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ghh2023's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Better Together is the Parent Trap reimagined because both sisters are separated as young children. Siri is the younger sister and she stays with her mom. The way that the mom handles her divorce is bad because she says that Siri is just imagining an older sister. She gets the whole family to play along with the lie and that actually messes Siri up a lot. I think it is crazy that you would try to erase one of your kids out of your life the way that she did. I know she thought that it would help Siri move on but it actually left her with a lot of psychological trauma to work through. Jaime is the oldest sister and she moved with her father to California after the divorce happened. She remembers her sister and Mom pretty well but she has not spoken to them in about fourteen years. Her dad is not really there for her and he constantly badmouths the mom. All of this comes to a head when the two sisters meet at a wellness retreat. They both start out with different reasons that they want to rekindle their sister relationship but both of them hope to confront their parents about what they have done. I think this book does a really good job detailing all of the details of finding your identity as a young adult and how that is connected to parents/family. I did not give it a higher star rating because I feel like it is almost a carbon copy of the Parent Trap. There were some new ideas but it had the same barebones structure but add older kids into the mix. This one did do more to explore the effects of the separation of family and how it shapes peoples lives moving forward. I am a big fan of the parent trap movie but I just don't feel like this story added enough new elements to it to make this a five star read. It did make me want to rewatch the Parent Trap Movie though.
ameserole's review against another edition
4.0
I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Okay, so, I'm just going to dive into the deep end and tell you that I was definitely getting 'The Parent Trap' and 'Freaky Friday' vibes throughout Better Together and honestly I loved it all. Heck, now I want to dive into those said movies just to continue geeking out. The only thing that would've made it better is if the parents weren't completely horrible people for most of this book. Oh and for the girls, themselves, to be a bit more likable.
Don't get me wrong - they definitely had their cute moments but those little moments couldn't outweigh all the horrible ones for me. Again, these 'parents' were completely horrible and were barely even parenting in this book. As someone who comes from a family of divorced parents, I have never been left alone all freaking day just to see my mom or dad at night or in the morning for 2 milliseconds. Sorry, it just doesn't happen. It wouldn't even matter how old I was. Plus, there was no way in hell my parents would ever split up me and my older siblings. The idea would've been laughable.
Back to the book though. I liked how the two sisters sort of got along throughout the book but I'm gonna have to say that Grams and Papa stole the show for me. Also Dawn because, intercourse, I love her to pieces. In the end, it was still a good book that I ended up devouring.. but I wanted more cute moments.
Okay, so, I'm just going to dive into the deep end and tell you that I was definitely getting 'The Parent Trap' and 'Freaky Friday' vibes throughout Better Together and honestly I loved it all. Heck, now I want to dive into those said movies just to continue geeking out. The only thing that would've made it better is if the parents weren't completely horrible people for most of this book. Oh and for the girls, themselves, to be a bit more likable.
Don't get me wrong - they definitely had their cute moments but those little moments couldn't outweigh all the horrible ones for me. Again, these 'parents' were completely horrible and were barely even parenting in this book. As someone who comes from a family of divorced parents, I have never been left alone all freaking day just to see my mom or dad at night or in the morning for 2 milliseconds. Sorry, it just doesn't happen. It wouldn't even matter how old I was. Plus, there was no way in hell my parents would ever split up me and my older siblings. The idea would've been laughable.
Back to the book though. I liked how the two sisters sort of got along throughout the book but I'm gonna have to say that Grams and Papa stole the show for me. Also Dawn because, intercourse, I love her to pieces. In the end, it was still a good book that I ended up devouring.. but I wanted more cute moments.
booksnbeanies's review against another edition
4.0
Imagine meeting your imaginary friend at a summer camp you were forced to go to only to find out she was actually your sister.
Jamie is an aspiring stand up comedian. She made a deal with her father where she ends up going to ‘discover yourself’ summer camp where she runs into her sister she hasn’t seen in years.
