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3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
this had so much potential.
when i read the synopsis for this book i was all for it. i obviously didn’t read the reviews before picking it up (and i’m never doing this again) so i was hoping that this would be a good ya contemporary with a big and sort of weird family with lovable characters and feel good feeling in the end, but boy was i wrong.
first of all, i didn’t care about ANY of the characters. do you know how hard that is? but yeah. also i totally disliked the actual “main” characters, sasha and ray. ray was incredibly sexist and sasha was “not like other girls” (and also just plain rude to her mom for absolutely no reason. i know she “explained” why but that didn’t cut it for me) so it’s safe to assume that i didn’t like their romance either. two unlikable characters getting together is bad enough without the weird aspect that their relationship already had.
ok, but back to the other characters: i didn’t care about them because they had no personality. they all had like 2 or 3 traits that defined them and that was it. like i’m sorry, but how am i supposed to root for them and be invested in this story if i don’t give a sh*t about anyone involved in it?
one more thing that i hated: the scenes were so short. every time i thought “oh, i’m actually liking this scene” it ended after 5 sentences. also the pov’s in this book were so confusing, the transitions were terrible and i found myself wondering a lot of the times “who’s even talking right now?”
but this wasn’t ALL bad. i liked the last 30 or so pages, but yeah other than that? a huge let down.
when i read the synopsis for this book i was all for it. i obviously didn’t read the reviews before picking it up (and i’m never doing this again) so i was hoping that this would be a good ya contemporary with a big and sort of weird family with lovable characters and feel good feeling in the end, but boy was i wrong.
first of all, i didn’t care about ANY of the characters. do you know how hard that is? but yeah. also i totally disliked the actual “main” characters, sasha and ray. ray was incredibly sexist and sasha was “not like other girls” (and also just plain rude to her mom for absolutely no reason. i know she “explained” why but that didn’t cut it for me) so it’s safe to assume that i didn’t like their romance either. two unlikable characters getting together is bad enough without the weird aspect that their relationship already had.
ok, but back to the other characters: i didn’t care about them because they had no personality. they all had like 2 or 3 traits that defined them and that was it. like i’m sorry, but how am i supposed to root for them and be invested in this story if i don’t give a sh*t about anyone involved in it?
one more thing that i hated: the scenes were so short. every time i thought “oh, i’m actually liking this scene” it ended after 5 sentences. also the pov’s in this book were so confusing, the transitions were terrible and i found myself wondering a lot of the times “who’s even talking right now?”
but this wasn’t ALL bad. i liked the last 30 or so pages, but yeah other than that? a huge let down.
The story follows seven characters, Emma, Mattie and Quinn whose parents, Lila and Robert divorced and not quite moved on from the mistakes and bitterness of the past, and their half siblings, who live in paralel world – Sasha and Ray – sharing older sisters but never meeting each other, until the summer when the card castle finally falls apart.
The first page of the book is actually a family tree, that provides you with enough information to understand the complex family, or in this case families, that will be introduced to you throughout the book. And it was in no way helpful. I must agree with quite a lot of popular opinions regarding the beginning of the story. It is very confusing to the extent where I wasn’t sure whose point of view I was reading; was it a girl or a boy? and constantly flipping back to the family tree page.
What surprised me was how many reviews spoke about sexism, body shaming and racism. Honestly, I noticed zero – on the contrary, I enjoyed how different everyone was, physically and personality wise. How the author mentioned different types of beauty – from “barbie” looking Mattie to a complete opposite Sasha, whose beauty were praised nonetheless, to “out of this world” Quinn whose personality was more than anyone’s appearance could ever outshine.
Another thing I cannot make myself to agree with is the mentioning of references to dullness and stereotypical characters. When there is such an array of characters, it’s only fair to give them these certain personality traits that would distinguish them between each other, make them unique in their own way, even though all of them went through the same life experience together.
Yes, Emma was the more serious and college-orientated one, Mattie was the beauty of the family, while Quinn.. was Quinn, different from anyone and anything. Sasha was just finding herself, trying to be like her older sisters but also to learn her own ways of dealing with situation at hand, while Ray was the only boy who had to stay strong among everything.
