Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Ruby, where is your mother?

Ruby knows that the game is up.  For the past few months she's been on her own in the yellow house, managing somehow, knowing that her mother will probably never return.

That's how she comes to live with Cora, the sister she hasn't seen in ten years, and Cora's husband, Jamie whose down-to-earth demeanor makes it hard for Ruby to believe he founded the most popular networking Web site around.  A luxurious house, a private school, a new wardrobe, the promise of college and a future; it's a dream come true. So why is Ruby such a reluctant Cinderella, wary and defensive? And why is Nate, the genial boy next door with some secrets of his own, unable to accept the help that Ruby is just learning to give?

Best-selling author Sarah Dessen explores the heart of a gutsy, complex girl dealing with unforeseen circumstances and learning to trust again.

So, another Sarah Dessen book.  This is the second book I've read by her and I wasn't impressed.  The storyline was ok, the characters were ok and even the cover was just ok.  Everything in the book portrayed real situations but it felt fake--just like a lifetime movie.  You're watching a girl lose everything just to gain even more back in the end, but you could care less.  You don't know why you didn't change the channel earlier.

That's how I felt after finishing this book.  Lock and Key was just so average, I don't know what everyone else is raving about.  I grew to like Ruby and Nate and Cora and Jamie but I'm not sure why.  The story was just so long and drawn out that by the time I got to the highpoint in the book I was just reading to finish.

Not to mention the obvious metaphors Ms. Dessen likes to use:  Ruby's key necklace, Jamie's UMe site (like facebook), and family.  Oh my god did she over-analyze family.

Ruby had to do a school project on what family means to her and those around her.  This is obviously a touchy subject because her mom, sister and father all left her at some point in her life, leaving her guarded and untrusting of everything.  Through the book she asks people about their views on family which leads her to the realization that she has the best family ever...blah blah etc.

I felt like I was watching a kids show where all the loose ends are tied up all nice and neat.  No one is left hanging and I wasn't hungry for more.  I might have to take a break from Ms. Dessen for a while and read something thrilling or creepy.  But there is one more of her books on my list that got such high ratings so I might give that a try as well.

Lock and Key doesn't give me much to complain about, just that a book should keep you guessing the whole time you're reading it.  So far both Dessen books I've read have the same formulaic plot:  girl has bad experience but won't talk about it until halfway through the book; girl meets boy who somehow bonds with girl; boy or girl causes some relationship trouble and they separate for a while; they reconcile and the book ends.

I'm hoping this only happens in Lock and Key and Just Listen because otherwise I have no reason to keep reading Dessen books.  If they're all the same, why waste my time?

But overall, a solid 3 stars for this book.