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kellpaul's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Maybe because I’ve seen the movies and I liked them so much, maybe why I didn’t like the book. I did like how short it was though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Death of parent
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Four friends, each setting out on separate journeys for the summer, agree to share a pair of pants that “magically” fits each of them perfectly.
I started reading this one a VERY long time ago and never finished it, so I returned to it this year for my “Project DNF.” This is definitely my favorite of the DNFs I’ve returned to so far, and I’m really glad I came back to it. Being a 23-year-old book, a couple of the storylines are a bit dated and have some problematic elements, but overall this was a super enjoyable and emotional read.
Tibby and Carmen were my two favorite characters and I loved both of their storylines, which made me tear up towards the end. I wasn’t expecting the emotional gut punch that would come from this book, but appreciated how raw and real it was, and how well it celebrated the power of friendship. I’ll definitely be continuing the series!
CW: Terminal illness/death/grief; pet death; depression; death of parent
Four friends, each setting out on separate journeys for the summer, agree to share a pair of pants that “magically” fits each of them perfectly.
I started reading this one a VERY long time ago and never finished it, so I returned to it this year for my “Project DNF.” This is definitely my favorite of the DNFs I’ve returned to so far, and I’m really glad I came back to it. Being a 23-year-old book, a couple of the storylines are a bit dated and have some problematic elements, but overall this was a super enjoyable and emotional read.
Tibby and Carmen were my two favorite characters and I loved both of their storylines, which made me tear up towards the end. I wasn’t expecting the emotional gut punch that would come from this book, but appreciated how raw and real it was, and how well it celebrated the power of friendship. I’ll definitely be continuing the series!
CW: Terminal illness/death/grief; pet death; depression; death of parent
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
ariajb's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
the original hot girl summer ☼
absolutely love these girls
absolutely love these girls
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Death of parent
Minor: Suicide
soph_mills's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Car accident, and Alcohol
theroadjones's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, and Death
maseface's review against another edition
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I have a lot of thoughts on this book. I saw this in the library recognized the title and checked it out.
Firstly this is a book realeased in 2001 and it definitely hasn't aged well. Literally the first page has casual racism against Koreans. I also saw from another user saying the author shouldn't write characters of color and that she relied on stereotypes. I'm white so I'm no authority on what is and isn't racist but Carmen the only main character of color is Latina and chiefly defined by her temper. It feels a little bit like the "spitfire" trope of Latina women.
But the worst part of this book and the section that's aged the worse is Bridget's whole section. Basically Bridget is 15 and at her soccer camp she begins a flirtation with one of her coaches Eric who is 19. Aside from the fact one person in this relationship is an adult and the other is a minor (there's a huge maturity gap between 15 and 19) one is in a position of power over the other. I was grossed out reading about their entire relationship. And it gets even worse because they end up sleeping with each other and to give some small credit Brashares does depict it as a traumatic experience for Bridget. But I don't think it really villainizes Eric like it should. His whole romantic final speech to Bridget is especially gross and I hated reading it. And I know from The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants wiki that she and Eric are an Endgame couple. Even in 2001 I feel this was very irresponsible for Brashares to do. She'd know that the main audience for this book would be girls the main characters age or even younger and she's telling them than an adult being sexually interested in them is romantic and not creepy.
I guess as this book tells four different simultaneous stories I'll rank them from best to worst.
1. Carmen - Despite the possible stereotypes Carmen's character plays into, I like that they didn't portray her anger as unwarranted or unreasonable. My favorite part of the book was when Bailey says to Carmen "You're allowed to be angry". Her anger was entirely justified it's just that she didn't communicate it in the best way which is completely accurate. I remember being 15 and trying to drop subtle hints about my feelings to my parents which they completely missed. Her story is the most realistic and understandable.
Also this might just be another example of how the book hasn't aged well but I'm pretty sure a lot of people of color have been in Carmen's situation where a white family member invites you to there plantation wedding and doesn't see a problem with that.
2. Tibby - Tibby's story tugs at your heartstrings. But it didn't feel cloying or anything. Her and Bailey form a nice friendship together and it causes Tibby to look at life in a whole new way.
