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3.21 AVERAGE
3.21 AVERAGE
I wish Brashares had gone a different route, rather than try to create another "sisterhood" in this bland book. 3 Willows is set in the same town/universe as the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. However, both it's characters and plot are contrived. Brashares makes tenuous links between her new character's lives and those of the original sisterhood. For example Polly babysits for Tibby's little brother and sister, but there isn't any real connection made between these girls and the old girls, so why include them. Their inclusion only serves as a reminder of the original series' superiority to this one. The Willows are all very bland and their stories are rehashed versions of the stories of the original sisterhood with a few twists here and there, but basically Ama is the new Lena, Jo is the new Bridget, and Polly is the new Tibby with pieces of Carmen being divided between the three (Ama is black, Jo's parents are the ones getting divorced and Polly is the curvaceous girl). The girls in this book are a bit younger (13) than the girls in the original series, therefore this book might serve well as an introduction to Brashares' work for those who feel they are not ready to take on the feisty girl of the Pants series yet.
I actually hadn't heard of this book at all until I resolved to reread the series, and anyone like me who's looking back isn't missing much.
I won't be ranking the arcs, rather, I'm going to talk about the book as a whole since a) the characters aren't as familiar to me or to Sisterhood readers and b) there's only one book, so I might as well talk about it all together.
I really hated how characters from the original series were namedropped - it reminded me of later seasons of Glee, where we were supposed to move on and care about new characters, but the narrative was constantly reminding us of old ones that we loved more. It felt really unnatural, especially in the way they mythologized the original group - it gave me a sour taste in my mouth and I kind of wish I hadn't read this.
Both the characters and recurring themes weren't as strong as in the original series, and the plots just felt like ripoffs from the original - what I liked about the series was how it was willing to tackle serious topics, and even though the girls are younger in this book, it just felt like it didn't measure up.
There was also a ton of slut-shaming, which I really hated. Another thing I liked about the original series was that all of the girls had different sexual experiences and none of them were compared to one another. The opposite was the case here where everything was scrutinized and judged.
So this was a story, but it wasn't a very good one, and I'd only recommend it for some wild superfan of the series who just can't get enough of the universe and is willing to settle for namedrops and half-assed characters with reused personalities.
I won't be ranking the arcs, rather, I'm going to talk about the book as a whole since a) the characters aren't as familiar to me or to Sisterhood readers and b) there's only one book, so I might as well talk about it all together.
I really hated how characters from the original series were namedropped - it reminded me of later seasons of Glee, where we were supposed to move on and care about new characters, but the narrative was constantly reminding us of old ones that we loved more. It felt really unnatural, especially in the way they mythologized the original group - it gave me a sour taste in my mouth and I kind of wish I hadn't read this.
Both the characters and recurring themes weren't as strong as in the original series, and the plots just felt like ripoffs from the original - what I liked about the series was how it was willing to tackle serious topics, and even though the girls are younger in this book, it just felt like it didn't measure up.
There was also a ton of slut-shaming, which I really hated. Another thing I liked about the original series was that all of the girls had different sexual experiences and none of them were compared to one another. The opposite was the case here where everything was scrutinized and judged.
So this was a story, but it wasn't a very good one, and I'd only recommend it for some wild superfan of the series who just can't get enough of the universe and is willing to settle for namedrops and half-assed characters with reused personalities.
This was written for SUCH a younger audience than the sisterhood...seriously, it's hard for me to remember really taking the trials and tribulations of being 12/13 serious again!!! Kissing boys, getting straight A's in high school...
If you're looking for the girls from the traveling pants, you'll get only the briefest of cameos in these much shallower, stereotypical characters' lives. Wasn't even labeled as YA at the local library...so I was, shall I say, disappointed.
It touched on some hard and important truths in life, but in a fairly "Pollyanna" fashion...alcoholism is so poorly portrayed I laughed out loud. See for yourself, but only if you can't find any other books you might actually WANT to read.
If you're looking for the girls from the traveling pants, you'll get only the briefest of cameos in these much shallower, stereotypical characters' lives. Wasn't even labeled as YA at the local library...so I was, shall I say, disappointed.
It touched on some hard and important truths in life, but in a fairly "Pollyanna" fashion...alcoholism is so poorly portrayed I laughed out loud. See for yourself, but only if you can't find any other books you might actually WANT to read.
I thought this was a pretty exceptional book, and just as good as the other books in the Sisterhood series. While this one isn't counted as part of the official 5 books, and doesn't follow the usual 4 girls, it explores the same types of themes as friendship, girlhood, and growing up. It also had some cool cameos and callbacks to the original characters, which was fun to read.
Though the main characters of this book are only 14, the story is written with a great maturity and quiet reflection. It brought me back to the emotions and struggles of being a young teen girl. There were parts that I think I would have felt especially and deeply connected to when I was at that age. I am very glad I read this book as part of the full series. I would highly recommend not skipping this book if you enjoy the Sisterhood series.
Though the main characters of this book are only 14, the story is written with a great maturity and quiet reflection. It brought me back to the emotions and struggles of being a young teen girl. There were parts that I think I would have felt especially and deeply connected to when I was at that age. I am very glad I read this book as part of the full series. I would highly recommend not skipping this book if you enjoy the Sisterhood series.
This book is very much for a younger group than the original Sisterhood. It didn't grip me and make me want to read more about these girls like the original series did.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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:
Yes
Great addition to the sisterhood of traveling pants world. The characters are just new with a flare of a few from the original stories.
I liked the story, but it did seem very similar to the sisterhood books. In fact, it takes place in the same city...and the new generation of girls know about the "legend" of the traveling pants. There was some kissing, but not as "mature" as the sisterhood series...in my opinion.
Good book, though a bit slow perhaps for me to get into. Interesting contrast with the Sisterhood books. In those, the friendship is all important, seems to sustain them when they have big problems/changes in their lives. In the beginning of this book, their friendship is sort of falling apart, may have already completely fallen apart. But they come to see how important their friendship is to each of them. A sweet book. I grew to really like and feel for all of the characters. Am wondering if this will be a new series?
This is one of those books where you're kind of bored the whole way through, and thinking it's not all that special, and then somehow you reach the end and look back at the entire thing with a great fondness. Something about the way it all wrapped up nicely in the end made me think more favorably of the novel as a whole.