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3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
Fans of Brashare's Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books will enjoy her latest though I didn't love it. The behavior of most of the adults in the story is too ridiculous for my taste. But the teenage and young adult love stories are sweet. Sometimes the complicated family life that ensues from these blended families sharing an ocean house (not simultaneously) makes the story hard to follow. Tragedy, love and redemption are all featured. I read the ARC to be published in April 2017.
Ann Brashares doesn't know how to end a book without killing a character for the added drama.
There were a lot of characters in this book and a WHOLE lot going on. I think I liked it though? I'm still not sure. It bounces all over the place from sentence to sentence. It's a bit of a hot mess but there were aspects I liked. Just not sure if it worked for me as a whole. It was a little too disjointed for my liking.
Lots of weighty subject matter squished into 293 pages. Parents who still hate each other twenty years after their divorce and refuse to give up their half of a shared vacation home. Hints of a previous extramarital affair and of people not being who you thought they were. A death. A whirlwind engagement. And two teenagers, sharing half sisters and half of the vacation home and longing for the opportunity to actually meet one another. Interesting read but it felt like there were too many storylines for the length of the story.
This was an unexpected and wholly delightful read. I didn’t expect to love it the way I did. Each of the siblings were so relatable with their own distinct voices and quirks as they navigated their complicated, modern family with so much pain lying underneath the surface. Ray and Sasha were in the rubble of it all, showing the power of the shared experiences they held. Quinn was my favorite of the siblings and to me the most relatable of the bunch as I share many peacemaker tendencies to hers. I can’t say I saw the story going exactly where I thought it would. There are a few pieces of story threads left unwoven and incomplete. I would love a sequel. But I loved this book! Truly a surprise of a read. The author has a gift of making each character so distinct and memorable and setting up this very complicated family structure where you can feel the history. The audiobook was amazing too, but I read it half and half by audio and by physical book since I couldn’t put it down. This book isn’t so much a love story as a family story and I found that entirely refreshing.
When I saw that Ann Brashares had a new book out, I knew I had to get my hands on it. I enjoyed her previous books and I am glad for the chance!
In this book, we meet Sasha and Ray. They have complicated families who have had overlapping lives, different lives, and then a meshing of their lives back together again. Throughout the book we get multiple perspectives of their lives and how they did a number of the same things, just at different times in their lives.
I enjoyed this book because it explores complex family emotions. I think that can be a hard topic to write about, but Ann does it in a straight forward way. I recommend this book for those looking for a summery read. I appreciated the opportunity to read this book.
Disclaimer: I was awarded this book as part of the Blogging for Books. Though I did not pay for the book, the opinions are strictly my own.
In this book, we meet Sasha and Ray. They have complicated families who have had overlapping lives, different lives, and then a meshing of their lives back together again. Throughout the book we get multiple perspectives of their lives and how they did a number of the same things, just at different times in their lives.
I enjoyed this book because it explores complex family emotions. I think that can be a hard topic to write about, but Ann does it in a straight forward way. I recommend this book for those looking for a summery read. I appreciated the opportunity to read this book.
Disclaimer: I was awarded this book as part of the Blogging for Books. Though I did not pay for the book, the opinions are strictly my own.
I can't decide between two or three stars. I loved the concept of two people sharing a room and a family and never meeting, but this didn't really focus on that. There were too many perspectives, and it changed so suddenly that it was confusing. Too many plot lines as well, and none of them developed well enough. A lot was said vaguely without actually outright saying it, and that just added to my confusion. Everyone was described as having very distinct personalities, but I barely picked up on any of them. I guess I'll go with two stars, because there was too much crammed into such a short book.
The Whole Thing Together is an emotional story of family secrets, love, loss, and complicated family dynamics after divorce. So much of this story resonated with me. The prose is astoundingly beautiful and the story is one that felt personal to me. As someone whose parents divorced at 8 years old and later remarried and went through another divorce with their second spouses, I have witnessed firsthand how divorce and parental conflict hurts the children the most.
I voluntarily received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I voluntarily received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I mostly skimmed through this one; it wasn't the right book for me. Perhaps I am not used to having a novel focus on so many characters at once, but for me, the story seemed all over the place. After about five chapters, reading this book had become a chore for me. I was also extremely confused in the first few chapters, and after letting it stew on my shelf for a month, I returned it back to the friend that lent it to me initally.
However, I must admit that I did enjoy the author's writing style and pacing. That, for the most part, was excellent.
One star for the writing, another because of my lack of effort to finish this book.
DNF at 45%.
However, I must admit that I did enjoy the author's writing style and pacing. That, for the most part, was excellent.
One star for the writing, another because of my lack of effort to finish this book.
DNF at 45%.