Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen...

Series: -
Published: May 15th 2010 by Penguin Group
Pages: 432
Date Finished: June 10th, 2013
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:
After her mom vanished in a stench of drugs and alcohol, Ruby continued to live in the family house alone. Finally found out, the introspective teenager is sent to the luxurious home of her older sister, Cora, whom she hadn't seen in ten years. Everything there seems unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and supremely weird: her fancy new room; her lavish new wardrobe; the exclusive private school where she never quite fits in. Most mysterious of all is Nate, the friendly boy next door who seems to have a deep secret of his own. Another subtle character-driven teen novel by Sarah Dessen, the author of Just Listen and That Summer.

Review:

Well it took a year and a half but I finally managed to finish this book. I had picked it up multiple times before and never got past the first couple of pages, either it wasn't what I felt like reading at the time or something better came along. But I finally finished it and wow... It was amazing.

The plot. I loved the plot of this book. There was just something so REAL and honest about it, it almost felt like Sarah Dessen had seen the events happen in this story and then retold them to me on the page, I completely fell in love with it. I really felt for both Ruby and Nate with their home lives and I really thought it was a great twist to the book finding out about Nate part way through I definitely had not seen that coming and it shoed me just how strong of a person he is. I thought that the storyline of this book was heartfelt, believable and moving and it was one that kept me up into the early hours to finish.

The characters. I really enjoyed all of the characters in this book, I thought that both the main and side characters were written extremely well and I found myself loving all of them.
Ruby. I really enjoyed Ruby's character in this book and I thought that she was extremely relatable and a great character to have the POV of the book told from. I really felt for her in her situation and how she had to got through such a massive change, but I thought it showed just how strong and resilient she was in that she was able to make the best of the situation she was in. Sure, she did make a few mistakes but overall she in the end decided to take advantage of the situation and I felt that it changed her for the better.
Nate. I also really enjoyed Nate's character. I loved seeing just how strong he was and that even after what he endured he was still so kind and caring. I really enjoyed seeing how he changed throughout the book and finally took the steps he needed to protect himself.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and it will be one that will stick with me for a while. This is one that I would recommend everyone to read.