Review: Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

SAINT ANYTHING BY SARAH DESSEN
Publisher: Penguin
Format: Paperback
Series: No
Pages: 448
Date Finished: 08.10.15
Rating: 2.5/5
Summary: 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 behaviour 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 parlour, 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 future was one thing that could never be broken, because it had not yet had the chance to be anything.”  

The most honest thing I can say about this book was that it was nice. The romance was nice, the story was nice, the conflict was nice--I can't think of anything inherently terrible about Saint Anything, but I can't think of anything that great either.

Saint Anything tells the story of Sydney, a girl whose elder brother is in prison for drink driving, subsequently paralysing a boy from the waist down. From this summary I expected the book to deal with the dark stuff more than it actually did. Of course it mentioned it, but honestly I just wanted more. All the gritty, realistic elements of the book just felt a little lacklustre. So many elements were set up and I felt that they were all barely resolved, and if they were it was in a big showy chapter at the end.

Sydney's main problem aside from her brother is that she feels invisible. The thing is, we're never actually shown that, only told it. Being a teenager I've obviously felt invisible before so I should've sympathised with her but I just didn't. It wasn't as if Sydney was whiny, but I felt no connection to her whatsoever.

“It was unrealistic to expect to be constantly in the happiest place. In real life, you're lucky just to be always somewhere nearby.”  

Another thing that bothered me was Ames. He's this really creepy guy that ends up assaulting Sydney. Whilst this could have been a really powerful subplot, I don't think it was handled all that well (it still wasn't handled badly) and was a little unnecessary to the story. Again, I thought the resolution of this aspect of the books as week. Also it's the first time I've read a book where the character has the same last name as me, and of course it had to be a creepy pervert.

I liked most of the characters, but in the same way I like the colour yellow. It's alright, I suppose, but I don't love it. I don't really care about yellow. Sydney felt a little bland, and the whole cast of characters had a few defining traits each and nothing more to them than that. Mac and Sydney had a cute relationship, but any idea of romantic tension fell flat on its face. Their story went something like they meet, they like each other, they flirt, they kiss, they live happily ever after. The fact that Mac was the brother of Sydney's best friend could've upped the tension but it barely did.

It may sound like this book was rubbish. It isn't. I flew through it and had a good time reading it. Like I said at the beginning, all the good things were just nice. I can't go into the specifics about what I liked because in all honesty I'm not really sure. Everything was perfectly average. It's a shame because I've heard so much about Sarah Dessen and I really wanted this book to shine. I don't think it will stop me from picking up her other books, but I'm certainly in no hurry.

“When faced with the scariest of things, all you want to do is turn away, hide in your own invisible place. But you can't. That's why it's not only important for us to be seen, but to have someone to look for us, as well.”