DREAM CAST: The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Last May, Netflix optioned three Sarah Dessen books which was very exciting news in my opinion. The three books were This Lullaby, Along for the Ride, and Once and For All. I’m not sure where they are in the process of actually becoming movies, but the other night I couldn’t sleep and started creating a cast for my personal favorite Dessen book, The Truth About Forever.

Auli’i Cravalho as Macy

What I’ve Seen Her In: Moana, Rise, All Together Now

I think Auli’i is incredibly talented and I think this is a great opportunity to add some color to one of Dessen’s books.

Charlie Gillespie as Wes

What I’ve Seen Him In: Julie and the Phantoms

Charlie doesn’t look exactly how I always pictured Wes, but after watching him in Julie and the Phantoms, I think he’d bring a really good energy to the character and I think he’d be great opposite Auli’i.

Jordan Fisher as Jason Talbot

What I’ve Seen Him In: Teen Beach Movie, Grease Live!, To All the Boys, Work It

I love this as a bit of a role reversal for Jordan. He’s typically played these “good guy” characters and Jason is still kind of that…but also he’s not the good guy of this story.

Madeleine Arthur as Kristy

What I’ve Seen Her In: To All the Boys

I thought Madeleine was AMAZING in both To All the Boys movies–honestly, she was the best and most natural in my opinion. I would love to see her in such a dynamic role as Kristy.

Britt Robertson as Monica

What I’ve Seen Her In: Dan in Real Life, Tomorrowland

This was actually a really hard role for me to cast. Honestly, I think the best person for this role would be Aubrey Plaza, but she’s probably too old at this point. Despite that, I think Britt Robertson could be really good as well.

Trevor Larcom as Bert

What I’ve Seen Him In: Fresh Off the Boat

Trevor is absolutely Bert. If you’ve seen him in any episode of Fresh Off the Boat, I think you’d agree. He’s overly serious while simultaneously hilarious. He and Charlie probably don’t look quite enough alike to be brothers…but I’m willing to make that sacrifice.

Minnie Driver as Delia

What I’ve Seen Her In: Return to Me, Ella Enchanted, The Phantom of the Opera, Speechless

I think Minnie Driver is such a great actress and she would totally be able to bring to life Delia’s chaotic energy.

Christina Chang as Deborah Queen

What I’ve Seen Her In: The Good Doctor

She seems like this really tough type of lady and I could perfectly picture her as Macy’s mom.

Timothy Olyphant as Macy’s Dad

What I’ve Seen Him In: I Am Number Four, The Office, The Good Place

This was another tough casting decision. Macy’s mom was really easy for me, so I knew I wanted to find a white actor to be her dad. I felt like he needed to be a bit rough around the edges, but also someone fit as he’s a runner. But then he also needed to seem really kind and a good contrast to Deborah.

Shay Mitchell as Caroline

What I’ve Seen Her In: Pretty Little Liars

I feel really confident with Shay as Caroline. As I reread the book, I could really picture her in this role. She’s emotional and compassionate, but also has a hidden layer of strength.

Nelson Franklin as Wally

What I’ve Seen Him In: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The Office, Abby’s

Wally isn’t actually in the book much and I think he could have a slightly bigger role in a movie. I think Nelson could portray the perfect combo of nerdy and sweet.

Madelaine Petsch and Bethany Antonia as the Library Girls

What I’ve Seen Them In: Riverdale and Get Even respectively

The two library girls are interchangeable to me, but I feel like both of these actresses would be great in portraying a stuck up smart girl.

What do you guys think of my cast list?

27 Best Book Deals for 7/2/20: The Bromance Book Club, And Then There Were None, select Sarah Dessen books, and more

As of this posting, all of these deals are active, but I don’t know for how long!

Less than $1

Court of Fives by Kate Elliott

The Chess Queen Enigma by Colleen Gleason

Less than $2

You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Karamo: My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing, and Hope by Karamo Brown

The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith

Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) by L.C. Rosen

Far From the Tree by Robin Benway

Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles

Sawkill Girls by Claire LeGrand

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Less than $3

Courting Darkness by Robin LeFevers

Once and For All by Sarah Dessen

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan

Code Girls (Young Readers Edition) by Liza Mundy

Who is Mark Twain? by Mark Twain

Firstlife by Gena Showalter

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

There Will Come a Darkness by Katy Rose Pool

Ayesha At Last by Uzma Jalaluddin

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SARAH DESSEN + NETFLIX = HEART EYES

We have all heard this news by now, yes? If not, brace yourself…Netflix has optioned not one, not two, but THREE of Sarah Dessen’s books! I am BEYOND excited.

We all know that I am a Sarah Dessen STAN. I almost died when she retweeted this blog post of mine. My brother-in-law even noticed and said something. If that doesn’t show my true devotion to this queen, then I don’t know what does. According to this article by Hollywood Reporter, they’ll be doing Along for the Ride first which I am so pumped about. All I’m saying, though, is that they better include The Washroom because it is the best Sarah Dessen location of all time.

