Goodreads | Just Listen

Shakespeare rated it:

05/19/08

bookshelves: favorites

Read in January, 2008

recommended to Shakespeare by: Friend
recommends it for: Teenagers 15 and Up (those that can handle mature content)

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This was the first book by Sarah Dessen I ever read, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Sarah's characters are so original, and 3 Dimensional. They literally spring to life and I found myself thinking that they were real people on several occassions and that I was merely standing behind them, watching. And invisible. It's so wonderful to feel as if you ARE the main character, feeling their happiness, anger, sorrow, and pain.

The plot was marvelous. I love how Sarah doesn't come right out a...more This was the first book by Sarah Dessen I ever read, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Sarah's characters are so original, and 3 Dimensional. They literally spring to life and I found myself thinking that they were real people on several occassions and that I was merely standing behind them, watching. And invisible. It's so wonderful to feel as if you ARE the main character, feeling their happiness, anger, sorrow, and pain.

The plot was marvelous. I love how Sarah doesn't come right out and tell us what happened to Annabel, why she's keeping everything hidden. We don't know what happened to Annabel, because she herself doesn't let her memories remind her of what happened that dreadful night. Until she tells Owen. That took a lot of strength from Annabel and I was pleased to see the remarkable change and growth in character development; Annabel going from insecure and practically silent, to finding the courage and strength to relive the details she couldn't even admit to herself. I hope everyone follows Annabel's example, if anything similar were to happen to them.

Back to the plot. I EXTREMELY loved the family problems in this book. Whitney's fight with anorexia was very real and effective, learning more and more about Sophie in threads, and of course, the relationship between Annabel and Owen. For all the characters, I found three that really seemed to progess throughout the story. Annabel, of course, Whitney, and Kirsten. For Annabel see in previous paragraph(s). Whitney overcomes her eating disorder and seems to enjoy life more, really making a wonderful comeback. Kirsten goes from talkative to sophisticated and saying just enough. The difference in Kirsten, such a small part of the book, yet such a large transformation. It seemed that it wasn't just Annabel living her life, everyone else around her was growing too. It's nice to see that sort of realism.

I was thoroughly impressed by this book, and it currently remains one of my favorites by Sarah Dessen. ...less

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Annie rated it:

04/15/08

Read in April, 2008

recommends it for: junior high schoolers, their teachers.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

This is YA fiction, pretty enjoyable, though I'm not dashing off to finish it by any means.

It's about a girl who is kind of caught up in how she wants to be seen-- a model, actually. Like, literally, that is her job. And she apparently made some pretty terrible decisions that cost her at least a couple of friendships and led her to the kind of ostracism you can face in junior high and high school. And then she befriends another "outcast" and begins her first real friendship (my ass...more This is YA fiction, pretty enjoyable, though I'm not dashing off to finish it by any means.

It's about a girl who is kind of caught up in how she wants to be seen-- a model, actually. Like, literally, that is her job. And she apparently made some pretty terrible decisions that cost her at least a couple of friendships and led her to the kind of ostracism you can face in junior high and high school. And then she befriends another "outcast" and begins her first real friendship (my assessment, not necessarily hers or the authors.)

There's kind of a lot in it. Mean girls. Eating disorders. Family secrets. Depression. And if I am reading the foreshadowing correctly, I think we've got a history of sexual abuse about to be disclosed. Pretty heavy stuff, but not all that heavy-handed.

My one complaint here is that the main "mean girl," Sophie, is not a character at all. Like, the author doesn't have an actual person in mind, only a conglomeration of character traits and tics. I don't actually believe in this girl, not because I haven't met girls who appeared to be like this girl, but more because I think those girls only appeared to be this way. I mean, from my vantage point at the time, the girl who "dumped" me in junior high was just mean and petty and a snob. But that girl had her own interior life, and I know now that a) she was a lot more complicated, b) she was doing what she had seen modeled for her, and c) she had no idea how to change our relationship and she didn't like it the way it was. The author seems to give a passing nod to "she is more complicated" with the main character acknowledging that Sophie's parents had a bad break-up and now Sophie and her mom are impoverished, but to me, it mostly reads like the author didn't bother creating an inner life for this antagonist.

