book! :)

Kayla Roy

Ugh my whole heart. That’s it, that’s the review.

anderson elizabeth

This is going to be a shorter review because I have a few reviews to catch up on BUT the love that I have for this book is endless. My copy's spine has been broken to smithereens because when I'm sad or in a reading rut this is one of my top go-tos. A fan fave of mine. This book is one of my top comfort reads. Fun fact: my car is partially named after the love interest, Eli. While rereading this book I texted my friend “Sarah Dessen is a pro at giving romance blue balls” and I live by that. Auden and Eli are one of my favorite couples and seeing a character with a name like Auden made my little androgynous named being oh so very happy when I was in jr high and reading this book for the first time.

 
"Watching him, I thought, not for the first time that night, that maybe it should have felt strange to be with him, here, now. And yet it didn't, at all. That was one of the things about the night. Stuff that would be weird in the bright light of day just wasn't so much once you passed a certain hour. It was like the dark just evened it all out somehow." pg. 160-161
This chunk lives rent-free in my mind. I took this mentality and made it my whole personality. 

Another favorite quote of mine would be: "He thought for a moment. 'Who says there has to be a point?' He asked. 'Or reason. Maybe it's just something you have to do.'"

Along for the ride

Reviews

Highlights