Along for the Ride

“It was so easy to disown what you couldn't recognize, to keep yourself apart from things that were foreign and unsettling. The only person you can be sure to control, always, is yourself. Which is a lot to be sure of, but at the same time, not enough.”

Normally you'd expect the romance to take center stage in contemporaries like those written by Sarah Dessen, but I have to say, this element in her books is almost always sweet but highly underwhelming, it takes a backseat to character development, friendships and complicated family matters, and I truly appreciate this. Auden and Eli as a couple left me pretty cold, but I loved their personal growth and their relationships with the supporting cast.