Description from Goodreads
As their lives take them in different directions, Lena, Tibby, Carmen, and Bridget discover many more things about themselves and the importance of their relationship with each other. The fourth book in the bestselling young-adult series, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, finds the girls finished with their freshman year of college and experiencing a bevy of quandaries involving sex, relationships, self-esteem, and growing up. Lena is finally getting over Kostos when she meets the wildly talented Leo in her painting class, while Bee's archeological dig in Turkey involves a very appealing professor, who also happens to be married. Carmen's depression isn't helped by her new friend, Julia, and Tibby's decision to sleep with Brian brings on consequences she never dreamed of. Though the magical pants take a backseat in this stirring drama, they ultimately bring the girls together.
My Review
I'm not sure how it happened, but this is both my favorite and least favorite.
Maybe because I know where one of the girls stories is going in the last book. Maybe because I really, really didn't want Bridget to kiss that professor. Maybe because, in spite of everything, I'm not a Kostos fan, but then again, I really do like them together. Or maybe because Carmen is a huge idiot.
Either way, it was entertaining, and even though I didn't like those other things, I laughed and cried while reading this book.
This book takes place the summer after their first year of college.
Carmen is doing theater camp with probably one of the worst young women characters I've read in YA in a long time. (As in, she had no redeeming qualities, at all.)
Lena is in a summer art program and meets Leo, and essentially becomes his muse and he hers.
Bridget is off on a dig.
And Tibby spends the summer thinking she's pregnant, not being pregnant, and ending her relationship with Brian.
Of all the parts of this book, I liked the growth Carmen had, but I hated that she was so oblivious. I get not seeing what was right in front of you, but how many times did her instructors and fellow actors have to give her the hint that this girl was a horrible person?
I'm trying hard not to give too much away regarding the other girls, but even though I love/hated this book, I still gave it 4 stars on Goodreads.
You can purchase a copy of this book for Kindle here, or a physical copy here. Or, pick up a copy from your local library, like I did!
FTC: I borrowed this book from my local library. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This post does contain Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.
Description from Goodreads
The Pants first came to us at the perfect moment. That is, when we were splitting up for the first time. It was two summers ago when they first worked their magic, and last summer when they shook up our lives once again. You see, we don’t wear the Pants year-round. We let them rest so they are extra powerful when summer comes. (There was the time this spring when Carmen wore them to her mom’s wedding, but that was a special case.)
Now we’re facing our last summer together. In September we go to college. And it’s not like one of those TV shows where all of us magically turn up at the same college. We’re going to four different colleges in four different cities (but all within four hours of one another—that was our one rule). We’re headed off to start our real lives.
Tomorrow night at Gilda’s we’ll launch the Pants on their third summer voyage. Tomorrow begins the time of our lives. It’s when we’ll need our Pants the most.
My Review
These books really do keep getting better!
Book three follows the girls on that summer before college- that summer where you really see your friends drifting apart even though you're longing to hold on, when you're preparing to become who you will be, and when you're basically figuring out who you are as a person separate from school, friends, and family.
Tibby spends the summer finally coming around to her true feelings for Brian... thank God!
Carmen takes care of Lena's grandmother, who is recovering from the loss of both husband and country.
Lena is trying to go to art school even though her parents don't approve.
And Bridget is at soccer camp where she coaches with Eric, the boy she lost her virginity to, and who basically broke her in the first novel.
For once, I wasn't super annoyed by Carmen throughout this whole book. She was pretty much the only one that figured out Lena's grandmother and why she was so unhappy.
But now Tibby is starting to annoy me slightly. They really are like real friends at this point.
I really, really enjoyed reading the descriptions of Lena's portraits. I could practically see them right before my eyes.
I think Bridget's story was probably my least favorite- she did have growth, but I just wasn't as into reading her pining but not pining over Eric.
I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads. Overall, I did really enjoy this book, and want to continue and finish the series.
You can purchase a copy of this book for Kindle here, or a physical copy here. Or, pick up a copy from your local library, like I did!
FTC: I borrowed this book from my local library. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This post does contain Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.
Description from Goodreads
“Light and romantic," raved The New York Times of the second novel in the bestselling Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series by Ann Brashares, author of The Here and Now.
With a bit of last summer’s sand in the pockets, the Traveling Pants and the sisterhood who wears them—Lena, Tibby, Bridget, and Carmen—embark on their second summer together.
“Fits like a favorite pair of pants.” —USA Today“A great summer read.” —The Sacramento Bee
“As comfortable as an old pair of jeans.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred
My Review
This was much better than the first Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants book.
The girls are just one summer older, but seem infinitely wiser. Lena is sympathetic, Tibby is introspective, and Bridget is the epitome of growth in a character. The only character who is pretty much the same is Carmen- she's still a brat, and immature.
But then I remind myself of the type of teenager I was when I saw my mother dating, and, although I still think Carmen is being selfish, I see more of where she is coming from.
Bridget travels to visit her grandmother whom she barely remembers but starts to remember pieces of once she is there. But she doesn't tell her grandmother that she's her- she goes by a different name. Of course, her grandmother knows who she is the whole time. (I do not consider this a spoiler- if you don't pick up on that, I can't help you.)
I feel like Bridget's growth was the most profound, and the most real. She is still dealing with losing her mother, and losing her virginity as well. She left her one true love, soccer, because of not being able to cope, and she comes back to herself in such a beautiful way.
Lena broke up with Kostos, and spends a majority of the book mourning that loss, and then he comes back, they spend an amazing couple of weeks together... and then he is just gone. She also deals with the loss of someone much greater than Kostos, and I cried so much when I read that part.
