Summer of Love Buddy Read: Once and For All by Sarah Dessen

Today is our second buddy read of the event. We’re a few days late, my fault. Y’all, I’m sorry! We spent the last few days reading Once and For All by Sarah Dessen. This was our first YA contemporary of the event. Have you read it? Discuss with us below!

*Spoilers may be present in review, though every effort was made to remove them*

Once and For All by Sarah Dessen
Published by Viking Books for Young Readers on 2017-06-06
Length: 363 pages
Reviewing Paperback from My Book Shelf
Rating:
Reading Challenges: COYER 2021

As bubbly as champagne and delectable as wedding cake, Once and for All, Sarah Dessen's thirteenth novel, is set in the world of wedding planning, where crises are routine.

Louna, daughter of famed wedding planner Natalie Barrett, has seen every sort of wedding: on the beach, at historic mansions, in fancy hotels and clubs. Perhaps that's why she's cynical about happily-ever-after endings, especially since her own first love ended tragically. When Louna meets charming, happy-go-lucky serial dater Ambrose, she holds him at arm's length. But Ambrose isn't about to be discouraged, now that he's met the one girl he really wants.

Sarah Dessen’s many, many fans will adore her latest, a richly satisfying, enormously entertaining story that has everything—humor, romance, and an ending both happy and imperfect, just like life itself.

Once and For All by Sarah Dessen is a sweet, YA contemporary about grief and finding yourself again. Our emotions were all over the place for this book, definitely recommend tissues while reading 😉 After losing her boyfriend, Louna has become cynical about love and relationships. With college looming and a bet with her new co-worker, she is ready to step back into life, one date at a time. With quirky, true-to-life characters set during the summer wedding season, Once and For All is a perfect summer read.

What We Liked:
We all agreed on loving Louna and her journey during this book. Told exclusively from her POV, the story centers on Louna’s last summer before college. She is learning to live life again and appreciate it more fully after the sudden loss of her long-distance boyfriend.

I really love the way Dessen writes characters….they feel very real and with lots to them.

I liked the back and forth between present and past. It eased us into loving Ethan, knowing he was already gone and how it shaped Louna.
👍1

It helped us to know why Louna is the way that she is. It also really put into perspective one of my biggest fears: loving someone new after a devastating loss.
❤️2

What Left Us Wanting More:
Ambrose….we all agreed that we liked Ambrose, but felt cheated. This book really does focus mostly on Louna. Ambrose is in the background and there, but we don’t get much of his story or his past. We also don’t get much on page romance with him and Louna, and as we were all expecting romance, this fell short.

I liked Ambrose, but I would’ve loved to see more of them together.
❤️👍2

Yeah, these are less romance, and more Louna’s journey. I was bummed that we didn’t get a bit more. But I’m glad we got her love story with Ethan, even if it was tinged with sadness.
❤️2

I was going to say 4.5 but couldn’t justify why I felt that way. It was the lack of Ambrose and her page time. Also Jilly. Like their besties but don’t spend a ton of time together.
👍2

Final Thoughts:
We all agreed that we enjoyed it. Stephanie gave it five stars, Lenore 4.5, and I gave it 4 stars. We all discussed reading more from Sarah Dessen, though we agreed that we needed something lighthearted after this emotional read.

I really love how freaking quirky the characters are, how unique. How many lives you can see living in the background. I loved that her mom and William got a happy ending…that made me so happy.
❤️2

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