This Lullaby

This Lullaby is about a girl named Remy who thinks she knows everything. She's got it all figured out, you know, this relationship stuff. She works with a timeline and she cycles through guys. She thinks her method is keeping her safe from heartbreak and with a mother like her's who's on her fifth marriage (after Remy's dad died who wrote and dedicated "This Lullaby" to her), can you really blame the girl? Her and her brother Chris use to be a team, they thought the same way about all this love-marriage-love crap but then he met his girlfriend and he started to change and Remy didn't like it (I think it was mentioned that she was named after the drink Remy Martin and I thought it was cool cause that's my favorite -- and only favorite -- drink lol). While waiting for Don, her soon-to-be fifth step-father to discuss wedding plans she (literally) runs into Dexter. Who is everything she's not looking for in a boyfriend. But he's persistent (and I love persistence in my books) and eventually she warms up to him. Everything after that would be a spoiler :). I love this book. If it wasn't obvious already. I love how strong the characters were, their personalities were strong and while you were reading Remy's mom's novel, it felt like Remy was in the room reading it with you. The plot was strong and it had a lot of unexpected turns. I didn't feel like there was enough scenes with Remy's mom, but I did love the times where there were scenes of her mom. I loved how adorable Dexter's character was. He wasn't perfect or swoon worthy but I loved how sweet he was to Remy all the time even when she obviously made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him. And it made me kind of mad how mean she was to him but I loved how he just kept coming back. I loved the panic in Remy as soon as she started to notice the change and I loved the girl talks between her and her friends. If you haven't already read this book, I highly suggest you do!

I found this book as a teenager in the public library. Since then I’ve read it so many times I can almost recite the story. I love the characters, the growth, and the real reflections of inner turmoil. I highly highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone!

The story's protagonist, Remy Starr, is a newly graduated high school student. She has one last summer left at home before she heads off to the opposite side of the country to attend Stanford University in California. She is perpetually-and most unhappily- jaded where it comes to love and relationships, though with good reason based on her family history: her mother has been married five times and she never knew her father though he did write a one-hit-wonder song dedicated to Remy. The song, a lullaby, is the axis of the plot. There is no shortage of opportunities in the story for the character to experience mistrust coupled by feelings of alienation. When she slams into a series of emotional rock bottoms, the author, Sarah Dessen, has Remy return to the song's complicated message about love and the disappointments one sometimes must face regarding relationships. And, of course, what would a teen read be without, THE BOY: the relationship that will open Remy's eyes to the big picture, Love is the Way. Okay, pretty standard message but then again, I believe that message and I don't think it can be written, said, or spray-painted on the walls enough. Was this read revolutionary or even exciting? No. But Dessen is a good writer, knows how to move the story along well enough, and her characters are true to life. It was a decent book and probably helpful, certainly relatable, to people, kids or adults, with similar challenges regarding difficult relationships. What I'd like to say most about this book is that Dessen's honest writing regarding teen life impresses me. I think she's brave to write about the partying side of young adults. It would be much easier as a writer to play it safe and leave out the references to drinking, smoking, sex, and to drop the low-brow language. But no, she writes it so that it's believable. Remy and her group of gal pals were so familiar to me I felt like I could find them in my year book with captions under each saying, "Stay Cool" and, "We need to hang out more this summer. Call me, Bitch." I know not everyone, teens or post teens, had or are having the same experience but a lot of us did and are. Good for Dessen and for us readers who can relate. I recommend this book to anyone who has seen the down side of romantic and or family relationships one too many times and would like to have their faith revitalized.

I really enjoyed reading this book by Sarah Dessen. Would love to see a sequel one this one.

