When Ruby’s mother abandons her, Ruby is sent to live with her older sister Cora, who she hasn’t seen in ten years. Life changes for her so drastically she feels like she must be dreaming. Whereas once she lived in squalor, dodging creditors, running roaches out of the house, getting high with her “friends,” she now lives in a million-dollar house and goes to a private prep school. More than anything, she wishes she could leave and go back to that independent life. But as she comes to learn more about the people around her and information about her past is revealed to her, she becomes less and less sure of her identity, and more sure who she can trust. The problem is, once she begins to reach out to others, it’s their turn to pull away.

Confession: Before reading this book, I’d always thought Sarah Dessen was pure fluff. The covers look like fluff, like chic-lit for teenage girls. I grabbed this book on a whim at ALA because Dessen was signing books, they were at a reduced price ($5), and the line was very short (it was the end of her signing time). I’d heard somewhere that Dessen wrote like Deb Caletti, which to me is a high recommendation, as Caletti is one of the most talented modern authors I know and I love her books. But still, I worried. The books look like fluff.

Random.org chose this book for me from off my shelves as part of the Random Reading Challenge. At first, when I began reading, I didn’t think I was going to make it through. That same day I’d read through the first 100 pages of Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah before deciding I didn’t care enough about the book to read another 400 pages of it, and Lock and Key had a lot of similar plotline elements. Ruby’s mother was neglectful even before abandoning her, and Ruby was therefore simultaneously responsible (she kept doing her mother’s night job for her) and immature (all the drugs and drinking). So I almost gave up. I didn’t want to read any more on that subject (Firefly Lane had expounded on a similar situation for all those 100 pages…). I knew I was in a bit of a slump, though, so I put it aside and tried it again the next day.

As it turns out, the book was really good, and just like that recommendation, the story was similar to Deb Caletti’s in style. It talked about real issues, in a real way. It didn’t skirt the truth, but it didn’t have to stick the reader’s faces into it, either. It was tactful. It was the sort of book that, while it dealt with teenagers, could be read by adults from a completely different angle. It transcended its genre. By the end, I cared about all the characters, even the no-good mother.

The book isn’t fast-paced, and it’s very character driven instead of plot oriented, but even so, I read almost all of it in a single day. I stayed up late to finish. I didn’t have to – it’s not like the book pushed me the way 13 Reasons Why or The Knife of Never Letting Go did – but I wanted to. Dessen made their world unfold for me, and I was completely sucked into it.

I can’t say how this compares to other Dessen books as it’s my first, but I can say this won’t be my last. It’s an excellent book, and I’m glad I gave it a chance.