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3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
I REALLY wanted to like this book. I very much enjoyed The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, as I'm sure most of you did as well, and I was really intrigued by the premise of this book. I think it's important to have various types of family structures depicted in literature, and I do think that is one thing this book does well. I am in no way saying that this is an example of a functional, healthy family unit. I'm just saying it's a representation of a type of family unit that isn't seen often in fiction.
There are a lot of POVs going on in this story, and it can be a bit hard to keep track of who is who and who is related to whom. There is, thankfully, a family tree to reference at the beginning of the book, but it can be a bit distracting when you're constantly having to refer back to it as your trying to get your bearings in the story.
It is evident that Brashares is trying to include some diverse representation in this book. I want to make it clear that I do not consider myself to be qualified to say what is good diversity representation in litearature and what is not. I was just a little surprised at the constant references to skin color. It seemed excessive and not in a way that really hammered home the idea that racism is bad so much as that it exists. If an author is going to include an important social issue in their book, then I do think it is vital for them to make their stance on that issue evident in the text, and I just didn't see that here.
While I do understand that Sasha and Ray are not blood relatives, their relationship still just made me a little bit uncomfortable, and because of that, I just could not get behind the romance.
I am a fan of Brashares's writing, particularly when she is writing books that center around female empowerment. This particular story was just not a good fit for me.
There are a lot of POVs going on in this story, and it can be a bit hard to keep track of who is who and who is related to whom. There is, thankfully, a family tree to reference at the beginning of the book, but it can be a bit distracting when you're constantly having to refer back to it as your trying to get your bearings in the story.
It is evident that Brashares is trying to include some diverse representation in this book. I want to make it clear that I do not consider myself to be qualified to say what is good diversity representation in litearature and what is not. I was just a little surprised at the constant references to skin color. It seemed excessive and not in a way that really hammered home the idea that racism is bad so much as that it exists. If an author is going to include an important social issue in their book, then I do think it is vital for them to make their stance on that issue evident in the text, and I just didn't see that here.
While I do understand that Sasha and Ray are not blood relatives, their relationship still just made me a little bit uncomfortable, and because of that, I just could not get behind the romance.
I am a fan of Brashares's writing, particularly when she is writing books that center around female empowerment. This particular story was just not a good fit for me.
I'm a damn emotional mess. It was pretty different than what I was expecting but I enjoyed to so much. I think because I have a split family that I relate pretty closely with these characters. I was unsure about all of the different pov's but I think in the end it gave the story a very well rounded feel and made it really feel like it was a story about a family with very unique family dynamics and not just a love story.
I started reading The Whole Thing Together without knowing anything about the book. I loved Ann Brashares’ Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and I wanted to read her latest book. This novel is about a very unique modern family. Let’s see if I can explain this correctly. Ray’s mother used to be married to Sasha’s father, and they share 3 half sisters, but they have never met. Their divorced parents never speak to each other, and they can hardly stand to be in the same room together. But the two families share a vacation house. The alternate weeks in the summer and weekends the rest of the year. Ray and Sasha share a room in fact. This is all a little strange, but it does set up for an interesting book.
I had a hard time keeping the characters straight in the beginning because I was listening to the audio, and I couldn’t refer back to the family tree at the beginning of the book. Also, this whole book is written in 3rd person, so I couldn’t get a sense of the narrator either. It’s a story about Ray and Sasha, but also about their parents and their 3 sisters – Emma, Mattie, and Quinn. Emma is getting married, and Mattie is throwing her an engagement party. It will be practice for the wedding, since her parents will both have to attend.
There was a lot going on in this book, and also not a lot going on. It’s a chronicle of the day to day and also the monumental. There was maybe a little too much with some of the parents’ back story. I think I would have preferred this to be a story about just Ray and Sasha – you see, they fall in love. But it was an enjoyable read anyway. Ann Brashares has once again created a wonderful cast of characters.
http://opinionatedbooklover.com/review-the-whole-thing-together-by-ann-brashares/
I had a hard time keeping the characters straight in the beginning because I was listening to the audio, and I couldn’t refer back to the family tree at the beginning of the book. Also, this whole book is written in 3rd person, so I couldn’t get a sense of the narrator either. It’s a story about Ray and Sasha, but also about their parents and their 3 sisters – Emma, Mattie, and Quinn. Emma is getting married, and Mattie is throwing her an engagement party. It will be practice for the wedding, since her parents will both have to attend.
