Just Listen Analysis

Annabel lives in the town of Lakeview, a fictional place created by Sarah Dessen that shows up in a lot of her novels (which cheekily reference each other). For example, in Lock and Key the main ch...

The entirety of Just Listen is told from the perspective of Annabel Greene, teen model and wallflower. Annabel is definitely the kind of girl who observes more than she acts, so she makes for a per...

Young Adult LiteratureJust Listen may be a book with some pretty hefty themes—rape, eating disorders, and depression, to name a few—but it's definitely meant for a teenage audience. After all,...

As the narrator of the story, Annabel is a very cautious and careful person. She doesn't even like to express her own opinion often because she's afraid of upsetting other people, so it makes sense...

For Whitney's treatment plan, she has to write a personal history—and in a way Just Listen feels like Annabel's personal history of the past year. She gives a detailed account of all the things t...

Just Listen is the actual title of one of the CDs that Owen gives to Annabel when he's trying to oversee her musical education. The truth is that Just Listen doesn't just refer to the title of the...

"The best way out is always through."—Robert FrostThe epigraph refers to Annabel's overall fondness for avoidance. She doesn't want to face her problems or hurt anyone's feelings, so instead she...

Just Listen could have very well ended with the moment after Will's trial when Annabel meets Owen outside and kisses him. After all, isn't her secret finally out and resolved? Hasn't she made it an...

The writing in Just Listen isn't all that difficult to follow—the story is clearly written and told from the point of view of an engaging, smart narrator; there isn't much artistic license taken...

Houston, We Have A ProblemActually we have a lot of problems. When the book opens up, we find ourselves in a pretty bleak place. Annabel Greene is at a crossroads in her life. She's going back to s...

The idea for Just Listen came from a yearbook photo of three smiling blonde sisters that Sarah Dessen saw. She realized later that she had made an assumption that their lives must be fabulous, and...

Things get pretty explicit in Just Listen, but not in a sexy way or anything. The book deals with sex insofar as Annabel and Emily both have to grapple with the fact that Will Cash rapes them. Even...