A review by ghh2023
Better Together by Christine Riccio

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.