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ses1978's review against another edition
5.0
This is the story of the second generation. This story follows Abby who married Zander Burley. The focus is on her daughter, Dana, and the dynamics of her relationships with her parents, her twin sister, Julia, her brother, Peter, her newest sister, Nell, and her aunt Adele.
kirstenrose22's review against another edition
3.0
This definitely wasn't as good as good as the first one, but I'm waiting to see where the series goes, as a whole. Abby (the mother) was definitely more interesting - even from a child's perspective / afar - than the main character.
marcidarling's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
luckyliza13's review against another edition
3.0
Good story, though not as good as the first in this series. Dana seems selfish & unlikable, but the book does end with the reader wanting more.
hhertzof's review against another edition
4.0
I'd trade a little of the realism for something a bit more cosy (despite being nearly fluffied to death by Patty Fairfield), but I like these despite finding the main characters a bit annoying.
yapha's review against another edition
3.0
In this second of four books in the Family Tree series, Abby is now a mother, and it is her daughter Dana who is featured in this book. When a tragedy tears their family apart, Dana has some tough choices to make. Should she return to the family home in Maine with her mother and twin sister? Or find a way to stay in New York and follow her dreams? Recommended for fans of Better to Wish who want to keep following this family's story. Grades 4 & up.
ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley
ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley
jessalynn_librarian's review against another edition
3.0
I'm continuing to enjoy this series, despite the occasional tendency for melodramatic events. Other reviews of this installment complain that Dana is unlikeable or selfish, but it's more that we see everything colored by her perceptions. Reading between the lines, you see the way that she's being unfair to other characters, and that they (especially her twin sister) are being unfair to her in a way that seems totally typical of siblings. So, not my favorite character, but I'm interested to see where the overall arc of the series takes us.
finesilkflower's review against another edition
2.0
I keep devouring these books so I should probably give them more than 2 stars. They're interesting in the moment but leave me feeling hollow and empty, as if there's been a lot of drama but it hasn't really amounted to anything, like life, I guess.
This follows the format of the first book with each chapter occurring about 6 months after the previous chapter. It takes the main character from age 7 to 18.
Dana is the daughter of Abby from the Book #1, [b:Better to Wish|16043634|Better to Wish (Family Tree, #1)|Ann M. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358993088s/16043634.jpg|21820893]. Abby's story chronicles her family's ascent from poverty into upper middle class in small-town in Maine in the 1930s/40s, ending her story striking it out on her own in New York City. Dana, then, grows up in New York City in the 1950s/60s. She starts her life glamorously, but once again family fortunes change, and the family finds itself back in Maine. Dana, a budding artist, has New York City in her heart and can't adjust to life in Maine. She's like Stacey + Claudia - Quality.
Because I just can't like Dana. She's serious and sullen. There's no fun about her. She's the daddy's girl of a raging alcholic, and while that's somewhat understandable, it's also incredibly tiresome, especially when she blames her obviously saintly mother for everything that goes wrong.
Again, I question the choice of daughter to base this around. This time, the book follows the interesting rather than boring sister, but it surprises me that the book is following Dana, the iconoclast who is clearly going to cut her family out of her life and move to a completely new area with her bohemian husband, rather than Julia, the close-to-home daughter who will clearly spend the rest of her life living close to the previous generations. But I guess Ann M. has a plan. Maybe Dana will mellow in her old age. But even in this book, it causes its problems; Dana spends so much time away from the rest of the family.
Some kinda neat things about this volume:
* While Zander's alcoholism is cartoonishly depicted AND he was kind of a lackluster romantic hero in book #1 anyway--it's sorta clear that Ann M. preferred Orrin all along--I still admire the guts to turn Happy Ending Guy into Incredibly Flawed Dad. I was sort of expecting all dads after the book 1 dad to be perfect because we had seen their love story.
* The family tree structure allows some interesting lessons about adulthood; namely, choices you make when you are 22 will profoundly affect your children to the point of making them people who cause you pain and anguish as an adult by failing to adjust to what you consider "home" because what they consider "home" is the dumb place you lived when you were 22 and failing to adjust to the guy that you consider the love of your life because what they consider "father" is the dumb guy you married when you were 22.
* I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop when Dana actually reads Father because you KNOW that it's a terribly cynical book and that her childlike drawings are used not for heartwarming but for sardonic reasons. It didn't happen but there's still time. Anyway, I guess I like that I have such a strong feeling about Zander's work despite us not being told anything about it really?
Some weird things about this volume:
* Dana's parents are consistently referred to as "Abby" and "Zander" in narration, which feels jarring because books with a tight POV on a kid don't refer to the parents by their first names when they kid doesn't. It's inconsistent, too, because the mom in book 1 isn't called "Nell" except by other adults; to Abby, she's just "Mother." So should Abby be! We get it, we know they are the kids from the first book--it's in all the branding.
* A major character drowns in every book! This should also be in the branding.
* Dana's family pattern follows her mother's almost exactly. In Abby's family, she was the oldest, then a slightly younger sister, a younger brother who apparently has Down syndrome, and a much-younger sister. Dana is an identical twin, but still: she and Julia are eldest, then a younger brother with Down syndrome, then a much-younger sister. It seems improbable. I would have expected the family sizes and patterns to show the differences in generations: 8 kids in 1930, 4 kids in 1950, 2 kids in 1980, only child in 2015.
