Six Degrees of Separation: Friendaholic to Forever in Blue

 

Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best.  The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links.  I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz. 

 

This month's starting point is Friendaholic by Elizabeth Day.

The last book that I finished reading was The Silver Ladies Do Lunch by Judy Leigh which is all about lifelong friendships in a small village near Oxford. I reviewed this book a couple of days ago.

The word lunch made me think of the Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland, which in turn made me think of the Renoir paintings we saw when we were in Paris, but let me get back on track.

I really enjoyed the books I have read by Susan Vreeland so I am going with another of her books, Clara and Mr Tiffany, which is all about the creation of Tiffany glass lamps. (My review)

Another book with the word glass in the title is Sea Glass by Maria V Snyder

This then links to The House in the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune through the word sea

For my final link I have chosen Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares because cerulean is a shade of blue. (My review)

I don't always try to link back to the starting point but given that Forever in Blue is the fourth book in the Sisterhood of Travelling Pants series which is all about friendship, I think it ties back nicely.

Next month the starting point is Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov and translated by Angela Rodel.

The Last Summer (of You and Me) by Ann Brashares

In the town of Waterby on Fire Island, the rhythms and rituals of summer are sacrosanct: the ceremonial arrivals and departures by ferry; yacht club dinners with terrible food and breathtaking views; the virtual decree against shoes; and the generational parade of sandy, sun-bleached kids, running, swimming, squealing, and coming of age on the beach.

Set against this vivid backdrop, The Last Summer (of You and Me) is the enchanting, heartrending story of a beach-community friendship triangle among three young adults for whom summer and this place have meant everything. Sisters Riley and Alice, now in their twenties, have been returning to their parents’ modest beach house every summer for their entire lives. Petite, tenacious Riley is a tomboy and a lifeguard, always ready for a midnight swim, a gale-force sail, or a barefoot sprint down the beach. Beautiful Alice is lithe, gentle, a reader and a thinker, and worshipful of her older sister. And every summer growing up, in the big house that overshadowed their humble one, there was Paul, a friend as important to both girls as the place itself, who has now finally returned to the island after three years away. But his return marks a season of tremendous change, and when a simmering attraction, a serious illness, and a deep secret all collide, the three friends are launched into an unfamiliar adult world, a world from which their summer haven can no longer protect them.

Ann Brashares has won millions of fans with her blockbuster series, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, in which she so powerfully captured the emotional complexities of female friendship and young love. With The Last Summer (of You and Me), she moves on to introduce a new set of characters and adult relationships just as true, endearing, and unforgettable. With warmth, humor, and wisdom, Brashares makes us feel the excruciating joys and pangs of love—both platonic and romantic. She reminds us of the strength and sting of friendship, the great ache of loss, and the complicated weight of family loyalty. Thoughtful, lyrical, and tremendously moving, The Last Summer (of You and Me) is a deeply felt celebration of summer and nostalgia for youth.

When this book was first announced, there was a bit of hoopla saying that this was Ann Brashares first book for adult, and yes, there were definitely some more adult scenes. Where sex is implied in the fabulous Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants book, it was more open and detailed without being completely explicit in this book. In many other ways though, this was a book that explored some of the same themes that we have previously seen from this author - loss, illness, young love. The other thing was the youngest of the two sisters who were the main female characters was only just in her twenties, and so in many ways, this book targets many of those same readers who have been reading Ann Brashares over the last however long she was writing the Traveling Pants books!

The blurb tells a lot of the story so I won't worry about regurgitating here. The story itself was a pleasant enough read about the relationship between two sisters, and about the secrets that family members keep from each other, as well about how changes in relationship dynamics can affect everyone involved both in ways that are expected and unexpected. What the book wasn't was something fresh and completely different from this author.

Overall, as long as you go into expecting something very treacley and sweet, you won't be disappointed. It was an easy enough read though.

Rating 4/5

Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares

With unravelled embroidery and fraying hems, the Travelling Pants are back for one last, glorious summer. Join Ann Brashare's beloved sisterhood once again in a dazzling, fearless novel. It's a summer that will forever change the lives of Lena, Carmen, Bee and Tibby, here and now, past and future, together and apart.


LENA: Immerses herself in her painting and an intoxicating summer fling, fearing the moment she forgets about Kostos will be the moment she sees him again.


CARMEN: Falls under the spell of a sophisticated college friend for whom a theatrical role means everything and the heritage of the Pants means nothing.


BRIDGET: Joins a dig for an ancient city off the coast of Turkey and discovers that her archaeology professor is available in every way except one.


TIBBY: Leaves behind someone she loves, wrongly believing he will stay where she has left him.


Join Ann Brashares beloved sisterhood once again in a dazzling, fearless novel. It's a summer that will forever change the lives of Lena, Carmen, bee and Tibby, here and now, past and future, together and apart.

This is the fourth and final book in the uber successful Travelling Pants series by Ann Brashares. I have reviews on my blog for the second and third books, and it has been interesting to read back through those two previous reviews in preparation for writing this one. In particular, I made comment that the third book felt in many ways like closure to me, so it was with some relief that I enjoyed this book, and didn't feel as though the author was just going through the motions in order to spin the series out to one last book.

Once again, Brashares does a great job of focusing on issues that are prevalent in the target age group, like peer pressure, finding your own identity and young love. This book was however much more sexually suggestive with two characters losing their virginity, a pregnancy scare, a near affair with a married man amongst other things. I therefore whether or not the suggested age group of age 13 plus is too young or not. That really does sound like a mum talking doesn't it!

Brashares once again has her characters travelling all over the place, and again I ask can American kids just up and travel all over the world on a whim? I guess that the four friends are older now but I remember wondering that in previous books as well. I guess the four girls are representative of middle class America, but it still surprises me! Part of that maybe that the fact that I am in Australia where it take so long to get to anywhere else in the world.

Overall, this was a fitting conclusion to the series. With the fate of the pants in doubt it is likely that they have gone onto weave their magic in other girl's lives, which is a really nice parting thought!

Rating 3.5/5

Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares

Another year has passed and four friends are about to begin their summer adventures. However, this year it is a little difference, because this is the year that they have finished high school and in September they will all be going off to college - all different colleges.

Bridget is going off to soccer camp. Two summers ago she was at soccer camp in Mexico, and to say that things ended badly is an understatement. She is however now much stronger, particularly after spending the previous summer with her grandmother in Alabama. When she arrives at camp though, Bridget is surprised to find that Eric is there as well. Can she find a way to just be friends with him? Does he still have feelings for her, and is there a chance that if they do things the right way this time there might be a future for them.

Lena is still pretty much moping around about Kostos (following up from events in the previous book) as far as love goes, but she has been working hard at getting ready to go to Art School, including taking art classes, fitting them around her new part time job at a restaurant. When her father finds Lena sketching a nude model as part of the art class, he tells her that he is withdrawing all support for her art college so in order to fulfill her dream she must find a way to get there herself. To complicate matters, Lena's grandmother has come to live with the family, but she really misses her friends and her life in Greece, and everyone feels miserable.

Tibby is staying home this summer, getting reading to go off to film school in New York. When Brian asks her to be his date...his proper date...Tibby finally realises that he really likes her, and that she thinks she feels the same way. Tibby does, however spend much of the book running away from her feelings for Brian, especially after her little sister Katherine severely injures herself because of something that Tibby blames herself for.

Carmen finds that she has a job looking after Lena's grandmother, which is beginning to be a real chore, especially because she won't allow Carmen to watch the soaps that she wants to watch. When her charge injures herself, Carmen finds herself spending quite a bit of time at the hospital. She ends up there again when she finds herself attending antenatal classes with her mother whose new husband David is working a lot and isn't able to make it to the classes. Another time, Carmen is at the hospital with Tibby's sister, taking her for her checkup. Several times whilst at the hospital Carmen meets a young man named Win who is pre-med. Carmen is attracted to Win, but Carmen is concerned that he isn't seeing the real Carmen, but rather that he only sees the good Carmen, the one who isn't selfish, or bratty. It takes a wild ride trying to track down David in time for the baby's birth for Carmen to realise that he really likes her, whichever side of herself she happens to be showing.

