The one book I have anxiously been anticipating all year is Sarah Dessen’s Lock and Key. There has even been a fluorescent pink post-it note with the book’s release date (April 22nd) stuck to my computer for months! After finally being able to read it I can honestly tell you that it was definitely worth the wait!

The main character, Ruby Cooper is fiercely independent. She has to be. Ruby was used to her mother taking off for days at a time. Only this last time it seems her mom has disappeared for good. Ruby is left alone to work, keep the house clean, pay the bills, and oh yeah, still go to school. Her plan was to keep up appearances until she turned eighteen and it just might have worked. If only the dryer hadn’t decided to die.

Social Services then reunite Ruby with her sister, Cora, who she hasn’t seen in years. Cora has a successful career, an adoring husband, and a life that is seemingly perfect. Ruby begins to feel her independence being suffocated. She attempts an escape, but is caught by her brother-in-law, Jamie.

Can Ruby survive her senior year in a new private school? Does her mom ever return? Will she repair her estranged relationship with Cora and learn to trust others? Plus, what’s the deal with her surprisingly good-looking neighbor and ride to school, Nate Cross? You will just simply have to read Lock and Key to find out!

Sarah Dessen writes charming and amazingly relatable characters. I was immediately pulled into the fictional world of Lakeview and couldn’t leave until I’d reached the end of the book. Loyal readers will be delighted to see several characters and places from her previous novels mentioned. I loved Lock and Key so much I bought a silver lock and key necklace of my own. That and I am telling anyone willing to listen that they need to read this book!.

Do you have a favorite Sarah Dessen novel or character? Let me know!

XOXO
Kaila Waybright
CG! Beauty Intern