Review: The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares

ISBN: 9780385731058
Release Date: April 22, 2003
Series: The Sisterhood #2
Page Count: 373 pages
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See past reviews for this series
*Disclaimer - if you havent yet read the first book in the series, please note that this review may have first-book spoilers in it. Please see my past reviews in this series (above) for spoiler-free reviews of each book.

     GOODREADS.COM SYNOPSIS:

"With a bit of last summer's sand in the pockets, the Traveling Pants and the Sisterhood that wears them embark on their 16th summer.
Bridget: Impulsively sets off for Alabama, wanting to both confront her demons about her family and avoid them all at once.
Lena: Spends a blissful week with Kostos, making the unexplainable silence that follows his visit even more painful.
Carmen: Is concerned that her mother is making a fool of herself over a man. When she discovers that her mother borrowed the Pants to wear on a date, she's certain of it.
Tibby: Not about to spend another summer working at Wallman's, she takes a film course only to find it's what happens off-camera that teaches her the most."

     REVIEW:
WHAT I LIKED:

• A little darker than the first book. Sometimes depressing - see below - but overall I think it captured what teenager-hood is really about. About being a person - albeit a young person - with issues and demons and problems just like everyone else.
• Bee's story - it definitely showed the most character development as a whole and it was amazing to watch her grow. Also one of the storylines that made me boo-hoo the most.
• Lena's story was at the same time the most relatable and the most unrelatable story. How many teenagers can say they gave too much of themselves to one boy only to have everything taken away in return? Very many. But also, not many teenage girls can say they've been through the craziness of what happened with Kostos and Lena (sadly enough, I've almost been through this situation, so it really pulled on my heartstrings this time)
• Being a teenager is such a rough time for most people, and this book really shows that in all of its aspects, even the ones that drove me nuts and made me wanna slap a character. Tibby's story was the least dramatic while still being real about succumbing to peer pressure. Overall I really just enjoyed the honesty of the girls' stories. 

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:

• Carmen - in the last book I hated her, and I still hate her, if not more this time. She is absolutely destructive, to herself and to others and she's a nasty kid. Even to her friends, she's a snot.
• The first half of this book is when every character seemed to be dealing with demons they felt they'd never get rid of (which sounds a lot like puberty in real life), but it was so dark and depressing. Dont get me wrong, I love a book that will evoke strong emotions in me but I also like happy things to happen. I was starting to feel down myself after reading it for a while.
• The first half was pretty slow (but thankfully by the middle, I couldnt put it down and finished the second half in almost one day, which is very fast for me)... just wish I didn't have to wait until the middle of the book to get into the groove.

     RATING: ★★★★  (4 stars)

I really, really enjoyed this book. The only thing that kept me from giving it five stars was that it was a little darker than I had hoped it would be, being considered "chick lit", and sometimes bordered on depressing. Still loved it, though, and planning on reading the next one very soon. My favorite story line is Bee's with battling the demons she has and dealing with losing her mom, and of course, Lena & Kostos. As someone who saw the movies, there was one based on the first one and one based on the last one, but none in between, so its awesome to experience all of the craziness happened in the other two books. I've been sucked in and now I want more! Great contemporary read!

Have any of you read this series in its entirety? I really enjoyed the first two so far and can't wait to read the rest. What did you think? Agree or disagree? Let me know your thoughts!

A.