A review by kasfire
Lock and Key, by Sarah Dessen
5.0
This is the first time in years I've finished a book in a day. So just for that this book gets 5 stars. But there was so much more to my rating than that.
Sarah Dessen has a way of writing hard subjects so that they can be understood by all audiences. I noticed this when I first read a book of hers several years ago. And even years later, that still rings true. The little hints she gives through her characters' POV, the way she sets up the story, even the way she describes the smallest detail reflects the messages she tries to write.
In this novel, Ruby is a senior in high school and is thrust into unfamiliar territory when she has to live with her older sister that Ruby hadn't seen nor heard from in 10 years. Ruby is so used to living on her own that it is hard for her to accept the little bit of help she needs.
The novel begins with Ruby describing her living conditions with her mother. Her mom is always drinking or sleeping with random boyfriends that she picks up. Ruby is always the person who has to communicate with the outside world and take care of the bills. Then one day her mom up and leaves. You find out later that it happened every now and then, but this time it was for good.
Ruby gets placed by social services in her sister's house. Cora is standoffish towards her sister in the beginning, which is to be expected after ten years of not seeing each other. Throughout the first half of the novel, Ruby rejects the attempts of her sister and her sister's husband to make Ruby feel at home. She tries to run away within the first night of staying, but runs into the hot neighbor, Nate.
Nate saves her this first night by covering for her when Jamie (her sister's husband) finds her in the yard. Throughout the book Nate tries to befriend her and Ruby, begrudgingly, accepts. After receiving a project at her new school about family, Ruby does everything she can to escape.
Then one day the truth comes out about why her sister disappeared for ten years. Cora had tried to keep in touch with her sister, but their mother thwarted all attempts by constantly moving and never having a phone connected. She constantly used fake addresses and then in the end actually left her daughter to fend for herself.
Unable to face this truth, Ruby skips school and leaves. She tries to go back to her old life, but finds that her old "friends" dumped her; two of them started hooking up, and another left Ruby in the woods after she became drunk and passed out. Nate comes and finds her, and she realizes that he is actually genuine in his friendship. Ruby slowly begins to accept that she has people who care about her.
Ruby becomes part of a family only to learn that Nate wasn't in the healthiest family relationship. His father would verbally abuse him, and occasionally physically abuse him. Sadly, Nate, as much as he helped save Ruby, didn't think he needed saving. And Ruby left him to believe that, though she couldn't believe it. Soon Ruby tried to actually help and Nate left her, leaving their relationship rocky.
So much happened in this book but in the end, both of them found the family and support they needed. This novel evokes sympathy and, at least for me, empathy for these characters. They were all relatable in one way or another.
Sarah Dessen has a way of writing hard subjects so that they can be understood by all audiences. I noticed this when I first read a book of hers several years ago. And even years later, that still rings true. The little hints she gives through her characters' POV, the way she sets up the story, even the way she describes the smallest detail reflects the messages she tries to write.
In this novel, Ruby is a senior in high school and is thrust into unfamiliar territory when she has to live with her older sister that Ruby hadn't seen nor heard from in 10 years. Ruby is so used to living on her own that it is hard for her to accept the little bit of help she needs.
The novel begins with Ruby describing her living conditions with her mother. Her mom is always drinking or sleeping with random boyfriends that she picks up. Ruby is always the person who has to communicate with the outside world and take care of the bills. Then one day her mom up and leaves. You find out later that it happened every now and then, but this time it was for good.
Ruby gets placed by social services in her sister's house. Cora is standoffish towards her sister in the beginning, which is to be expected after ten years of not seeing each other. Throughout the first half of the novel, Ruby rejects the attempts of her sister and her sister's husband to make Ruby feel at home. She tries to run away within the first night of staying, but runs into the hot neighbor, Nate.
Nate saves her this first night by covering for her when Jamie (her sister's husband) finds her in the yard. Throughout the book Nate tries to befriend her and Ruby, begrudgingly, accepts. After receiving a project at her new school about family, Ruby does everything she can to escape.
Then one day the truth comes out about why her sister disappeared for ten years. Cora had tried to keep in touch with her sister, but their mother thwarted all attempts by constantly moving and never having a phone connected. She constantly used fake addresses and then in the end actually left her daughter to fend for herself.
Unable to face this truth, Ruby skips school and leaves. She tries to go back to her old life, but finds that her old "friends" dumped her; two of them started hooking up, and another left Ruby in the woods after she became drunk and passed out. Nate comes and finds her, and she realizes that he is actually genuine in his friendship. Ruby slowly begins to accept that she has people who care about her.
Ruby becomes part of a family only to learn that Nate wasn't in the healthiest family relationship. His father would verbally abuse him, and occasionally physically abuse him. Sadly, Nate, as much as he helped save Ruby, didn't think he needed saving. And Ruby left him to believe that, though she couldn't believe it. Soon Ruby tried to actually help and Nate left her, leaving their relationship rocky.
So much happened in this book but in the end, both of them found the family and support they needed. This novel evokes sympathy and, at least for me, empathy for these characters. They were all relatable in one way or another.