Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood (2007)

I have listened to all of the "pants" novels and loved them all. ( )

This series by Ann Brashares starts out very strong and falls off a cliff in the last book. The first two are well-realized, strongly plotted explorations of adolescence from various viewpoints. The last is inexplicable and maddening. Brashares seemed, like Alcott, tempted to have an earthquake swallow the girls so she might be finished with them and move on. I'll be interested to read her next book, now that she's put away the pants. ( )

The biggest difference in this is that after three books of seeing these girls as they are with each other is that you finally get to see what happens when they don’t have a three-month separation. I actually liked the differences in their personalities (with the exception of Tibby, she doesn’t really change much)—Carmen becomes more withdrawn; Lena tries to become more outspoken; Bridget, while still reckless, actually weighs her situation and tries to confront the consequences. Tibby’s story was the strongest this time, as the losing her virginity and all of the fears seemed very realistic to me. While I liked the ending of letting the Pants go, the only thing I didn’t like was the huge trip to Greece to hunt them down. However, since this was the grand finale to the series, it did seem like a fitting tribute, and I very much enjoyed this. ( )

Thank god this is the last Traveling Pants book. I’m tired of these characters. I’m tired of them doing random things that I really don’t think they’d actually do, and being okay with it. The only one I really believe is Tibby-—I think she has her little (and big) freak-outs in a very realistic way, over very realistic situations. The others? I don’t think I’ve ever believed any of their issues. Anyway, it’s over now, and hooray. ( )

Book 4 in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. It is the summer after the freshman year of college. Carmen is avoiding her friends and only has made one friend at school. Bridget's boyfriend is working at a soccer camp in Baja so she is going to Turkey. Tibby and Lena are taking summer classes at school. Will this summer bring the friends closer or further apart? An enjoyable read filled with laughter, fun, and trials. ( )