Sisterhood Everlasting - Ann Brashares

So, getting back to my roots of doing a book review I thought I would choose Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares because it accomplishes two things for me. I have recently finished this book, so it gets that off my to do list, but also I can't write about Sisterhood Everlasting without mentioning the first four, and I like to at least touch on some books i have read in the past (just so you learn a little bit about my reading history).


One of my first blog posts mentioned Sisterhood Everlasting while I was reviewing Sweet Valley Confidential (didn't see that one - find it here... done reading? Okay). As I mentioned in that post I have a love hate relationship with these types of books. I really enjoyed the Travelling Pants series, so when I saw Sisterhood Everlasting, I had to read it.

Goodreads Summary: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ann Brashares comes the welcome return of the characters whose friendship became a touchstone for a generation. Now Tibby, Lena, Carmen, and Bridget have grown up, starting their lives on their own. And though the jeans they shared are long gone, the sisterhood is everlasting. 

Despite having jobs and men that they love, each knows that something is missing: the closeness that once sustained them. Carmen is a successful actress in New York, engaged to be married, but misses her friends. Lena finds solace in her art, teaching in Rhode Island, but still thinks of Kostos and the road she didn’t take. Bridget lives with her longtime boyfriend, Eric, in San Francisco, and though a part of her wants to settle down, a bigger part can’t seem to shed her old restlessness.

Then Tibby reaches out to bridge the distance, sending the others plane tickets for a reunion that they all breathlessly await. And indeed, it will change their lives forever—but in ways that none of them could ever have expected.

As moving and life-changing as an encounter with long-lost best friends, Sisterhood Everlasting is a powerful story about growing up, losing your way, and finding the courage to create a new one.

Why I Read This Book: I suppose it would be more fitting to describe why I read the first Sisterhood book then to say why I read this one. I remember sometime in high school going to a movie with a friend and being too early so we went into the bookstore. Back then I could not go into a book store and not buy a book (I have a little more restraint now). So, not having too much time, I grabbed this one because the cover looked interesting. As for the rest of the series, I acquired as birthday or Christmas gifts when they came out. This last one however, I bought as an e-book and I may have to go get the hardcover, as looking at my bookshelf it bothers me that I have 4, but know there is 5.

Review: This is a difficult book to review as its hard to speak about it without giving anything away (which I try really hard not to do). First of all I think Brashares did a pretty good job of writing this book, especially in the areas where I found the recently reviewed Sweet Valley Confidential lacked. The story had continuity, and it didn't contradict itself. This could be because 10 years haven't actually passed since the fourth novel came out. The book did a really good job at describing the characters and their personal development stories. In Brashares style, she was able to incorporate each girls story told in the first person without having it get confusing. There are definitely things that she did with the girls lives and personalities that I didn't love, but that isn't really the point, she was still able to write it believably. I could picture how each girl got to where they were, and although infuriating at times, it was again, believable. When doing a "10 years later" type of story I think it is more important to take the reader down that path of how the character got to that place than making readers 'like' the characters. Obviously there had to be some sort of 'shock factor' in the book to give it a purpose and I think it was good. I read the book in about 3 days, which is pretty fast since I normally only have about an hour a day to read.

I liked it, and I think it was a good book. I also hated it because I don't like what happened!! But, if you are a fan of the series, read it. I shouldn't think you will be disappointed.

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