Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Lock and Key

By Sarah Dessen

Published in 2008

Paperback, 432 pages 

4.5 on 5!!

From GoodReads.com,

Ruby can take care of herself.

She's used to counting on no one and answering to nobody. But all of that changes when her mother vanishes and Ruby is sent to live with her older sister, Cora. Now Ruby's got her own room in a fabulous new house, she's going to private school, and -- for the first time -- feeling as if she has a future. Plus, there's an adorable and sweet boy next door, Nate. Everything should be perfect. So why is Ruby so wary? And why is Nate keeping her at a distance? Ruby soon comes to realize that sometimes, in order to save yourself, you've got to reach out to someone else.

Hmm.. I liked Sarah Dessen's Just Listen and when Shona offered me her copy of Lock and Key, I would be dumb t say no, right?! Exactly! So I got the book, and started it with in no time. I have noticed that you know you will finish a book in record time, when you start reading it and keep on going back to it, even when you have more pressing matters on hand. This book held my interest from start till end. I cannot say it was dry at any time! The story of Ruby and her family is Real and painful. Somehow, I never felt any pity for her and I was so happy seeing her taking those baby steps, making the mistakes, but still making that progress, taking that outstretched hand and taking those steps towards knowing what family is really about.

Abandaoned by her mother few months before her 18th birthday, Ruby is sure she can take care of herself and live alone unnoticed till she turns 18. But after sometime, her nosy landlords find her and then she is sent to live with her sister, Cora whom she has not seen in 10 long years! This story is about Ruby, it is about family, it is about 2 sisters and it is about how sometimes you need to just talk and trust in your family and sometimes you have to give something to recieve something too.

I absolutely loved this one. It has no great surprises, it is just a fantastic story with just too many beautful quotes! I so wish, that I had marked all of them as I read but I didn't mark them **sigh**

What is family? They were the people who claimed you. In good, in bad, in parts or in whole, they were the ones who showed up, who stayed in there, regardless. It wasn’t just about blood relations or shared chromosomes, but something wider, bigger —we had many families over time. Our family of origin, the family we created, as well as the groups you moved through while all of this was happening: friends, lovers, sometimes even strangers. None of them were perfect, and we couldn’t expect them to be. You couldn’t make any one person your world. The trick was to take what each could give you and build a world from it.
- pg. 330

It is fast paced, it is deeply moving and an emotional read. It has some great, "real" characters and I am sure you will love them as well.

I really do hope, you give this one a try. Highly Reccomended!

Also check out - 

Shona's Review

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