Where It All Goes Down
Lakeview
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 characters turn on the radio and listen idly to a show by some girl named—you guessed it—Annabel.
Lakeview is basically your all-American town and Annabel lives in a safe suburban neighborhood, the kind of place where you don't expect things to go wrong. Her family is obviously pretty well off and they live in a big beautiful house:
It was that time of day when the sun hit the glass just so, the golf course reflected almost perfectly in the second story. Downstairs, I could see my mother standing at the kitchen counter. (5.260)
Things are not as safe and friendly as they seem, though. Annabel gets raped in a nice house by a rich boy who goes to a private school, and no one does anything to help her. Lakeview is just another place where things are not exactly as they appear—once you take a closer look. In other words, it's just like everywhere else. The choice of location brings home the idea that these things could happen just about anywhere.