Book Review | Saint Anything | Sarah Dessen

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
Published by Viking Juvenile on May 5, 2015
Genres: Contemporary YA, Families, Relationships
Pages: 417
Format: eARC
Also by this author: The Moon and More
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
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five-stars

Peyton, Sydney’s charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion’s share of their parents’ attention and—lately—concern. When Peyton’s increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction, and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident?

Enter the Chathams, a warm, chaotic family who run a pizza parlor, play bluegrass on weekends, and pitch in to care for their mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Here Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance. And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time.

The uber-popular Sarah Dessen explores her signature themes of family, self-discovery, and change in her twelfth novel, sure to delight her legions of fans.

Friends, I think I’m pretty new to the Sarah Dessen fan club. I’ve only read five or six of her books (not particularly impressive when she’s written nearly 20), and there was one in there that I recall not liking as much. However, I feel like I’ve really gotten into her books since I read her last two: THE MOON AND MORE and, most recently, SAINT ANYTHING, and I have to say that SAINT ANYTHING might be my favorite Dessen of them all.

SAINT ANYTHING is the story of Sydney, a girl living in the shadow of her older brother’s immense light, until his growing reckless behavior lands him in jail. All of a sudden, Sydney is thrust out of her place in the dark corners of her family’s life and under her mother’s close scrutiny. It’s a difficult place for her to be–Sydney’s a good kid, but her parents are caught up in the downfall of their golden son, and are struggling to come to grips with their new family dynamic. Sydney finds it difficult to let Peyton off the hook the way her mother does, and seeks refuge with her new friends, the Chathams. They are everything her own family isn’t, and it doesn’t take much for her to be drawn to their open-hearted, loving life. She’s particularly fond of the daughter, Layla, who becomes a close friend, and Mac, who becomes something more. It’s the Chatham’s who help Sydney come to terms with the aftermath of her brother’s accident and adjust to her family’s new reality.

So in the grand scheme of things, as I said before, I haven’t read many of Sarah Dessen’s books, but SAINT ANYTHING seemed like the darkest one of those that I’ve read. It very well might not be. This book deals with drunk driving, drug use, jail, and degenerative diseases–all pretty heavy things. But if there’s anything that I’ve come to expect from Sarah Dessen, it’s that she knows how to handle these issues and so many more with thoughtfulness and care. I felt SO MANY THINGS while reading SAINT ANYTHING, and I can chalk that up to her skills.

But let’s talk about how much I loved Sydney, ok? This girl. She made SAINT ANYTHING. Her whole life, her brother has been the one in the spotlight–handsome, charming, on the path toward Great Things–and she’s just been plugging away, handling her business, keeping her head on straight, and generally being a great fucking kid. Now that Peyton is serving his jail sentence, her parents are on “juvenile delinquent” alert–even though Sydney has NEVER given them reason to think that’s necessary–and are super overprotective and skeptical of what she does in and out of school. It made me unendingly MAD that Sydney’s parents–particularly her mom–hold Peyton’s behavior against her without cause. I cried because I felt so frustrated for her, and also because I wanted to SMACK DOWN on her mom.

I’m not a parent, so I can’t speak to how I would react if my child paralyzed another kid in drunk driving accident, but Sydney’s mom was stubbornly incapable of placing the blame where it belonged–on her son–and IT. WAS. UNREAL. She was very pushy and had laser focus on making jail for Peyton seem like he was just on this, like, super long vacation angered me like nobody’s business. She also perpetuated a relationship between her family and Peyton’s former mentor from one of his rehab stints, Ames. THIS GUY. EW. Creeptastic from the beginning, he only got worse, weaseling his way into Sydney’s family’s lives and home, taking advantage of his closeness with Peyton. The fact that it took a tremendous amount of inappropriate behavior on his part for Sydney’s parents to recognize his true colors only further illustrates the way they totally mishandled things and paid no real attention to Sydney.

In direct opposition to Sydney’s family, we have the Chathams. They were the beating heart of SAINT ANYTHING. Loving, warm, and close, they welcomed Sydney into their home with ease. They gave me the warm fuzzies every single time they appeared. Layla is so vibrant and funny and loyal. Mac is sweet and steady and quiet. Their house is like base for any number of random friends and acquaintances and you can’t help but feel the coziness of being near them. Their tight-knit relationship is highlighted by the fact that the mother suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, a disease that affects someone very close to me. I just loved the way they absorbed Sydney into their lives and were there for her in so many different ways when she needed guidance or a friend or something else.

Speaking of Mac…you guys? He’s ADORABLE. The romance in SAINT ANYTHING between him and Sydney is slow and incredibly sweet. They spend a lot of time together delivering pizzas for the Chatham’s pizza parlor, and their chats in Mac’s truck are funny and heartwarming. I love it when we get to see a relationship grow from the ground up, and we get that with Sydney and Mac. Also, I LOVED that the drama in Sydney’s life doesn’t come from her relationship with Mac. He’s really the calm in the storm for her, supporting her whenever she needs it without asking questions. A+ relationship, Sarah Dessen.

I become a bigger fan of Sarah Dessen with every book of hers I read. SAINT ANYTHING was emotional, complex, thoughtful, and really easy to read, even when some people (*coughSydney’smomcough*) were being insufferable. I don’t think there’s a book that Sarah Dessen could possibly write that I won’t want to gobble right up.