* Except for the insistence on calling Abby by her first name, there is almost nothing to connect her with the Abby of the first book. She's just a bland hardworking put-upon mom who calls everyone "lovey." I guess she was also bland, hardworking, & put-upon in book #1 so it's actually consistent?
This follows the format of the first book with each chapter occurring about 6 months after the previous chapter. It takes the main character from age 7 to 18.
Dana is the daughter of Abby from the Book #1, [b:Better to Wish|16043634|Better to Wish (Family Tree, #1)|Ann M. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358993088s/16043634.jpg|21820893]. Abby's story chronicles her family's ascent from poverty into upper middle class in small-town in Maine in the 1930s/40s, ending her story striking it out on her own in New York City. Dana, then, grows up in New York City in the 1950s/60s. She starts her life glamorously, but once again family fortunes change, and the family finds itself back in Maine. Dana, a budding artist, has New York City in her heart and can't adjust to life in Maine. She's like Stacey + Claudia - Quality.
Because I just can't like Dana. She's serious and sullen. There's no fun about her. She's the daddy's girl of a raging alcholic, and while that's somewhat understandable, it's also incredibly tiresome, especially when she blames her obviously saintly mother for everything that goes wrong.
Again, I question the choice of daughter to base this around. This time, the book follows the interesting rather than boring sister, but it surprises me that the book is following Dana, the iconoclast who is clearly going to cut her family out of her life and move to a completely new area with her bohemian husband, rather than Julia, the close-to-home daughter who will clearly spend the rest of her life living close to the previous generations. But I guess Ann M. has a plan. Maybe Dana will mellow in her old age. But even in this book, it causes its problems; Dana spends so much time away from the rest of the family.
Spoiler
I actually kind of like that Dana reacts poorly to her mother's remarriage to the guy she should have married in Book 1--it's neat to get a different/buzzkill perspective from the POV character on an event which, to readers of book 1, should be the happy ending they've always wanted--but Dana spends hardly any time with Orrin, so it feels like a waste to reintroduce him into the books only to ignore him.Some kinda neat things about this volume:
Spoiler
* While Zander's alcoholism is cartoonishly depicted AND he was kind of a lackluster romantic hero in book #1 anyway--it's sorta clear that Ann M. preferred Orrin all along--I still admire the guts to turn Happy Ending Guy into Incredibly Flawed Dad. I was sort of expecting all dads after the book 1 dad to be perfect because we had seen their love story.
* The family tree structure allows some interesting lessons about adulthood; namely, choices you make when you are 22 will profoundly affect your children to the point of making them people who cause you pain and anguish as an adult by failing to adjust to what you consider "home" because what they consider "home" is the dumb place you lived when you were 22 and failing to adjust to the guy that you consider the love of your life because what they consider "father" is the dumb guy you married when you were 22.
* I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop when Dana actually reads Father because you KNOW that it's a terribly cynical book and that her childlike drawings are used not for heartwarming but for sardonic reasons. It didn't happen but there's still time. Anyway, I guess I like that I have such a strong feeling about Zander's work despite us not being told anything about it really?
Some weird things about this volume:
Spoiler
* Dana's parents are consistently referred to as "Abby" and "Zander" in narration, which feels jarring because books with a tight POV on a kid don't refer to the parents by their first names when they kid doesn't. It's inconsistent, too, because the mom in book 1 isn't called "Nell" except by other adults; to Abby, she's just "Mother." So should Abby be! We get it, we know they are the kids from the first book--it's in all the branding.
* A major character drowns in every book! This should also be in the branding.
* Dana's family pattern follows her mother's almost exactly. In Abby's family, she was the oldest, then a slightly younger sister, a younger brother who apparently has Down syndrome, and a much-younger sister. Dana is an identical twin, but still: she and Julia are eldest, then a younger brother with Down syndrome, then a much-younger sister. It seems improbable. I would have expected the family sizes and patterns to show the differences in generations: 8 kids in 1930, 4 kids in 1950, 2 kids in 1980, only child in 2015.
* Except for the insistence on calling Abby by her first name, there is almost nothing to connect her with the Abby of the first book. She's just a bland hardworking put-upon mom who calls everyone "lovey." I guess she was also bland, hardworking, & put-upon in book #1 so it's actually consistent?
slimikin's review against another edition
1.0
I don't think I've ever encountered a juvenile protagonist so determinedly self-absorbed and judgmental. I thought perhaps she'd mature or grow up a little in the course of the book, but no such luck, and since the rest of the book didn't do much to illuminate the experience of growing up in 50s- or 60s-era New York, I'm not entirely sure what I was supposed to get out of this particular installment of the Family Tree series. Here's hoping the next book has a little more to offer....
matamgirl's review against another edition
2.0
This was disappointing. I understand the premise of these is that we are meeting four generations of women and so Dana is Abby's daughter but Dana is frankly a spoiled brat. Abby's story had a heart but this felt rushed. Dana's relationship with her twin was perplexing and confusing. Her relationship with her mother was never explored and I think it is a bit much to make the heroine of the previous novel practically a villain in this one.
I know this could have been better because the first one was. I will be reading the next two but I hope Francie is more likeable than her mother.
I know this could have been better because the first one was. I will be reading the next two but I hope Francie is more likeable than her mother.