Eine für vier - Der zweite Sommer

Sisterhood #2

by Ann Brashares, Cornelia Krutz-Arnold (translator)

Lena, Bridget und Carmen freuen sich auf die Ferien. Bis auf Tibby, die in Virginia an einem Filmkurs teilnimmt, wollen alle einen gemütlichen Sommer zu Hause verbringen. Gespannt warten sie darauf, was die JEANS macht, wenn sie nicht auf Reisen geht. Doch dann fährt Bee überstürzt nach Alabama. Wieder einmal trennen sich die Wege der verschwisterten Freundinnen – und die Jeans ist doch wieder unterwegs!

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Romance, Teen, Realistic Fiction

376 pages, Paperback

First published April 22, 2003

About the author

Ann Brashares is an American young adult novelist. She is best known as the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series.

Reviews

[Trina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like this one as much as the first book and I'm not sure if that's because I was so familiar with the first book due to the movie, or what.

Carmen - I can relate to her the most, but her plot was kind of melodramatic this time in my opinion. One thing I really don't understand is her relationship with her step-brother. When did they get close?

Tibby - I was pretty disappointed in Tibby, and while it's realistic that she wouldn't have changed overnight after the events of book 1, I just was annoyed with her storyline 90% of the time.

Lena - I seriously cannot deal with the insta-love going on with her story. She was literally in love with someone who'd said all of 5 words to her.

Bridget - I loved Bridget's story the most in this book. It had the most meaning, but unfortunately, there are parts to her story that were so laughable to me that it undermined the depth.

I don't know, I just want more showing to back up all the telling. At least, in my experience I remain unconvinced of a lot of what the girls are going through. Carmen is the only character who I feel any connection with because she is always so emotionally charged. I feel like I really know why she feels how she does and see her raw reactions. There is so much potential in Tibby and Bridget's stories and while I'm told 'this is a sad thing' over and over, I'm not really seeing them reacting.

We spend so little time in each character's POV before it switches to the next girl that I feel like I'm only getting to know them on a surface level despite the very important topics the book is trying to get at. I listened to this on audio and the POV switches were terrible in that format because they ran together.

I do want to point out that there are a lot of dated attitudes in this series (lack of body positivity, and use of the 'r' word in casual insults are examples from this book), so this could be something some readers won't enjoy. But I grew up in the same years these characters did and the books are a product of that time period (early 2000s).

[Rachel L · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like I am falling in love with this series all over again.

I loved the character development for 3 out of 4 of the main characters:

-Carmen is angry, but most teens can be fairly angry. I thought it was great to see her relationship with her mom and how her rock after so many years changed a bit. Plus her relationship with her step siblings continues to form and grow stronger and I thought that was really sweet to see.

-Bridget (Bee) was probably my favorite of this book heading to Alabama to reconnect with her estranged grandmother. Bee is still reeling from last summer and over the last year she really lost sight of herself. So learning more about her mother and where she came from helped her a lot and she really transformed in this book.

-Tibby is still affected by the death of Bailey but not acknowledging it. She and Brian have become close friends over the last year since Bailey’s passing. Away at film school Tibby is struggling with leaving her parents and understanding her place in her family.

-Lena. Oh Lena. It’s funny because when I was a teen I loved her love story, but as an adult I really just want to scream at her. I don’t understand her connection with Kostos because they spend almost no time together (ever). I don’t remember much about the next two books but hopefully they get much better.

Overall, I am loving my reread of this series. I can’t believe that I donated my original hardcovers to the library.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I continue my reread of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, I'm struck by how many of opinions about the characters change and how many stay the same. When I first read this series as a teenager my two favorite characters were Tibby & Carmen. As an adult I still love Tibby

But God!!!!!

I can't stand Carmen. Carmen is a terrible person and I'm wondering what drew me to her as a teenager. Carmen is the type of person who grows up to become a mass murder. Her inability to control her rage is troubling and no one seems to be worried about her irrational rage. It was just quite surprising how much my opinion changed.

More places my opinion changed.

I think Bridget is becoming one of my favorite characters.

My opinion hasn't changed however about Lena. She's still BORING.