This is totally making me think about my own writing, which, A+ for that. I really want to allow my characters their own rich lives off-page, if that makes sense. I don't have to tell their stories, but I have to at least know that they have them, you know?

eta: finished the book. The middle-to-end sort of dragged there; there was a totally perfect awesome moment for resolution that the protagonist didn't take, for weak reasons. It was, I think, the only moment of the plot that felt like a false note to me. Slightly disappointing.

This was more than made up for by the actual resolution of the storylines. I really liked these characters, in the end, and I was pleasantly surprised by the denouement of the sexual abuse storyline.

So, in summary, solidly good book, somewhat predictable but entertaining. And I am actually going to miss these characters now that I am done!...less

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Jennifer rated it:

05/06/08

bookshelves: best-of-the-best, gold-star-award, personal-read, trt-reviews

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Up until now, THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER has always been my favorite Sarah Dessen book. Now that I've read JUST LISTEN, however, I think there's a tie! The characters of this latest release are so honestly real, their dialogue perfectly placed, that you can't help but be pulled into the life and times of Annabel Greene.

Of course everyone thinks that Annabel has the perfect life. She's a model who has been in television commercials, in print ads, and in fa...more Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Up until now, THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER has always been my favorite Sarah Dessen book. Now that I've read JUST LISTEN, however, I think there's a tie! The characters of this latest release are so honestly real, their dialogue perfectly placed, that you can't help but be pulled into the life and times of Annabel Greene.

Of course everyone thinks that Annabel has the perfect life. She's a model who has been in television commercials, in print ads, and in fashion shows at the local mall. She's popular at school, even if it is mostly because she's best friends with Sophie, the high school girl who demands attention. Her father is an architect who designed their house of glass; her mother lives for Annabel's modeling; she has two older sisters, Kirsten and Whitney, who are both former models themselves.

Under all of that perfection, of course, lies the real Annabel. The one who suffered from something so horrible at the end of the last school year that she's lost not only her best friend, but her self-respect. Her family is so consumed with Whitney's eating disorder, with Kirsten's college life far away in New York, with keeping everything under control that Annabel doesn't tell them what's happened--the things that are still happening every day she goes to school just dreading the day. She doesn't want to add more problems to the mix; in fact, she lies by omission, simply avoiding the truth rather than shattering her family's illusions.

But then Annabel meets Owen Armstrong, a boy she once watched punch out another student, then calmly walk away. Owen keeps to himself, never seems to be without his iPod, and doesn't appear to need any friends. But after he reaches out a hand to her, literally, after she's sick outside of school one day, a budding relationship of friendship begins to build between the guy who never lies, no matter what--and the girl who lies to protect other's feelings, namely her own.

I loved JUST LISTEN. Owen is a character that will immediately grab your interest, especially with lines like "...for me, not saying how I feel when I feel it is a bad move. So I don't do it. Look at it this way: I might be saying you're fat, but at least I'm not punching you in the face." As for Annabel, the things she's holding inside are tearing her apart, and, in the end, it's the strength of her sisters that gets her to ask for help.

The characters of Kirsten and Whitney are complicated and complex, and I have to admit that there's a part near the end of the book in which the sisters come together that had me crying like a baby. As for Annabel, it's not all about telling the truth, but about listening, not just to others, but mostly to that voice inside of her:

"...this is what happens when you try to run from the past. It doesn't just catch up: it overtakes, blotting out the future, the landscape, the very sky, until there is no path left except that which leads through it, the only one that can ever get you home." ...less

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Colleen rated it:

04/03/08

This book, Just Listen is a contemporary fiction book. The main character, Annabelle Greene is a Midwestern sophomore who starts out her school year without friends because of an incident that happened last year. She is ostracized by everyone in the school except a large, angry boy named Owen Armstrong and her ex-best friend Sophie who constantly insults her. She becomes friends with Owen and learns he is in anger management, and he teaches her how to confront people and tell the truth, especial...more

