"Just Listen" By Sarah Dessen

****this is more of a journal than a book report***

Response Journal #4: Just Listen By Sarah Dessen

From Pages 296 to 371

I thought that this last quarter of the novel, Just Listen by Sarah Dessen, was a real disappointment, in my opinion. First of all, when Annabel and Owen parted ways for such along time, I was very disappointed. Then, on top of that, the ending was a clichй, because it was too corny and too much of a happy ending.

Anyway, since I finished reading this novel, I have to say that it was well written, in exception to the ending, of course. Within this section I had many quotes that I thought were phenomenal. Some examples would be the following: "As he leaned in to kiss me, I closed my eyes and saw not the flat black of the dark but something else. Something Brighter, closer to light, shining small but ever steady. More then enough to go on as a part of me pushing up and out, finally, to meet it there." (Page 363, Last paragraph) This quote is very significant, because it relates to how Annabel mentioned earlier in the novel that the darkness (the lie) is a cover, what hides the light (the truth). When the truth is revealed, Annabel walks into the light, as if the start of a better and brighter future. Another quote I absolutely adored was the following: "'I am still the center sister. But I see it differently now. There has to be a middle. Without it, nothing can truly be whole. Because it is not just the space between, but also what holds everything together.'" (Page 333, Fifth paragraph) This was said by Whitney, and it also relates to an earlier portion in the book; when Owen showed Annabel that there always has to be a middle, because everything will fall apart if there isn't. Now I wonder what my "center" sister thinks when she sees herself as being the "shade of grey" within the family.

Apart from the portions I enjoyed, there were some I just didn't understand. For example, "'God,' she said. 'Poor Sophie.' 'I know. Can you imagine dating someone and now this?'" (Page 303, Seventh paragraph) I just don't understand why they pity Sophie! She betrayed both of her best friends, and no one seems to notice this. Aside from this there is something within this section that I had less understanding within, and it was the following quote: "Shhh, Annabel. It's just me. But these words were only the middle of the story. There was a beginning here, too. And I knew suddenly that if I stayed where I was, in all the quiet, and didn't run from it, I would hear it. I'd have to go back, all the way to that night at the party when I'd first heard Emily call out Sophie's name, but that was okay. It was the only way, finally, to get to the end... I understood now. This voice, the one that had been trying to get my attention all this time, calling out to me, begging me to hear it-it wasn't Will's. It was mine." (Page