Name: Emily C Peterson's review of The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen
Item: The Rest of the Story
Rating: 5
Author: Emily C Peterson

Sarah Dessen

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Dessen comes a big-hearted, sweeping novel about a girl who reconnects with a part of her family she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl—and falls in love, all over the course of a magical summer. Emma Saylor doesn’t remember a lot about her mother, who died when she was ten. But she does remember the stories her mom told her about the big lake that went on forever, with cold, clear water and mossy trees at the edges. Now it’s just Emma and her dad, and life is good, if a little predictable…until Emma is unexpectedly sent to spend the summer with her mother’s family—her grandmother and cousins she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl. When Emma arrives at North Lake, she realizes there are actually two very different communities there. Her mother grew up in working class North Lake, while her dad spent summers in the wealthier Lake North resort. The more time Emma spends there, the more it starts to feel like she is divided into two people as well. To her father, she is Emma. But to her new family, she is Saylor, the name her mother always called her. Then there’s Roo, the boy who was her very best friend when she was little. Roo holds the key to her family’s history, and slowly, he helps her put the pieces together about her past. It’s hard not to get caught up in the magic of North Lake—and Saylor finds herself falling under Roo’s spell as well. For Saylor, it’s like a whole new world is opening up to her. But when it’s time to go back home, which side of her will win out?

The Rest of the Story

Emily C Peterson

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Dessen comes a big-hearted, sweeping novel about a girl who reconnects with a part of her family she hasn't seen since she was a little girl--and falls in love, all over the course of a magical summer. Emma Saylor doesn't remember a lot about her mother, who died when Emma was twelve. But she does remember the stories her mom told her about the big lake that went on forever, with cold, clear water and mossy trees at the edges. Now it's just Emma and her dad, and life is good, if a little predictable...until Emma is unexpectedly sent to spend the summer with her mother's family that she hasn't seen since she was a little girl. When Emma arrives at North Lake, she realizes there are actually two very different communities there. Her mother grew up in working class North Lake, while her dad spent summers in the wealthier Lake North resort. The more time Emma spends there, the more it starts to feel like she is also divided into two people. To her father, she is Emma. But to her new family, she is Saylor, the name her mother always called her. Then there's Roo, the boy who was her very best friend when she was little. Roo holds the key to her family's history, and slowly, he helps her put the pieces together about her past. It's hard not to get caught up in the magic of North Lake--and Saylor finds herself falling under Roo's spell as well. For Saylor, it's like a whole new world is opening up to her. But when it's time to go back home, which side of her--Emma or Saylor--will win out?

Jennifer Gosnell

Loved this book! I really had no expectations going in, and it ended up being such a great story about a coming of age summer. Big shoutouts to Nana and Roo.

Estefany 

4.5 star 

El libro cuenta la historia de una chica que se encuentra en la ciudad natal de su madre para pasar el verano. La ciudad está dividida en dos: Lago Norte y Lago del Norte, de clase alta, y Emma pertenece a ambos. Durante su estancia, se reencuentra con viejos amigos, pero se debate entre la identidad de Marina, el nombre con el que su madre la llamaba, o Emma, su nueva versión. Disfruté el escenario que plantea el libro ya que la idea de la ciudad dividida crea contraste. Me encantaron las descripciones detalladas del verano y el tema de que Emma intenta descubrir más sobre sus raíces.Deseo que haya una continuación de este libro, porque vale la pena y debería tener una.

𝐄𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚 𝐝𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐨, 𝐮𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐨, 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐮𝐧 𝐝𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐲, 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐨, 𝐥𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐥. 

Como única pega diré que, me faltó más desarrollo de muchas situaciones que plantea la autora. Ejemplo, una evolución mas cercana del padre de Emma, o de las primas, etc... No obstante, eso no le resta encanto a la historia en general.

Si les gustan las historias de verano, o si les gusta la pluma de esta autora, recomiendo este libro totalmente.

Rachel Kanyid

I really enjoyed how much more light-hearted this was than most of the previous Dessen books. I always enjoy them, but this one I enjoyed more than the last couple!

Raphaëlle

I'm not usually a huge fan of Dessen's work, some of her previous novels I remember liking but none made a lasting impression. But The Rest of the Story is actually one of those stories I'll likely carry for a long time. It's not that I related particularly to any of the characters. But Saylor's mom, Waverly, actually painfully reminded me of one of my closest friends, who passed a couple of years ago. Big lives lived, gone too soon.

Kailey Rios

i was kind of underwhelmed with the first third or so of this book but the further i read, the more i got into it.

there were so many different characters that i had a hard time keeping them straight at first, i did learn eventually though.

loved the premise and the setting, although it did feel a little slow at times and i wasn’t super happy with the fact that the main romance didn’t actually happen until the last few pages.

that being said, i did really enjoy this one for the most part!


  4 stars

Shan

Loved this book. The character development, the plot, and relationships of all kinds made me so happy.

Savannah Garrit

This was one of the best books I've read in a long time. Very good story about learning where you come from and the history behind it. 100% recommend this book if you're into books about family along with romance.

