The Rest of the Story By Sarah Dessen Book Review
“There is always the rest of the story, right? Even if you don’t know what it is.”
(pg. 260)
About
Author: Sarah Dessen
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
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Synopsis
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 divided into two people as well. 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 will win out?
Review
Spoilers Contained Below
To those who want to know “the rest of the story,”
I quite like it when authors put the title in the book. It’s like looking for an Easter egg and then finding it and understanding why the book is what it is.
And this book was such a beautiful story.
But it’s not my favorite Sarah Dessen book if I’m being honest. That’s not to say I don’t love or respect Sarah Dessen or her books, this one just wasn’t for me. Maybe it was because I read this book when I had a cold/headache, or maybe I just didn’t click with it, but you’re not going to love them all and this was one of them.
I enjoyed it though.
I think the book was just really hard to get into and it was somewhat slow at times. This book had a more peaceful, yet deeper summer feel. And I listened to a podcast and Sarah Dessen spoke about how this is one of her most Southern kind of stories, so it also really had that feel to it. What was also hard for me to get into was all the name and the world building. There were so many names that dropped within the first 100 or so pages, which was natural given that this book revolved around family, but it was a bit overwhelming to have that many names and to put those names to faces. Over time, I got used to it and could visualize who’s who, but when I first start to read The Rest of the Story, I was highly confused. It was like being at a family reunion, not knowing anyone.
Saylor as an overall character was someone who I felt was genuinely lost. She lost her mother at a young age. Her dad divorced and remarried. Her dad and the new stepmom went on their honeymoon trip and the Grandma on the dad’s side went to Egypt on a cruise. Saylor was supposed to be left with her best friend, but her friend’s Grandpa had a stroke, so that changed her plans, which brought up the whole idea of staying with her other grandma from her mom’s side, Mimi.
The whole mother storyline was heavy and had a very despondent mood to it. There was so much that Saylor didn’t know about her Mom, Waverly, or her Mom’s side of the family, so felt disconnected from them. And as she grew older, times turned tough and her parents divorced. The Mom fell into a drinking addiction and the last time Saylor saw her mom was when those elevator doors closed. The mom passed away in a car accident when she wasn’t even driving or the one drunk, and Saylor didn’t know that that would be the last time she would see her. Part of me felt like Saylor felt a lot of hurt, anger, and sorrow about her Mom because she had an addiction. But I could also feel her sorrow because the mom wasn’t there and she wanted her to be. She was also sad about it because she never truly got to say goodbye to her mom or to make amends with her, which was natural because when you lose someone so unexpectedly, you just wish you had done this or said that before it was too late. But that’s why it’s truly important to tell your loved ones how much you love and appreciate them each day. Since Waverly passed away, the dad never really talked about her. It was like he was trying to push that part of his life away and move on. I understood why the dad would want to move on and he had every right to remarry, but I think it was unhealthy that he was so reluctant and closed off about talking about the mom because it gave no closure for Saylor.
When Saylor went to stay with Mimi and the Calvanders at North Lake, she was completely out of her element because she didn’t know anyone. She used to know the people there from the time she stayed there when she was little, but it’s always kind of weird to see family and feel like you don’t know them, but yet know you’re supposed to love each other and be related.
“The past was always present, in its way, and you can’t help but remember. Even if you can’t remember at all.”
(pg. 82)
There was this moment where Saylor saw this picture of four kids: her, her cousins, and this white blonde haired kid and she stared at it and she was all like, “I don’t even recognize these people or even herself,” but yet she was like, “But here’s the evidence I was here.” And it just kind of struck a chord in me because that’s so relatable—–to see a picture of you and people or you in a place, but to feel like you can’t even remember that moment, but to have it there captured proved that that moment did exist. It’s just crazy how much photos can capture and represent life and I just really understood Saylor and how she felt in that moment.
I couldn’t even begin to imagine how she felt being immersed in this side of her family after so long. It’s just kind of sad though, that her dad kept her away from that part of her family or history. What was even sadder was how Saylor started this family tree picture so she could understand her family and it’s roots more. I can also relate to this because I don’t know everyone in my family, mostly my dad’s side. They are absolutely strangers to me, but somehow I’m supposed to know them. I would like to know them and if I was in Saylor’s shoes, I would have also created a family tree to help me understand my family.
