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A review by reddyrat
Wish You Were Eyre by Heather Vogel Frederick
4.0
The ending of a wonderful book series is always a bittersweet thing. Actually, often more bitter than sweet. Wish You Were Eyre is the sixth and final book of Heather Vogel Frederick's wonderful Mother Daughter Book Club series.
When the series began, the four girls in the book club, Emma, Cassidy, Jess, and Megan, were in the sixth grade. Now, they are sixteen years old and have added a fifth member to the book club, Becca, their former frenemy. It's rare and wonderful to see a book centering on sixteen year olds innocent enough to be read by middle grade readers. The cleanliness and relatively innocent dramas of the girls' lives is more representative of a lot of sixteen year olds' lives than the risque, edgy YA books that are so prevalent.
Each of the Mother Daughter Book Club books focuses on a different story that the club has chosen to read over the course of a year. The plot also vaguely follows the book's. Sometimes, the book has more influence than others. Jane Eyre is the focus of this novel and the connection between the plots is pretty light. That's fine with me. I was much more interested in saying goodbye to girls I'd known for six books than seeing their lives twisted to fit the plot of a book.
What sets this series apart from so many others is the amount of mistakes our heroines make. It's not that they are messed up people, but rather they are very human. This includes the parents as well as the kids. In Wish You Were Eyre, the girls are judgmental, jealous, and mean towards a foreign exchange student who moves in with Megan. You also have a lot of insecurity about boyfriends and various petty feuds. This can be frustrating to read at times. I wanted to shake the girls for being such idiots. But I love how the author shows that characters who are indeed delightful people can also be real jerks at times. Because isn't that so representative of life - high school especially?
Wish You Were Eyre isn't my favorite of the Mother Daughter Book Club series, but it still ends the series on a strong note. If you like books featuring strong but human characters with a wide variety of personality types, that emphasize a love for reading, and that always have a strong message, you really should read The Mother Daughter Book Club. Although advertised as a middle grade read, it doesn't feel too juvenile for an adult or older teen to read. I love The Mother Daughter Book Club and I miss it.
Rating: 3.5 / 5
When the series began, the four girls in the book club, Emma, Cassidy, Jess, and Megan, were in the sixth grade. Now, they are sixteen years old and have added a fifth member to the book club, Becca, their former frenemy. It's rare and wonderful to see a book centering on sixteen year olds innocent enough to be read by middle grade readers. The cleanliness and relatively innocent dramas of the girls' lives is more representative of a lot of sixteen year olds' lives than the risque, edgy YA books that are so prevalent.
Each of the Mother Daughter Book Club books focuses on a different story that the club has chosen to read over the course of a year. The plot also vaguely follows the book's. Sometimes, the book has more influence than others. Jane Eyre is the focus of this novel and the connection between the plots is pretty light. That's fine with me. I was much more interested in saying goodbye to girls I'd known for six books than seeing their lives twisted to fit the plot of a book.
What sets this series apart from so many others is the amount of mistakes our heroines make. It's not that they are messed up people, but rather they are very human. This includes the parents as well as the kids. In Wish You Were Eyre, the girls are judgmental, jealous, and mean towards a foreign exchange student who moves in with Megan. You also have a lot of insecurity about boyfriends and various petty feuds. This can be frustrating to read at times. I wanted to shake the girls for being such idiots. But I love how the author shows that characters who are indeed delightful people can also be real jerks at times. Because isn't that so representative of life - high school especially?
Wish You Were Eyre isn't my favorite of the Mother Daughter Book Club series, but it still ends the series on a strong note. If you like books featuring strong but human characters with a wide variety of personality types, that emphasize a love for reading, and that always have a strong message, you really should read The Mother Daughter Book Club. Although advertised as a middle grade read, it doesn't feel too juvenile for an adult or older teen to read. I love The Mother Daughter Book Club and I miss it.
Rating: 3.5 / 5