And who cares about Kostos?

I sure don't.

Overall I'm enjoying my reread. Its fun to see how adulthood has changed how I see these books. They're still great books and I think they mostly hold up except when someone mentions running out of cell phone minutes.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read in 2019

I am so glad that I decided to read this one again because I realized that I blended the storylines of books 2 and 3 into quite a tangled spiderweb.

It's now summer again and the four friends are still confronting family, friends, and love interests issues. IMHO, the winner in this one was definitely Bridget's storyline as she travels to check out her maternal grandmother, Greta and get more answers about her mother, Marly. Of course, Bee tries to mask who she is, but her curiosity leads her to one more step in coming to terms with her mother's death.

Runner up would probably be Tibby. Attending a film camp and coming to terms with her mother issues and also being given a potential love interest made for a good storyline.

Lena and Carmen are given fairly similar storylines as book one. Lena ended her relationship with Kostos but spends most of the story pining away for him and then a couple of wrenches are thrown around. Figuratively, of course. Carmen was hung up on her Dad moving forward with a new family and now it's time to act like an infant when her mother gets a boyfriend. I think I had more sympathy for her with the father who was living away and just flung it on her during summer vacation. Also, other than being fixated on her parents, could this girl be given a meaty storyline?

A 3 star rating is still a good rating, but having re-read it, I realize that there wasn't enough growth as I would have expected. Also not washing those pants makes me realize that people must have been very patient with odors.


Goodreads review published 06/10/19

[meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

recently i reread the sisterhood of the traveling pants, and i loved it! the first time i read it though i didn’t know it was a series, so i decided to pick up the second book and i enjoyed it just as much as the first one.

this one dove a little deeper into the emotional development of the characters. in this one, only Bridget and Tibby are gone for the summer, while Lena and Carmen stay in their hometown. one thing i really liked about this book was how we got to see more of their family dynamics with them being home. and their mother’s relationships with each other was nicely explored because it was vaguely touched on in book 1 and i liked how that was expanded upon.

i really loved Bridget’s character arc in this book and exploring her struggles with mental health. she’s battling a lot of negative thoughts after gaining weight, i enjoyed reading about her journey because i think it was important story. her having grown up really skinny and conventionally attractive, gaining weight put a lot of pressure on her, and i think that was an interesting thing to explore. it wasn’t perfect, it is definitely a little dated, and some things said maybe wouldn’t be accepted by today’s standards, but it’s written from the POV for 16 year olds who don’t have emotional maturity yet to understand the nuances of body neutrality, and i felt like Bridget’s struggles with her body were very realistic.

i know there’s like 2 or 3 more books in the series, and i think i’m going to continue!

[Lani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't terribly impressed with the first book, but I was interested enough in the characters to want to read more. I am so glad I did!

This book seemed more realistically teenaged-girl, both the good and bad. The girls had to face things in their lives that they could avoid as children, and came out stronger.

Though other people criticized the way that Bee changed, I thought it was actually a pretty accurate depiction of a girl hurt by her early sexual experience. Teenagers experiment with their appearance and stereotype all the time, and Bee did not have a family to try to steer her course.

For whatever reason this book just touched me in a way that the first one didn't. I like book series that age with their audience, and I think this one has really managed to do that.

[Bitchin' Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I forgot what Kostas did! Ugh!

[bookswithpaulette · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. Didnt enjoy this as much as the first one... so I think I will stop here :)

[Iryna *Book and Sword* · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 stars

​“She used to cry roughly three times a year. Now she seemed to cry three times before breakfast. Could that be considered progress?”

I enjoyed the 1st book of this series much, much more. The only thing that improved in the book two was the writing - it was more refined and less juvenile, but unfortunately that was the end of improvements.

“She got tired of herself. She got tired of not being able to say what she wanted or do what she wanted or even want what she wanted.”

The only character that had an appealing and meaningful story was Bee, everybody else's storylines were just a mess. Bee's storyline honestly saved the book for me, I really loved exploring the attic of memories with her, and watching her reinvent herself.

