CW: Controlling abusive boyfriend ( )

This is my first Sarah Dessen book and I think I can understand why she is so popular. This book is good. Dessen tackles a tough subject with sensitivity and understanding. The story is raw and real and totally compelling, and I usually avoid novels that deal with Issues. I also like the way she ended the book, not quickly and neatly tying up the loose ends as many books do, but showing the long and slow recovery process that Caitlin goes through. It seems like her feelings toward Rogerson are not entirely resolved, which is very true to life. My only gripe is that I wish we were given more insight to Rogerson's character. For the male lead, he got very little character development, and the small glimpse into his home life wasn't sufficient enough to explain his behaviour. ( )

What a chore it was to finish this, and to particularly read past the first thirty pages. Eighty percent of this is just a shy high school girl smoking a ton of weed. IRL, fine. But this book was advertised as having a domestic violence plot as well as a runaway sister. I was so swept away by this book when I was a teen. I can't believe I forgot what this book was really about, since it fills nearly every page. The characters are cheap cardboard cutouts, there's hardcore instalove, the mother is a real smother, the dad is distant, and everyone blames themselves for ignoring a girl they've ignored from the start, once it had consequences. I felt no attachment to Corinne and wasn't convinced of the protagonist's and Rina's friendship either. Cass was a really selfish person, even with evidence of parents like that. And--just so much of this book was unrealistic and cliche. "Black and Blue" by Anna Quindlen tells a story of domestic violence, too, but in a very different way. I recommend it, or "Breathing Underwater" by Alex Flinn, although it's from an abusive teenager's perspective, rather than his girlfriend, as it is in this book. ( )

Before i start talking about this book. Let me say i am usually a very big fan of Sarah Dessen. Her books, the one's i have read previously, are usually about a teenager , a girl , dealing with issues and somehow coming out of it stronger. The issues that they deal with seem to be something most of us can relate to. The characters i.e the friends, the main 'hero' all are usually well drawn out characters and you are pulled into their loves.
Dreamland was so so far from that, that it almost seemed as though this wasn't a Sarah Dessen.
First of all this wasn't even remotely about coming out of the issue rather about going deeper and deeper into more issues.
The characters Rogerson and Caitlin are not interesting. They are not engaging.
Fundamentally the way the story proceeded and kept proceeding did not make sense to me. The choices the characters made were so unbelievable that it completely spoiled the reading experience for me.
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This is a great book. It covers a topic not many people realize they may be going through, or if they know, they don’t want to realize. I think this book could open the eyes of many teens that may be going through a similar situation. Ive read this book many times and each time I get something more out of it. ( )