There was a lot going on in this book, and also not a lot going on. It’s a chronicle of the day to day and also the monumental. There was maybe a little too much with some of the parents’ back story. I think I would have preferred this to be a story about just Ray and Sasha – you see, they fall in love. But it was an enjoyable read anyway. Ann Brashares has once again created a wonderful cast of characters.
http://opinionatedbooklover.com/review-the-whole-thing-together-by-ann-brashares/
It was another cute little read, which spent most of its time exploring the all the characters. I did not expect the big plot twist near the end, and it was quite moving.
DNF-ed at 89%
I was so very close to finishing this book, but ended up giving up. At first, I didn't want to; I wanted to read it until the end, and I was close anyway, so what was the problem?
I just didn't want to lose more of my time.
I was excited to start this. The plot seemed good, everyone kept saying good things about the author, AND there was a character who had the same nickname my best friend gave me - turns out that said character is one of the most annoying ones.
I had a lot of issues with the book, namely Ray being very creepy from time to time, Mattie being extremely childish, a lot of scenes being racist ... And the list goes on. The writing was also very confusing. There were more than two POVs (the synopsis gives the idea that the main characters are Ray and Sasha, but pretty much everyone gets a chance to tell their story), and their voices seemed very similar, which made it difficult to see who was who. I also felt there was no plot, just a couple of stories mixed together.
However, there was ONE thing I liked. Just one little scene ... that was destroyed a couple of chapters after.
Huge disappointment. I've heard that the book only gets worse towards the end, so I couldn't bother myself to read more.
I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I was so very close to finishing this book, but ended up giving up. At first, I didn't want to; I wanted to read it until the end, and I was close anyway, so what was the problem?
I just didn't want to lose more of my time.
I was excited to start this. The plot seemed good, everyone kept saying good things about the author, AND there was a character who had the same nickname my best friend gave me - turns out that said character is one of the most annoying ones.
I had a lot of issues with the book, namely Ray being very creepy from time to time, Mattie being extremely childish, a lot of scenes being racist ... And the list goes on. The writing was also very confusing. There were more than two POVs (the synopsis gives the idea that the main characters are Ray and Sasha, but pretty much everyone gets a chance to tell their story), and their voices seemed very similar, which made it difficult to see who was who. I also felt there was no plot, just a couple of stories mixed together.
However, there was ONE thing I liked. Just one little scene ... that was destroyed a couple of chapters after.
Huge disappointment. I've heard that the book only gets worse towards the end, so I couldn't bother myself to read more.
I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I did not like this book at all! I found it hard to follow and felt like it was all over the place, not having an actual plot. Would not recommend.
All I saw were bad reviews on goodreads when I searched the book up. But the synopsis somehow forced me to read the book. And. I. Loved. It.
The last few chapters Oh my God!
The last few chapters Oh my God!
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really, really didn't like this book. I didn't enjoy one page of the book.
There was no meat to this story. Nothing happened. It was so boring it was hard to keep myself from going to sleep.
I don't even know why I finished it.
I didn't care about any of the characters and I wanted this book to finish.
I do not recommend this to anyone. I can't believe i spent my money and my time on this book.
I had such high hopes and by the end, I was looking through my notes and couldn't find anything good to say about this. I hated the book.
Nothing in this is interesting at all.
There was no meat to this story. Nothing happened. It was so boring it was hard to keep myself from going to sleep.
I don't even know why I finished it.
I didn't care about any of the characters and I wanted this book to finish.
I do not recommend this to anyone. I can't believe i spent my money and my time on this book.
I had such high hopes and by the end, I was looking through my notes and couldn't find anything good to say about this. I hated the book.
Nothing in this is interesting at all.
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes