Hilda's Reviews > This Lullaby

This lullaby is only a few words
A simple run of chords
Quiet here in this spare room
But you can hear it, hear it
Wherever you may go
I will let you down
But this lullaby plays

Remy doesn’t believe in love. Her mother’s fifth marriage only encourages her to stop believing in the nonsense. To her, love means having fun with guys, making sure that they know the relationship won’t last long, and leaving before things get complicated. No worries. No entanglements. The no-strings-attached rule has worked well for Remy, until her encounter with Dexter. Dexter is the only exception from the long list of Remy’s perfect exes. He’s messy, hyperactive, and a musician with seemingly no future. Remy has vowed to herself to think of Dexter only as a summer boyfriend, but what if Dexter wants more? What if their relationship means something more than just summer fling?

This is official: Sarah Dessen is the best when it comes to contemporary YA. Her books may follow similar path, but each of it remains unique and special. Some people may find the slow pacing in her stories boring, but I think that’s what makes her books amazing. The progress in the relationship between the main characters is very subtle. There are so much deeper meanings in the sweet little things they do. I really like it that what starts the relationship is always offer of kindness and friendship.

In the last part of the book, it’s always the heroine who takes the important action to alter their story. I think that’s very crucial, because then it means there is no magical salvation or something like that. Dexter may help Remy to believe in love, but he can’t fix Remy’s problem with her mother or her sarcastic attitude toward people around her. Remy has to be the one who takes the last step if she wants to change herself.

I think my most favorite part of this book is the time when Remy thinking to buy plastic ware for Dexter. Dexter is living with his band mates in a house where the only dish-ware consists of one ceramic plate, a few mismatched forks and knives, gas-station freebie coffee mugs, and some paper goods. Remy, being a neat freak and perfectionist girl, wants to buy plastic ware for Dexter but she is afraid that the gesture means so much more. This is her first time she is tempted to buy something more permanent than a Zip Coke for his boyfriend. It is very cute to watch her struggling whether or not to buy Dexter plastic ware. I have no idea that something as simple as forks and spoons can be a really romantic thing in a book.

Remy is one wonderful character I warmed throughout the story. I really like her rational thinking and how she is very protective of people she loves. Dexter might not be my favorite Sarah Dessen hero, but he is certainly very funny and sweet! The songs he writes, like The Potato Song, are simply ridiculous but somehow, it makes him even more adorable. I would recommend you to read This Lullaby during summer time because then you can also experience the humid, hot summer nights when Remy and Dexter fall with each other.

And so, while the rest of the world went on unaware, drinking their coffee, reading the sports page, and picking up their dry cleaning, I leaned forward and kissed Dexter, making a choice that would change everything. Maybe somewhere there was a ripple, a bit of a jump, some small shift in the universe, barely noticeable.

I didn't feel it then. I felt only him kissing me back, easing me into the sunlight as I lost myself in the taste of him and felt the world go on, just as it always had, all around us.

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