Book Reviewed: Saint Anything
Author: Sarah Dessen
Book Setting: 2015, North Carolina
Genre: Teen Fiction
Reviewer: Javelyn Bond
Other Books by Sarah Dessen: Just Listen, This Lullaby, Someone Like You, Along for the Ride, Dreamland, Lock and Key, What Happened to Goodbye, That Summer, The Truth About Forever, Once and For All, Keeping the Moon, The Moon and More, Infinity, Last Chance.
Summary: “Peyton, Sydney’s charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion’s share of their parents’ attention and—lately—concern. When Peyton’s increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction, and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident? Enter the Chathams, a warm, chaotic family who run a pizza parlor, play bluegrass on weekends, and pitch in to care for their mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Here Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance. And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time.”
Characters (Simple Outline):
Stanford Family:
Sydney: The younger sibling and sister to her brother Peyton. The quiet, alone, brooding type who often wonders about other things besides herself. Cares about others but has a hard time to accept compliments and general affection and understanding.
Peyton: The older child in the family and brother to Sydney. Young, reckless and charming, Peyton had it all. But after a drunk driving accident, he is sent to jail, leaving his sister Sydney to deal with the aftermath.
Sydney’s Mother and Father: Parents of the Stanford siblings. They care mostly after the older child Peyton and after Peyton goes to jail, their attention is turned even further toward Peyton, giving occasional scraps of care to Sydney, and leaving her to explore and understand herself alone.
Chatham Family:
Mac: Full name: Macaulay Chatham. The oldest child in the family. Brother to younger sisters Layla and Rosie. Friends with Irv, Sydney, Eric. Quiet, brooding, yet intelligent, he is often seen running the pizza place near his and Sydney’s high school Jackson High. Often helpful and understanding to his family and Sydney. Takes care of mother Mrs Chatham alongside siblings.
Layla: Younger sibling in Chatham Family. Sister to Mac and Rosie. Friends with Sydney. Also attends Jackson High. Is very eccentric about eating her fries. Loves Yum Yums. Is fun loving, can never date the right guy after her breakup with previous boyfriend. Also cares and helps Mrs Chatham and Sydney.
Rosie: Younger sibling in Chatham Family. Sister to Mac and Layla. Acquaintance with Sydney. Is on tour with her other friends. Cold but helpful with Mrs Chatham.
Mrs Chatham: The wheel of the family. Children: Mac, Layla, Rosie. Husband: Mr Chatham. Suffers from MS. Often a second mother to Sydney and gives her helpful advice. Is mostly happy at home watching tv, “not trusting technology to record my tv shows.”
Mr Chatham: Owner of the pizza place near Jackson High. Is husband to Mrs Chatham and father to children Mac, Layla, Rosie.
Other:
David Ibarra: Is the boy in the accident, severing his spine and in a wheelchair.
Ames: Is Peyton’s friend. And friends with the Stanford family.
Janet: Is Sydney’s friend from previous high school: Perkins Day. Is very intelligent and often thinks before making a decision. Is also friends with Meredith and Margaret.
Meredith: Is Sydney and Janet’s friend. Studies at Perkins Day. Is very fit and cares more about being sporty.
Eric: Friends with Mac, Sydney. In a band with Mac, Layla, Irv.
Irv: Friends with Sydney, Mac, Layla, Eric. In a band with Mac, Sydney, Layla, Eric.
Margaret: Friends with Janet and Meredith. Enemies with Sydney.
My Opinion:
What I Liked: There was a lot of realism in the book, what with dealing with the aftermath of oldest child Peyton’s accident and getting sent to jail, parents overlooking Sydney and her growing up, giving all attention to the sibling in jail. You can feel that things little or even major often shift the whole axis of someone’s viewpoint and need time to refocus. Which we see happening by the end of the book. And often feeling alone because of circumstances, not able to change anything. Stuck in a place of their own, trust broken completely. Those are the things we often feel more than anything when we don’t get the love or attention deserved.
Teen love is also shown, though it’s a bit slow-paced in the book.
After trying for years to get her parents’ attention, Sydney decides to recreate her life again. Which is often a bit risky and faltering but possible as an option. There she meets the Chatham family, after moving from previous high school. In the Chatham family, she gets more close with Mac, as she realizes with passage of time, how similar both teens are. Both are often underestimated, or undermined for the future. With this realization, they get closer to each other, and help one another out.
I liked the teen love idea and discovering ourselves written in the story. We often feel in our society and at our age, that there is no one to understand us. No one to support us or make us feel complete in our thoughts, beliefs. Our parents are far away to connect and understand. We all feel vulnerable, unable to hold the string of trust with another person. And loving someone, it feels like crossing Mount Everest. And I can place myself in Sydney’s shoes. I mean at 17 (an impressionable age) she has to deal with her (sort-of) role model going to jail and fighting for her parents’ attention. It could be hard on anybody, but especially hard for a teen.
But finding the right person to love, care and cherish often takes time and patience. Which Mac and Sydney do. They don’t automatically fall in love, they don’t automatically have sizzling chemistry. They get to learn more about each other, love each other’s flaws, make the other person feel alive and to cherish them forever.
This quote would definitely explain and be the song of their relationship:
“You had a shirt with mushrooms on it, and your hair was pulled back. Silver earrings. Pepperoni slice. No lollipop. The first time you came into Seaside. You weren’t invisible, not to me. Just so you know.”
Such a simple quote. But love can be simple and endless like time.
You can’t help but love this book honestly.
Things I Would Love To See: As readers, we didn’t really get to see any legal action being taken for Ames after he almost assaulted Sydney. No jail time, not even a detention center. This topic of Ames being thrown in jail for assaulting Sydney has been discussed with other reviewers and readers alike. And we’d all like to know why we didn’t get a closure in regards to Ames or anyone (in Ames’s position) not going to jail or detention camp for such a serious offence. This book or any other book in YA genre is read by a lot of teens and the one thing that teens want closure on is getting the bad guy in jail for the things the guy did. I mean this is just saying that “hey psychos, you guys are allowed to do whatever you please.”
Not a good idea at all to leave it at that. I am not being harsh I promise but honestly I would have liked closure. As an author and a person leaving a message, you should leave one that is suitable and clear enough to connect and help the readers relate. Sometimes these things are seen as materialistic or too small.
But even for a little thing, an impact can be huge.
My Rating: 4.5/5
Recommendation?: Definitely a strong recommendation. Even if we got nothing on Ames, this book was still the essence which can breathe fresh air into our lungs and let us feel alive with realism, teen love, and discovering oneself.
Thank you all for reading.
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