Book Review - Lock and Key

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this book a lot. For a YA novel, it has a depth of emotional intelligence and full, real characters to rival any "adult" novel. I've been more and more into YA stuff lately, and this kind of book is exactly why. It's stylishly written, with a well-executed plot and it drew me in from the very start, which opens with a super likeable protagonist.

Ruby is pretty independent for a 17 year old. She deals with her mom, who is alternately dependent and dismissive of her daughter, taking her with to her job delivering lost luggage for airlines late at night and leaving her behind while she goes off to drink in bars and date men. When Ruby wakes up one day to find she's been left to deal with life all on her own, that independence gets tested. Bills? Laundry? Landlords? She thinks she has it covered until one day her secret solitary life is uncovered, and she's sent off to live with her older sister, whom she hasn't seen in years.

Lock and Key is, above all else, a story of what family means. It is about how the people who we surround ourselves with define us, and how we define them. It's about when it's okay to intervene, and when it's necessary to reach out to a friend, and when you have to step back and let people make choices on their own. It's about love, and where we can find it in our lives, and it's about who we depend on. It's a wonderful book for teens and adults alike, and I highly recommend it.

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