Ya-Yas in Bloom

Disappointing. I loved the original Ya Ya book: The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, as it examined the different strains of being a strong, loving woman. Among other things, anyway. Ya-Ya's in Bloom lacks the magic, is a pale reflection of Rebecca Wells' earlier work, and I found the central plot of a child being kidnapped unnecessarily dramatic. That said, the book is still an easy, accessible and enjoyable read, just not original or particularly meaningful.

"Little Altars Everywhere" was a little too harsh, but "Ya Yas in Bloom" was too sugary. This book was a little too happy to be from the same family as the other two books - it's like "Little Altars Everywhere" contains all the worst memories, "Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya show more Sisterhood" contains the bittersweet memories and reconciliation, and this book only contains the ridiculously sugar-coated memories where nothing really went wrong. I just have trouble believing they are all part of the same family because they do not seem like the same people. Also it was kind of random to put those stories about Myrtis and Edyth Spevey in this volume towards the end - Edythe is only mentioned once in "Little Altars Everywhere" and it just seemed really out of place to bring in these characters at the last minute when the rest of the books are about other people. I still think "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" is the best of the three and the only one that really holds together well. The rest are just not organized as well.

Another thing that I did not like was the fact that out of the four Walker children, we only read the POV of Sidda and Baylor. It's like Little Shep and Lulu don't even exist in their adult life. All in all this book felt rushed, it really feels like an obligation to the publishers and/or public, and not at all a book that Rebecca Wells wanted to write. All of the crucial stories of Vivi and Sidda and most of the other Ya Yas have already been told, which leaves only space for random tales from the other kids' lives. Which is okay, but since we don't really know them (other than Sidda's perception of them), it's hard to care too much about them. show less

Although given the subtitle "a novel," this book is really a collection of short stories about the beloved Ya-Ya sisterhood and their families. We travel (mostly chronologically) from the Ya-Yas first meeting each other as precocious and mischief-making 4-year-olds up until their days as grandmothers. Some stories are told in first person; others in third person, and we hear from the point of view of many different characters (although mostly skewed toward the Walker family). Along the way, we meet a host of characters, including the Ya-Yas' own parents and in some cases, their parent's parents. The stories also cover a wide range of topics and arouse a number of emotions from humor to heartbreak. It is really an eye-opener (or perhaps show more a vivid reminder) to how just a few words from a parent can mean so much to a child. The final story in the collection is perhaps a bit too long and also saccharine, but otherwise I would not change a thing about this delightful book. show less

My overall feeling for this book was disappointment. Despite the fact that this was the abridged version to begin with, even this 5-CD set was too long for me. I just wanted it to be done so that I could move on to something else. I'm not sure how to pinpoint why this book failed me so. It may have been the fact that it had been so long since I'd read the other Ya-Ya books & I just couldn't remember enough to relate this one to the previous reads. It may have been the fact that this one was written as a series of vignettes in an almost random order, giving this book a disjointed feel. And because of that, I never felt like the book ended up going anywhere. Or maybe I've simply outgrown the Ya-Ya's and have moved on to prefer other types show more of literature. Whatever the case, this one just didn't do it for me. show less

I "read" this book on audio CD's and loved it. The narrator, Judith Ivey, did a superb job ... normally I cringe to hear Southern accents rendered by actors, but she did just fine. Perhaps it was her presentation, or the fact that the audio edition I had was abridged, but the negative aspects of the book I read about in other reviews were missing in my experience of the book, and it may be the presenter and the pruning made for a better book. The abridged version has a number of stories, but most concern Baylor and the story of the kidnapping and everyone's reaction to it is covered by half the disc time. Verging on sentimental, but coming across more as a blend of tender and strong, funny and compassionate, it is a great audio book and show more as it relates the story, I think it is the best of the three Ya-Ya books. show less

I feel like Rebecca Wells is sort of a one trick pony. I really liked Divine Secrets, and I mostly liked Little Alters (I read them out of order), And to me this felt like the same story being told. I like the characters, but it just seems to repetitive, they don't change or evolve that much.

This is the follow-up to the bestseller "Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood." I know that this series might catch flak for being girly, but the books are decent. They are set mostly in 1950s Louisana, where four mamas cause a ruckus. They curse, drink, run over statues of baby Jesus, and ride elephants, all with southern accents. If you want a book about Thunderbirds, cheatin' husbands, guest spots on cowboy tv shows, families sticking together, bitchy grandmas, jealous smalltowners who can't handle the glamour, and Beatlemania, it's all right. The stories are family-style, so different people narrate each one, which definitely makes some chapters better than others, but it's all probably better than anything I'll ever write, so I'll take it!

I didn't like this nearly as much as the other two. All the characters seemed to have lost their personalities. They weren't fun, spontaneous, faulty, spunky characters anymore. They were cliche, too perfect and movie-esque. The end of the book felt like a Hallmark commercial.