Title and Author of the Book: Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Plot Overview: This story centers around tenage model, Annabel Greene, who in front of a camera portrays the ideal high school girl. Her reality, though, is the total opposite. After a quiet summer, Annabel is now facing high school without any friends (the most notable loss, her ex-best friend Sophie), a house full of people focusing on her older sister, Whitney (who is recovering from an eating disorder), and a mind full of secrets. Until notorious, Ioner Owen Armstrong appears, ready to listen to all Annabel has to say. There's only one problem: Annabel doesn't know how to get the words out.

Critique: I found this book after an hour searching through my Goodreads, and was quick to check the library's catalog for a copy. Sure enough, it was easy to find and I headed there the next morning to pick it up. This book definitely had me swooning at the romantic parts, but also held my attention during classes that maybe I should have paid attention to. I liked Annabel, but boy, I wanted to speak for her at so many points in the story! Even though I knew that certain parts about her backstory were important in the lead up to her character growth, I felt myself trying to read those parts quickly in order to get through them. Overall, it was a pretty good story.

Cover Critique: The cover isn't very attractive, and made me and my friends giggle at the obvious age of the story (it was written in 2006). However, I was so excited about the story that I honestly didn't realize what the cover was until I was already five chapters in.

Star rating: 3.5/5