In this tree, first, there’s Gordon who’s the youngest and who loves to read. She’s kind of the cousin who stays in the background of things, but is still just as important. She reminds me of Lisa from the Loud House if you watch that because Lisa’s very intelligent, kind of reserved, but she has a good mouth on her. I loved the bond that Saylor had with Gordon and how they knew far too often what it’s like to have two names, but people only acknowledge you by the first one. They also bonded over the fact that they lost a parent or in Gordon’s case, parents. For such a young kid, that must have been beyond difficult, but she had such a good family to make her feel loved and cared about. But when Saylor came into the picture with her two names and with losing her mom, that made Gordon feel connected to her even more so. I also thought it was cute how Gordon would follow Saylor around because she looked up to her. I loved how she would do things that Saylor would do like clean the hotel bathrooms or be Roo’s ladder buddy. There was that moment after that party that Saylor got drunk and Gordon was there and Saylor felt completely horrible for being drunk because she didn’t want Gordon to see her like that when Gordon looked up to her. I think Gordon and Saylor would be cute sisters 😊! What I also loved about their relationships was their intimate conversations about “the rest of the story.” I think it was very fitting that Gordon be the one who she had those conversations with because Gordon liked to read so much. But in those conversations Saylor started to see how much she meant to Gordon and to the family. I really liked the part when Saylor was going to go live at Lake North and that fancy hotel and Gordon was asking her when she’d be back, but Saylor didn’t know when. What Saylor told her instead was that:
“In real life, the chapters go on forever. Or a long time anyway.”
(pg. 260)
And to Gordon that meant that even though Saylor wouldn’t be living with them, she wasn’t going to forget about her and that part of the story she was ignorant to for so long—–that she still had so much left of the story to create with Gordon and the Calvanders.
Then there was Bailey who was bold mouthed and brazen. She kind of served as Saylor’s best friend in this book because she looked out for Saylor at party’s and with boys. Saylor also looked out for her too. Kind of like sisters, they had their rough splotches in their friendship, but they really did care for each other and when they would fight it would come from a place of concern. I really liked how Saylor didn’t go out on that double date when Bailey’s date stood her up because you know, sisters before misters. I also liked how when Saylor got drunk, Bailey held her hair and helped her walk. Bailey also tried to give her some sound advice so that she wouldn’t get in too much trouble with her dad. What also stood out to me was how protective Bailey was of Saylor also. She thought Saylor would never be the type to drink and some part of me felt like Bailey was disappointed that Saylor did and so she made her promise not to drink again because Saylor’s not that type of girl. But it just went to highlight how even though they didn’t know each other for a long time and that they were family, they still had each other’s back.
Bailey had a brother, who’s name I kind of forgot, but he was cordial to Saylor and treated her nicely.
The other cousin who was quite interesting was Trinity. I liked her too. She had Bailey’s boldness, but she also had this unapologetic, honest, and hard front about her. She was crazy pregnant and her husband the Sergeant was on duty so she had to be crazy pregnant until he came back and she gave birth. She kept saying the whole time how the Sergeant could come back the second she’s in labor and that’s all that would matter because at least he would be there and I felt kind of bad for Trinity that she missed the Sergeant a lot. Even though she would give off the air that she didn’t care he wasn’t there, I could tell she missed him and did want him there with her. When she opened up to Saylor about how she met the Sergeant and everything, it was such a cute love story involving toast, but you could also just feel the light way that Trinity talked about him—–the love. Trinity really didn’t like Saylor at first and she made that fact known to everyone. Apparently, Mimi told everyone that Saylor was the rich cousin on vacation going to have a good time, so they all had this stuck up assumption about Saylor so they all treated her rudely. That first day when Saylor sat down for breakfast was beyond crazy. Everyone was yelling about butter and toast and what they were going to do that day and I just kept thinking it must have been so different to hear all that noise and commotion given that Saylor grew up with only her dad and her Grandma.
