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Lock and Key
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Lock and Key
Unavailable
Lock and Key
Audiobook11 hours

Lock and Key

Written by Sarah Dessen

Narrated by Rebecca Soler

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

From the award-winning and New York Times bestseller Once and for All

Unlock your heart and the rest will follow.

 
Ruby is used to taking care of herself.
 
But now that she's living with her sister, she's got her own room, she's going to a good school, and her future looks bright.
 
Plus there's the adorable boy next door.
 
Can Ruby learn to open her heart and let him in?
 
"All the Dessen trademarks here" -Publishers Weekly, starred review
 
Sarah Dessen is the winner of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for her contributions to YA literature, as well as the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award.
 
Books by Sarah Dessen:
That Summer
Someone Like You
Keeping the Moon
Dreamland
This Lullaby
The Truth About Forever 
Just Listen
Lock and Key
Along for the Ride
What Happened to Goodbye
The Moon and More
Saint Anything

Once and for All
LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 22, 2008
ISBN9781429592376
Unavailable
Lock and Key
Author

Sarah Dessen

Sarah Dessen is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen novels for teens, including Once and for All, Saint Anything, This Lullaby, The Truth About Forever, Just Listen, and Along for the Ride. Her books have been published in over thirty countries and have sold millions of copies worldwide. That Summer and Someone Like You were made into the movie How to Deal. She is the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association for outstanding contribution to young adult literature. A North Carolina native, Sarah currently lives in Chapel Hill with her family. Visit Sarah at www.sarahdessen.com.

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Reviews for Lock and Key

Rating: 3.980930293953489 out of 5 stars
4/5

1,075 ratings76 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sarah Dessen is a mastermind at writing heart felt young adult books. This was my first time reading this one and it quickly became one of my favorites. The content touched on so many real struggles and the emotions ran deep. The words held me captive and the vulnerability had me clinging to the pages. It followed the normal Dessen flow, but brought new flaws into focus.

    Ruby is abandoned by her mother and has to fend for herself. The bills weigh her down and housework becomes her turmoil. When social services takes her away, it's her long lost sister that comes to her rescue. It's all confusing and a tad overwhelming... Ruby has a hard time adapting to her new life of letting people in and learning to trust. The cute neighbor next door ends up being her undoing. While at first it's a friendship built on secrets, slowly it progresses to a deep rooted relationship that turns into so much more. Together they expose their demons and help one another conquer them. It's a story of family issues, new friendships, and first love.

    While most of the book was your average teen read, there was also a strong focus on adult issues that made this book appealing to diverse readers. Being a woman that struggles with infertility, I found the parts about Clara to be really insightful. I felt connected in an emotional sense and comforted by the similar battle. This topic gets overlooked so much... It's always made out that pregnancy is easy, so shining a light on the darkness really made me appreciate the book that much more. I highly recommend it!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A bit sad but heart-warming story about a girl named Ruby and her life in one schoolyear.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was the first book I ever read by Sarah Dessen and honestly it's still one of my favorites by her. It's easy to relate with the main character and to fall in love with the story and how she finds herself.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great book. Love Sarah Dessen.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was about a world that is not familiar to me. The main character, Ruby, is a seventeen-year-old girl who has gone through a lot of trauma in her young life. She ends up living with her estranged sister and her husband, who she did not know existed, in their beautiful house in suburbia. She goes through an amazing transformation throughout the book. The book had a slow start, but as I got into the story, I was engaged and invested. The characters had a lot of depth and it was good to see the issues that they all had to deal with from the disadvantaged girl to the most popular boy at the fancy prep school.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Loved this book! Starting reading it and just couldn't stop!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sarah Dessen,yet again,hits the nail on its head.Then again,why would you be surprised?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was so easy to get into, I found myself really wanting to know what happened next, and getting attached to the characters.
    I especially liked how throughout you see Ruby growing, and learning to define 'family' in a different way.
    Overall I really enjoyed the book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ruby's mother walked out and elft her on her own. Only 17, she tried to keep up for a while, going to school, going to work, paying bills and keeping the utilities on. But eventually, someone reported her to social services, and she was sent to live with her sister who she hadn't seen or heard from in 10 years. Suddenly, Ruby is living in luxury, with people who really seem to care about her, if she can accept that.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ahhh--a high school angst book without the bullies and nasty "let's stuff them in a locker" routine or "who is sleeping with who". Considering it is a preppy high school I find that hard to believe, but it was a breath of fresh air. And the gal needs a break from the freako Mom who abandoned her so that she was living on her own for 2 months before anyone noticed. She moves in with an older sister who had distanced herself from the family and had made a sucess of her life with a bazillionaire husband who invented a facebook type ap. Once you get past all the snarkiness of her (and she does realize her life isn't as good as she had thought on her own) it is a pretty good read about changing your life without someone changing it for you.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was my fourth Sarah Dessen book and once again, I gobbled it up in a matter of days. The protagonist in this one, Ruby, is a slightly wild child - not so much by desire, but due to her rather unorthodox upbringing. Always moving, with a somewhat unreliablie mother, Ruby is looking forward to the day when she turns 18 and can become and independent adult. Alas, before that day comes, her mother abandons her first and Ruby is passed into the care of her older sister. Recently married, with a beautiful house in the rich end of town, Ruby could not feel any more out of place if she tried. Adapting to her new way of life - attending a private school, fitting into a family - it will all provide a challenge for Ruby, and one that she is not sure she is quite up to.