Hmm, I wanted to like this book. I loved Truth About Forever and Just Listen. I am looking for the same type of "magic," that I found in those books in her other works and I haven't found it. I'll start with a few good points. The descriptions and writing were beautiful in some spots. Dessen has a great command of the English language and knows how to tell a story. A few bad points, spoilers may follow. I had a really hard time liking Remy. The smoking, the drinking, the sex, the swearing. She was just a "rougher" character then some of her other female leads. I get that she was trying to change and turning over a new leaf, etc, but those changes didn't make her likable. She was still kind of bitchy. I think that was sort of the point, because she says at one time it was something she was proud of. But apart from her mother's many marriages, and something that happened in her past, I didn't feel like I got a good enough reason why she was proud of being a bitch? Why would anyone want to be known for being mean? I guess that concept is just foreign to me. I felt like I wanted more. When the book teetered on giving me what I wanted it would continually fall short. Instead of pivotal moments being narrated and two people interacting and exchanging words that meant something, those moments were assumed and faded to black. I wanted her to dive into those conversations between two people and have them actually tell the truth. Like it was always on the surface of something great, but never went deeper under the surface. And when two characters went under the surface it was a small blip on the map then they were right back to the surface. The main character just wasn't very self-aware.

Sarah Dessen is an amazing author, and I'm proud to say that I have read all of her books. This one included. You laugh, you cry, you fall in love, you dream, and you never put her books down. This book, along with her others, are perfect for young girls and are very appropriate for woman of a young. I highly recommend them.

Bought on kindle to reread before the movie comes out on Netflix! I read this in high school and now as an adult, it’s still so good.

Much like the lullaby of the title is a typical over-played sappy song, Remy's story begins as a typical teen story (girl with messed-up family struggles to come to terms with love). However, both have the makings of something deeper and more meaningful in the hands where they eventually fall. Remy doesn't know what to think of the singer/songwriter father who died before she met him. She knows exactly what to think of her artsy-flighty mom, at least until a new marriage begins to change her. She used to know what to think of her brother until his girlfriend started teaching him to wear shirts with collars and *iron them*! Her gal pals all have comfortable roles in their friendship and she knows what they expect from her. But as high school ends, things are changing. Relationships end both as expected and unexpectedly, so new opportunities open. Should you take a chance on a feeling that flashes through you in a second? Should you stand by the logic you've spent years developing? What happens if neither choice leaves you happy? This outshines some of Dessen's other teen stories and has the courage to give readers an unconventional ending. As an adult reader, it's 4 or 4.5 stars for me, but the teens in my classes think it is much more of a 5 (or, according to one, a 6!) This is a good shelf selection for grades 8-12. Although Remy has been a wild child and continues to use her fake ID to purchase drinks, she is changing, so the book isn't likely to bother parents too much.

New author I found Really enjoyed the book

great book

I ordered "This Lullaby" primarily because I had read another book, "Dreamland", by Sarah Dessen before which was very good. However, this one was even better!!! It's the story of Remy, an eighteen-year-old high school graduate with a reputation for drinking and sleeping around (which doesn't make her any less likable, though), and her three best friends - Lissa, Jess, and Chloe. It's that last summer before college, and the last thing Remy is looking for is a relationship. A summer fling, no strings attached, so she can breeze out scot-free (as she calls it) by the end of August - that's what she had in mind. Because Remy does not believe in love ... how could she? Her mother is just about to get married for the fifth time, and the only thing her father left her is a song in which he says that he will let her down. When Remy meets Dexter, a singer and hopeless optimistic, she is torn for the first time. Can people really be meant for each other? Is love a risk worth taking? Or will everyone eventually let you down, thus meaning that breaking up with someone before you can grow too attached is the best way to go about life? Dealing with Dexter, her friends' joys and pains, her brother's stuck-up girlfriend, and her latest stepfather isn't easy ... but as Remy watches her mother's courageous optimism in the face of yet another crumbling marriage she makes a decision that will change her life forever. The author truly understands what young people go through, and how difficult it sometimes is to take a step, however small, even when you know that it is the right one. A great book, one I will definetely read again and again!!!

I received it in perfect condition and it's a Sarah Dessen novel so it needs no introduction.! It's perfect. Although I do wish the cover was matte instead of glossy.

I bought this book because I love to read and found this a very good book and would read it again. The only thing I found was that even though they are different books they more or less follow the same story but with different characters and settings.