I was taking out all my Sarah Dessen books for a photo when I realised that I owned Someone Like You! And despite the fact that I’m sure I have read it, the book didn’t really ring a bell.

Someone Like You is the story of Halley and her best friend, Scarlett. At the start of the book, Scarlett’s boyfriend dies and she finds out she’s pregnant. Because Scarlett wants to keep the baby, Halley is there to support her. At the same time, Halley’s once-close relationship with her mother is strained and she’s dating a “bad boy” (Macon).

After reading this, I realised why this book is so forgettable – it’s just not as strong as Dessen’s other books. There are a lot of interesting topics – teen pregnancy, overbearing mothers, having to make your own mistakes, but the book is fairly short and none of them are explored as fully as they might have been. For example, it would have been interesting to see Scarlet’s dynamic with Halley’s mother as well, to illustrate how complicated the mother-daughter relationship can be (Halley’s mother is definitely too overbearing, but she does seem to step up for Scarlett when needed).

And despite that the fact that the book is supposed to be about Halley and Scarlett’s friendship, I didn’t really feel like there was a development or deepening of their friendship. Yes, Halley and Scarlett stayed friends through the pregnancy, but their friendship was stagnant and most of the conflict in the book came from Halley’s relationship with Macon instead.

Overall, this was a quick read and pretty decent, but not as good as the other Sarah Dessen books that I’ve read. It feels like this was aimed at slightly younger readers compared to her other books like The Truth About Forever and Just Listen.