​I couldn't stand Carmen in this book at all - she wasn't my favorite in the first book, but here she definitely took the gold on the most annoying character ever. Her story arc was exactly the same as in the first book, but with a different parent - total waste of time.

​Tibby was as usual coarse and bitter and unlikable, which made no sense considering what she went through in the first book. I really thought that her character would be different, but she kept making the stupidest choices for absolutely no reason.

“I mean putting yourself out there in the way of overwhelming happiness and knowing you're also putting yourself in the way of terrible harm. I'm scared to be this happy. I'm scared to be this extreme.”

Lena's character was completely lost in her romantic arc -which was so incredibly unrealistic. Lena was my favorite in book one because she had personality - she loved art, books and she knew what she wanted from the world. Lena in book two was a lovesick puppy with absolutely no personality left - it was disheartening to read.

Despite the uninteresting and repetitive plot lines, this was still a good summer read. I am just hoping that the next book is much better, otherwise that will be the end of this series for me.

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[Norah Una Sumner · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

I feel like it took me a whole month to finish this book more because I couldn't deal with anyone but Bee than because I was reading it in Swedish and trying to write down all the words I didn't know.

Seriously though, I expected much more from Tibby and Lena only to be so horribly disappointed by both of their arcs. Carmen's story line was even interesting compared to these two but... we all know Carmen is a drama queen so it was obviously a bit over the top. Bee's story line is what saved this book to be completely honest. She was a great character and showed a lot of development throughout the book and left me positively surprised. I'm sad that Lena's whole story line revolves around Kostos - it's like I wasn't even reading about her.

Overall, could've been much much better.

[Syndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood conitnue. I am so excited reading what happen after the first book. A lot of moral messages from Miss Brashares. I think the messages can relatable for all the young girls out there.

4 stars

[Victoria Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, Ann Brashares does it again! Who knew the second book could be as good as the first?
You'd think the plot wouldn't work as well, with Tibby so close to home, and Lena and Carmen not going away. But somehow, it still worked. Yes, the girls saw each other a lot more often. But they still talked online, or sent little postcards to each other. They still made it seem they were apart, even when they were five minutes away. And those conversations are what I really love. The letters that break up the usual writing style, the messages that show the change from different point of views. Instead of reading a book, I'm the fifth member of their little group. Well, not quite, but I really, REALLY wish I was.
As with the last book, I didn't like Carmen. She's so selfish and whiny. I understand, it's upsetting for her to see her mum supposedly moving on without her. But then talk to her about it! Say you don't like that she's acting like a teenager, and you can fix the problem. The way she reacted, like a five year old, made me mad. Honestly, she's one of the biggest reasons this book doesn't get a five star rating. I could replace her in the group, then everything would be perfect!
The other three girls, I absolutely adore. Bee is my favourite. In this book, she's gone a little depressed. I couldn't help but think about her mum, and worry that Bee was going to turn out like her. But I shouldn't have worried. Our Bee is far stronger than that. She didn't hide away in bed forever; she got up and flew to see her Grandma she barely knew. Because, you know, why wouldn't you? I loved seeing Bee get better over there. The character growth done there was brilliant. It was also good to find out more about her past. We knew her mum had died, we were told that in the first book. But that was really all we knew. In this book, as Bee cleaned out her Grandma's attic, we got to find out more and more. Bee started accepting the awful past her mother had had. It was heartbreaking, but necessary.
Tibby grew a lot too. She was at film school, which sounded so great for her. At first, she made terrible mistakes. I mean, come on, anyone could tell that Alex and Maura were going to be lame. Plus, why would you not want to be best friends with Brian? He's so sweet, and he adores Tibby. But she learned. Through Bailey, her friend from the first book, she learned what a moron she was being. In the first book, Bailey didn't make me cry. But this time she did. Like Bee, Tibby started to actually accept her death. And that's what made it so sad. I wasn't a huge fan of Bailey, but I missed her. Tibby needed her, so then I needed her. Now all we need is for Tibby to realise that Brian is crazily in love with her, and they can both live happily ever after.
Lena changed, but I'm not sure if she grew. Like Bee said, "she used to cry about three times a year. Now she cried three times before breakfast." It's so unlike Lena to be so heartbroken over a boy. But she really did love him. She was probably better off without him. Having a boyfriend in Greece was never going to work out. But she didn't know that! She needed him! I'll admit, I did a little squeal of joy when they realised they loved each other. Oh, it was so cute!! But that was all the happiness Lena got. Everything went downhill from there. I won't spoil it, don't worry! But I was genuinely shocked by the Kostos plot twist. Yes, it was the right thing to do. But SERIOUSLY?!?!?!? Lena desperately needed hugs, and chocolate. I'm glad her friends were there for her. I needed friends like that there for me, just on behalf of Lena! I'll admit, I even shed a tiny tear.
We got to see more of the mothers too, which I liked. Of course, I like the Sisterhood more. But it was still kind of nice to see the mothers old relationship. Plus, we got to find out more about why they aren't friends any more. And their secrets, and their love lives, and their relationships with their daughters. All very good things, that made the book even better.
While this book was a little more depressing than the first one, I still loved it. How can you not love these girls? I can't wait to get my hands on book 3!

