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emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Prompt 22 - a book about soccer - May 12, 2025 - One of the main characters in this novel goes to a soccer camp for the summer. It's a young adult story about four friends spending the summer apart for the first time since they were born. The author does a great job of capturing the emotional highs and lows of teenagers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness
Minor: Addiction, Death of parent
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Maybe because I’ve seen the movies and I liked them so much, maybe why I didn’t like the book. I did like how short it was though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Terminal illness
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Death of parent
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Four friends, each setting out on separate journeys for the summer, agree to share a pair of pants that “magically” fits each of them perfectly.
I started reading this one a VERY long time ago and never finished it, so I returned to it this year for my “Project DNF.” This is definitely my favorite of the DNFs I’ve returned to so far, and I’m really glad I came back to it. Being a 23-year-old book, a couple of the storylines are a bit dated and have some problematic elements, but overall this was a super enjoyable and emotional read.
Tibby and Carmen were my two favorite characters and I loved both of their storylines, which made me tear up towards the end. I wasn’t expecting the emotional gut punch that would come from this book, but appreciated how raw and real it was, and how well it celebrated the power of friendship. I’ll definitely be continuing the series!
CW: Terminal illness/death/grief; pet death; depression; death of parent
Four friends, each setting out on separate journeys for the summer, agree to share a pair of pants that “magically” fits each of them perfectly.
I started reading this one a VERY long time ago and never finished it, so I returned to it this year for my “Project DNF.” This is definitely my favorite of the DNFs I’ve returned to so far, and I’m really glad I came back to it. Being a 23-year-old book, a couple of the storylines are a bit dated and have some problematic elements, but overall this was a super enjoyable and emotional read.
Tibby and Carmen were my two favorite characters and I loved both of their storylines, which made me tear up towards the end. I wasn’t expecting the emotional gut punch that would come from this book, but appreciated how raw and real it was, and how well it celebrated the power of friendship. I’ll definitely be continuing the series!
CW: Terminal illness/death/grief; pet death; depression; death of parent
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Death of parent
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death
Moderate: Racism, Toxic relationship, Death of parent
adventurous
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Car accident, Alcohol
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a super cute read, I loved following all four girls! It was the perfect comfort read that I needed while recovery from wisdom teeth surgery 🩵 👖
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, Death
Minor: Body shaming
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I just recently revisited this series after buying the last book to accompany the rest in my book collection. Even though I've read it multiple times and know what's coming at each twist and turn, it still keeps me invested. Being able to come back to this book, and the sisterhood, felt like coming home.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Terminal illness
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The rating (4 stars) is from when I first rated it in Goodreads back in high school. I loved this series as a teenager, and enjoyed brushing off The Pants again as an adult. I’m not sure if my rating now would change because these books were so special to me as a child that it feels wrong to rate them less.
Carmen and Tibby’s stories were the most touching to me as an adult, and as a pre-teen reading this I think I longed for Lena’s story the most. Bee’s story broke my heart both as a preteen and as an adult for vastly different reasons.
There were parts of the book that were rough (the intro with the racist dog eating thing), and others that were so indicative of the time the book was written/published. Like Carmen’s dad picking her up at her gate in the airport. Such a bygone thing!!
Both times I read this story I came to the conclusion that Carmen’s dad is a dick (preteen me would say “jerk”), and that still stands. He’s a grown man that never mentioned proposing to someone??? Moving in with them??? In all the times he visited the DC area and saw Carmen??? What the absolute fuck!!!
Also Eric, what a scumbag. Truly what a gross dude. Yeah, he resisted for a bit but… then he didn’t. And it’s on him to keep that boundary. He’s the adult. Just gross.
Carmen and Tibby’s stories were the most touching to me as an adult, and as a pre-teen reading this I think I longed for Lena’s story the most. Bee’s story broke my heart both as a preteen and as an adult for vastly different reasons.
There were parts of the book that were rough (the intro with the racist dog eating thing), and others that were so indicative of the time the book was written/published. Like Carmen’s dad picking her up at her gate in the airport. Such a bygone thing!!
Both times I read this story I came to the conclusion that Carmen’s dad is a dick (preteen me would say “jerk”), and that still stands. He’s a grown man that never mentioned proposing to someone??? Moving in with them??? In all the times he visited the DC area and saw Carmen??? What the absolute fuck!!!
Also Eric, what a scumbag. Truly what a gross dude. Yeah, he resisted for a bit but… then he didn’t. And it’s on him to keep that boundary. He’s the adult. Just gross.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death, Mental illness
Minor: Suicide, Death of parent