Ann Brashares

As the child of parents who divorced bitterly and acrimoniously when I was young – and who have barely spoken since – I could very much relate to the children in “The Whole Thing Together”. I remember that speech – that “we still love you and this will end up being better for all of us” speech that divorcing parents give their children – and I feel the same way now that I did then. That things will be better for the parents, the kids? Too bad.

“Why was it the people who had show more no beef suffered the most? Like all slow are terrible wars, it was fought and borne by those who had no grievance, the most innocent enduring the worst. Because we are the ones who want peace among the grown-ups, and they still want war.”

This novel is a combination of two storylines. One, a story of two teenagers – Sasha and Ray – who share half-sisters and a vacation home – yet who have never met. Each has a vision of the other, and in that which they share, they form a completely unspoken relationship. The book starts with that being the strongest storyline – and it was once that prompted me to choose the book – but did not hold my interest. It was clearly trying to lead from a “what if two people so connected had never met” to a “what if two people who had never met fell in love” – but there was far too much going on for me to keep track. With the two sides of a family sharing the same house, but at different times and with the characters not really finding clear, separate voices until much farther info the book – I honestly couldn’t keep track of who was where and which sister was which.

But gradually the book transitions to focus more on WHY Ray and Sasha haven’t met (the hatred between the divorced parents) and the possibility that they might finally do so – under the most extreme circumstances (the warring parents being in the same place again after decades of silence).

“And what about their parents? Would they stand in the same room? Would they listen to each other’s voices? Would they shake hands? Would the world allow for that?”

I remember many years after the divorce – sitting in the same room with my parents and feeling that same thing. That this was simply not possible – these two people just couldn’t be existing in the same place at the same time – that my worlds were colliding.

And in the end, the book becomes about love after all. About love, and regret and grief. About some small, miraculous joy that comes from heart wrenching sadness. About learning far too late the consequences of one’s words and actions, but trying to find a way forward that makes those sacrifices worthwhile.

“These were the days she would later be sorry not to have appreciated. She tried to induce appreciation, mentally getting it firing like an outboard motor. It was a hard thing to will. Was it even possible to see beauty in the present at it came at you? Or did it require a dose of time and loss and maybe a little pain?”

“The Whole Thing Together” ended up being a very moving and very relatable book and the words and feelings of those children impacted by their parents’ divorce will stay with me. show less

First sentence: Let me ask you this: What's the worst thing you've ever done? Really think about it. Well, multiply your thing by a billion and you don't even get close. Sorry to brag. It's just...your thing? It's the Cheeto-dust thumbprint you left on the basement sofa. It's an ant's toe you stepped on. And then you said, "Sorry!" and the ant went, "No worries, mate!" Because the ant's British, I don't know.

My thoughts (preview): Ever been HOOKED on a premise????? It doesn't happen all show more that often, though it does happen. This is the case with Westfallen. The premise had me at HELLO. Reading the synopsis raised my expectations immeasurably, and it did NOT, I repeat did NOT disappoint.

Premise/plot: Six kids working together (with the best intentions)--separated by time--manage to destroy life as we know it. Shocked I was able to sum up an entire book in one sentence? Me too.

Henry, Lukas, and Frances were at one time best, best, best friends though in recent years they've grown apart--far apart. Alice, Lawrence, and Artie are friends as well. These six friends become connected by a radio.

Alice "saves" her brother's radio from the trash. It's broken and her brother, Robbie, is gone--presumably for the war. Her two friends, Lawrence and Artie, are near by and interested in seeing if they can fix the radio.

Henry is burying his gerbil, Zeus, when he discovers a long-buried radio. His (former) friends are there for the funeral. All are interested in this buried "treasure" of sorts.

All six kids are SHOCKED when the radio works. The two sets of friends refer to themselves as "Mars" and "Jupiter." It takes time for them to realize that the new friends they've made aren't living in the same year. Henry, Lukas and Frances are in 2023....and Alice, Lawrence, and Artie are in 1944. Both are in the same house, same street, same city.

Will innocent casual conversation lead to the unwinding of the universe?????