[Marta Demianiuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reread po 15 latach, jako stara baba. I tu już czułam, że mój wiek przeszkadza mi w zrozumieniu zachowania bohaterek i musiałam się wysilić, żeby przypomnieć sobie, jak to było mieć te 15-16 lat i czy też wtedy problemem byliby dla mnie to, co dla dziewczyn. Ale nadal dobrze się bawię przy tym rereadzie, lektura idzie jak po maśle, więc kontynuuję i czas na tom trzeci.

[Shannon A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the honesty in these books - they really are something special. They tackle a variety of issues and these four girls are some of the realest and relatable ones in young adult contemporary. And you want female friendships? CHECK CHECK CHECK, this series is overflowing with women holding up other women and it's just wonderful and was really ahead of it's time and I just love it soooo much. On to reread book 3!! :D

[Tanya (Girl Plus Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third Read: August 22-27, 2016
Second Read: May 2009
Original Read: March 2004

My re-read of the series continues... this time on audio book. All so I can *finally* read the final book in the series, Sisterhood Everlasting.

I found that I was annoyed by most of the girls (with the exception of Bridget) all through this second book in the series.

Carmen - Carmen behaved like an abominable brat for 90% of the book. Her reaction to her mother daring to date and basically have a life made me want to smack her. I understand it had just been her and her mother since her parents divorced, but come on. Carmen was almost 17 years old and would be leaving for college in a year anyway. But Christina had the audacity to date and find some happiness and that sent Carmen into a tailspin and behaving like a selfish child having a tantrum. She was thoroughly unlikable for most of the book.

Tibby - I've always liked Tibby but her choices in this book had me so disappointed. She spent her time and efforts trying to gain the favor of two "cool kids" whose favorite past time was mocking others. And in the process she was thoughtless and cruel to Brian - and her mother - hurting them both. Shame on you, Tibby.

Lena - Lena's pining over Kostos was annoying since it was she that broke things off. And then she's devastated to learn that he went out with a girl? Uh, you broke up with him. Was he supposed to magically understand why and then pine after you till the end of time? The events with Kostos at the end of the book did have me completely sympathetic toward their plight but all the angst leading up to that point smacked of melodrama. (And the thing with Paul? I had totally forgot about that since my last read!)

Bridget - Bridget was the only one who seemed to be making smarter decisions this time around and growing in the process. I loved reading about her summer with Greta.

Not my favorite book in the series but I'm still looking forward to continuing my reread of the series.

[Jessica (Goldenfurpro) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This and other reviews can be found on The Psychotic Nerd

Short and Simple Review
I liked this one okay enough. I couldn't remember the first book so I had to keep looking up details online so I wouldn't get the girls mixed up. The story switches between the four girls, sometimes within very short periods (a page of one girl, a page of the next, etc.). Sometimes it was annoying because the girl we were focusing on never did anything or I was more interested in what another girl was doing, but doing so did also sometimes showed how close the girls were (and how some summers, nothing interesting actually happens). I had to keep reminding myself that the girls were teenagers and were bound to make stupid decisions. Of the girls, I was incredibly frustrated with Carmen and Tibby. Carmen acted really bratty because her mom was dating someone and Tibby was making friends with the wrong people. I had to remember that they were bound to make stupid decisions and they did eventually realize that. I was more interested in what Bridget was doing because she was staying with her Grandma that she hadn't seen since she was really young, but was pretending that she was someone just looking for a summer job. Her story was one of the more heartfelt ones in the bunch.

