Annabel, just your average girl used to be popular, had one really popular friend and had everything right. She keeps to herself about what happened before the summer, where everything turned upside down.

Annabelle has spent her entire summer sequestered after an incident at a end-of-school party in which she was humiliated in front of all her friends. Her best friend is no longer speaking to her, and we find out in progressive flashback clips what exactly happened. Before Annabelle can get too lonely, she meets fellow social outcast Owen who teaches her the virtues of honesty and gives her the confidence to come clean about her secrets.

This is a story about loneliness, appearances and how deceiving they may be. About bullying and friendship - how easily it can break and how difficult it is to put back together. About music. About sisterhood and personal growth. About how we shouldn't think or judge sometimes, we should just listen.

Just Listen is a beautiful coming of age story, which I enjoyed a lot! This was actually my first Sarah Dessen book that I read and not my last, for sure.