{Review} Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares

Now Tibby, Lena, Carmen, and Bridget have grown up, starting their lives on their own. And though the jeans they shared are long gone, the sisterhood is everlasting.

Despite having jobs and men that they love, each knows that something is missing: the closeness that once sustained them. Carmen is a successful actress in New York, engaged to be married, but misses her friends. Lena finds solace in her art, teaching in Rhode Island, but still thinks of Kostos and the road she didn’t take. Bridget lives with her longtime boyfriend, Eric, in San Francisco, and though a part of her wants to settle down, a bigger part can’t seem to shed her old restlessness.

Then Tibby reaches out to bridge the distance, sending the others plane tickets for a reunion that they all breathlessly await. And indeed, it will change their lives forever—but in ways that none of them could ever have expected.

As moving and life-changing as an encounter with long-lost best friends, Sisterhood Everlasting is a powerful story about growing up, losing your way, and finding the courage to create a new one.

Title: Sisterhood Everlasting {The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, book 5}

Author: Ann Brashares

Publication: 14th June 2011

Publisher: Random House

349 pages

My review

I loved The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants saga. When I was younger I read those books and re-read them again and again. I was a huge fan and grew up with these novels. That's why when I heard about this fifth book I was really excited but, at the same time, I was afraid to be disappointed. I was not dissatisfied with this book but you should know that it's totally different from the others.

The plot is more mature and adult. Indeed, the girls have grown up, they are now adults with adults problems and, between jobs and relationships, they have a lot to cope with. I think that some people may be a bit disappointed as the tone is really not the same. It's sometimes a bit predictable ; after a few pages I was expecting this kind of things and this ending, but it is nonetheless compelling. A few threads are left pending so perhaps that means there will be a sequel when the girls are 40 ;)

At first, I had some difficulties to dive in the story. The beginning didn't feel natural for me, I don't quite know how to explain this, but it seemed forced. It may be because I hadn't read this serie for a long time and I didn't remember the ending of the fourth book. The beginning is a bit slow-paced until a huge twist, which is totally unpredictable. After this, I finally dived in the story and was hooked till the end of the book.

Tibby was always the one I had difficulties to relate with and sympathise. But in this book, especially near the end, I really loved her, and she became my favorite of the four girls. In the previous four books, my favorite was, without a doubt, Lena but in Sisterhood Everlasting her story, and her mistakes, are a bit deja vu. In fact, even if they are nearly 30, the four girls make the same mistakes as when they were younger, they have barely changed and have learned little from their previous experiences, so this part of the story annoyed me a little.

Ann Brashares' writing is smooth and very pleasant. It's perhaps a bit less funny than in the other ones but it's still really enjoyable. If you're nearly as sentimental and emotional as me you should perhaps start thinking to have a box of tissues next to you. Emotions and feelings are well-described and central to the story. This fifth book is not as light as the four others: it's about difficult choices, griefs and growing to become adult. But, on the bright side, it's also about love and friendship. There is a lot of pain and sorrow in this book as it may happen in life and the girls have to struggle and fight against sadness and misery.

To sum up, even if the beginning was a bit difficult for me, the rest of the book is really compelling and entertaining. It targets an adult audience, not for content reasons, but because the girls are now approaching their thirties and they have different concerns. It was perhaps not my favorite one but it was nonetheless a great read and I was happy to come up with the four girls again. Sisterhood Everlasting is moving, sometimes heartbreaking and bittersweet, but it made me think about life and reminded me of good memories.