As the four friends get ready to face their future apart, there is just enough time to spend time looking back over their lives, with a promise that they will always be there for each other in the future, and then another curtain in their lives comes down. For me, this book felt like closure in many ways. There were still a couple of unresolved issues, such as will Carmen and Paul ever get together, but in many ways it felt like the end for me. Maybe it isn't, but even if it is, I am glad to have met The Septembers and shared in their adventures for three summers!


Rating 4/5

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares

The second of the Travelling Pants books by Ann Brashares, this book opens on the first day of summer, with Bridget, Lena, Carmen and Tibby getting together to perform the ritual of the pants. Last summer they all went away except for Tibby. This year she is the only one who is going away (to film school), whilst the other girls are all staying home in Washington.

However, Bridget somewhat impulsively decides that she needs to go to Alabama, after finding letters from her grandma that her father had not given her. Bridget is much changed from the girl that we met at the beginning of last summer. She no longer plays soccer, long her first love, and she has dyed her blonde hair brown, and gained some weight. Through her journey over the summer she learns a lot about her family, and that she was trying to hide away from herself. Interestingly, when she goes to Alabama she chooses to not reveal her true identity to her grandmother, but instead pretends to be someone looking for a job and therefore helps her grandmother clear out her attic. Eventually she meets some of the other kids she knew when she was a little girl, and begins to come back to herself, even if it takes facing and dealing with a traumatic memory from her past to get back to herself.

Since last summer Lena has been in love with a Greek boy, Kostos, who she met on Santorini. Before the summer started, she broke up with him, and if anyone asks why she goes along with the "long distance relationships are too hard" routine. When Kostos unexpectedly turns up at her door, Lena is terrified. How can she allow herself to love him when he is going to leave again so soon. And he does leave after a blissful week, but not for the reasons that Lena expects, and she is hurt in so many ways. He only tells her that he has a situation but will explain everything later. With Lena's story we get to see the effects of heartbreak, in a romantic sense, but also in a familial sense, when her grandfather falls critically ill and her family have to race to Santorini. There she meets Kostos again, and finds out the truth about his circumstances. All through this time, Lena is trying to find out about a story from her mother's past that she would rather not talk about, causing problems between the remaining mothers of the four girls (Bridget's mother having died years earlier), but eventually all is resolved, but it is a reminder to the girls that there mothers are human too.

Carmen is also about to learn that her mother is human, when she starts dating a work colleague, and Carmen suddenly discovers that she is not ready to give up the close, exclusive relationship that she has with her mother, even if it makes her mother upset to lose the man that she loves. Carmen is also trying to date Porter, but has to work out why she is doing this, and come to a realisation about relationships with boys.

Tibby goes off to film school, and begins to make new friends, but her lessons this year are about the nature of true friendships, and that means that at some point she must look back to last summer and the death of Bailey. Luckily she has Brian around to help her with this, unless she pushes him away because he is not cool enough that is! After making a humiliating film of her mother that Brian hates, but her new friends think is cool, Tibby is forced to reevaluate after seeing her mother's reaction to the film, and to face truths about herself, and to deal with the events of last summer.

Whilst these books are light they are very enjoyable and they do deal with plenty of issues relevant to the target age group, including dealing with relationships of divorced parents, death of loved ones, teenage sex. If there is one thing that I don't get though, it is that it seems that both this summer and last summer, 16 year olds are allowed to wander wherever they like over America without anyone worrying about their safety! Bridget just jumps on a bus to Alabama, hires a hotel room and lives there by herself for several weeks before she moves in with her grandma. Last summer, Lena and her sister were coming back from Greece and Lena just flew off to where Bridget was because she was having problems. I doubt that that is how it really is, and it is but a small criticism.

I am hoping to go and rent the DVD for the movie of the first book, and get the third book in the series out soon. Only problem is the third book isn't out on audiobook at my library so I am actually going to have to read it, as opposed to listening to it!

Rating 4/5