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3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
The audiobook was decently narrated. The story was okay.
I received an advance copy of this book from First in Line. #UnderlinedReviews Here is my honest review:
Wow. I did not know that families could get this complicated. It was a bit difficult for me to keep all of the characters and their relationships to each other straight in my head. The blurb at the beginning of the book helped a bit with that, but I still had trouble. Other than that, this was one of the better books that I have read recently. It was a definite original.
Wow. I did not know that families could get this complicated. It was a bit difficult for me to keep all of the characters and their relationships to each other straight in my head. The blurb at the beginning of the book helped a bit with that, but I still had trouble. Other than that, this was one of the better books that I have read recently. It was a definite original.
"That seemed a sad thing about human nature -- how much more time we spend thinking about what we don't have, or have lost, than about what we have."
Ann Brashares is an author I always look forward to reading. This book was a major disappointment compared to her previous works. There were too many characters & too many perspectives to feel like I actually got to know any of them.
Ann Brashares is an author I always look forward to reading. This book was a major disappointment compared to her previous works. There were too many characters & too many perspectives to feel like I actually got to know any of them.
I am still trying to figure out what the point was in writing this story. There were too many characters to follow and none of them were developed in a way that allowed the reader to connect with them. The P.O.V. breaks were extremely difficult to follow at times. It would switch just as I were starting to really connect with a character and then I had to read back and figure out where the change happened. It seems like a book filled with self-involved and miserable people that need something awful to happen to them to get over themselves.
I was provides an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I was provides an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I loved reading a book about characters who live on Long Island - which was a first for me! I have never experienced a fictional story set on the island I've lived my entire life. Brashares description of shopping at the Target in Patchogue or riding the Babylon branch of the LIRR are all things I have experienced and was a little surreal to read about, but all the more enjoyable.
Regardless of the setting, The Whole Thing Together has a terrific storyline that was different than anything I've read. It follows two families: Lila and Adam are married and have a son, Ray. Robert and Evie are married and have a daughter, Sasha. And once upon a time, Lila and Robert were married and had three daughters, Emma, Quinn and Mattie. Although Ray and Sasha have these three girls as sisters, Ray and Sasha are not related and have never met. To make matters more complicated, both families share the Wainscott house that they tradeoff on each week during the Summer - so even though Ray and Sasha have never met, they have shared a bedroom and belongings their entire life.
I loved each character development that was presented in the book - especially at the end when all of their lives flip upside down after the death of Quinn. She had magic inside her that transformed everyone around her. She was the person you always wanted to be by because her presence made everyone instantly better - and even after she was gone, she was using that magic to change her families lives.
The idea of Lila and Robert being in the same place at the same time in the beginning of the book was unimaginable. These two despised each other with every fiber of their being. However, at the end when each family is staying at the Wainscott house at the same time for Quinn's memorial, you know there was no one except Quinn who would have had the strength to bring these two forces together.
Regardless of the setting, The Whole Thing Together has a terrific storyline that was different than anything I've read. It follows two families: Lila and Adam are married and have a son, Ray. Robert and Evie are married and have a daughter, Sasha. And once upon a time, Lila and Robert were married and had three daughters, Emma, Quinn and Mattie. Although Ray and Sasha have these three girls as sisters, Ray and Sasha are not related and have never met. To make matters more complicated, both families share the Wainscott house that they tradeoff on each week during the Summer - so even though Ray and Sasha have never met, they have shared a bedroom and belongings their entire life.
I loved each character development that was presented in the book - especially at the end when all of their lives flip upside down after the death of Quinn. She had magic inside her that transformed everyone around her. She was the person you always wanted to be by because her presence made everyone instantly better - and even after she was gone, she was using that magic to change her families lives.
The idea of Lila and Robert being in the same place at the same time in the beginning of the book was unimaginable. These two despised each other with every fiber of their being. However, at the end when each family is staying at the Wainscott house at the same time for Quinn's memorial, you know there was no one except Quinn who would have had the strength to bring these two forces together.
Interesting plot, decent characters... A bit too unreal for my taste, but I did enjoy it.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I never read historical reviews on Goodreads when I add a novel to my 'Currently Reading' shelf. I do however look at the average rating to get an impression of the book. I noticed that 'The Whole Thing Together' had a relatively low rating, and was surprised. I've read other Ann Brashares novels which were lovely reads with wonderful and distinct characters. Surely this book couldn't be that bad?
Apparently it could…
The blurb was really misleading for this novel. It makes it sound as though Sasha and Ray find young love in a rather unique situation. That Sasha and Ray are the focus of the novel. This is absolutely not the case. Sasha and Ray are utterly overshadowed by the drama of the sisters-three. Emma, Quinn and Mattie are drama personified. Quinn is the only one of the four sisters that had a unique voice. Both Emma and Mattie were whiny and self-indulgent. I couldn’t stand them, and I wonder why their stories were given precedence over Sasha and Ray's.
All five of the abovementioned characters were narrative voices throughout the novel, and it was a train wreck. The narrative voices would change mid-page and without clear breaks. The characters were all similarly voiced, so it took a while to even realise that the voices had changed and then I would have to go back to the start and think, now I'm Mattie not Sasha...
In addition to all of these narrative voices, each with their own story-line, there were a plethora of supporting characters as well. I am not going to lie to you, I had no idea who half of the people were for the majority of the book. I had to keep my finger on the page of the family tree - a GOD SEND - because I was referring back to it so often. Even at the end of the book, I cannot remember whether Sasha was Robert's or Lila's. It was all so very confusing. There were just too many characters. One, if not two, of the sister's should have been cut out of the book entirely. I'm going with Mattie.
