The Moon and More

By: Sarah Dessen

Narrated by: Allie Gallerani

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going?

Sarah Dessen's devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer.

©2013 Sarah Dessen (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Dessen is as skilled as ever at turning out steady, satisfying stories about teens that are easy to fall for." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

"Completely engaging, infused with moments of sweetness, humor and major epiphanies." (Kirkus Reviews)

“Quintessential Dessen” (The Horn Book)

Entertaining and Irritating

I've read (well, mostly listened to) all of Sarah Dessen's books and I was super excited to devour a new one. I love Dessen's rich characters and how she develops relationships the most. I can really loose myself in her stories, and be somewhere new and exciting while I'm reading.

This book worked in that way for me. I blasted through it in a few days (a rarity for me) wanting to immerse myself in the main character Emaline's world, but I still feel conflicted about the book in general because although I was entertained thoroughly I was also frustrated with some of choices made in this book.

The family dynamics in this novel were excellent as always. You could really understand the situation and feel for the characters. It was a bit more complicated than usual, which I actually enjoyed as a good change of pace.

The love story portion of this book however was bordering on terrible. I could never figure out if I was supposed to like Theo or hate him. I definitely leaned towards the latter, and even caught myself groaning and rolling my eyes while he talked. His character was painful and made it hard for me to enjoy an otherwise good story. I don't know if Dessen intended it to go like this, or if it was just a miss, but either way, it has put this book second to last in my personal ranking of her novels.

The narrator wasn't great, but wasn't so bad that it distracted me. I found myself annoyed with some of the character voices, but I got used to it after a few hours.

I wish I could give this book three and half stars, since it was more entertaining, but more frustrating than most books I listen to. If you're a Sarah Dessen fan, this one will be a disappointment, but it isn't so bad that you need to skip it. If you are new to her books I recommend starting with Just Listen, The Truth About Forever or Lock and Key instead.

Disappointed

Sarah Dessen is one of my favorite authors. She always finds a way to create her characters in such a way that they capture my heart and keep me so enthralled that I can't put the book down. Even with the happy endings I usually don't want the story to end. This story, however, was very disappointing. I found it difficult to connect with any of the characters, and found both love interests completely annoying. The story itself was slow and there were many times I was so frustrated just waiting to understand the point of the story. It does have an okay ending, but overall I just felt like the story was flat - especially for a Sarah Dessen book.

The narrator was okay. I know some people mentioned being annoyed by her voice or lack of enthusiasm, but I think the voice fit the main character's personality very well.

I hope the next Sarah Dessen book is better, I would hate for this to become a trend for her. Since I own all of her other books in hard cover. I don't think I'll be purchasing this one though.

Good Read

This book took me a bit to listen to just because at some points it became boring. But I do have to say once you get through the entire story, it is a good read. Dont know if I would read again but again, it was good.

love love love!

If you love Sarah Dessen, you'll love this! Great story, lots of drama! Very relatable.

Narrator made it hard

The story itself is good, but I found that the narrator's nasally voice became more and more grating the longer I listened. It made the main character seem even more whiney and childish than when I read the hard copy.

Boring story, didn't really come together

Would you try another book from Sarah Dessen and/or Allie Gallerani?

I've always been a fan of Sarah Dessen books, but this one fell short. I found the narrator irritating. Usually I stop noticing the narrator after a couple hours, but this one sounded bored and was monotone about 75% of the time. She just didn't sound into it.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I felt like, unlike Dessen's other books, this one doesn't tie together well. It's full of the normal analogies and insightful phrases, but they seem tossed in without really tying into any specific theme. There were also some kinda loose ends and the love story/interests just didn't make sense.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Just sounded bored and uninterested.

Allie Gallerani

When reading an audio book, please do not chew gum. It was very distracting and annoying.

Once again, patience wins out

I found this book, like Ms. Dessen's others, grabbed me deep. Yes, I hated Theo & had major words with Emaline in my head, but I knew the narrative was well presented when I felt emotional pain at some of the goings on. Dessen books are difficult for me because they trigger all sorts of introspection into me as a person & my life.
I had trouble with Ms. Gallerani's reading as it seemed pretty monotone & flat. But I learned long ago to plunge on & give the narration a chance. I'm almost always glad I did. Once I grew simpatico with her, I could pick up nuances & varying voices. It certainly wasn't the best narration but I hope it may be due to inexperience & improvement is coming because I could hear a bit of promise of such as the reading progressed.

Standard Dessen Fare

For those of you who have read other works by Dessen, this book won't be much of a shake up or a surprise, and shares more with "What Happened to Goodbye" than any other work I have read, as although there are romantic subplots, they are no more prevalent than any other storyline found in this book. The relationships found are typical for Dessen, separated or divorced parents, a happy adult relationship mixed in, complicated characters you like at first then learn to dislike later and vice versa, and amusing side characters that have their obligatory obsessive quirk that distinguishes them. If you have enjoyed the breezy tone of Dessen's lighthearted but loveable stories before, then you will find more of the same here and be just as entertained by it. This book is not a game-changing piece of romance or teenage fiction, but is a fun book to read for relaxation and pure entertainment, This will be something fans of Sarah Dessen's other works will appreciate.

eh

I only gave 2 stars because the book is great (well I haven't heard the whole thing but Dessen is normally amazing) but the reader is really bad I couldn't take it