Book Title: The Rest of the Story
Author: Sarah Dessen
Purchase: Amazon
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Description from Goodreads:

Emma Saylor doesn’t remember a lot about her mother, who died when she was ten. 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—her grandmother and cousins 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 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?

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars 

Sarah Dessen’s The Rest of the Story is the perfect summer read! Honestly, Sarah Dessen never disappoints for me. Emma Saylor arrives at North Lake (the wealthier side of the lake is called Lake North) with few memories of her family who lives there and no idea what to expect. She starts to form connections with her family members and in the process learns more about her mom’s life at the lake.

I found Emma to be a super relatable character. She definitely has some neurotic tendencies and anxiety (especially around driving). Her life at the lake is much different from her life at home, which ends up being a good thing. She’s a teenager, so she’s still discovering who she is, especially since she’s been so sheltered by her dad. I loved that going to this new place and having new experience allowed her to take control of her own life.

Emma Saylor’s conflicting feelings with her name really resonated with me. At home, she’s called Emma, but at the lake she goes by Saylor. She’s trying out a different persona, which I think most of us have done before. By the end of the book, she realizes she doesn’t have to choose: she can be both Emma and Saylor.

I loved how the book highlighted so many different characters. There’s Emma’s cousin Bailey, who’s a bit wild and obsessed with Lake North and the guys there. Emma’s other cousin Trinity is very pregnant and makes sure everyone knows it; Gordon is the 12-year-old bookworm who at one point begins following Emma around. And there’s Roo, who works three or more jobs at a time, tells Emma it’s a North Lake thing to have “five sentences about yourself,” and just gets her sense of humor. Roo is such a sweet guy and their phone calls together made me think of how exciting it is in high school to talk to your crush for hours on end; how you can talk about everything and nothing, and yet it’s amazing. I love that Emma shares her memories about her mom’s life at the Lake with Roo.

The only character that really annoyed me was Emma’s dad. While I understood that he worried about Emma because her mom was an addict, his rules and punishment are just too severe. I understand wanting some one-on-one time with his daughter, but she hadn’t seen her mom’s family in years — it makes sense that she wants to bond with them. Her dad should understand this more than anyone, considering he worked at the lake when he was young and made a bunch of memories there himself.

This book had me nostalgic for my days of working at a Country Club snack bar during the summer, going to parties with friends, and hanging out at the beach. It’s a fun read, but at the same time shows the importance of family, of being the driver in your life, and remembering the good and bad in those who you’ve lost.