Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares

Title: Sisterhood Everlasting

Author: Ann Brashares

Genre: Contemporary fiction

Publisher: Random House, 2011

Source: Library

Although Carmen, Bee, Lena, and Tibby grew up wrapped up in each others' stories, now that they are nearing their thirtieth birthdays, they seem to have lost touch. Carmen is a successful TV actress with a fiance in the business, Bee is with Eric, leading a nomadic life, Lena is still drawing but seems to be growing more and more isolated, and Tibby is in Australia and seems to be unreachable. However, when Tibby sends the girls tickets to Greece, they all feel a sense of hope that they can patch up the distance. Events take a surprising and tragic turn, and it is left to the sisterhood to determine if they can still be whole even when they can't all be together.

I grew up with the Sisterhood. I read the first book my freshman year of high school (with the Moulin Rouge soundtrack blaring in the background, naturally), eagerly awaited the publication of each new book, and saw the movie on opening day, the first day of my senior summer. I copied down the quotes at the beginnings of the chapter copiously in my journal. I cried in the books and the movies. I am invested in this series.

Many fans were disappointed in this final and unexpected installment. I will admit that at first I didn't know what to think. Was I saddened by the turn of events? Yes, of course. However, a story's sadness does not diminish its value or meaningfulness. Most of the Sisterhood books had some element of aching sadness - the point of the books is the way the girls use their friendship to buoy themselves up and overcome difficulties. In this final book, this is achieved. Friendship is still the defining factor in the characters' ability to overcome a crushing tragedy, and they are able to overcome. However, this tragedy is more of a focus in the book than the previous installments - while earlier books had many subplots and foci, this one plunged downward for hundreds of pages before any sort of redemption is achieved. This made the book more depressing and at times, more dragging than previous books.

I was still impressed with Brashares' distinctive prose and the way it captures emotions that I don't know I have until she drives them into my heart with her mightier-than-the-sword pen. "Whether or not he had ever wanted to marry her, he seemed to know the right way to care for her at a deeply fragile time, and that in itself was something like love." While the writing was still just as beautiful and powerful as the books I grew up loving, the story did lack some of the magic. I think this is partly because of the reasons I listed previously - the more narrow focus of the story and the increased tragedy. I also think that part of the allure of YA literature in general is that it captures a time where everything seems new and fast. As we grow older, we settle into routines. Life still possesses beauty, but I think it is steadier and quieter. It was this way with Sisterhood Everlasting - beauty and discovery were still present, but they blossomed slowly and were more bittersweet.

Don't let my criticisms keep you from reading the book. It was beautifully written and I loved entering the Sisterhood's world again. However, it isn't my favorite book of the series by any means, and the way the girls' lives play out is at times frustrating.

3.75 stars

Warnings: A few f-bombs, a few non-graphic "scenes"

YA Friday: A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Title: A Northern Light

Author: Jennifer Donnelly

Genre: YA, historical fiction

Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books, 2003

Source: Library

Mattie Gokey spends most of her time keeping her family together. After her mother passed away, it's been hard to keep food on the table and all her sisters healthy and clean. However, she dreams of books and writing, hoping to attend college. Her teacher and best friend both push her to pursue her dreams, but family responsibilities and a potential romance have her wondering where her path should lead. Set against the background of the murder featured in Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, Mattie is required to make life-changing decisions.

Oh, Jennifer Donnelly. How I love you. And I have the first book in your adult trilogy sitting on my bookshelf right now. I'm curious to see how she writes for adults, because her YA books definitely have me hooked. I think the element of her books that I enjoy most is just the intelligence she uses to weave everything together. Mattie's life is the center of the action, but surrounding it we have the murder, which in some ways parallels some of Mattie's insecurities, and the mysterious Emily Baxter, one of Donnelly's invented historical figures that I wish was real so I could read her poetry. (A similar invented historical character is Amade Malherbeau from Revolution).

Donnelly is a master at creating strong characters. Mattie was very distinct from Andi, the main character in Revolution. In my (ever humble) opinion, if a writer plans on using the first person all the time, their different characters had better have different voices. I think this can be a difficult task to accomplish, but Donnelly does it well, bringing to the table a girl less troubled than Andi, a girl determined to keep her promises while breaking under the desire to fulfill her own dreams. At times she frustrates me, spending time with a dorkus (using words like "dorkus" is probably one of the reasons bloggers get pegged as unprofessional, but no other word describes my feelings adequately) like Royal who waves away her dreams by talking about soil and planting. Mattie isn't perfect - she is a teenager, after all, and who didn't make at least one stupid mistake in their teenage years? However, as she struggles through her oppressive circumstances, she begins to discover who she really is. The other characters are also fantastic, especially Weaver, Mattie's best friend, a boy who will not accept discrimination from others, no matter what the consequence.

Another element of this book that I adored was the sheer bookishness. (Remember what I said yesterday about authors always putting bookish elements in their books? I think for Donnelly it is sheer love of books). Mattie loves words and tries to use a new word every day. I loved the way she turned big, obscure words to fit her situations. I also loved her description of Emily Baxter's library - who hasn't felt that way on their first time in a beautiful bookstore or library?

There were dozens of names I didn’t know. Eliot. Zola. Whitman. Wilde. Yeats. Sand. Dickinson. Goethe. And all those were in just one stack! There were lives in those books, and deaths. Families and friends and lovers and enemies. Joy and despair, jealousy, envy, madness, and rage. All there. […] I could alsmost hear the characters inside, murmuring and jostling, impatient for me to open the cover and let them out.

Much as I am gushing about Jennifer Donnelly, the book wasn't perfect. I struggled with the back-and-forth between Mattie's time at the hotel figuring out the murder, and her time at home trying to get to the hotel. I thought it was an interesting device, but I didn't understand the point and found it to be generally distracting. And while I liked Mattie herself a bit better than Andi in Revolution, this book didn't hold the same intensity and passion for me. It was a good book - a great book - but it didn't cause me to put down the book and just think when I was done with it.

All and all, though, this is an excellent read. The bookish will especially enjoy Mattie's obsession with words and her enchantment with new books.

4 stars