Book I Plan on Reading Next

    The book that I plan on reading next is The Fault in Our Stars. I would like to read this because I know many people that have read it and fell in love with it from the beginning. I have read some online reviews of this book and all of them say it is an amazingly sad book, and is written perfectly. I also know that the movie for this book will be coming out this summer and I really would like to read the book before I see the movie, since the book is almost always portrayed much better than a film.

     Another reason I would really like to read this book is because it is everything I enjoy in the books that I read. Online sources and reviews say it is romantic, suspenseful, tragic, and especially dramatic. I know that the main plot line is a girl that has been diagnosed with a very serious and deadly type of cancer falls in love with a boy she had recently met. Now, this may not seem like it could be any better than some other novel with a plot line similar to this such as My Sister's Keeper, but from what I have already heard about it, it is written in a way that just makes it so much more tragic, dramatic, and romantic. I predict that when I start reading it, I will not be able to put the book down!

Review of Lock and Key

     Lock and Key is a novel about a teenage girl, Ruby, who undergoes many drastic changes after her mother had abandoned her. The story starts off describing Ruby and her mother's daily life and describing some of Ruby's main traits such as independent, unpredictable, and troubled. Ruby and her mother move around often in the early pages of the book, and within the first few chapters, Ruby has been abandoned by her mother, who Ruby thinks has run away with her new boyfriend, and is forced to move in with her older sister Cora.

     Cora left Ruby and her mother when Ruby was little. By now, she had her entire life planned out; college, career, husband,wealth, children. This all had to be adjusted, however, when Ruby moved in and the adjustment wasn't only for Cora. Ruby had never known what it was like to have a lot in life and didn't know what to think of it. She had a new school, new home, new lifestyle all together. It was very overwhelming for her, and as Ruby is a very independent and quiet person, it was very hard for her to try and fit in with everyone else and become accustomed to her new life.

   I am not entirely finished with this book yet, but I really like it a lot! I would probably rate it 9 out of 10 stars. This book is an amazing book for any person who likes intriguing and realistic novels. The writing style throughout the entire book is told in third person from the main character, Ruby's, point of view. This style of writing allows you to have a better look at how Ruby is feeling about all of this change that is happening with her and you can really see how much she had to adjust her way of living, and personally, I really enjoy these things in a book.

The Best Thing about Lock and Key

    The book Lock and Key is a really great book. I think that one of the best things about this book is how visual it is. The diction that Sarah Dessen uses really makes you feel as if you are a part of the book and you are just viewing the main character, Ruby's, life from the side. An example of amazing diction used to create visualization is "Everything was stiff and smelly, and the more I took down the more I could see the rest of the kitchen: the pots and pans piled in the sink, the buckets I'd used to collect water from the bathroom, the clothesline, now sagging over my head. I was doing just fine, I'd told Cora, and at the time I believed it. But now, standing there with my stiff clothes in my arms, the smell of rotting food filling my nostrils, I wasn't so sure anymore." (Dessen 87) I really liked all of the well thought out diction that was used at this part of the book. I thought that it had really made the setting and what Ruby was doing come to life. Some of my favorite words that Sarah Dessen used in this quote are stiff, smelly, piled, sagging, rotting, and filling.

    Another one of the best things about this book is how Dessen clearly describes how Ruby is feeling on the inside. She always uses very descriptive words that clearly showcases how Ruby feels about what is happening around her, with her, and to the people most near to her. This can help you really connect with the main character and the story. I really enjoy the connection that has been made as I have read this book because I find it very helpful for my understanding of parts that could be seen as confusing or particularly difficult to read.