3. Lena - Lena's story was just sort of meh. I don't really believe her relationship with Kostos. They barely spoke to eachother so why is she in love with him. I get kids fall in love really easily but Lena's the one who's distrustful of boys. I don't see her falling in love with someone unless she knows them very well.
4. Bridget - Please send Eric to jail. Don't let him be around minors anymore.
I'm giving this book a lower rating not just because of the problematic aspects but because I didn't connect to the characters. I think the two are connected. When I had to read things like Bridget and Eric's relationship I had to detach myself emotionally as a defense mechanism. So when it switched back to stories I might have connected to like Carmen or Tibby's I couldn't easily reattach myself so I felt no connection to the characters.
Firstly this is a book realeased in 2001 and it definitely hasn't aged well. Literally the first page has casual racism against Koreans. I also saw from another user saying the author shouldn't write characters of color and that she relied on stereotypes. I'm white so I'm no authority on what is and isn't racist but Carmen the only main character of color is Latina and chiefly defined by her temper. It feels a little bit like the "spitfire" trope of Latina women.
But the worst part of this book and the section that's aged the worse is Bridget's whole section. Basically Bridget is 15 and at her soccer camp she begins a flirtation with one of her coaches Eric who is 19. Aside from the fact one person in this relationship is an adult and the other is a minor (there's a huge maturity gap between 15 and 19) one is in a position of power over the other. I was grossed out reading about their entire relationship. And it gets even worse because they end up sleeping with each other and to give some small credit Brashares does depict it as a traumatic experience for Bridget. But I don't think it really villainizes Eric like it should. His whole romantic final speech to Bridget is especially gross and I hated reading it. And I know from The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants wiki that she and Eric are an Endgame couple. Even in 2001 I feel this was very irresponsible for Brashares to do. She'd know that the main audience for this book would be girls the main characters age or even younger and she's telling them than an adult being sexually interested in them is romantic and not creepy.
I guess as this book tells four different simultaneous stories I'll rank them from best to worst.
1. Carmen - Despite the possible stereotypes Carmen's character plays into, I like that they didn't portray her anger as unwarranted or unreasonable. My favorite part of the book was when Bailey says to Carmen "You're allowed to be angry". Her anger was entirely justified it's just that she didn't communicate it in the best way which is completely accurate. I remember being 15 and trying to drop subtle hints about my feelings to my parents which they completely missed. Her story is the most realistic and understandable.
Also this might just be another example of how the book hasn't aged well but I'm pretty sure a lot of people of color have been in Carmen's situation where a white family member invites you to there plantation wedding and doesn't see a problem with that.
2. Tibby - Tibby's story tugs at your heartstrings. But it didn't feel cloying or anything. Her and Bailey form a nice friendship together and it causes Tibby to look at life in a whole new way.
3. Lena - Lena's story was just sort of meh. I don't really believe her relationship with Kostos. They barely spoke to eachother so why is she in love with him. I get kids fall in love really easily but Lena's the one who's distrustful of boys. I don't see her falling in love with someone unless she knows them very well.
4. Bridget - Please send Eric to jail. Don't let him be around minors anymore.
I'm giving this book a lower rating not just because of the problematic aspects but because I didn't connect to the characters. I think the two are connected. When I had to read things like Bridget and Eric's relationship I had to detach myself emotionally as a defense mechanism. So when it switched back to stories I might have connected to like Carmen or Tibby's I couldn't easily reattach myself so I felt no connection to the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death and Racism
dsans's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Terminal illness, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide and Death of parent
hayleythegoose's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child death, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Grief
aguattery's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
It's a good coming of age story but reading it as an adult it's very cringe. There are a lot of topics this hits on that are very uncomfortable to read. I also think some of the main characters were annoying we're almost glad when they got knocked down a peg. I also dont think the author should be writing characters of color. She really played into stereotypes and the character fell flat and two dimensional.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, and Child death
Moderate: Animal death and Cancer
Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent
sydneywhite's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, and Death
Minor: Body shaming