Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen Review

I have been reading quite a few young adult contemporary novels these past few months for some writing research, so naturally Sarah Dessen pops up on my reading list. Back when I was a teen, I used to read quite a few Sarah Dessen books, seeing as they were quite popular in the early 2000s. While they were a little before my time, I was always intrigued by their covers and had gained quite the collection of them on my bookshelf, despite not reading them all.

To be clear, I am unsure if I have read Keeping the Moon before. I might have? Either way, my uncertainty sort of defines my feelings about the book: a slightly forgettable story line and with characters that don't stand out. No big twist. No ah ha! moment. No character development. It just...was.

Despite the lackluster plot, Sarah Dessen does capture a specific quirkiness that keeps me coming back to her books. The two arguing best friends, the cat and the person having the same name- all of this just adds to the light-heartedness that Keeping the Moon captures.

The two friends, Isabel and Morgan were honestly my favorite part of the novel. They were fun, quirky, and showed an honest example of true friendship: the ups and downs.

My biggest issue with Keeping the Moon was the fact that none of the issues were actually solved.

This novel covers a lot of different issues: self-esteem, fat-shaming, and slut-shaming. Every single character in the novel seemed to have it out for the main character, which made these issues seem to really stand out. Sometimes, the characters would bully the main character for things that were so nonsensical that it just seemed...abnormally cruel. Like I get it, the teenage years are rough. But to seek out someone to hardcore bully someone who once used to have a little more weight that they haven't had for years now? That's just...odd.

The thing about these issues is that nothing changed. We had a little bit of a "if I tell myself I'm pretty, then I am!" moment, but it was so insignificant to the events of the book that it felt just thrown in as an afterthought.

All in all, Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen was a quirky yet stagnant story that seemed to have self-esteem issues itself. Despite this, the novel was its strongest when discussing themes of friendship.