Saylor didn’t understand why Trinity didn’t like her or what she deserved to get treated like that and one day when no one could help Trinity clean the hotel rooms, Saylor volunteered. Trinity didn’t want her help, but she got it anyway and in doing so, Saylor really proved to Trinity that she wasn’t just some “rich cousin who was on vacation,” but that she was family and could work just as hard. But it was kind of weird for Saylor because the whole family grew up working and in this type of business their whole life and Saylor never really had worked before, so it was hard for her to understand and see how her relatives thought negatively of her—-like she was privileged. Working with Trinity taught her the value of hard work and to be more aware of how she left a hotel room because they didn’t magically clean themselves. And can we just applaud Trinity for working while PREGNANT because I get that you’re not incapable of working if you’re pregnant, but that must be hard some days and I think Trinity is just such a strong woman. I also loved when she was vulnerable and let Saylor in once Saylor earned her respect. I liked how Trinity taught her about cleaning and the whole spray bottles with the names or how she talked about how she wanted to be a teacher someday and Saylor told her she would make a great teacher. It was funny, yet really touching that Trinity would take Saylor with her to the lamaze classes. I mean, take your family with you if you want, but it’s just funny considering Trinity didn’t even like her and now she wanted to take her to birthing classes. Trinity took everyone to birthing classes 😂. What was more touching though was how Trinity started to rely more on Saylor. When Saylor was gone (with her dad at Lake North), Trinity called her all the time for help or to take her here or there. Trinity called her during that storm, asking Saylor to drive her to hospital and the fact that Trinity could have called anyone, but she called Saylor, just really meant a lot. It really showed how much they’ve grown to love each other like a true family.
Besides the cousins, there was Celeste, Bailey’s mom, who ran the convenience store who was also very kind and accepting of Saylor. She served as a good source for Saylor knowing more about her mom. There was also Grandpa, who’s name I also forgot, but he was such a sweet man and I loved their mooning readings together. I liked how he would hand her the obits and he would read the newspaper and they would eat toast together. So cute!
Kind of morbid that Saylor would read the obits, but there was also something very admirable about that. To actually take the time to read about the people who were no longer there meant a lot because everyone has a story and everyone is important; Even though it’s sad to read about loss, there’s also something very kind in doing so to acknowledge that person’s life and to understand that there are so many people out there and that each story should be known. I liked that Saylor commemorated those lives by getting to know them in those little clips in the paper. One of my favorite parts at the end was how Saylor got her mom her own obit in the paper so that people could commemorate her mom and all the things she’d done. It really gave Saylor that closure I think she needed.
I just really loved how Saylor was always there for her whole family and tried to make time for them. If there’s one thing I admired about Saylor was how she didn’t break any of her promises to them and how she never said something unless she meant it. She just had such an open heart to want to get to know her family and it showed in everything she did. Family is such a big thing in this book and the kinship and love she formed with each and everyone of them was beautiful because she did that within a short amount of time and they placed so much trust in her and love. And I LOVED THAT.
In addition to family, this book also had romance because what would Sarah Dessen be without romance.
Childhood friend and current lover, Roo. What a cute name! Reminds me of the kangaroo in Winnie the Pooh (not in a bad way!) 😆 I also loved how his whole nickname came to be too. Too. Roo. That rhymes 😅 Cute.
When we saw Roo with how white-blonde hair on the lake boat, I was like, THAT’S HIM. I KNEW that they were going to fall in love with each other because how could they not. Childhood friends reconnecting, like DUH! I liked how cute he was in helping her feel like she fit in. The whole description of your life in five sentences was very short and straight to the point; love those quirky getting to know you tidbits in books. I enjoyed the whole ladder buddy thing and all those moments they shared. The driving part was cute in how Saylor felt less nervous about driving in his presence.
One of my favorite parts between Roo and Saylor was how Roo shared that photo album with her and while Roo was working at this window place he would call her and they would talk about it. Honestly the most hilarious part of this book was the window-album conversations 😂. Funniest things ever when he would all of a sudden yell about how these prices were low and insurance was covered and then switch back to talking about something personal with those album photos. I liked how Saylor played along and how those were the only calls she looked forward to when she was on lockdown after having got caught with her dad being drunk and not being where she said she was.
