This was the first Sarah Dessen novel I've ever read, picked up when I was looking for something light and summery to enjoy after reading thick classics and college textbooks. I was drawn mostly to the setting: my favorite parts of the summer include beach trips full of sand and surf. The beachtown in "The Moon and More" is a charming, touristy beach area which reminds me a lot of Ocean City, MD. I think Dessen did a fabulous job creating the town and building a believable setting.
The characters were definitely one of the stronger parts: from hardworking Emaline to adorable Benji, quirky Daisy and quiet Clyde, I really enjoyed the spectrum of people in the book. It was a lot of fun to read about each of them and watch as they each did their own thing.
On the whole, some parts were fairly predictable, but nothing felt too forced. There were a few weak moments or chapters that I felt were not totally necessary or could have been expanded upon, but I wasn't too upset about that. I certainly was immersed quite quickly into the story and all its ups and downs!
For a novel that is more of a "casual" read for me, it was enjoyable and fun. ( )

My favorite so far! ( )

This was the first Dessen novel that I did not like the guy she was with. Other than that it was a great book about change and life. I enjoyed it for the most part. ( )

I wish this had ditched the boyfriends, ditched the documentary and used that space to really dig into the family stuff.

The cheating didn’t bother me as much as it did some readers, it’s definitely not my favorite behavior, either, but I guess I just saw it as reflective of something that does sometimes happen in real life where people outgrow each other yet can’t bring themselves to end it, instead they self-sabotage their way into a breakup, and reflective of reality is one of the things I’ve always appreciated about Dessen’s work.

My actual issue with the romantic relationships was mostly that I wasn’t a fan of either love interest. There wasn’t much to the one guy beyond his looks, the other guy had more personality, it just wasn’t an appealing personality, I realize that was by design, but I would have liked to fall for his charms along with Emaline so I could have bought into her wanting to spend time with him, but to me, his pretentious side was so apparent so early that I found it hard to fathom that any half way intelligent girl would choose to endure a summer drinking wine with him.

I loved the idea that Emaline’s in this successfully blended family and was kind of disappointed that there weren’t more poignant moments with mom, dad and the sisters, too often scenes with them were played for low level laughs about them always occupying Emaline’s room/bed or the dad renovating the house. With Emaline’s birth father and half brother suddenly more present in her life it seemed like there could have and should have been more conversations about that, more conversations with depth than there were.

For me this was at its best whenever it showcased her extremely strained relationship with her awol birth father, I loved the tension in that, I loved the awkwardness, I loved where it ended up, and I adored the bond with the little brother, too. Whenever I read the scenes with the brother and the scenes with a father who doesn’t have a clue about/or much inclination to try being a parent to either one of these kids, I thought now this is where the emotion is at, these are the relationships I care about, had family, dysfunctional and otherwise, been the sole focus this may have had five star potential for me. ( )

I have never picked up a book by Sarah Dessen before, but she has long been on my TBR list. I have a few of her novels hidden away on my bookshelves, so it only seemed fitting that I finally pick one of them up! The Moon and More copy I have is actually an ARC copy that a local bookstore gave me in exchange for a donation to charity. That being said, the copy I received may be different than the final copy!

This story follows Emaline and her wild summer. Her romances, her family issues, her school decisions and all of the other drama that comes with being a high school senior who just graduated and is going to be whisked off to college.

I found this book to be a very contemporary novel. It's something I would have enjoyed back in high school - no action, mostly romance and drama, a slice of life-esque novel. It was very "boring" compared to the novels I typically read. There will be readers who absolutely love that this book is so simple to read and doesn't have much going on in the adventure department. It's simply a book about life - high school life. I've grown a bit as a reader and don't enjoy that as much now, but I can appreciate how beautifully Sarah has written this book.

I've seen other reviewers say this book is "mundane" and I definitely agree with that word. It describes it perfectly! And that's not an insult coming from me! I adored how sweet and soft this book was.

Theo is one of the highlights of this book. As an adult, I found him unbearable and crazy - big date ideas, gigantic displays of affection and a mock prom - but as a teen I would have wanted a guy like him. He's spontaneous and sweet and absolutely wild! The intended readers of this book will fall for him HARD.

Another point that I liked is that this book was so real. Most of the issues and drama that are in this book are super realistic. I knew a lot of people in high school dealing with broken families, cheating boyfriends, difficult college choices and family members walking back into their life. Almost every instance in this story felt like it was something that could actually happen and it didn't feel forced. This book almost read like a journal entry, if written in a story format. Kudos Sarah Dessen - you're a good writer!

If this book had a theme, I'd say it was finding yourself. Emaline was exploring who she is, where she came from and how to be her. It was a very sweet story, even if it wasn't my cup of tea. I honestly appreciate this book, even though I didn't enjoy it. It gets five stars from high school me, but not from current book blogger me.

Overall, this is a sweet and fluffy YA that will be adored by many.

Two out of five stars. ( )