My thoughts: I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED THIS ONE. Mostly. I will say that the CLIFF HANGER ending was while not a huge surprise a bit disappointing. If the cliff hanger leads to a book two, then YES PLEASE. If it does NOT lead to a book two then readers everywhere have been robbed.

I loved the premise. I loved the characters. I loved the plot. This is one I could easily see myself reading again and again and again. show less

I enjoyed My Name is Memory far more than I expected to. While the concept of reincarnation and the ability to remember every past life exactly intrigued me, the thought of reading a story that continually jumped from present to past lives and back again initially put me off. I'm very glad I gave it a chance though. The chapters were helpfully headed with place and date and the main character, Daniel, retains much of his personality throughout his lives, making him very easy to understand show more and relate to.

My Name is Memory is clearly a romantic sort of book. Daniel loves Sophia from the very moment he saw her, but alas, it was not meant to be. Daniel, possessing the ability to remember, seeks out and finds Sophia's reincarnation time and again, only to continue to fail to woo her. Daniel's unending love, surviving over a thousand years, is endearing and just a touch obsessive.

Lucy, not possessing the memory, feels drawn to Daniel but his demeanor towards her makes her question this attraction. Once she begins to unravel the mysterious past they both seem to share, she has to wonder if she's just crazy.

The barriers that prevent the couple from being together are always different, showing exactly how a love "meant to be" can fail in so many ways. More than romance, My Name is Memory shows just how much Daniel misses in his lives, chasing after a girl who literally doesn't know he exists. Part fantasy, part historical, part romance - My Name is Memory is a wonderfully unexpected story. show less

Forever in Blue is the fourth Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants novel, and, at the time, was thought to be the final book in the series. With that in mind, Forever in Blue does a great job at tying up all the loose ends of the series and leaves the readers with a sense of what the future holds for our favorite girls without leaving us with tons of questions.

As I've said in other reviews for the book series, in each book I usually find one girl to really latch on to as her story is the most show more compelling. This time, however, Ann Brashares knocked it out of the park. Each story line is interesting and very well-written. Each girl has tough situations that she is working through and, of course, learning from. From Turkey to New York City and everywhere in between these girls are laughing, learning and growing, and if you have been reading from the beginning, it is like watching women you've known since childhood grow up before your very eyes. Bittersweet, but exciting and new!

As an older reader of the series (i.e. mid-twenties), I feel like this book resonated the most with me. The girls are all grown up. They aren't the young teenagers that we first met them as. They're in college now, and their problems are far more adult than they were in the beginning. Tibby is faced with the shock of her life when she wonders if she might be pregnant. Lena is finding that she might finally be over Kostos, and that leads her to break out of her inhibitions with a hot and talented artist. Carmen is learning that she has a flair for the stage and she should always let her light shine, even when there are others trying to extinguish it for their own gain. And Bridget is trying to navigate the waters of her relationships with her family and Eric during her summer in Turkey where she gets caught up in a would-be affair with an older, married professor.

I found this entry in the series to be far more introspective and, in some ways, poetic than the others. Brashares really delved into the heart of these women and these friendships. Her voice as a storyteller is rich and full of unexpected insight and realizations. Reading her novels is like a comforting cup of cocoa for the soul (or perhaps even a nice glass of red wine). She's frank and doesn't shy away from the ugly stuff or the adult stuff. I've seen several complaints about the amount of sex in the book. It put me off a bit at first, too. When we met these characters they were just out of being little girls. What readers need to remember is that these characters are women now. They are in college and, frankly, the girls having intimate relationships isn't surprising or uncommon. Brashares has never shied away from these topics and she's never sugar-coated the girls' lives or attempted to hold them up to some conservative moral standard. For those who may read the books, the scenes are chaste and the acts are not described like you would see in a Harlequin romance novel. As I've said, the novel is more introspective, so the acts are really more deconstructed after the fact so that the characters can deal with the aftermath and where it has left them. It's honest and it is real. There are so many other YA novels that are far "worse".

In the end, I feel like the main four books ended on a high note. I think this one might be my favorite of the whole bunch. I would definitely recommend that other Pants fans pick this one up as it really does tie up all the loose ends so you aren't left with many frustrating questions. I'm so excited that Brashares did end up writing a fifth book and I can't wait to pick up a copy for myself! Long live the Sisterhood! show less