But these were not their only traits, these weren’t only things that defined them! As the story progressed we learned more and more about each and everyone of them, as more and more of their qualities walked out into the open.
I give it 2.5 stars out of 5 (that I rounded to three star rating on GoodReads). I try to stay away from half ratings, but sometime there is no escape from “in-betweens”.
The first page of the book is actually a family tree, that provides you with enough information to understand the complex family, or in this case families, that will be introduced to you throughout the book. And it was in no way helpful. I must agree with quite a lot of popular opinions regarding the beginning of the story. It is very confusing to the extent where I wasn’t sure whose point of view I was reading; was it a girl or a boy? and constantly flipping back to the family tree page.
What surprised me was how many reviews spoke about sexism, body shaming and racism. Honestly, I noticed zero – on the contrary, I enjoyed how different everyone was, physically and personality wise. How the author mentioned different types of beauty – from “barbie” looking Mattie to a complete opposite Sasha, whose beauty were praised nonetheless, to “out of this world” Quinn whose personality was more than anyone’s appearance could ever outshine.
Another thing I cannot make myself to agree with is the mentioning of references to dullness and stereotypical characters. When there is such an array of characters, it’s only fair to give them these certain personality traits that would distinguish them between each other, make them unique in their own way, even though all of them went through the same life experience together.
Yes, Emma was the more serious and college-orientated one, Mattie was the beauty of the family, while Quinn.. was Quinn, different from anyone and anything. Sasha was just finding herself, trying to be like her older sisters but also to learn her own ways of dealing with situation at hand, while Ray was the only boy who had to stay strong among everything.
But these were not their only traits, these weren’t only things that defined them! As the story progressed we learned more and more about each and everyone of them, as more and more of their qualities walked out into the open.
I give it 2.5 stars out of 5 (that I rounded to three star rating on GoodReads). I try to stay away from half ratings, but sometime there is no escape from “in-betweens”.
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this was like....really racist??? I think the concept was interesting (divorced parents sharing a summer house) and I'm usually into family drama books but man D:
I really enjoyed reading this one. I received a copy to review for Netgalley. At first it was hard to keep the family members straight but it got easier as I kept reading. I hate that a tragedy brought the two families back together.
didn't even get past the first 50 pages because it's seriously problematic trash lmao
3.5 stars.
I mostly enjoyed this, it was nice to step back into Ann Brashares' writing, all these years after the Sisterhood ended.
Vague spoilers ahead:
But I didn't really connect with some of the characters (i.e. Ray) and found some of the story a tad convoluted. And I really wasn't a fan of the Ray/Sasha "romance" if you can call it that.
The good: I loved the siblings' relationships with eachother and I especially loved Quinn and Mattie. I loved the weird relationship between Mattie and Matt, and wish there was more after the hailstorm night with the blueberries (I was sobbing).
I saw the Mattie twist coming a mile off, and the Quinn twist was just upsetting, but I guess it made the rest of the book happen.
I did enjoy this, but I think I would have liked it better with no Ray/Sasha romance (CAN'T THEY JUST BE FRIENDS?) and a bit more on Matt & Mattie, because that girl deserves to be happy too.
I mostly enjoyed this, it was nice to step back into Ann Brashares' writing, all these years after the Sisterhood ended.
Vague spoilers ahead:
But I didn't really connect with some of the characters (i.e. Ray) and found some of the story a tad convoluted. And I really wasn't a fan of the Ray/Sasha "romance" if you can call it that.
The good: I loved the siblings' relationships with eachother and I especially loved Quinn and Mattie. I loved the weird relationship between Mattie and Matt, and wish there was more after the hailstorm night with the blueberries (I was sobbing).
I saw the Mattie twist coming a mile off, and the Quinn twist was just upsetting, but I guess it made the rest of the book happen.
I did enjoy this, but I think I would have liked it better with no Ray/Sasha romance (CAN'T THEY JUST BE FRIENDS?) and a bit more on Matt & Mattie, because that girl deserves to be happy too.