When I started reading Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen I was really wowed by her writing style. It was beautiful, flowy, and the descriptive passages were to die for. Now that I've finished it, I don't like it quite as much as I did at the beginning. Reasons:1. The plot took awhile to really get going. I was going to overlook this as I really loved the characters and the subjects of abuse and alcoholism, but then things started to head downhill so it's just another reason on the pile. I felt like it was going nowhere fast and when it did get there, not much happened.2. I had heard Dessen's writing was a bit melodramatic. I didn't agree at first, but now after having slept on it, I can definitely see that. When you are reading it, you are swept up in the plot and characters, but after finishing and thinking back, it was like a soap opera on paper. Too much. And so many emotional things happened(one after the other), that it really got to the point where it was unbelievable.3. The ending. Really disappointing. The author chose to send Nate to his mother, who didn't want him and pretty much abandoned him and I'm supposed to look at this as a conclusion? I know not all stories end happily, but the way it was written, was like it was supposed to. I was not pleased. Hard to explain, but I just felt very uncomfortable with the ending.It gets 3 stars because I did enjoy the writing style, emotion, and characters. Descriptive passages were well done. So basically, I liked it, but it was nothing special.