    An engrossing read for more mature teens, there is some coarse language, drug use and implied sex. There are also quite a few cute cameo appearances of characters or businesses mentioned in previous books, which are like little "Easter eggs" for those of us that are devouring her books.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sarah Dessen is one of those fairly popular young adult authors that I've wanted to read for a while. I have several of her books on my shelves, but this is the first one I've actually picked up & read thus far. This is a story about Ruby, a 17-year-old who is placed into the custody of her older sister, after her mother just deserts her one day. She's not seen or communicated with her sister for 10 years. Ruby is already headed down the road to self-destruction, after living with a mother who hasn't been setting a good example, so when she's forced to live with her somewhat "goody two shoes" sister, there's some tension. She goes from a world of near-poverty to the opposite extreme -- her sister & brother-in-law are very well-off. Ruby has some trouble adjusting to this world and the gist of the story centers on that. That's a very simplistic plot summary & not a very good one, but you get the idea. It's actually a pretty well-written book & I enjoyed it on audio, with the reader doing an excellent job of portraying a teen's voice. I'm not sure it was enough to make me run out & want to read all of Dessen's books, but I'm certainly open to exploring a few more.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What happens to a 17-year-old (who mostly takes care of herself anyways) when her mother just doesn't come home? That's the tale that Sarah Dessen tells in Lock & Key, and she does so with grace, humor & power. I always enjoy her books, and this one did not disappoint.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ruby's mother walked out and elft her on her own. Only 17, she tried to keep up for a while, going to school, going to work, paying bills and keeping the utilities on. But eventually, someone reported her to social services, and she was sent to live with her sister who she hadn't seen or heard from in 10 years. Suddenly, Ruby is living in luxury, with people who really seem to care about her, if she can accept that.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Dessen is a master at writing about high school. Her descriptions of how teens act and talk and interact is pitch perfect. This reminded me a little of A Room on Lorelei Street by Mary Pearson, although with more hope...
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    When the authorities find her, 17 year old Ruby is living in what can only be described as squalor. Her perpetually drunk and often abusive mother has long since run off, leaving her alone with rent to be paid but no running water. Ruby has made the most of the situation but is eventually yanked from darkness to live with her much older sister and brother-in-law, a lawyer and a wildly successful dot com owner, respectively.She is suddenly thrown into a world where she has everything in stark contrast to where she had virtually nothing. Of course, emotionally, she is even more destitute in the land of endless shopping malls, SUVs and private school than she was living alone. She struggles to find her way in her new world, acquiring a friend and potential love interest in next door neighbor Nate. Of course, even within the walls of paradise there are shadows and demons. Ruby soon understands that even with everything at their fingertips, the people in her new life have their fair share of sadness, too.This was my first true Young Adult novel. I found it a little bit difficult to separate my prejudices of the genre in favor of simply enjoying the book, perhaps because I knew that I would be reviewing the book in a format where other YA literature lovers would read it. That said, I enjoyed the it, for the most part. I am not sure that it, alone, will make YA literature my go-to reading material but I read it in about a day so it obviously held some draw.I think my biggest problem, although not an issue with the book itself, rather with my age, is that I found myself identifying with the adults who, with reason, were not as fleshed out as the younger characters. I was often more sympathetic to the parents, business owners, and teachers even though they were painted as the flighty or unreasonable authority. With due respect to Dessen, while there was more emphasis on the high schoolers, there was a considerable amount of emotion invested in each adult figure which is why the story held my attention. Discussion of substance abuse, fertility and financial ruin permeated the book both in snippets of adult conversation as well as in a more general, watered down view as it effected the younger players. There is a subplot to define family and while it fades in and out and is hard to follow at points, there are definite poignant moments and I managed to break out my highlighter once or twice.Over all, the book was a good toe-dip into the world of YA. I would, most likely, recommend it to my younger, female cousins or to my adult friends who enjoy YA, although, probably not to those who, generally, are not a fan of young adult fiction as this doesn’t really transcend the genre in any sort of philosophical way (as might be said of Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You or The Elegance of the Hedgehog).
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Ruby's mother has left and when she is found out, she has to go live with her estranged sister Cora and Cora's husband. Better housing and better school, but Ruby is uncomfortable and untrusting. I like Dessen, but wasn't especially captured by anything in this particular story.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book also contained no surprises, which was still exactly what I wanted.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I'm addicted to Sarah Dessen. What else do I have to say?
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The reader for this audiobook is awesome. This is the first Sarah Dessen book I've read/listened to and I am very likely to continue reading if this is an indication of her typical writing style. I really enjoyed Ruby's narrative and the cast of characters that made up her new family.

