Lock and Key

By Sarah Dessen

Reviewed by

Nicole Valladares

Family is a strong word, something that everyone can describe- but the description can come out in a million different ways. For example, my take on family is my close friends, my mom and little sister, and even some teachers that have influenced my life. 

However, there are people who just don't understand... or have never experienced the word family. They are stuck relying on themselves, looking at their blood as just people but nothing more.

That is how 17 -year -old Ruby feels in her little yellow house, working hard to maintain herself until she can come out of hiding when she turns 18. It's not like she chose this life, to live alone, with the drugs and alcohol, and the lonely feeling she would get in the pit of her stomach as she came home hoping to see her mother return. Instead someone else was waiting for her, someone who she thought had abandoned her a long time ago. Her successful sister Cora, and her husband Jamie open their arms towards Ruby and gave her life she wasn't expecting, a future worth opening.

Sarah Dessen is one of my favorite authors; she is down to earth and has actually gotten me through a lot. She has helped me from making mistakes that I've read in her books. This story is about family, lack thereof, and friends. It's a beautiful story, written in the perspective of a pessimistic teenage girl who finds that, even though a house is nice on the outside, it might not be nice on the inside. 

Whoever likes down- to- earth books, romance, or just wanting to have a laugh-  this book, I highly recommended it to you.