In my opinion, the dad overreacted, but I also understood how since the mom had an addiction and passed in a car accident, why he wouldn’t want his daughter to be drinking or to be with Roo who he thought was drinking or was a bad influence. Sarah Dessen really did a good job with the whole parallel when they got in that elevator after her being caught and with how the last time she saw her mom was the elevator. There was also another closed elevator scene that happened after the dad and her finally had a talk when they walked around the park or something. It was such a needed conversation for her to know that the dad didn’t resent the mom or her family and to know that the dad was just a regular person. I liked how they kind of bonded because she asked him about his past and he told her he’d think about it and what he would tell her. When the whole storm was happening, the dad was very adamant to keep Saylor safe. But seeing the extremity of the situation—-with Trinity pregnant and Gordon missing—-he realized he couldn’t keep her away from her family. Taking that step in trusting his daughter to go there, yet alone, drive there was him finally being open to that part of the family. It was also such a big step for Saylor, who detested driving to drive there confidently and in a crisis no less. The dad really took charge of the situation in finding Gordon and making sure everyone was safe and it was such a good moment between families.
The dinner was also very fun because it allowed the dad, the dad’s mom, the stepmother, and the Calvanders to reunite and get to know each other. Even though the dad had a wife he tried to push the memory away of, he still had that family that Saylor and every right to know and connect with and once he started to see that he couldn’t keep her from that, I think I started to like the dad more.
Having been there the whole summer, Saylor finally knew this lost part of herself and it just warmed my heart that she gained so much. And she did sound like she found herself in some ways.
One of the things that really showed Saylor’s character growth was when she dove into the deep end.
“As I hit the dock’s end and jumped, I wanted to see it, that change from passenger to driver, Emma to Saylor, watching to doing. So when I hit the cold lake and went under, I kept my eyes open.”
(pg. 229)
As someone who didn’t like to drive, she learned to accept it. I think Saylor was just scared to drive because of what happened to her mother and because she relied on her father to drive her everywhere so she never cared to drive. When I was 16, I felt the same way. I didn’t really have a big urge to drive. Not because I didn’t want to, I just didn’t really care. And I think part of me knew it was going to be a scary step. It’s scary to drive because there’s so many things that can happen, and yet whether you’re in a car or not, there are so many things that can also happen. And for Saylor and I, that fear stopped us. But Saylor went from passenger to driver in her own life in this book—-from someone who let people tell her who her name was and who she should be—-to someone who defined herself and who did what she wanted.
Another big thing was that transition of Emma to Saylor. When she first got to North Lake, she told her family to call her Emma, but Mimi kept calling her Saylor. This confused everyone and they were frustrated because they didn’t know what to call her, so they told her to tell them when she figured it out. So this whole book, she tried to figure out who she was. Emma was the person she was around her dad—–obedient, content, a passenger. Saylor was the person she was with her family—–free, adventurous, a driver. For the longest time it felt like her dad would get mad whenever someone called her Saylor like that was a cuss word that he didn’t want his daughter to be; like being Saylor was a bad thing. And I always wondered what was wrong with her being Saylor or her family calling her that? But I loved the ending when Trinity gave her her own spray bottle and it said Emma Saylor, both her names because she was both those people. And I loved that for her because she could accept and have both parts of that in her life.
I also liked the whole sparkler thing in how on every Fourth of July, the whole North Lake would light sparklers to honor Roo’s dad or someone they lost. On that actual day, Saylor couldn’t go to the sparkler event because Daddy dearies kept it from her, but I loved how Roo sent her this box to the hotel with a sparkler in it. Then at the end, Roo and her stand with a sparkler and he’s smiling and it’s a perfect moment to honor all they lost, but gained. It was also such an honest ending because there wasn’t a promise of them being a couple for years to come, but just enjoying that moment slightly in love. The only promise was that she was going to come back——to Roo, North Lake, and most importantly her family. She was going to keep the rest of the story going.
If you read this book, what was your favorite part or least favorite part? Can you relate to Emma Saylor and her story in any ways? Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕
And as always, with love,
Rating
3.78 Full Bloom Flowers
Characters: I loved Emma/Saylor’s character arc and every person in her life who helped her discover who she was.
Plot: It’s a really deep and intricate story about family dynamics and how to rekindle and find what’s been lost along the years, but family truly is the greatest bond and love there is.
Writing: A little big overwhelming with the character names and slow at some parts, but each part was purposeful in the grand scheme of the book. But Sarah Dessen really does craft intricate stories 💙
Romance: Roo and Saylor were a cute romance, but I think the only love this book did amazingly was the family love.