I’m also eager to see This Lullaby turned into a movie. I’ve long thought that this is the one that would be most suitable for a movie. I hope they get Remy perfect and I can’t wait to see her and her girlfriends on screen.

Though I’m sad they didn’t pick my fave (The Truth About Forever) I am happy with the choices they made and am BEYOND excited to watch them. Until then, did you guys know that Sarah Dessen has already had two of her books made into a movie? They combined That Summer and Someone Like You into one movie starring Mandy Moore which you can rent on Amazon Prime for $2.99. It doesn’t have like…GREAT reviews, but I liked it.

How excited are you guys for these movies? Who would you pick to play the main characters? Let’s chat in the comments!

QUEEN DESSEN DOES IT AGAIN | Once & For All by Sarah Dessen

Louna met Ethan at a wedding. That fact on its own isn’t necessarily notable (her mother IS a wedding planner after all). But then she and Ethan shared the most perfect night together, wandering the streets of Colby. For one night, everything in Louna’s life was perfect. Until it wasn’t. Ethan was her ONE and what is a girl supposed to do when that one is gone? So Louna’s given up on love. She isn’t bitter–just realistic. She already had her chance at true love and what are the odds that she’ll get another one?

My expectations are always so high whenever a new Dessen book is coming out…it’s honestly not very fair to her. Except, she always delivers! Louna is such a great main character and gives off so many Remy vibes (which I LOVE). Honestly, they almost could have been the same character except I think Remy comes off as slightly more cynical. This only means that Louna is a fun combination of mild cynicism and general impatience. The secondary characters were awesome as well. I loved Louna’s mom and William–they had such a fun dynamic and often served as comic relief. Also serving as comic relief (in my opinion) is coffee shop guy, so quick shout out to him. I liked Jilly quite a bit as well, though I felt like I was missing that super strong female friendship that is often in Dessen’s books. Jilly and Louna were definitely great friends, but Jilly just wasn’t as present as other best friends have been. That being said, Jilly’s siblings were hilarious and I hope we see more of her little brother in another book.

Ambrose and Ethan…I thought they were great characters in different ways. I liked how we got to meet Ethan piece by piece in flashbacks and that his relationship with Louna didn’t feel forced or fake. I think that’s hard to do since they spent such a short amount of time together, but I was buying the whole thing. Also, thank Dessen for featuring my favorite location that she has ever created–the Pie Laundromat. So happy to see that place again. Ambrose was a completely different character from Ethan for sure and it was interesting to see Louna falling for both guys. I’ve seen some reviewers say they really didn’t care for Ambrose’s personality. I can honestly see why some readers may dislike him, but he’s so different from all of Dessen’s other romantic leads that I found him really interesting. And also the fact that he was so different from Ethan gave Louna more depth as a character, in my opinion.

As is common in Dessen’s books, there wasn’t really a plot since the book is more focused on the characters. That being said, I loved all of the different weddings that we got to see. I live just a couple of blocks from a really popular, local wedding spot and seeing so many brides and weddings day after day really just made me start to think how un-special weddings are. Like, they literally happen every day in the summer! I just found myself pondering the interesting paradox of this being one of the most important days of the bride’s life while for me it’s “just another wedding by my house”. Anyway, that’s a long explanation to say that I’m sure Natalie and William feel the same way to some extent and it’s interesting to view weddings from that perspective.

Overall, I loved this book just as much as all the others. As long as Sarah Dessen writes, I will continue to read and purchase her books. Honestly, she’s the only author I’ll pre-order for. The ONLY issue I have is that there’s a bonus chapter that exists, but it’s only available in the special B&N edition. For an Amazon addict like me, that’s no good. I’d already pre-ordered the book on Amazon when I found out bonus material even existed! Whatever. I confess to going to B&N just to sit on their floor and read the bonus chapter. I don’t even feel bad about it. But anyway, if you like Dessen, READ THIS BOOK. And if you don’t like Dessen or have never read anything she’s written, READ THIS BOOK.

Overall Rating: 5
Language: Moderate
Violence: Moderate
Smoking/Drinking: Moderate
Sexual Content: Moderate

New from Sarah Dessen

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So, so excited to finally announce my next book, ONCE AND FOR ALL! Coming June 2017. #number13

A post shared by Sarah Dessen (@sdessen) on Aug 20, 2016 at 7:59am PDT

 

Dessen fans rejoice! Sarah Dessen just announced via social media that her 13th book, Once and for All, will be published June 2017. The announcement was originally made on PublishersWeekly.com. In case you didn’t already read the Instagram post, “The novel…follows a just-graduated high schooler with a cynical view of romance and marriage. Burned by her first true love, she’s not ready to give her heart to anyone, when she meets a handsome young man”. And apparently it’s set in the world of wedding planning, but it’s not clear whether that’s our protagonist’s job, her parents, or maybe even the “handsome young man”. To me it sounds like our main character might be a little Remy-esque from This Lullaby and I’m all for it. So there you have it. We have to wait until next June but what’s another ten months, really?