There is a reason Kostos is gone, and I'm just excited to see where Lena goes next.
Tibby takes a film course over the summer, and makes friends that lead her to be someone that I really didn't like, but being inside her head definitely made me feel for her wishing for acceptance. She is still thinking about Bailey, but not wanting to think about Bailey. She still misses her hamster.
Knowing what I know happens at the end of this series (I was spoiled by the internet and its inconsiderate masses, but I don't blame them because I have no clue how I'll handle life when it happens) makes me really sensitive and keyed-in to all of Tibby's feelings about everything.
And Carmen? Well, her mother is dating, and she is hating life through most of this book. But, eventually, she grows up and accepts that she is going off to college and her mother needs her own life.
Overall, I really, really liked this story so much. I thought the character development was beautiful, and so real. It reminded me a lot of high school and my friends, and how we felt about everything. I can see some of my friends in every girl, and it really makes me wish I had read this when it first came out, and I could have related to it from a present perspective (since this book came out the April before I graduated high school).
I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads.
You can purchase a copy of this book for Kindle here, or a physical copy here. Or, pick up a copy from your local library, like I did!
FTC: I borrowed this book from my local library. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This post does contain Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.
Description from Goodreads
Carmen got the jeans at a thrift shop. They didn’t look all that great: they were worn, dirty, and speckled with bleach. On the night before she and her friends part for the summer, Carmen decides to toss them. But Tibby says they’re great. She'd love to have them. Lena and Bridget also think they’re fabulous. Lena decides that they should all try them on. Whoever they fit best will get them. Nobody knows why, but the pants fit everyone perfectly. Even Carmen (who never thinks she looks good in anything) thinks she looks good in the pants. Over a few bags of cheese puffs, they decide to form a sisterhood and take the vow of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants . . . the next morning, they say good-bye. And then the journey of the pants — and the most memorable summer of their lives — begins.
My Review
I'm obviously too old to have read this book for the first time.
Let me explain- I am a huge fan of the movies, but I never got around to reading the books. But when I found out there might be a "final" movie in the series, I decided I wanted to read them. So I requested the first book from my library, and picked it up, really excited about reading these.
... and it was cute. But it wasn't life altering or amazing, or this profound thing that people have been telling me about for years.
I found Carmen to be a complete brat, and Lena to be a snob (I get that she was supposed to be shy, and as a kind of shy person myself, I should have felt sympathy for her, but I didn't). I felt really bad for Bridget, with everything she was going through emotionally, and, of course, I cried with Tibby.
It figures that my favorite character from the movie, Lena, would be my least favorite in the book. And it also figures one of my least favorite, Bridget, would be the most sympathetic in the book.
But Tibby is pretty much the same. And Carmen is just... okay, I get the situation, but I definitely felt more sorry for her situation in the movie than the book.
I didn't mean for this to be a huge comparison of both, and once I'm through to the last book, there won't be anything for me to compare it to. But I definitely would have felt the same about all of the girls. I would have felt sympathy for Bridget and her whole situation with her mom, and wanting attention in the wrong way. I would definitely have thought Carmen overreacted and should have given her Dad a chance to explain things. I would have still been so upset for Tibby. And I definitely would have still not understood Lena just everything about her, pretty much.
The only part I enjoyed about Lena's story was her relationship with her grandfather, that was adorable. Otherwise, I was just reading as fast as I could to get to Bridget and Tibby.
I gave this book three stars on Goodreads. It was a cute, simple read- perfect for a preteen or early teenager, definitely. I'm sure 14 year old me would have given this a solid four stars, but beings as I'm 29 now, I can only look back on my own experiences and give this a solid three.
I will be reading the rest of the series, and hopefully as the girls get older, I'll be able to relate just a little more.
You can purchase a copy of this book for Kindle here, or a physical copy here. Or, pick up a copy from your local library, like I did!
FTC: I borrowed this book from my local library. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This post does contain Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.
Some of you may or may not have a Kindle. I apologize if you don't, but these posts are for anyone with either access to a Kindle or a way to get the app downloaded.
Every month, Amazon sells books for $3.99 or less that typically cost more. I have been able to purchase some really great books from these sales, and always check on the first of the month. I also check their daily deals as often as I can remember.
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld ($1.99 - 80% off print list price)
Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that?
Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license - for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.
But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all.
The choice Tally makes changes her world forever...
Why I'm Recommending It
I've heard so many good things about this series of books, and people recommend them to me all the time. So I think I'm going to go ahead and get it now- what do I have to lose besides $1.99?
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares ($2.99 - 70% off print list price)
Carmen got the jeans at a thrift shop. They didn't look all that great: they were worn, dirty, and speckled with bleach. On the night before she and her friends part for the summer, Carmen decides to toss them. But Tibby says they're great. She'd love to have them. Lena and Bridget also think they're fabulous. Lena decides that they should all try them on. Whoever they fit best will get them. Nobody knows why, but the pants fit everyone perfectly. Even Carmen (who never thinks she looks good in anything) thinks she looks good in the pants. Over a few bags of cheese puffs, they decide to form a sisterhood and take the vow of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants . . . the next morning, they say good-bye. And then the journey of the pants and the most memorable summer of their lives begins.
Why I'm Recommending It
Again, a series of books I am long overdue to read. I have both of the movies and absolutely adore them. Time to pick this up as well!
There are 111 other books available, and all of them will be available at the above reduced prices until the end of February.
FTC: All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links to amazon.com. You can read more about the amazon affiliate program in my disclosure policy.
