Along For The Ride

From Amazon:

Auden is about to start college in the fall, and decides to escape her control-freak professor mom to spend the summer with her novelist father, his new young wife, and their brand-new baby daughter, Thisbe. Over the course of the summer, Auden tackles many new projects: learning to ride a bike, making real connections with peers, facing the emotional fallout of her parents’ divorce, distancing herself from her mother, and falling in love with Eli, a fellow insomniac bicyclist recovering from his own traumas. The cover may mislead readers, as despite the body language of the girl in pink and the hunky blue-jeaned boy balanced on a bike, this is no slight romance: there’s real substance here. Dessen’s many fans will not be deterred by the length or that cover; they expect nuanced, subtle writing, and they won’t be disappointed.

Okay, so maybe I am one of the last book bloggers to review this novel, but that doesn't mean it doesn't deserve its chance to shine on the Collegiate Bookworm. Plus, Dessen is one of my all time favorite authors, so I can't just read her novel and not review it!

Have you ever read a novel and just gotten so attached to the characters? If you haven't, read this book. I would say that I couldn't put this book down, but that would be a lie. I got so into the characters (Auden in particular), that when they frustrated me (in the best possible way, of course) I had to put it down. That's how involved I was. It was like I was there with them! That, to me, makes a good book. The relationships between the characters are classically Dessen complicated, meaning that there's always more to them than you first see, which I really appreciate. Auden really evolves throughout the novel, but not without a few bumps on the road. Overall, this novel was one not to be missed. It was the perfect mix of love, family, friends, and mistakes. Without a doubt this novel deserves:

One thing I will say though, is that the cover definitely didn't match the Auden and Eli in my mind. As much as I adore the cover, my Auden isn't a pink polka dot dress kind of girl :)