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Snorkle rated it:

06/30/08

Read in March, 2008

You'd think the life of a model would be perfect and hassle-free, but Annabel's life is anything but perfect. It's the fall of her junior year and even though in all the adds it looks like she's got it all, Annabel feels like her life is just falling apart. Between her former best friends vicious rumors and her sister's sickness at home, Annabel just doesn't know how to cope. It's not until she meets Owen Armstrong, the super tall, music obsessed loner, that Annabel starts to see thinks in a dif...more

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Wee!wawaLAA!!! rated it:

03/04/08

Read in March, 2008

recommended to Wee!wawaLAA!!! by: Waffle?
recommends it for: teenagers, not-into-pop-music people

So far, the storyline's OK, but not the best I've ever seen. Like Annabel is the model, but she hates the job, but doesn't want her mom to be hurt with the decision. So she constantly tells less than the actual truth and denies being a liar. Until she met Owen Armstrong, who helped her when she was getting hurt by all these assholed gossipers. Then all they talk about is like music and jobs, which is kinda boring. Apparently Annabel is one of the more preppy girls who like the more modern pop so...more

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Waffle...♥ rated it:

03/31/08

bookshelves: eighth-grade, favorites, inspirational, romance, young-adult

Read in March, 2008

recommended to Waffle...♥ by: Me? o-o;
recommends it for: Grades 8-12

This book is ALOT like The Truth About Forever but the story line is very different... personally I liked The Truth About Forever better because it's much more touching and sweet... but this book teaches a great deal of a lesson about truth. Truth haunts and lingers over you no matter what and you can never let it go. If you chose to ignore it... its going to overtake your future and the only way out is to follow it through.

Shhh, Annabel. It's just me. That part was fantastic! I real...more

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Erin rated it:

06/28/07

Read in June, 2007

recommends it for: Fans of "Speak"

Annabel Green lives in a glass house - literally. But even inside of the glass house that her father built, she realizes that it is easy to hide secrets. It is easy to hide the fact that her mother has become a different person since her grandmother’s death. That her oldest sister has moved away, leaving a gaping hole in the family.

It is easy to hide the fact that her other sister is suffering from an eating disorder that her parents choose to dismiss until it’s almost too late.

...more

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Tamara rated it:

09/15/07

bookshelves: teen

Read in June, 2007

Though I liked "This Lullaby" by Sarah Dessen better, this book does have some redeeming qualities.

This is about a girl who is dealing with all of the typical teenage problems (loss of best friend, sexual assault, sister with eating disorder, emotionally unstable mother, etc.) The book starts out slow and is predictable for about the first 50 pages.

However, then Sarah Dessen's charm kicks in. Enter: the boy music snob we've all learned to love, a strong moral on how best to d...more

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Megan rated it:

03/05/08

bookshelves: book-report-books

Read in February, 2008

Annabel Greene's family looks perfect, but really things have been pretty rough. Annabel's sister Whitney is battling an eating disorder, which has the whole family unbalenced, while Annabel is hiding a pretty big secret as well. Annabel hates to confront others, so instead of telling them how she really feels she tells them just what they want to hear, even if it makes her unhappy. During Summer her and her friend Sophie get in a fight, she does everything she can to avoid telling others what h...more

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Taylor S rated it:

03/23/08

bookshelves: greatest-books-ever-written

Read in May, 2007

recommended to Taylor S by: my mom
recommends it for: anybody

Annabel is a senior in high school and she's not doing that great. Her best friend hates her because of some false accusations, Annabel's sister has a n eating disorder, and her parents aren't that much help. One day at school, alone and friendless, Annabel meets Owen. Owen strives on confrontation as much as Annabel tries to avoid it. He teaches Annabel about thinking for herself and deciding her own decisions.
When Annabel and Owen get in a fight and everything comes full circle, Annabel rea...more

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(G)Emma rated it:

06/25/08

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: people who like books with old plots with new twists