There was also a significant lack of description in the novel. Robert was described as Bengali, Sasha had dark looks, Quinn a dark pixie cut and Mattie was blonde, but other than that I had no idea what any of the other characters looked like. I just couldn't picture any of them because there was no clarification throughout.
There were very few characters who were genuinely likeable. Emma, Mattie, Lila and Robert were just all round horrendous people. I'm not sure whether we were supposed to like any of them, but I certainly didn't.
This novel should have been the tale of Ray and Sasha. The focus should have been on their relationship with the others acting as supporting characters only. Their stories told through Sasha and Ray's eyes. Storylines like Emma's wedding and Mattie's parentage were overpowering and were too detailed to be included in one novel with several other storylines. If each character was going to be a main character with a main plot attached to them, then this should have been a series in which each character had a book.
I also felt that the ending cheapened the book even further. The family were only bought together by tragedy. Not because Lila and Robert grew up or learnt anything. It took their kids forcing the issue to even see any development, and even then the kids pushed for their own purposes, not for the good of the family or in memory of the departed.
Overall, this wasn't the best written book in the world. It was confusing and narrative changes weren't at all clear. There were far too many characters to comfortably keep track of, and several main plots instead of one clear plot with a start, middle and end and sub-plots. Definitely not a good read.
Apparently it could…
The blurb was really misleading for this novel. It makes it sound as though Sasha and Ray find young love in a rather unique situation. That Sasha and Ray are the focus of the novel. This is absolutely not the case. Sasha and Ray are utterly overshadowed by the drama of the sisters-three. Emma, Quinn and Mattie are drama personified. Quinn is the only one of the four sisters that had a unique voice. Both Emma and Mattie were whiny and self-indulgent. I couldn’t stand them, and I wonder why their stories were given precedence over Sasha and Ray's.
All five of the abovementioned characters were narrative voices throughout the novel, and it was a train wreck. The narrative voices would change mid-page and without clear breaks. The characters were all similarly voiced, so it took a while to even realise that the voices had changed and then I would have to go back to the start and think, now I'm Mattie not Sasha...
In addition to all of these narrative voices, each with their own story-line, there were a plethora of supporting characters as well. I am not going to lie to you, I had no idea who half of the people were for the majority of the book. I had to keep my finger on the page of the family tree - a GOD SEND - because I was referring back to it so often. Even at the end of the book, I cannot remember whether Sasha was Robert's or Lila's. It was all so very confusing. There were just too many characters. One, if not two, of the sister's should have been cut out of the book entirely. I'm going with Mattie.
There was also a significant lack of description in the novel. Robert was described as Bengali, Sasha had dark looks, Quinn a dark pixie cut and Mattie was blonde, but other than that I had no idea what any of the other characters looked like. I just couldn't picture any of them because there was no clarification throughout.
There were very few characters who were genuinely likeable. Emma, Mattie, Lila and Robert were just all round horrendous people. I'm not sure whether we were supposed to like any of them, but I certainly didn't.
This novel should have been the tale of Ray and Sasha. The focus should have been on their relationship with the others acting as supporting characters only. Their stories told through Sasha and Ray's eyes. Storylines like Emma's wedding and Mattie's parentage were overpowering and were too detailed to be included in one novel with several other storylines. If each character was going to be a main character with a main plot attached to them, then this should have been a series in which each character had a book.
I also felt that the ending cheapened the book even further. The family were only bought together by tragedy. Not because Lila and Robert grew up or learnt anything. It took their kids forcing the issue to even see any development, and even then the kids pushed for their own purposes, not for the good of the family or in memory of the departed.
Overall, this wasn't the best written book in the world. It was confusing and narrative changes weren't at all clear. There were far too many characters to comfortably keep track of, and several main plots instead of one clear plot with a start, middle and end and sub-plots. Definitely not a good read.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I didn't realize until reading a few of this author's other works, including this one, she has a formula and sticks to it.
You don't notice the formula while reading Traveling Pants, because while she does use this same formula it's done over a 5 book series rather than a one shot, and because it's serialized it happens much more organically. Where as in this book, with two names, (why? who knows?), and the Last Summer of You and Me, she crams a shopping list of characters, an inane death, and a summer into 300 pages and hopes for the best. And, when all of those characters are basically carbon copies of one another with two traits of variance between them all, you get a slog of a book, characters you can't differentiate between, and the reader lacks any care or concern when one bites it... And when that's your big strengthen the bonds and bring everyone together it just feels cheap.
I honestly thought she would use the dating, non sibling, siblings to bring the families together...
"I love you. I love him. But that math has failed me before."
You don't notice the formula while reading Traveling Pants, because while she does use this same formula it's done over a 5 book series rather than a one shot, and because it's serialized it happens much more organically. Where as in this book, with two names, (why? who knows?), and the Last Summer of You and Me, she crams a shopping list of characters, an inane death, and a summer into 300 pages and hopes for the best. And, when all of those characters are basically carbon copies of one another with two traits of variance between them all, you get a slog of a book, characters you can't differentiate between, and the reader lacks any care or concern when one bites it... And when that's your big strengthen the bonds and bring everyone together it just feels cheap.
I honestly thought she would use the dating, non sibling, siblings to bring the families together...
"I love you. I love him. But that math has failed me before."