Siri is an amazing ballerina who has been recently injured on top of finding out her boyfriend has been cheating on her with her best friend. Her mom decides she needs to go to this summer camp to re-discover herself.
When the sisters run into each other (literally) Siri thinks she’s losing her mind and Jamie can’t figure out why her sister is acting so weird.
I loved both of the characters in this book. Jamie is outgoing with her not only her personality, but also with her crazy hair color and clothes. Siri is definitely less outgoing, but I still really liked her character because instead of using cuss words she used the actual word for them. It was quite funny and made me laugh a lot throughout the book.
When they swap places with each other they get a taste of what the other goes through on a daily basis and what it’s like living with the other parent.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I highly recommend it especially if you’re a fan of Freaky Friday.
Thank you Wednesday Books and NetGalley for this arc in return for an honest review.
Jamie is an aspiring stand up comedian. She made a deal with her father where she ends up going to ‘discover yourself’ summer camp where she runs into her sister she hasn’t seen in years.
Siri is an amazing ballerina who has been recently injured on top of finding out her boyfriend has been cheating on her with her best friend. Her mom decides she needs to go to this summer camp to re-discover herself.
When the sisters run into each other (literally) Siri thinks she’s losing her mind and Jamie can’t figure out why her sister is acting so weird.
I loved both of the characters in this book. Jamie is outgoing with her not only her personality, but also with her crazy hair color and clothes. Siri is definitely less outgoing, but I still really liked her character because instead of using cuss words she used the actual word for them. It was quite funny and made me laugh a lot throughout the book.
When they swap places with each other they get a taste of what the other goes through on a daily basis and what it’s like living with the other parent.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I highly recommend it especially if you’re a fan of Freaky Friday.
Thank you Wednesday Books and NetGalley for this arc in return for an honest review.
hayleyccc4's review against another edition
2.0
As much as I love Christine, this book wasn't for me. I found all the main characters incredibly dislikeable (though the love interests were sweet) and the plot was completely unbelievable. I liked the Parent Trap idea until the characters became self-aware, and I was unimpressed by the use of magic. The pop-culture references and "not-swearing" was a bit overdone and the story was definitely drawn out. The mental illness and chronic pain representation was also disappointing. I don't know if I'll continue reading Christine's books if her writing style doesn't mature, but I'll still support her other endeavours.
abbysbookishthings's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book a lot more than ABB, the writing is noticeably better and the story is a lot more involved and interesting.
The first section of the book was not the best, it was definitely the weakest of the three. There was a lot of things in the first part that I thought were kinda cringe, but it wasn’t that bad because I got through it.
The book definitely gets better in the second part, we get to see more of the characters and it’s just more entertaining and less cringe. Like it’s a little cringe but it a good way that’s not too over the top and somewhat relatable.
Overall I liked this book, the magic was fun and it’s supposed to be, I don’t need some big explanation for why there is magic, the magic makes the story more interesting and I don’t see the problem with it. I liked both Siri and Jamie (though I did enjoy Jamie’s sections better).
I’m looking forward to reading Christine’s future books, maybe she’ll stay on this track of improving with each book, because Better Together is noticeably better than Again, But Better.
The first section of the book was not the best, it was definitely the weakest of the three. There was a lot of things in the first part that I thought were kinda cringe, but it wasn’t that bad because I got through it.
The book definitely gets better in the second part, we get to see more of the characters and it’s just more entertaining and less cringe. Like it’s a little cringe but it a good way that’s not too over the top and somewhat relatable.
Overall I liked this book, the magic was fun and it’s supposed to be, I don’t need some big explanation for why there is magic, the magic makes the story more interesting and I don’t see the problem with it. I liked both Siri and Jamie (though I did enjoy Jamie’s sections better).
I’m looking forward to reading Christine’s future books, maybe she’ll stay on this track of improving with each book, because Better Together is noticeably better than Again, But Better.
emilykate08's review against another edition
2.0
Christine was the first booktuber I ever really got into, and she was my favorite for a long time. I may have grown out of her style in some ways, but I will always be appreciative of her for helping me to get properly into reading, for finding a niche community, and for feeling like I wasn't alone in my interests. That said, I did not love this book.
