Reviews

This was just like a Disney movie. Siri and Jamie are sisters who were torn apart at a young age. They lived two completely different lives. Siri lives with her mom not even knowing she has a sister and Jamie lives with her dad knowing she abandoned her sister. When they run into each other at a retreat after decades of not seeing each other, they come up with a plan. This is where Parent Trap and Freaky Friday come into play. This was a fun story.

rainware's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

victoriareadsss's review against another edition

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4.0

so much fun!

ghh2023's review

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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

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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.

booksnbeanies's review

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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.

hayleyccc4's review

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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.

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