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ladybouse 's review for:
The Summer Bed
by Ann Brashares
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I didn't realize until reading a few of this author's other works, including this one, she has a formula and sticks to it.
You don't notice the formula while reading Traveling Pants, because while she does use this same formula it's done over a 5 book series rather than a one shot, and because it's serialized it happens much more organically. Where as in this book, with two names, (why? who knows?), and the Last Summer of You and Me, she crams a shopping list of characters, an inane death, and a summer into 300 pages and hopes for the best. And, when all of those characters are basically carbon copies of one another with two traits of variance between them all, you get a slog of a book, characters you can't differentiate between, and the reader lacks any care or concern when one bites it... And when that's your big strengthen the bonds and bring everyone together it just feels cheap.
I honestly thought she would use the dating, non sibling, siblings to bring the families together...
"I love you. I love him. But that math has failed me before."
You don't notice the formula while reading Traveling Pants, because while she does use this same formula it's done over a 5 book series rather than a one shot, and because it's serialized it happens much more organically. Where as in this book, with two names, (why? who knows?), and the Last Summer of You and Me, she crams a shopping list of characters, an inane death, and a summer into 300 pages and hopes for the best. And, when all of those characters are basically carbon copies of one another with two traits of variance between them all, you get a slog of a book, characters you can't differentiate between, and the reader lacks any care or concern when one bites it... And when that's your big strengthen the bonds and bring everyone together it just feels cheap.
I honestly thought she would use the dating, non sibling, siblings to bring the families together...
"I love you. I love him. But that math has failed me before."