    Some things that I didn't particularly enjoy:
    1. I wanted Ruby to come into herself a little bit more. I understand this book is about her transition and she does become more comfortable with her sister and Jamie but I wanted her to find an interest or hobby. A passion. I thought maybe she might get into jewelry with Harriet or start swimming on a team or something. I am just left with the feeling at the end of the book: Okay, so she's going to college, she's happy, she is dating Nate, but WHAT DOES RUBY LIKE/DO? I have no clue.
    2. Why is the dog such a big character is this book?
    3. I wanted more about Olivia and Lainey--that storyline was cute.
    4. I wanted the storyline between Ruby/Cora/their mother to have more closure.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really liked this. It's not the best book of Dessen's that I've read but it was still really interesting and enjoyable. Dessen dealt with a lot of different issues in this book and dealt with them quite well.

    Ruby is not the most likeable of characters at the start but I think that's probably the point. She's been changed by what she's been through and becomes withdrawn because that's how she deals with it. I liked that she developed and changed throughout the book and wasn't afraid to admit when she was wrong. I really liked her by the time I reached the end of the book. Nate was a fascinating character but he was definitely pushed to the side a lot and while we got to know a lot about this situation at home, we never really got to know him as a person. His story added a lot depth to the book and made it much darker.

    I loved Ruby's sister and brother-in-law. I enjoyed seeing Cora trasnform and come out of her defensive shell once she got to know Ruby again and it was interesting to see how quickly Jamie came to care about Ruby and what she was doing. They added a lot of fun to the book and were probably my favourite characters- which is not what I expected when we were first introduced to them.