Overall, I was annoyed at points, confused at points, but I also wanted to see how these girls were doing. I admittedly am jealous that these girls are such close friends because I never had friends like that. While I am not wowed by this series, I will likely keep going because I own the rest of the books and I am curious to see where these girls will be when they are older.

[Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than the first. The ending made me angry and sad though. Poor, poor Lena.

[Viir · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the first book a couple of years ago so I don't know all the details of the first one. So if I make mistakes in this review then bear with me :)

The Travelling Pants, the Magic Pants, the Pants that helped the 4 girls have a great summer the last year are now not helping at all. Bridget leaves for the summer to visit her grandma, but not as Bridget. She gives herself an alias to find out more about her family. Carmen gets super jealous when her mother gets a boyfriend. Tibby attends a photography college course and wants to be cool for once. And Lena struggles with her love to Kostos.

I do love when characters I like get into struggle. So you learn a bit about their coping skills. But it was a bit too much here because everyone had it hard, there was not one of the girls who started out good in the summer. And that's just unbelievable.

Furthermore the story progresses pretty fast, what is great but also not, as it lacks depth and communication. But I'm probably expecting too much of a teenage book.

Other than that I enjoyed reading this book as it's still lighthearted and kind of brings me back to my teenage years (they were not as adventurous and memorable as for the girls in the book though).

I can't wait to read the next one and I can't wait to someday watch the movie adaptation.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me much longer to get through the second book then the first. To be honest, it was painful to read most of the time. I continue to detest Carmen and her childish behavior--yes, I realize she's a teenager, but I couldn't stand to read how supposedly she was so sad to hurt people's feelings and then she'd just go ahead and do it anyway. I couldn't stand reading about Lina's heartache anymore and was especially angry when Kostos's big bomb dropped after the author FINALLY got them back together. I thought the only real person in the book was Bee, strangely enough. The way she dyed her hair and gained weight reminded me of a time when I was a teenager and wanted to do everything possible to be the exact opposite of myself. I'm not sure I'm going to continue reading the rest of the books--the characters are NEVER happy and go on for pages and pages about their own self-woe and doubt. They spend chapters beating themselves up for their dumb mistakes and then never seem to learn from them. It might just be too much dumb girl emotion for me.

[Bookishrealm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Update! Here's the full review: https://bookishrealmreviews.blogspot....

3.5 Stars. While I still had a problem with some of the characters, this was a little better than the first and definitely explored more difficult topics. If I had to pick a character that I resonated with the most, I would definitely have to pick Lina. She went through so much during this book and still a managed to keep it together just to be 16. I’ll be doing a full review of this book on my blog.

[Samantha (WLABB) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting summer with the girls and the pants.

I won't say I loved every storyline, but overall, I enjoyed reading about this summer of change and disappointment. It was odd to see that Bridget, who is the hot mess of the group, was really the only one who had her act together. Her storyline was probably my favorite, because it was her working through her grief, learning more about her mother, and reconnecting with her grandmother. Brashares did something nice there at the end too.

I am looking forward to see what adventures they have in store for me in book three.

