Welcome to our stop on Once and for All tour for Sarah Dessen. This tour is hosted by PenguinTeen.
Once and for AllAuthor: Sarah Dessen
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Released: June 6th 2017
Review Source: Viking Books for Young Readers
Louna has spent her high school years working at her mother's successful wedding planning business. She's seen every sort of wedding: big and lavish, small and intimate, at country clubs or on the beach. She's dealt with every crisis that can bedevil a wedding—as well as scene-stealing bridesmaids, controlling grooms, bossy mothers-of-the-bride, and even the occasional AWOL bride. Her view of the non-everlasting nature of love has been colored by the cynicism of her mother, who enjoys laying odds on how long each marriage will last. And Louna's own experience has made her wary: her blissful first love, seen in intermittent flashbacks, ended in tragic loss. When handsome, charming, scatterbrained Ambrose comes to work for her mother, Louna is indignant at the number of women he juggles; he is appalled by her refusal to socialize at all. They make a bet: Louna will go on a series of dates while Ambrose will attempt a long-term relationship with one woman. But in the end, it is Ambrose himself that Louna falls for—exactly what Ambrose intended!
Sarah Dessen is an instant favorite. Every book I read I fall more in love with her work and just wish I could absorb all of them right away, but then on the other hand I don’t want to read them all at once because then waiting for a new one will be pure torture. Pace yourself Shannon, pace yourself. Once and for All follows a young girl, Louna, who works with her mother as a wedding planner, she runs into crying brides questioning true love, serial daters who are holding up their mother's wedding to flirt, avoiding dancing with guests, and just about everything else inbetween. So how does one who helps plan a day that is meant to say we’re in this together forever not believe in true love?
Louna from the very beginning questions the reality of true love and throughout this story you get pieces of her past that help put in perspective why she may question this. Her past was hard, I cried when we got the final piece, and can totally understand why this girl has a hard time letting it go. Then she meets Ambrose, our serial dater, who was holding up his own mother’s wedding to flirt with a girl, maybe not the best first impression but we all are due a second chance. Ambrose actually begins to question his morals after meeting Louna, but it takes awhile for Louna to see what’s in front of her all this time.
I won’t lie to you though my favorite part, or parts, was getting to see the small things and people from previous Sarah Dessen novels pop up here and there. And then have them be the ones I literally just read, it was the best, almost fate, if you believe in that kind of stuff. Then we have Ambrose, my dog saver, who just couldn’t leave a dog in the hands of an awful owner, I know theft is bad, but when you’re saving a dog from an abusive owner I am all game for you to steal it, or what I would say, rescue it. I fell for Ambrose that instant. There’s one thing you can always count on when you read a Dessen novel and that’s authentic characters, authentic flaws, and real growth. In Once and for All you saw growth with every character in it, Ambrose, her mother Natalie, her business partner William, Louna’s best friend, and then Louna herself. And that’s what I just love about reading a Dessen book, it all feels so real, I get so emerged in the story I can’t look away. I can’t wait to know more about our characters and dive further into their lives and their stories.
Sarah Dessen is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen novels for teens, which have received numerous awards and rave reviews, and have sold millions of copies worldwide. She is the recipient of the 2017 Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association. Sarah lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with her husband, Jay, and their daughter, Sasha Clementine. Visit her online at sarahdessen.com.
GIVEAWAY
Enter for a chance to win one (1) of five (5) copies of Once and for All by Sarah Dessen (ARV: $19.99 each).
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter between 12:00 AM Eastern Time on May 29, 2017 and 12:00 AM on June 26, 2017. Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older. Winners will be selected at random on or about June 30, 2017. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.
Follow The Tour!
Week Three:
June 12 – The Fandom
June 13 – Booksthetics
June 14 – Once Upon a Twilight – Review
June 15 – Bibliophile Gathering – Review
June 16 – Dark Faerie Tales – OAFA Inspired Photoshoot
Week Four:
June 19 – A Page With A View – Quiz: Which Dessen Character Are You?
June 20 – Bookworm Everlasting – Review & Photograph
June 21 – Fiction Fare – Favorite Quotes from OAFA
June 22 – ButterMyBooks – Review
June 23 – YA Bibliophile – Character Easter Eggs in OAFA
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