Saint Anything

Viking

Saint Anything
Sarah Dessen
2015

The Summary
"Sydney has always felt invisible.  She's grown accustomed to her brother, Peyton, being the focus of the family's attention and, lately, concern.  Peyton is handsome and charismatic, but seems bent on self-destruction.  Now, after a drunk-driving incident that crippled a boy, Peyton's serving some serious jail time, and Sydney is on her own, questioning her place in the family and the world.

"Then she meets the Chatham family.  Drawn into their warm, chaotic circle, Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance for the first time.  There's effervescent Layla, who constantly falls for the wrong guy, Rosie, who's had her own fall from grace, and Mrs. Chatham, who even though ailing is the heart of the family.  But it's with older brother Mac--quiet, watchful, and protective--that Sydney finally feels seen, really seen, at last.

"Saint Anything is Sarah Dessen's deepest and most psychological probing novel yet, telling an engrossing story of a girl discovering friendship, love, and herself."

The Good
I was absolutely fascinated by this book.  After reading one of Sarah Dessen's previous novels (Just Listen, in case you were curious), I wasn't particularly impressed.  Like my encounter with Nicholas Sparks, my introduction to Sarah Dessen did not go well.  Don't get me wrong, I liked her novels, but I didn't love them.  She fell into a familiar category of good-but-not-great young adult books I mostly tossed to the side once I finished.

However, Saint Anything immediately revised my opinion.

I enjoyed Saint Anything much more than I expected.  Most of the characters I encountered felt realistic, the story felt real and plausible, and the plot moved at a pace that I could enjoy.  Dessen's novel had an authenticity, a realism to it, that I didn't expect but thoroughly appreciated.  More importantly, it packed an emotional punch.

Sydney is a complex, but oddly compelling character.  I enjoyed following her narrative as she coped with her brother's incarceration and Ames's unwanted attention, as she discovered new friends and forged new relationships.  I liked watching her grow as a character, weathering storms, struggling with her tumultuous relationship with her mother--and, more importantly, managing to define herself outside of her brother's shadow.

Overall, I liked it and I'm glad I took the opportunity to give Dessen's novels a second chance.

The Bad
No complaints.  I didn't like the eerie feeling of foreboding--the feeling of anticipation that something very bad is going to happen very soon--that seemed to linger over every page, but, otherwise, it was fine.

The Ugly
Ames.

I did not like Ames.  He was a total creeper, a predator in more ways than one by leeching off of the generosity of Sydney's family and playing upon their grief and preying upon Sydney who seems to fall at the periphery of her parents' concern.  He needed someone to punch him in the face.  Multiple times.

Any time he appeared in the story, I had an immediate feeling of apprehension.  Like Sydney, I could immediately feel myself tense up when I saw his name appear in the story.  You could just tell he was up to no good, and I don't know why Sydney's parents couldn't see it.  He was a leech, and he needed to be burned.