I love Just Listen, Sure, it had the typical, troubled girl meets misunderstood boy and he changes her forever plotline, but its deeper then that, it's truly unique, with a amazing set of characters, and an awesome plot, it has to be one of faves. The strength Annabel encounters through the help of Owen, his cds, and one special cd, that changed her forever. This book is a must read, get under the covers at seven o'clock on a sunday morning, and start to emerise yourself in the world of Annabel...more

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Yameli added it

11/06/08

Just listen got my attentions since I her a little of the story in good reads but this is a really interesting story because is about a girl the she have been a motel sis she was a baby her two sister are motel to but she have a problem she doesn’t what to be a motel for hear hold live and she doesn’t what her mom to know so she is wetting to tell her because in her family they have a lot of problems because one of her sister got sick and she stop modeling and that was one of her family pr...more Just listen got my attentions since I her a little of the story in good reads but this is a really interesting story because is about a girl the she have been a motel sis she was a baby her two sister are motel to but she have a problem she doesn’t what to be a motel for hear hold live and she doesn’t what her mom to know so she is wetting to tell her because in her family they have a lot of problems because one of her sister got sick and she stop modeling and that was one of her family problems but the other was her other sister she yeast toll her parent’s that she was going to stop modeling and her mom was disappointed and she doesn’t what her a other disappoint.
Who would I recoment this book to is one of my friend the she haves a problem but doesn’t what to tell her parent’s of the scare they are going to be when she tell them that she is pergnate but her fier is that her mom is going to be mad and quick her out of the house but I have some other recommendatoin is to the girls the have something to tell to there mother’s because the mothere is the only friend that your secert is going to be ok.
My favorite character in this book is Mallory the sister of Owen friend of Annable he is the only frined she have he is on the same grade but my favorite is Mallory she is on the six grade but she have seen Annable in TV and she is a fan of her she likes how she look how she drees well she likes everything of her and that’s way she is my favorite character.
My least fravorite is Annable sister her name is Whitney she was the one that got sick and oldmost died but I don’t like har because she is oldways in a bad mode she dosen’t anwers when they speak to her and she is oldways on her room not talking so I choice her the least.
I think the author write this book because she would like for girl’s to just listen the good and bad of life and that lisent to friends that just tell your parent’s the problem not keep them in your haerd to just lisent not stay stuck.
The captivation of thist book that got the attention to me is the friendship that Annable have with Owen they are justs frined but they talk each day in school and they have a good friendship but the point is that they share every problem they have and talk between each other’s.
What keap me reading this book is the story of Annable the modeling thing and her problems that she have with some friends she youst to have a year ago .
I don’t tink I will get to predict the ending of this book because im not at the end of it.
...less

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Tiff rated it:

09/07/08

bookshelves: young-adult

Read in September, 2008

I'm glad I gave Sarah Dessen another chance; now I finally see why so many people love her novels. I read this one so quickly! I enjoyed the fact that there were so many relationships to explore...Annabel and her mom, sisters, friends...instead of just one main relationships like so many other novels I've read.

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9njeri rated it:

11/13/08

Just Listen is a book about a high school girl, Annabel, who seems to have everything a teenage girl could want. After a fight with her two best friends of many years, her life seems to fall apart. Her two former best friends hate her, her quiet older sister develops an eating disorder, and she gets raped by her best friend's boyfriend. The light at the end of the tunnel comes when she becomes close friends with a guy at school that most people think of as a bully because of an altercation he ha...more

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Kelsey added it

10/22/08

Read in October, 2008

recommended to Kelsey by: Nobody...Amazon
recommends it for: Teenage girls, especially ones who love music

I read-well, listened to-this book after reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.
I think I like this one better.
Speak was more realistic, for one.
But Just Listen...gah. I loved it.
Okay, so basically it's about this girl, Annabel Greene. who gets raped and won't tell anybody until she meets Owen Armstrong, who's learned the hard way that keeping things inside can really mess stuff up.
But there are other things, too, woven into the plot. Like Annabel's older sister's battle with anor...more

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Janie rated it:

