Along For The Ride - Sarah Dessen

Title: Along For The Ride
Author: Sarah Dessen
Rating: 3.5/5

Auden needs a break. That's why she decides to visit her dad and her stepmother, including their new-born baby girl Thisbe. In the first few weeks her mother seemed to be right: People never change. Her dad is more focused on his work than on his wife and his new daughter, just like Auden's mom told her. All those negative thoughts make Auden staying up really late until sunrise. Then she meets Eli, who isn't much of day person either.

I needed some time to finish this book. Two days is a lifetime for me. I wasn't so sure to pick up this book. I liked This Lullaby and Keeping The Moon, but That Summer disappointed me a lot. I'm glad to announce that Sarah Dessen made up for that and is on my top list again!

What I really don't get is why Germany named this book Because Of You. Why did they have to change the title? I like Along For The Ride much better. Guess that's one of the reasons why I read it in English.

First, I can't believe that Auden never bowled. How can someone not love to bowl? I mean, I understand that she didn't do all the things other teenagers do. To be honest, I don't think that you always have to go along with the float, that's kind of boring. And I also think that she didn't do some things on her list because she was allowed to do them anyway. Like breaking curfew. How can you break curfew if you don't even have one?

Enough of that, uhm.. The only characters I liked in this book were Auden and Eli. Perhaps Maggie aswell. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy this book, I did. But i.e. Auden's dad is really much a... I'm not going to use that word. He is an author and puts his work over everything, even his family. He never looks after his new-born daughter which is one of the reasons I'd have thrown him out. Eli's mom was right: It takes two people to make a baby, so why did he leave Heidi with all the stuff? It wouldn't have hurt to take the baby once or twice. I wondered how he was with Auden, but her parents only explain how it was with her brother Hollis. And then there is Auden's mom who thinks way too dark about everything. You can have an opinion, that isn't a bad thing, but she made the impression like she forced Auden to have the same opinion about everything. I'm happy that she lightened up during the story.
(Notice: There are a lot of books in which the parents of the main character are authors.)

A little note for Heidi: I imagined her to be Heidi Montag (who I actually do not dislike actually) in the beginning. All blond, not a clue how to raise a baby. I'm glad I was wrong with the negative thought here.

Eli is just wonderful. I didn't understand Auden in that "I-better-stay-away-from-him"-part. He is everything you're looking for: Charming, always listening, and hell yeah, even a pro at riding bikes. That bike thing is the main point here. Eli lost his best friend at an accident. He thinks it's his fault because he rode and ever since the tragedy, nobody saw him riding a bike again. It changes though when he meets Auden. Cute, cute, cute!

I probably should have written a lot more, but all I can say is that this book is great. If Keeping The Moon wouldn't be my number one favourite by Sarah, then this one would be.