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[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pants are back! Here they are to give these wonderful friends the summer they have all been waiting for. I hope this book is as good as the first one! As same as in the first book of the sisterhood the author Ann Brashares uses the technique of putting for stories in 1 because each friend is living a different life, this author uses a great word choice “ whirlwind, hiatus, clunking, but’ she doesn’t use much word repetition, and I also love how she characterizes the new characters and the imagery that she can give you of the scene. I am going to start with the summer of Bridget she is my favorite character. Bridget finds out that her grandma from mom’s side has been writing all this past years and her father didn’t tell her. She is going to visit her grandma but not directly, she is going name herself Gilda for no one to realize that she is Bridget, she used to go to Alabama all the time when she was little that is why she hides her real name. She is going to work in her grandmother’s house and investigate about her mother; she is going to help Greta fix the attic. Everything comes out just they way she wanted it but her grandma realizes that she is her granddaughter and lets her stay at her house. Bridget finds herself again this summer; she starts playing soccer again and also finds friends from when she was little. Lena is another member from the sisterhood, This summer she is very depressed she misses her ex-boyfriend Kostos who she met the past summer in Greece when she went to visit her grandmother. She thinks Kostos has a girlfriend and that he has forgotten her. One day she hears the door bell, it was Kostos she didn’t now why he was there. He told her that he was there for university and that made Lena more depressed because it meant that he didn’t even cared for her, because he had come all the way from Greece and he didn’t even called her. One night Lena went to visit Kostos; she needed to talk to him, she explained all her feelings and then Kostos said that she didn’t have a girlfriend and that he still loved her. He made her very happy with those words; the bad thing is that Kostos needs to go back to Greece because of a family problem. At the end of the summer Lena goes to Greece becuase her grandfather died and she finds out that Kostos is getting married. Tibby is also a member of the sisterhood, she loves to make movies. This summer she went to a summer school of film making and she is suppose to do a movie. She makes a movie about the most embarrassing moments of her mom and after they present it she regrets it. She feels bad with her mom. But then she made a movie of the great moments she passed with her friend Bailey who died last summer, she made a great movie. Carmen didn’t have a great summer she fitted with her mom a lot because her mom was dating and obsessed with David and Carmen didn’t liked it. She thought her mom didn’t care about her any more, she also tried to help Lena forget about Kostos but she couldn’t.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hahahaha I just looked back at my review of the first book, and I had made a point to say how much I disliked the audiobook and would be sure to read the rest of the series in print. I didn't have any real issues with the narration this time, but it seemed like a sadder story than the first book so I guess the dourness of the narrator's voice worked better.

I can't say how many times I cried while listening to this as I drove home from Christmas. Each member of the Sisterhood had her own interesting, poignant story, but I felt that the mothers of the Sisterhood had a deeper part to play in this installment. I was brought to tears thinking specifically of all the ways we are cruel and unfeeling toward our mothers at various points in our lives, and how mothers patiently accept this as part of their love for their children. Ann Brashares has a way of writing female emotions and relationships that are so elegant and truthful, but she doesn't shortchange the plot for the sake of introspection. Any girl, regardless of age, should read this series. That's not to say there aren't things that frustrate you (what did Bridget THINK would happen by meeting her grandmother under an assumed identity?), but I thought this second book was particularly emotionally wonderful.

[☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this was my favorite even though I have gotten to the rest of them. LOL I think this was more of the girls actually growing and knowing that things in life happen that we can’t change but maybe move from it but also it does help when you have very good friends that are always there for you.

[Kelly (kellyreadingbooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books make me so incredibly nostalgic and happy. ❤️ So glad I chose to re-read them this year.

