The Rest of the Story
Books | Young Adult Fiction / Romance / Contemporary
3.9
(10.2K)
Sarah Dessen
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Dessen comes a big-hearted, sweeping novel about a girl who reconnects with a part of her family she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl—and falls in love, all over the course of a magical summer.Emma Saylor doesn’t remember a lot about her mother, who died when Emma was twelve. But she does remember the stories her mom told her about the big lake that went on forever, with cold, clear water and mossy trees at the edges.Now it’s just Emma and her dad, and life is good, if a little predictable…until Emma is unexpectedly sent to spend the summer with her mother’s family that she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl.When Emma arrives at North Lake, she realizes there are actually two very different communities there. Her mother grew up in working class North Lake, while her dad spent summers in the wealthier Lake North resort. The more time Emma spends there, the more it starts to feel like she is also divided into two people. To her father, she is Emma. But to her new family, she is Saylor, the name her mother always called her.Then there’s Roo, the boy who was her very best friend when she was little. Roo holds the key to her family’s history, and slowly, he helps her put the pieces together about her past. It’s hard not to get caught up in the magic of North Lake—and Saylor finds herself falling under Roo’s spell as well.For Saylor, it’s like a whole new world is opening up to her. But when it’s time to go back home, which side of her—Emma or Saylor—will win out?
Romance
Coming Of Age
Teen Romance
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More Details:
Author
Sarah Dessen
Pages
448
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published Date
2019-06-04
ISBN
0062933647 9780062933645
Community ReviewsSee all
"A fairly original theme for Sarah Dessen, it's an ok summer read. I do feel like in her novels, the conflicts are really bland and underemphasised - it's like a PG TV show in terms of how it's handled. Parents get mad at kid, kid gets in trouble, but kid is like "I understand and am not too upset about this." It's just so anticlimactic. The ending of this also was very blandly written. I just think the book was really low energy."
"Sarah Dessen did it again!!! Another absolutely amazing book! I might be a tad biased considering Sarah Dessen is one of my favorite authors, but I really love this book. It's main theme is definitely "finding herself" and I became so proud and attached to Saylor/Emma. It's definitely slow-burn in more ways than one, but it's a good calm book to read during the summer. "
"Just finished this the other day; it is so good!! The characters are super relatable and the story does a great job of providing insight on multiple people's perspectives. The romance in this is adorable and sweet, but there's also a lot of focus on friend and family relationships as well as self growth. Overall a beautiful and meaningful story. Would read again. "
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Emily B