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A review by endlessreader
Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson
4.0
The first time I encountered the book Peaches was when I checked it out of my town's library about three and a half years ago. I read the first two chapters, immediately put it down, and said "This can't hold a candle to The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants, so why bother reading it?" So, I then brought it back to my library. A few months ago when I was book hunting at my local thrift store, I saw Peaches on the shelves for a dollar. I thought, "What the hell" and picked it up to see if maybe this time I could finish it. Well, I finally did and I have to say that my previous assessment was only half right.
Peaches dealt more with three young girls who form an unlikely friendship due to working at a peach orchard for the summer. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was more about four young girls whom also had an unlikely bond, but we really didn't see it form. They were sort of born into it. So, while they basically had the same premise (best friends, summer, romances), they differed in the way they approached this. I liked that I got to see how Murphy, Leeda, and Birdie's friendship bloomed. It's not like it was BAM! and then they're BFFs for life. It was slow and steady, so it rang more true.
After I finished Peaches, I figured out exactly why I put it down those years ago in the first place. The first chapter starts off with Murphy and I found her extremely unlikeable the first half of the book. I don't know if she was written with the intention of being unlikeable or not, but I found her bratty, pretentious, and just all around annoying at first. She did end up growing on me by the end of the book, but she still was my least favorite of the friends. I think my favorite would have to be Leeda, but I think that's because I sympathized with her home situation more. I really wanted her to tell off her mother for basically feeling indifferent to her for her entire life. Leeda was the one for whom I wanted the most closure.
Anyway, I really liked Peaches and thought that it was the perfect summer read: sweet, fluffy, and heartwarming. Sure, it was no Sisterhood of Traveling Pants, but it was still pretty great. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the other installments to the series because I just have to (do you hear me? HAVE TO) find out what happens with Murphy, Leeda, and Birdie.
Peaches dealt more with three young girls who form an unlikely friendship due to working at a peach orchard for the summer. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was more about four young girls whom also had an unlikely bond, but we really didn't see it form. They were sort of born into it. So, while they basically had the same premise (best friends, summer, romances), they differed in the way they approached this. I liked that I got to see how Murphy, Leeda, and Birdie's friendship bloomed. It's not like it was BAM! and then they're BFFs for life. It was slow and steady, so it rang more true.
After I finished Peaches, I figured out exactly why I put it down those years ago in the first place. The first chapter starts off with Murphy and I found her extremely unlikeable the first half of the book. I don't know if she was written with the intention of being unlikeable or not, but I found her bratty, pretentious, and just all around annoying at first. She did end up growing on me by the end of the book, but she still was my least favorite of the friends. I think my favorite would have to be Leeda, but I think that's because I sympathized with her home situation more. I really wanted her to tell off her mother for basically feeling indifferent to her for her entire life. Leeda was the one for whom I wanted the most closure.
Anyway, I really liked Peaches and thought that it was the perfect summer read: sweet, fluffy, and heartwarming. Sure, it was no Sisterhood of Traveling Pants, but it was still pretty great. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the other installments to the series because I just have to (do you hear me? HAVE TO) find out what happens with Murphy, Leeda, and Birdie.