Waiting For You, or not so much

Waiting For You by Susane Colasanti

Derek is clearly the love Marisa’s been waiting for, but there’s just one problem: he has a girlfriend. Nash is clearly wrong for Marisa, but he’s crushing on her. And, as if life wasn’t complicated enough, Marisa’s also contending with a best friend who won’t stop falling for older guys, a family that’s acting totally bizarre, and a secret crush on a guy whose identity is a mystery – even to her.

Sophomore year is going to be intense.

My review:
Let’s start off with why I wanted to read this, well one, I loved the title, and two because I kept hearing whispers “like Dessen” “if you love Sarah’s books, you should read one of Susane’s” and this was the first one I could get my hands on.
No, nothing like Dessen, sorry.
This just proves that we can’t substitute our sugar for Splenda and not think we are going to end up with a big head ache and an unquenched thirst for the thing we truly desire.
The characters are nice, Derek isn’t even a huge jerk, he’s just not right for Marissa and that makes him the wrong guy and so pretty soon you are tired of reading about the wrong guy.
I wanted more Nash! I loved Nash, he was great!
Marissa was cool, but the anxiety disorder bit seemed forced, like, why is this part of the plot? By the way, no giant squids of anger in the comment section about how I am dissing people with anxiety disorders, or books that include protagonists dealing with panic attacks, I love The Nature of Jade and understand the disorder. Capeesh?
The best friend, I loved everything except for who she ended up meeting, it seemed like a limp-noodle sum-up, because I don’t feel like she learned anything, she just ended up embarrassed with a little public egg on her face.
So the characters, for the most part, I liked, the plot was awful. The whole point of “Waiting For You” was diminished.
My three epic problems with this book are as follows-
1) No one can be Sarah Dessen, why is everyone saying that this is remotely close?
2) The book was a clean spin-off of Pump Up The Volume, an 80’s Christian Slater flick I love and will leave the trailer to below
3) The title of the book is “Waiting For You” and yet all the characters just try and date whom ever they think they can get their hands on. Even Nash, who clearly has only had eyes for Marissa since before the book takes place, asks another girl to be his girlfriend, kindergarten style, in case you were wondering! Sheesh, teens.

Notes on the names: They served their purpose, but even Marissa herself brought up that Marissa means sea of bitterness, so I really wonder why Colasanti even chose it.

Thoughts on the cover: I really, really love this cover, truly, deeply and madly, Nash looks like my ideal guy, a little bigger, of course, but the red hair and glasses sold me, so I was bitterly disappointed in reading, knowing this book would not end up on my Mod Podge Bookshelf.

I will try a Colasanti again, because I’ve seen that many people give higher ratings to her other books, and lower ratings to this one in particular. What do you suggest, or all they all this odd? Leave your comments below to fill me in!

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