10/30/08

bookshelves: currently-reading

this is a story about Annabel Greene. she is a model, she had a really good life, friends, family and was good in school. After one night at a party it all changes, her best friend gets mad at her for something and her sister deveops an eating disorder. Annabel is all alone until she meets someone she thought she would never be friends with, Owen, a guy who seems like he is very serious and doesnt do anything but listen to music.she becomes friends with him and they get along great, he teaches h...more

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KMB added it

10/04/08

bookshelves: read--audio

Read in September, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I liked the writing in this book. It contained more setting and description than a lot of the YA I've been reading. The language was good if not especially memorable. The phrase "my face flushed," "her face flushed" etc. appeared enough times to be distracting. It was about Annabel Greene, a junior in high school and a model with a seemingly perfect family. Married parents, two older sisters, friends, etc. But scratch the surface and you find out Mom pressures all three...more I liked the writing in this book. It contained more setting and description than a lot of the YA I've been reading. The language was good if not especially memorable. The phrase "my face flushed," "her face flushed" etc. appeared enough times to be distracting. It was about Annabel Greene, a junior in high school and a model with a seemingly perfect family. Married parents, two older sisters, friends, etc. But scratch the surface and you find out Mom pressures all three girls to model even though none of them likes it--Mom seemed to need a life of her own, and she ended up getting one at the end by going to work for her daughters' former modeling agent. So as you can see, they all quit modeling at some point during the story. The middle sister gets anorexia, which is kind of interesting--I liked how the family members had their own stories, that it wasn't entirely focused on the protagonist. The older sister got into film making. Overall, she was probably my favorite character. I liked the protagonist, especially as she developed a bit more strength as the story went on. As you can see, this story was too complex to fit neatly into a one sentence sound bite. It was about a girl coming to terms with stuff. Losing and making friends, her relationship with boys, learning to communicate with her family. You learn a bit about the modeling world, how it's not as easy as just sitting there looking pretty. I liked the boyfriend, how they were friends for a long time first and there was some complexity to his character and their relationship. Unfortunately, the evil girlfriend character appeared here in the form of Sophie. It was unclear what was ever to like about Sophie. The only thing that made her about 2% sympathetic was that her parents had had a nasty divorce and I think her dad was totally out of touch with her. But that was only mentioned in passing and Sophie just seemed to be an inherent bitch and way too mean for Annabel ever to have gotten involved with. Although she was the people pleaser at the beginning and her mother had pressured her into reaching out to Sophie. Anyway, my complaint was this: We had another rape at a party that was the big secret the protagonist was carrying around for a long time. This is a sad thing and a justifiable reason to be upset, but as I said in my comments about "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson, I don't think it was necessary. Let me say I preferred Anderson's book in every way to this one, and she already did the rape-at-a-party thing, so let's find something new. But given that every story has been told before, okay, Annabel has been raped at a party--make me believe that. She didn't seem like a rape victim, she seemed like a regular kid from a family with an overly controlling mother. Maybe I don't know enough about rape victims, but this girl didn't seem traumatized. She did seem to be struggling, but she didn't seem traumatized. At least Melinda in "Speak" seemed traumatized. Nevertheless, despite all these complaints, I did finish the book and I appreciated the author's detailed delving into the worlds of modeling and music, two things I know little about (especially modeling). I would definitely recommend this to teens, but if I weren't specifically studying the YA market, I probably would not have finished it myself and would not recommend it to adults. And by the way, I did NOT believe that Annabel got to substitute for the boyfriend on his community radio program. ...less

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Madison added it

10/06/08

bookshelves: q12008

Text to Text

I read this book last year and really was touched by the relationship built by the two young people in this story. The connection between the two teens was captivating, and reminded me of the love shared between Bella and Edward in the Twilight series. What really caught my attention about the similarities between the two is how unlikely these people seem to be, yet they find each other and need nothing else. In Just Listen, Annabelle's love interest is a dark, brooding guy who d...more

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K rated it:

07/08/08

bookshelves: teen

Actually I have read this before! I just reread it this weekend and about halfway through I realized I read it before, only a few months ago. That is sad.
Anyway, I liked the book somewhat. The music motif got a little annoying.

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