    Overall, it was a really sweet story and Dessen's writing style made it lovely to read. I would recommend this book and I will probably re-read it at some stage, too.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This story about Ruby was a roller coaster of emotions for me. Dessen tells a story of a girl, Ruby, who was abandon by her mother and then has to move in with a sister she hasn't seen in a long time. She has to adjust to another school, lifestyle, and different (and better) relationships. This was yet another book by Dessen that I finished very quickly because I was so taken in by the story line. At the end, it came down to Ruby finding true, honest, and loving relationships that she lacked in her time before coming to her sisters.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I absolutely loved this book! Again Dessen drags you into a story in the teenage world of a girl who grew up in hard life of drugs ends up moving in with her long lost sister whom she hardley knows anymore and her husband whose she never met and with their help tries to learn how live a normal healthy life meanwhile learning that the boy next door doesn't have the picture perfect life that he appears to have either.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was my very first Sarah Dessen book, and as far as first impressions go, I enjoyed her style of writing, and her ability to make her characters seem realistic.I didn't take to Ruby's character at first-but I found that refreshing. I respected her more than I liked her, and I felt like that gave me a strong foundation to build on as she started to evolve. Towards the middle of the book, I moved beyond respect and was leaning more towards admiration. Sarah Dessen managed to create a character that had beyond a valid reason to be completely bitter and cynical, but didn't chose that road. Instead she chose weariness and caution, and even when she began to trust the world she got thrown into, didn't conform to stereotypical "teenage" behaviour.Sarah's writing style is so beautifully not in your face, and I found myself just wanting to stay immersed in the settings she placed her characters in-and I mean the literal, concrete, wood and grass setting that was Ruby's sister's house. There aren't many books that could put me that close to character's heel, physically. I was IN that house with Ruby, I felt that breeze blowing in from balcony, smell the grass and the pond just down below. Oh man, just writing this is putting me right back there-Sarah Dessen is a natural born descriptive artist, and I loved that this book was able to allow me such a feeling.The storyline wasn't anything spectacular, but the quality and care in which she crafted her words made me appreciate the way it played out. There were just enough characters and just the right amount of situations-good and bad-to bring me to the end feeling satisfied. I loved Nate and Olivia's characters-I think they lent a lot to Ruby's mind state, without being too aggressive or unrealistic.I think me and Sarah's books are in the beginning stages of something really great, and I can't wait to pick up another one of her books.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ruby Cooper is forced to live with her estranged sister, Cora, and Cora’s husband, Jaime, after Ruby’s mother abandons her. Ruby is transported from a dingy yellow house, a public school, and pot smoking friends to a million dollar house, a private school, and Nate. Nate is Ruby’s new overly positive neighbor with a dark secret. Can Ruby find happiness in her life, learn from her mistakes and help someone else in need? Not a perfect book, but very entertaining.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I really enjoyed Lock and Key. The characters seemed so real, and they really made me feel. I felt sad and lonely and happy and many other emotions throughout the course of the book. I didn't always agree with the things that Ruby did or said, but I definitely understood why she did them. The romance and friendship between her and Nate wasn't necessarily easy, but it was really sweet. I think Sarah Dessen did a really good job exploring Ruby's difficult situation.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
     Lock and Key is a great book by Sarah Dessen. It was not the best on I've read by her, but it definitely meets the expectations of her. Another really good book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Lock and Key is a book about this girl named Ruby. She grew up with only her mom and her sister, Cora. Ruby's mom decides to move a lot and go off on her own at times. When Cora got older and went off to college, Ruby's mom made her switch schools and never talks to her older sister. But then Ruby's mom suddenly leaves for over 2 months and Ruby was living in a house on her own, paying the bills and cleaning. But Ruby's landowner sees her living by herself and gives her to Cora's family. While Ruby is living with Cora, she finds some things about her mom never told her about. Living with Cora gets Ruby's life changed forever. One she's not used too. I really like the author Sarah Dessen. I have read one other book that she has written. Lock and Key is a good inspirational book. It's a really good book on how if you've had a rough background, this is the book for you. She gets through her mothers traps and she still succeeds in high school. I love drama or chick flick books. I love ready books like this, inspirational and loving and interesting. I could never put down this book after i started reading.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    My Summary: Ever since she can remember, it's been Ruby and her mom against the world. Until the day her mom doesn't return home, and Ruby's left to fend for herself. For a while it was fun, until things started going wrong and Ruby was picked up by child services and sent to live with her sister Cora and her husband. Cora and Jamie give Ruby everything she could ever want, but she can't shake the feeling that she'd be betraying her mom by suddenly forgiving Cora for abandoning them 10 years ago...My Thoughts: This was my second Sarah Dessen novel, and I really enjoyed it. I loved the way Dessen wrote the dynamic characters and the growth experienced by Ruby, Nate, and even Cora - it wasn't too fast (like some miraculous transformation or something) and it wasn't too slow either. Dessen set a believable pace, and her characters felt genuine and easy to relate to. The characters were definitely my favourite part of the novel.I liked the way the author approached the themes in this book as well - Dessen shows us that there are no perfect solutions, and that sometimes you just have to let people go. I found this really refreshing, because there's nothing I hate more than reading a novel where there's a huge problem or conflict and the characters stress about it for 99% of the book, and when the time comes for a solution it's quick, painless, and lasts for less than 5 pages (you know what I mean, right?). I hate it when all the loose ends in a contemporary lit novel are tied into a nice little bow, because real life isn't like that; not everything is going to work out, and big problems don't go away with 'quick fixes'.Final Thoughts: I recommend this novel to anyone who is a fan of Sarah Dessen's work, and also to anyone who likes edgier contemporary literature. There are some mature themes so its probably best to leave it to readers 16 and up, but other than that I think a lot of readers will enjoy this book!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I rated this book, Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen 4.5 stars. I gave this book a rating of 4.5 because it was very enjoyable, had good character development but, wasn’t one of the best books i had ever readI really loved this book because it was very fun to read. Not once did I catch myself dozing off, wanting to stop reading or getting lost. I always wanted to read the next chapter. I enjoy books like this because it does not feel like you have to read, but you actually want to. That’s why Lock and Key is a very enjoyable read.One thing I noted about this book was the characters. Not only could you visualize them well, but Sarah Dessen did such a good job developing her characters, you could even fell like you knew them. The reader will have a very good sense of the characters’ character; it’s as if you could even guess what they would do in a certain situation. That is why I really appreciated the character development in Lock and Key.Now, as in all books there are some faults. In this book the plot is very predictable. Foster child, goes to live somewhere else, doesn’t like it there, rebels, but in the end decides it’s not too bad after all. You’ve probably heard this before, right? Well even though the basic plot is predictable, there are many twists and turns. So it makes it a wonderful spin off of a classic novel.I rated this book 4.5 stars. If you can get past the “average” story line and let yourself indulge in the fun of reading “Lock and Key” and the great character development, you will really enjoy this book.