[Sara Booklover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Avevo iniziato a leggere il primo libro di questa serie con davvero poca convinzione, pensando che fossero libri per ragazzine e stop e quindi che non mi potessero piacere. Invece sono rimasta entusiasta dal primo libro al punto di procurarmi il secondo dopo poco tempo e leggerlo tutto d'un fiato senza neanche lasciarlo a decantare il libreria come faccio di solito. Devo ammettere che anche per questo secondo libro avevo dei timori, perché vista con superficialità la storia alla base del libro può sembrare senza dubbio banale e durante le prime pagine di lettura la sensazione è quella. Ma dopo qualche capitolo, tempo di rientrare in sintonia con la storia e le sue quattro protagoniste, ogni dubbio si è dissipato. Confermo quindi il giudizio positivo che già avevo avuto con il primo libro. Perché questo seguito si è dimostrato non solo all'altezza del precedente ma mi è addirittura piaciuto di più. Se c'è una cosa che devo dare atto all'autrice è la sua bravura nel descrivere le più svariate situazioni e i più svariati stati d'animo. Le quattro protagoniste del libro hanno tutte caratteri molti diversi l'una dall'altra, e vivono anche vicissitudini diverse, eppure il lettore riesce ad entrare in sintonia con ognuna di loro con una semplicità disarmante, ed ad avere la sensazione di conoscerle da sempre. E non solo. Le vicende narrate mi hanno preso talmente tanto che gli stati d'animo dei vari personaggi li ho vissuti come se fossero i miei, e mi sono ritrovata spesso a rivivere alcune sensazioni già vissute e a pensare a come fosse brava l'autrice a sapere descrivere con così tanta precisione gli stati d'animo che anche io avevo provato in quella identica situazione. Ovviamente non tutto ci che accade nel libro è accaduto anche a me, ma anche per quanto riguarda esperienze non vissute la sensazione è stata quasi identica, ovvero la sensazione di avere già provato tutto ciò e di sapere che meglio di così non poteva essere descritto. E' quindi un libro davvero prezioso dal punto di vista dei contenuti e delle emozioni suscitate. La storia a volte può sembrare spensierata, ma ha sempre dei risvolti piuttosto drammatici, che si alternano ad altri momenti di calma e serenità, proprio come accade nella vita vera. E' per questo che mi è piaciuto così tanto, perché è un libro realistico, con momenti di felicità e infelicità, senza finali assurdamente lieti e definitivi, ma con dei piccoli traguardi raggiunti, piccoli attimi di felicità che non sono mai assoluti ma che evolvono cone le protagoniste stesse.

[K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

First things first: I want the shoes that the model on the cover of this edition is wearing. Because they're wonderful and I need them.

Onto the book itself - I kind of wanted to strangle all of the characters. First of all? WASH THOSE FUCKING JEANS. I'm sorry, but you cannot pass a pair of jeans between four teenage girls over the course of two summers and NOT get blood on them at some point. Also, it's summer. In Washington D.C. It's humid as shit. And Bridget plays soccer in them. WASH THE JEANS. THEY'RE NASTY.

But I digress.

While I appreciate that the lessons that the girls learnt the previous summer wouldn't necessarily have stuck because, like, THEY'RE TEENAGERS, it would have been nice for them to not make the exact same mistakes that they made the previous year. I found myself just waving my hands in frustration at the first book, and yet no one listened to me.

At this point, all I want from the series is for Tibby to get her fucking act together and realise that she should be making out with Brian because he's super sweet and adorable. But I'm guessing we get about 700 more pages of Kostas, aka the dude a 15 year old girl should never have been dating in the first place. Sigh.

(Don't get me wrong, I actually didn't mind this one. But I'm fairly certain it's going to prove to be 100% forgettable in the long run. And I'm not sure if it's because it's more than a little dated now, and YA is a lot more hard hitting, or if it's just because I'm not a teenage girl and therefore relate far more to the adults in the story than the teenagers. So yeah, this one fell somewhere in the middle of the road for me.)

[Diah Sri]

love this books... I wishhh.. I've read this book 15 years ago, would've help me trough my teenage life and how to embrace adulthood with all of the pain and sorrow..., This books show you that it is ok to make mistake as long as you have the guts to admit it and try to correct it as best as u can...
I wish I could be more like bree, inspite of the lost she have been trough, she still have enough courage to open her heart and embrace what ever come on her way...

and lena is one lucky girls who has best friend sorrounded her when the love of her live taken away....

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a while there, I was getting so frustrated with this book, and how irritating most of the girls were being. Then I get to the end, and I remembered why it was one of my favorite in the series. Each of the girls had a huge hurdle to climb in this book, and in a way, this book was a turning point in all of their lives. They all learned something they needed to in order to be a better person. Bee will forever be my favorite character in these books, but I can honestly say I am loving rereading the series and reliving all the old feelings I had when I read them for the first time!

[Clara (The Bookworm of Notre-Dame) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the last 300 pages in one stand and it felt really good. I'm so glad I decided to reread this serie. I forgot almost everything and it's so amazing to relive it.