I appreciate Christine trying to expand the age range of the YA genre by writing older characters. However, the problem is these specific characters don't feel older. The book feels juvenile. It feels forced. Maybe I would have liked it when I was 14. But I'm 21. I'm the same age as these protagonists, and they feel like kids. This family isn't just dysfunctional. Every single member is batshit insane. This ended with the picture perfect happy ending of a family sitcom. Everyone just brushed over the fact that literal magic happened and felt completely comfortable baring their souls for practical strangers. Jamie especially turned around very fast, even though I thought her reverse meet-cute was delightful and full circle and her developed form was far more likable than anything before.
The writing is so clunky, and the synonymous swear word replacements definitely don't help. Once or twice might have been funny, but "intercourse you!" on every fucking page gets old fast. There's a reason shoot and darn and freaking and anything they said on The Good Place exists. Also, while Jamie and Siri have different enough voices, the chapters are so short that the POVs run together anyway and make it impossible to keep them apart, especially when they're interacting in them.
I appreciate Christine trying to expand the age range of the YA genre by writing older characters. However, the problem is these specific characters don't feel older. The book feels juvenile. It feels forced. Maybe I would have liked it when I was 14. But I'm 21. I'm the same age as these protagonists, and they feel like kids. This family isn't just dysfunctional. Every single member is batshit insane. This ended with the picture perfect happy ending of a family sitcom. Everyone just brushed over the fact that literal magic happened and felt completely comfortable baring their souls for practical strangers. Jamie especially turned around very fast, even though I thought her reverse meet-cute was delightful and full circle and her developed form was far more likable than anything before.
The writing is so clunky, and the synonymous swear word replacements definitely don't help. Once or twice might have been funny, but "intercourse you!" on every fucking page gets old fast. There's a reason shoot and darn and freaking and anything they said on The Good Place exists. Also, while Jamie and Siri have different enough voices, the chapters are so short that the POVs run together anyway and make it impossible to keep them apart, especially when they're interacting in them.
smittenforfiction's review against another edition
3.0
ARC from Netgalley
Update June 21: I almost gave up on this book during the first third, then things got better. In the end, it turned out to be an okay read! I'll be sharing a longer review soon.
Update June 26:
Update June 21: I almost gave up on this book during the first third, then things got better. In the end, it turned out to be an okay read! I'll be sharing a longer review soon.
Update June 26:
Hey book lovers! I'm here with a book review for Better Together by Christine Riccio. I'm going to be upfront here, the first third of this book was wishy-washy. I didn't think I was going to make it through the entire book. HOWEVER, I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did. It's not a 5-star read for me, but a fun, easy, read for the summer that will leave you with a smile on your face as you pick up the phone to call a sibling, family member, or friend. Do people still use phones? I do, but, hey, I'm old.
bet-ter:
1. of a more excellent quality
2. to make more complete or perfect
to-geth-er:
1. in one place or group
2. connection, union
I read a digital advance reader's copy from Netgalley.
About The Book
alamayhem_reads's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this book sOO much !! I love Christine’s writing and I loved the way that everything ended up. She did so good at tying everything up in a little bow! Seriously cannot read her next novel
alongreader's review against another edition
3.0
I was really hoping I'd enjoy this one, but sadly it's just not for me. There's nothing *wrong* with it; the characters are good and interesting, it's well written. It just felt too long, it took too long for things to happen, and the magic came out of nowhere with no prior warning that this was anything other than a contemporary. I found Jamie grating as well; I don't tend to enjoy the type of character who drags others along and ignores their complaints.
I think there are plenty of readers out there who will enjoy this, and I'm very sorry I wasn't one of them. I hope it does well.
I think there are plenty of readers out there who will enjoy this, and I'm very sorry I wasn't one of them. I hope it does well.