Lukas Ellerbrook

This book was fine. Not my favorite and certainly had some cringey parts but for the most part I liked it.

Samantha Chavez 

Such a wonderful, well-written novel. A perfect quick read for anyone looking for a good novel with character development, family, and a bit of romance.

Emi Gilmore 

Not to be mean but Emma Saylor wins the gold medal for dumbest Sarah Dessen protagonists, narrlowly beating out the one girl from Once and For All, which I didn't even think was possible.

Anna Campbell

** spoiler alert **
           Another lovely Sarah Dessen book! This one taught about addiction, your friend coming out to you, and class differences, as well as being a story about family, friendship and love. I really enjoyed how Saylor, Roo, Bailey and Saylor’s parents got such character depth. I wish I could have another book each about Anna Gordon and Trinity and her child!

Rosie

The only way to describe this book is it would be a comfort book, like to all the boys or the summer I turned pretty. There is no major plot device, it’s just a simple read to let your brain relax. 

Emma Saylor stays with her mom’s mom (Mimi) for three weeks and learns there’s about this side of the family she never knew about (her mom died of an OD). She struggles with being her father’s “Emma” and her Calvander’s “Saylor”. 

I was afraid at how the book would move, it’s over 400 pages, but each one goes by quickly. It’s written completely in first POV, which works super well for this book. Sarah Dessen tells a good story and makes you get lost in the pages. 

Trying to figure out how everyone is connected, as there’s A LOT of characters, and some with only a handful of spoken lines, can get confusing but you understand the main ones pretty confusing. 

The romance in this book isn’t the main plot, which is really refreshing, and the whole book had me smiling for most of it. 

This will be a reread book for the days my brain just doesn’t want to work. 

Jessica Guht

I've never met a Sarah Dessen book that I didn't like, she's definitely one of my favorite authors, but this book in particular I absolutely loved.

I don't think I've ever related to a charcter more than I did to Emma, with her anxiety, fears, and alcohol avoidance, i felt like Dessen was writing about me. I loved how Emma grew over the summer while she got to know her family, and I also love the way Dessen addresses difficult topics. 

A wonderful story that I highly recommend.

Becky

I managed to read this Sarah Dessen book the same year it was released! I'm getting better at this.

This book felt like a return to form for Sarah Dessen. By no means have her last couple of books been bad... but they did feel like they were missing a thing or two for me so this was great to read. It had everything I expect from a really good Sarah Dessen book. Main character going through a family crisis? Cute boy to get to know over the summer? Touching emotional realisations which end up with bringing a family closer together?

Yep this book had it all.

Jeni Enjaian

I enjoyed this book far more than I thought that I would. I have read a couple of Dessen's other books that utterly disappointed. This did not, even though it had a classic set up of high school teen sent to live in a hick town to discover her past or something like that. Dessen created a beautiful story with well-developed characters, although I would have liked to see more of Mimi. Although not life altering, I definitely enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

Michelle Boyea

** spoiler alert **
           Is it possible for Sarah Dessen to write anything that isn’t gold? The answer is no....no it is not!

Read at your own risk for spoilers. 

Emma Saylor is a delight to read about. The immediate love that she has for a family long forgotten {not her fault} is wonderful to see. She immediately accepts them and wants to learn as much about her history as possible. Even with the photographic evidence that she sees, she wants to learn more. And that’s also due to the photographs. She’s found a family that has missed her, and by doing that, she found part of herself that she didn’t even know was missing. 

I loved the storyline with Emma Saylor and Roo. Who wouldnt? While you knew what was going to happen, it was cute to see the buildup. I love that the book didn’t fixate on it, but still kept it as part of the main plot line.

The only part that I wish was done differently was that Trinity’s baby wasn’t born yet. I wish the baby had been born to see how Emma reacted. 

I almost didn’t go to a party because I didn’t want to put this book down! Absolutely loved it.

Megan Leprich

I'm not sure why but I had a hard time getting into this book. It started out a little slower than her other books have and I honestly found myself struggling to read more. I did get better after a while but for a Sarah Dessen novel, it wasn't what I was expecting. 

This story follows Emma Saylor who lost her mom when she was 10 but vividly remembers all of the stories she told her about the big lake that went on forever. Then Emma Saylor is unexpectedly sent to the place from her mother's stories to stay with her family. 

I really started enjoying this story once I got past the beginning. I loved Emma Saylor's character and how she got to meet her mom's side of the family that she hadn't seen in years and learned a lot more about her family tree. Her relationship with Roo was also a favorite part of this book for me. Best friends when they were children and then reunited all these years later and I loved how much he helped her with learning about her family and uncovering all of the secrets. 

Not as great as some of her other novels but still an enjoyable read!

Jawahir M

Description Summary: Poignant and sweet, expect your cheesy "happily everly after" with this novel, classic Sarah Dessen. Think a Disney Channel Original movie where the MC is the awkward girl who gets the happy ending.

Score: 4.5/5

If you're a cynic, don't read this book. If you can't stand cheesy romance coming of age stories, don't read this book. If fluffy and sweet is not your cup tea, again do not read this book.

