Firefly Lane (Firefly Lane, #1) in Around the World in 80 Books

Apr 03, 2014 Kimberly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, publisher-sent, series, chick-lit, 2014-bookshelf

I finally did it.
After years, and I literally mean years. I finally gave Kristin Hannah a try. I've been avoiding her books like the plague. What can I say? I'm just not a chick lit/women's fiction fan for some reason.

However, after reading Firefly Lane I've got to say that I am a big Kristin Hannah fan now, she just brought the Kate and Tully's story to life so well I couldn't help but be sucked into their dramatic, tale of their 30 year friendship. I was especially impressed at how seamless I finally did it.
After years, and I literally mean years. I finally gave Kristin Hannah a try. I've been avoiding her books like the plague. What can I say? I'm just not a chick lit/women's fiction fan for some reason.

However, after reading Firefly Lane I've got to say that I am a big Kristin Hannah fan now, she just brought the Kate and Tully's story to life so well I couldn't help but be sucked into their dramatic, tale of their 30 year friendship. I was especially impressed at how seamlessly the story flowed through the years of their friendship from the late 70's until the later half of the 2000's and seeing the characters grow, from naïve young girls into women who go on to lead such different lives but remain so close is not an easy undertaking but Hannah did it fantastically.

I do have to say thought that as much as I loved the two main characters I did have a clear favourite and that was Kate. She was much more likable and I thought the fact that she took other people into consideration as well as being able to find fault in her own actions made her a more appealing character. She was so warm and so strong, much stronger than Tully and I loved her.

Tully, well let's face it. She was a screw up and had a lot of issues many of which were due to how she was raised an ordeals she went through but she was so childlike even in her 40s that as much as I did enjoy her character, she often rubbed me the wrong way. I hated the fact that she never apologized to Kate for any of her actions, and how immature she could be. For me, I feel that you can only blame your past up to a point, beyond that you have to grow up and take responsibility for your own life, and your actions and I feel as though Tully was stunted and never reached that potential. Despite Tully's many failings, I appreciated how different she was and thought she was a great character.

I think Hannah did a brilliant job of weaving these two women's lives together so well over the course of so many years. There was laughter, and bitter tears, hopes, dreams, losses, betrayal and of course death all pulled together to create the spectacular story of TullyandKate. From Firefly Lane, to NYC and beyond, Kristin Hannah left me a little beat up and emotionally crippled at the hands of her novel but I was so inspired by the bonds of friendship, no. Sisterhood is a much better word that it's no surprise that I wept at then end, but despite the sadness I felt as though all was as it aught to be.

So, the question is will I read another of Kristin Hannah's books? Absolutely. In fact, a couple of days after finishing Firefly Lane I read the sequel Fly Away and loved that as well I'm still nervous about trying her other novels because of how much I loved this duology but I am definitely going to read more by her.

I highly recommend this novel and it's sequel to everyone. If you're like me and don't usually care for women's fiction I urge you to give this one a try. It blew me away, and surprised me with how much I came to love the characters. If you like strong women, and a novel that celebrates life, love, friendship and yes, even death. Give this one a try! I don't say many novels are perfect, but to me this one was. Plus, this makes a great read to read with someone else and is full of life lessons

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my free and honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are 100% my own.
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Jun 12, 2009 Kay Green rated it liked it

This is my 4th book by Kristin Hannah and my least favorite. Parts of it were good but parts were silly and cheesy. Still she chronicles a friendship of two women through the 70's, 80's, 90's up to the present and captures a lot of the feelings of those eras. The references to songs, clothing styles, movies, and TV shows were fun. Good beach read but not much more. ...more

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