Friday, May 10, 2013

Review: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

ISBN: 9780385730587
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Release Date: September, 2001
Series: The Sisterhood, #1
Page Count: 294 pages

BOOK BLURB:
 "Once there was a pair of pants. Just an ordinary pair of jeans. But these pants, the Traveling Pants, went on to do great things. This is the story of the four friends - Lena, Tibby, Bridget and Carmen - who made it possible."

REVIEW:

What I liked:
  • Very easy read. Short, well written and interesting. Easy to get into and get through.
  • A very honest portrayal of the characters as human beings, as teenage girls. Often, main characters are GOOD, with a few minor blips along the way. This book showed imprefect girls (like in real life) and their mistakes and what they learned from them.
  • Connected to each story, found myself crying through out some of the scenes or laughing out loud while reading in public.
  • Each character was distinct, I always knew which point of view I was reading from.
  • Just a great feel good, girly book. That's not always my favorite kind of book but its good to  have one every once in a while!
 What I didn't like:
  • Being told from four points of view, I wish each part throughout the book was longer than a page. Sometimes it was hard to just jump from PoV to PoV from page to page.
  • Carmen was just an awful character. I felt sorry for her but she was just a pain in the ass, borderline BAD kid. She was manipulative and rude and dishonest. I know this isnt a flaw of the book - this is obviously what the author intended - I just DIDNT like this character.
  • The ending was sort of unexpected and anticlimactic. I expected more I guess. I was getting closer and closer to the end and started thinking - ok, when is it going to start to wrap up?
   
   SUMMARY:

It occurs to me that I was 12 years old when this book was released. And here I am, 23 1/2 years old FINALLY getting around to it. I was already fond of this story going into it, having seen the movies and having read the 4th book (I know, randomly out of place), so it was clear that I was going to like this one. I really enjoyed it, minus some minor hitches throughout, such as the sucky character Carmen that I wanted to slap and tell to grow up! At least she knew she was being a brat. Anyway, I liked this one and I'm surprised because I generally... okay, NEVER read contemporary YA, or chick lit or whatever you want to classify this. I guess I've realized that the disdain I had for contemporary was unfounded and I can definitely start giving more of it a try.

   RATING: ★★★★

I liked this one a lot and would recommend it to anyone who likes YA, contemporary, chick lit, or just saw these movies and enjoyed them. They are cute and fun and enlightening and address difficult subjects in an easy way.

Have any of you read this or at least seen the movies? Do you agree or disagree with the point I've made? Love hearing from you guys!

A.

1 comment:

  1. I love these books! I think they are some of my favorite contemporary books. At least they were the first ones that I tried. Ages ago. I think I picked the first one up in an airport and read it on a flight, which seem appropriate, looking back...

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A.