I'll admit I might be biased in this review simply because I am a long term fan of Sarah Dessen. She's one of the first authors from where I got introduced to YA romance, 10 years later and I still can't get enough of her books.

Disclaimer: This book deals with drug and alcohol abuse

Book Summary: Emma Saylor Payne grew up not really knowing much about her mother apart from bedtime stories, thanksgiving dinners, and that one summer trip she took with her to see her mom's relatives at North Lake. 

And that's maybe for the best, since her mother had drug addiction and alcohol abuse problems that lead her coming and into and out of rehab centers.

Now 17, Emma's father just got remarried and was off to his honeymoon with his new wife Tracy while her grandmother is off on her own escape on a cruise towards Egypt. Initially she was supposed to stay over with her best friend Bridget but plans went southward and now Emma finds herself without a place to stay for 3 weeks during summer vacation. That is until a solution brings itself up in the form of Emma's estranged family from her mother's side.

Emma finds herself staying with her other grandmother Mimi, in the working class part of town. The very same place she once visited with her mother all those years ago...North Lake. Caught between her life as "Emma" of upper class Lake North and "Saylor" of working class North Lake, Emma Saylor tries to find a balance all the while figuring out her feelings towards her forgotten childhood best friend, Roo.

With Roo by her side and all her newly acquainted aunts and cousins, Emma realizes that is more to people than which "side" of the lake they come from. End of Summary.

Contrary to many, I actually like that I know what to expect from this book. And I wasn't disappointed. Sometimes it's nice to have feel good books that have a calming effect on the reader, and that is exactly what Dessen excels in.

I actually relate to a lot of her characters and I find them to be extremely realistic, not "too dramatic" or "too romantic". That being said, I do agree with the fact her MCs tend to blend over each other and are not unique and distinctive enough, which is why it lost that 0.5 star.

Her stories however are always layered with nostalgia and she does an excellent job of portraying families with troublesome livelihoods without totally bringing down the reader's mood. I think this balance between light and dark is done really well.

Do I recommend? Yes, light, heartwarming and an easy read.

Maria

2.5
the book was okay, I didn't hate it. I thought the pacing was all over the place

Aubrey Erskine

To read the rest of my review visit my blog:http://theshelflifechronicles.home.bl...

When you think of Summer what do you think of? I think of Sarah Dessen. The stories she writes always happen during the summer, the ones that change everything. I discovered Dessen at a time when I needed her writing the most and I still look back at her stories and find them not only relatable, but inspirational when I need direction.

The Rest of the Story is no different and might in fact slide into the number two slot of my favorites list, right after The Truth About Forever but before Lock & Key. The Rest of the Story is again about a summer of change, about Emma Saylor finding her family, finding herself, and finding out that there was more to the stories her mom use to tell her.

Nadia Leontescu

I frickin loved this book, even though some may not heh. I loved all the family and friend connections and the small town closeness feel. And of course the emotions in it were, as always, so great.

Bibi Disco

Jessica 

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Review can be found here at Booked J. 

Before I get into the review, I want to say I'm a massive Sarah Dessen fan. MASSIVE. Like, for life. Ah. I mean, who my age isn't? And, okay, maybe not 
  everyone
 is but I think most of us have a nice Dessen collection on our shelves at this point. She's the writer that nudged me into non-fantasy YA, you know? It's fairly obvious why The Rest of the Story was coming in hot on my TBR this past summer. 

We all know that it isn't summer without a cozy little sweet read by Dessen. 

Like all Dessen novels, it is a contemporary that feels as right as rain. It's about growing up and getting to that place where you're finally discovering pieces of what makes you, well, you. It also takes us down the path of discovering more about your family, tying it into self discovery in a way that feels realistic and smooth. 

What I loved most about The Rest of the Story may very well be the most grating trait for others: Emma Saylor, the story's main character, changes between two names often and adapts a seemingly different persona as such. At home, she is simply Emma, and at the lake she is Saylor. Two massive parts of her. 

There's this underlying meaning to the different name for different locations--that sometimes, there is a split in each of us and it makes us no less ourselves. 

I'm definitely someone who flips between nicknames (my friends at home so rarely call me Jessica, instead, they use an unrelated nickname, my parents sometimes refer to me by a nickname related to my middle name, sometimes people shorten Jessica to Jess and what not) so it was kind of cool to see someone else do the same. 

We see the exploration of grief, friendship, family and romance, along with other serious topics, too throughout the course of The Rest of the Story. The novel, of course, has a balance to it that often is lacking in contemporaries. Longtime readers know: Dessen never fails at capturing these real life elements. 

Admittedly, The Rest of the Story isn't necessarily Dessen in her strongest form it is still a warm and fuzzy inducing read. All you need is a little sunshine and time, and you'll lose yourself in it. Armed with characters who are genuine and feel like friends rather than fictional characters, its characters are what makes up for its seemingly lackluster pace and plot. 

By the end of The Rest of the Story, we feel a sense of accomplishment and truly know the characters as they grow and develop. Much like with every book by Dessen, I closed this book with a smile on my face.

Emily C Peterson &
The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen

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Emily C Peterson &The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen

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Emily C Peterson &
The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen