Review ALL the Books: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Vol 1

I basically took a gap year off mangas for my 1 Year, 100 Books Challenge 2012, because it didn't count mangas. Now I've read this series before but the last one was about 2 years ago and it was volume 11-12-13-14-ish where it had fallen into a slump, either way, I can't remember so I restarted the whole series. I can't remember the original reason I picked up this series, I just knew my library had plenty of volumes of it and the cover art was coolio (shame on me, judging books by covers, but like art matters in mangas) also I had finished reading Chobits recently, so checking out more CLAMP seemed good. I remember the first time I read this volume I was literally hooked from page 1, this pretty much happened to me the 2nd time around but not quite as strong because it was a re-read. It was legitimately the best start to a manga I had ever read, now that position goes to Death Note, Vol. 1: Boredom, but regardless the first volume is exceptional! The rest of the series(that I have read so far) is great (except the aforementioned slump), although I like the start better, and is the best work by CLAMP that I have read. This time I do intend to finish the whole series and we'll see what my recommendation is then. Reasons why this volume was so fantastic are mainly the art, and the strong hooking storyline. 

General Info: 
Title: Tsubasa Resrvoir Chronicle, Vol 1
Mangaka: CLAMP
Date of Completion: 6/1/2012
Rating: 5 stars

The Plot:
The story starts here so a lot of important events to the overarching storyline take place here, in the slump mentioned above the important events get few and far between so its less likeable). I know each world has its own plotline, which I think can carry away from the overarching story as on the whole these stories are not important unless a significant fact to the real story is in there, they only display the groups skills and knowledge, and the lengths Syoaran would go to to save Sakura. But since this is located in the start not the travelling between worlds, its more concentrated and that I really like. The actual story itself is pretty impacting, its fascinating to see how much Syaoran will do to get Sakura back. And don't you go thinking Sakura's some personality-less damsel letting Syoaran do all the work, she isn't given much of a choice she's unconscious for the most part of the volume. You're also left wondering what's the reason behind Sakura's reaction and Fai's needing to leave (I liked Chi's cameo).  I didn't notice the first time around but Syoaran and Sakura's love dialogue can get a bit cheesy at points, but that might be due to translation. What you see of the characterisation so early on is great, and you can't help but to be impressed by Syaoran's determination. 

The Art:
The art only strengthens these traits and really exoresses it, I really like the art style used by CLAMP in Tsubasa and Chobits (better than the art style in their other works) the facial features are simple but very effective in looking good and expressing emotions, while the clothing and hair can be as detailed and delicate as they like. A great example is in the prologue, that's where my hooked feelings began and they only grew throughout this volume. You can really see the pain, longing and desperation on their faces, the simplicity of the fingers trying to touch, then you see the glass wall, then the tube, and when she falls, you have got to know whats going on. Even if the only word said in the prologue is a name, it still makes an impact, even more so in my case. Although the anime gets that sequence pretty much accurate but in colour, the movement and colour takes away from the simple but powerful prologue in the manga.

Review ALL the Books: Wonder

Ahh I completed my 1 Year, 100 Books Challenge!!! and if I made this the last book of the Challenge instead of The God of Small Things (I had both already borrowed) I would have probably finished the challenge on Christmas as opposed to the last day :/ in fact I probably would have picked this if it fit in my bag. Instead I saved this book for the long drives to and from Melbourne, but it took less than a car trip to finish it (leaving me bookless for the return D:). But the 1 Year, 100 Books Challenge is finished, and 2013 brings a new challenge and this is the first entry more info on the challenge here. Unless you have a problem with heartwarming and happiness in books, I recommend this book to everyone. 

General Info:
Title: Wonder
Author: R.J. Palacio
Date of Completion: 1/1/2012
Rating: 5 stars

Summary:
August 'Auggie' Pullman is just an ordinary kid, or he would like to be. No supernatural abilities this time, its an extraordinarily disfigured face that's stopping him. We join him and the people close to him through his first year in the real world, year 5. Its a heartwarming tale of adjusting and accepting: Auggie and his sister to a new school, his classmates, and the school staff to him, and Jack, Summer and Miranda to new social standings. And although its technically a childrens book, its suitable for all ages, I read it, enjoyed it and immediately passed it onto my sister (aged 11), I have also heard adults who've liked it, one of which is the brilliant Rick Riordan.

The Characters:
Auggie - an great lead character, who isn't unusual in personality but still interesting to read about. He has his quirks and all his decisions and reactions are understandable and realistic. His perspective on his adjusting to his new situation is great to read about. He acknowledges that people change around him, and no one is unaffected, but he doesn't always realise the extent of this.Its great that he isn't just a regular character + a deformed face, he has his own interests too. 

Via - A very understanding and understandable character. Her acceptance that her brother might be rushed off any second and her defensiveness of him is incredibly mature for her age. But she's not going to be pushed over by him and wishes to be her own person not "August's sister", and all of this is very relateable. I completely understood her feelings and reactions to her brother, Miranda's transformation, infatuation with the shy boy, and wanting to refresh her image with the new school.

Jack & Summer - Both break the status quo and become August's friends. This both leads to negative outcomes with their social standings. Summer is your friendly girl, who's wondering when did everyone suddenly grow up? (totally relateable for me, like seriously what happened to Halloween) quite mature for the people she's surrounded with, and all round cool beans. Jack is a well-crafted character who has multiple sides to him, he falls socially even harder than Summer, and he's resilient enough to cope with his mistakes. Both his fallouts and reactions to them are realistic and understandable.

Miranda & Justin - Miranda is Via's ex-bestie, who came back all different after camp. I was a bit irked when she said she had earned the right to call Auggie her brother, like you can say "he basically like my brother", but the way she said it just seemed like "I was great to this kid, Via and I were buds, now I am inserting myself into the Pullman family". I enjoyed her "but no one there to see" chapter, it was really sweet and you emphathize with her. When she explains it all its just like "oh my god! couldn't you just tell her?!?!" but you know, people make mistakes, and this book has that a lot. Justin, ermahgerd, reading his chapter was infuriating, he's not an bad character, the things he says aren't annoying, just the way its written, which is why I'll cover it in the writing section. But I think his part should have been skipped because it doesn't bring much to the table and its a pain to read. Otherwise fine, also his portrait thingy looks like Harry Potter. 

Julian - When you read about the stuff he does, you're just like "He is just a douchebag. Why does he even bother being so mean?" and then you realise there are a whole lot of jerk kids who are unnecessarily mean in all real schools. His character is relistic, his actions are completely feasible, no over-the-top business, no brainwashing of classmates or just trying to off Auggie when he gets too much, it works. He's one of those kids you want tell their parents to teach them better. 

Others - You get Mr Tushman's struggle with trying to keep everyone happy with Auggie's arrival, what a sweet dude. Eddie totally fits the High School bogan to a T. Julian's Mum should just accept the world is not perfect instead of trying to sugarcoat it. And nawww I just adore the supportiveness of the Pullman family, its just so great, they think of whats best for each other :)

The Plot: 
I don't want to be spoilery, but like the plot has a lot of events within that school year, so there's more than the summary. The Bleeding Scream thing made me want to hug Auggie, no one wants friends bitching behind each others backs, but it happens. The Plague thing makes you want to slap some people, because its sick (no pun intended). I felt like crying when **SPOILER ALERT** Daisy died **END SPOILER**. But most of the time I felt like smiling, they all go through a lot they all grow and learn things through these experiences. They learn what matters and I'm just a major sap ok. 

The Writing:
Its split into 10 parts, written in first person from the perspectives of August, Via, Summer, Jack, Justin and Miranda, and somehow the writing from 6 different points of view actually works. All of them are realistic, even though I would imagine an adult writing from 11 yr old's point of view would be hard. It gives a good range of voices and it works well. The except to that is Justin's POV, I mentioned above, it's infuriating to read, like seriously I'd take whiny crappy perfection compaining young adult heroines over this any day. Why u no use punctuation and grammar Justin? Grammar nazis (like myself) will be in agony reading this part, I'd probably just skip it, it doesn't add much, if I were the author I would delete his part, same goes if I was the editor. Its well paced too, like a lot of books I've read seem like 'woah so many things have happened, what?!?! Its only been 2 months, if not less' but this feels like its actual gone for a year. Regardless of its timeframe, it keeps you turning the pages.

Quotes: “Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character. These are the qualities that define us as human beings, and propel us, on occasion, to greatness.” 

“If every person in this room made it a rule that wherever you are, whenever you can, you wil try to act a little kinder than is necessary - the world really would be a better place. And if you do this, if you act just a little kinder than is necessary, someone else, somewhere, someday, may recognize in you, in every single one of you, the face of God.” 

“Now that I look back, I don't know why I was so stressed about it all this time. Funny how sometimes you worry a lot about something and it turns out to be nothing.” 

“The things we do outlast our mortality. The things we do are like monuments that people build to honor heroes after they've died. They're like the pyramids that the Egyptians built to honor the pharaohs. Only instead of being made of stone, they're made out of the memories people have of you.” 

Other: The cover's really interesting, but Auggie won't tell you what he looks like (Via does it for him) I assumed his facial abnormality would be like Prince Zuko's scar.

Unrelated Extra: For them easily amused like myself this is the thing for you, I never knew something so simple could be so entertaining: Koalas to the Max! also the pictures change and are all cute.

Review ALL the Books: About

In 2013, I SpasticSquirrel will be attempting to review every book I read this year. My first year in college and many other things may stop me, but regardless I will try to complete this challenge and you can follow my reading adventures right here, or on my Goodreads account which will be a bit more up to date. Fictional books, mangas and written plays only. Books assigned from school also count.

All reviews for this challenge will be titled "Review ALL the Books: <insert book title>". All spoilers will be warned with either large bold writing or <hide spoilers>. The layout for my Review ALL the Books Challenge reviews is pretty much the same as it was in my previous 1 Year, 100 Books Challenge but I'll give you a recap (given the short size of mangas and plays their reviews won't follow this format and be 1-2 paragraphs long):

Book Cover: Will be of the edition I have read.

Introduction: Me talking about the book in general, why it took me so long to update, etc.

General Info: (not available on Goodreads version)
Book Number:
Title:
Author:
Date of Completion:
Rating: Out of 5 stars

Why I Read it: Reason for reading (on Goodreads this will be the 'Recommended to SpasticSquirrel by' section)

Summary: Plot summary and genre of this book. This will not be on the Goodreads version of my review as the blurbs of the books can already be viewed.

The Characters: I will be talking about my reactions to the characters individually, in groups or as others.

The Plot: My review and feelings towards the plot (different to summary)

The Writing: My review of the writing style and editing of the book.

Other: Optional. Any other comments about this book.

Recommendation: Who I recommend it too, assuming I actually recommend it to someone. (On Goodreads it will be in the 'Recommends it for' section.)

Quotes: Optional. Quotes from the novel. (on Goodreads you can view the quotes I've liked when you 'see review')

Unrelated Extra: Optional. Some unrelated cool thing that I have been getting into recently and wish to share.

1 Year, 100 Books Challenge: The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night-Time

This is part of my 1 Year, 100 Books Challenge, for more info visit this page

Book Number: 14
Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night-Time
Author: Mark Haddon
Date of Completion: 20/1/2012
Rating: 5 stars

I've been waiting to review this book ever since I read it, I personally enjoyed it, but I know it is quite different and it is clearly not for everyone. In fact, I only like it because the way that things were in the novel was justified, and it was very different, if heaps of books were like this, or it wasn't written from an emotionally and mentally challenged person's point of view I would not have liked it. Another huge thing, how the heck can you still say autistic/aspergers people are stupid after reading this book? it shows that they can be extremely smart too (I wouldn't be able to do the prime numbers thing without a calculator, actually I could but it would take ages), they just think in different ways. 

Why I Read It: This book was first recommended to me when I was in Year 6, I haven't gotten many more recommendations for it since but I have heard that it won many awards.

Summary: Upon finding the body of a murdered dog, Christopher decides to write a murder mystery novel and investigate the crime. His investigations lead him to uncover many hidden family issues and learn to deal with them. Ok, that didn't sound very good, but it was good.

The Characters:
Christopher - Is the 'writer' of this novel and he has either autism or aspergers syndrome (it is not specified). It was very interesting reading from his point of view, he does stuff most people wouldn't normally do but it is explained, sometimes when reading you'll be like "Why on Earth did they do that? why couldn't they of..." but you get why he does things most people wouldn't do, because he thinks differently to most people. It's hard to put a personality on him, because personalities are usually shaped by interactions and reactions to other people, and Christopher has a very limited understanding of emotions. He is smart (in a scientific and calculating sense), flighty and a bit unsure of himself and other people, very impulsive and since he can't empathise he misunderstands people.

Christopher's Family - Despite caring for his son, Christopher's father doesn't really understand him. He is quick to anger and he often does rash and harmful things due to this. I think he was a really good addition to the cast, and was a well-developed character who had strengths and weaknesses, but still felt regret for any rash decisions. His mother, from Christopher's memories and the letters seems to be a very kind, patient victim of circumstances, but she also seems exasperated by Christopher's behaviour.**SPOILERS AHEAD** When we meet her she still finds it hard to deal with Christopher's behaviour but she is much more independent and strong-willed. **END SPOILER**

The Shears - Mrs Shears would often help around the Boone household after Mrs Boone left. She is really attached to her dog, Wellington who was murdered at the start of the novel. Mr Shears is an automatic suspect for the murder due to him moving to London suddenly, and his connection to Wellington. Understandably he is quite perturbed by Christopher's sudden arrival and isn't very patient with him

Others - I wanted to know more about Siobhan she seemed like the character who actually understood Christopher and there were so many references to her, but we didn't really get to meet her properly. All the characters all fit in to their parts and are believable and realistic.

The Plot:
It has all its twists and turns and it was character-driven. It was not predictable and quickly shifts focus from the dog's murder to family issues. Which is a good thing. The plot changed because of Christopher, not because of the events and it was well planned.

The Writing:
It was in 1st person (it works real well for this book), and it let's you get into Christopher's head really well, it allows you to understand his unusual thought processes and reactions to things and why he does what he does. Occasionally (it may have been on purpose) there would be a phrase which was grammatically incorrect, and was usually to with a verb or tense, for example, I found, 'do groaning' in there. I did like the diagrams and pictures in there and I also liked how the chapters were numbered by prime numbers not 1,2, 3, 4 etc, I did get a bit confused when I couldn't find a chapter 4 though. Other than that there is not much notable about the writing.

Recommedation: 

I know this book will not appeal to a lot of people so I'm going to be specific in my recommendation.  If you simply cannot get it into you head that people with autism/aspergers view the world differently to most other people, then this is not for you. If you think people with disabilities are stupid/worse/asked for it, we then you should definitely not try this book, and maybe you should think about this prejudice and realise that they did not ask for and were born that way/were involved in an accident. If you despise 1st person writing, then this is not for you and frankly this book would be kinda sucky if it wasn't in 1st person. I'd probably say this is for Grade 6+ (inclusive). If you want something different to most books, go for it.

1 Year, 100 Books Challenge: A Kiss in Time

This is part of my 1 Year, 100 Books Challenge for more info on it click here 

Hey, guys its the holidays now, meaning I actually have time to review things (and read more). 


Book Number: 13
Title: A Kiss in Time
Author: Alex Flinn
Date of Completion: 19/1/2012
Rating: 4 stars


Why I Read it: Well I have had no previous experience with Alex Flinn (heck, I didn't even realise she was a female until a week or two after I read this) but my internet searchings have led me to believe that Beastly is quite good (and its based on Beauty and the Beast :3) so I was at this bookstore yes, and then I saw that this mysterious Alex Flinn character also had other books which also happen to be fairytale retellings (I love fairytale/myth retellings! unless they are horrible) so I picked up this and I could tell it was Sleeping beauty - the blurb was like: something something.. Talia something something..kiss Hey, this has got to be Sleeping Beauty...something something... sleeping for centuries yep definitely Sleeping Beauty retelling of Sleeping Beauty I knew it. Personally I wasn't a fan of Sleeping Beauty, it was just a bit too boring, but it is a retelling so they might add something fresh to it (another reason why I adore retellings) and you can't judge an authors merit by 1 book, so if she was a good author this as well as Beastly would be good. So I picked it up. 

Summary: Jack wasn't looking for anything when he stumbles a kingdom with all its members in comatose.  With a kiss he wakes up Talia, and her entire kingdom who has been asleep for 300 years. Now Jack is stuck with a spoilt princess, in a world completely different to the one she left. All this because of a curse and a kiss.


The Characters 
Jack - Average-ish kinda guy, he wasn't really to note-worthy but I guess that was the point. To have some average guys life turned around by this one action. He was nice, likable, funny and pretty realistic. But he has the qualities that good characters should have (motivations, descriptions, relationships, talent, weaknesses etc.). It's sweet how he takes responsibility for Talia even though he doesn't have to and could have just left her there. 

Talia - Was just a nice and thoughtful as a Disney fan would expect of their princesses. So basically she wakes up 300 yrs past her time, so you would expect her to need someone else's help and frankly if she did her own thing she could get into trouble (so all you super-feminists can be quiet about the meaning of Alex Flinn creating a semi-but-totally-justified-damsel-in-distress and how everything is sooo sexist), so what, she needed help and she got it. She genuinely tries to help her people as well as those who have helped her and always sees the best in people and I really felt sorry for her. Also, she couldn't help touching the spindle, it was in the spell, and its kind of annoying how the readers as well as the townspeople blame her for it. I also liked how it kept both the traditional fairytale's names for Beauty in (Talia is the most common, but a lot of versions call her Aurora) but her other 3 middle names are pretty funny, Ludwiga, seriously? 

Malvolia - Well I liked the backstory for her a lot better than the original tale's. I mean seriously, she doesn't get invited to little beauty's christening so she goes and curses her in revenge, to touch a spindle and die, extreme much? Yeah, thought so too. Whereas in this she has a real reason to have revenge on the royal family of Euphrasia. It's also creepy how she spies on Talia as a flower and all. 

Others - Jack's dad and sister were interesting, they didn't get along too well with Jack but they still looked out for him and wanted what was best for him. I also found the commentary on beauty today from a modelling perspective today to be interesting: Talia is pretty much the image of beauty but they'd rather take the sister (forgot the name sorry) who is tall, thin and not curvy at all, although she is plain looking. I also relate to Talia's disgust at the slutty girls who hit on Jack. 

The Plot: 
Was much more deep than in the original story, like I said I like Malvolia's backstory it makes things so much better. The changed curse makes things a whole lot more complicated, and the fact that it took 300 years for her true love to come does as well. Really its the nice fairy's (forgot the name) fault that the kingdom is in such a rut. The death of a princess would be sad, but the kingdom could go through it, but being forgotten waking up 300 yrs into the future is pretty disastrous. I also like that never-ending hill part. And this was definitely much better then the old rape unconscious girl, get her pregnant with twins, she gives birth to twins in sleep version - much better. 

The Writing: 
Was relateable, easy to understand, funny and realistic. It helps explain why Jack kisses some random unconscious girl, which I never got in the original versions. If you hate 1st person, then this probably isn't the book for you.


Recommendation: For anyone who loves fairytale retellings, and doesn't mind 1st person. Or fans of Alex Flinn's other stuff.

1 Year, 100 Books Challenge: Lola and the Boy Next Door

This is part of my 1 Year, 100 Books Challenge, for more info on that veiw here.

Well after the amazingness that was Anna and the French Kiss I just had to pick up this. And it was good, not great like Anna was, but still. I'm still looking forward to Isla and the Happily Ever After Lola's a real personality and ain't Cricket just such a sweetheart. Sorry for the huge delays but I had College which takes priority (but it's the holidays now so i should be able to up my reading and reviewing speed) and also it gets hard to review books when you've read so many others more recently. 


Why I Read It: Because I adored Anna and the French Kiss.


Summary: Lola is a budding designer, she doesn't believe in fashion but costume, the more expressive the better. Everything is going fine until her life is turned around when the Bell twins return to town and Cricket steps out of his sisters shadow, and back into Lola's life.

The Characters:
Lola - Is a budding designer who believes in costume rather than fashion and is never seen in the same costume twice. A lot of people are saying that people like Lola simply do not exist, I beg to differ. There a lot of girls who aim to not wear the same outfit twice, a lot of girls who would love to wear a ballgown to their prom, a lot of people are very into costuming (I know I fit in with the latter two) and Lola is like a combination and exaggeration of these not-rare traits. It's great to have a heroine with a unique personality, I mean even the fantastic heroines seem pretty much the same so it was good to have someone like Lola, who although she was not strong had a great unique personality and believable weaknesses. 

Cricket - Ain't he just so sweet? So pretty much he is the boy who's always been under the shadow of his twin sister's ice-skating talent, and his whole life has been shaped by that. He and Lola used to be best buddies until his sister got jealous and kind of broke them up, and know the two have got confusing feelings for eachother. It's way cute how he has liked Lola for ages, and it's also cute how he made her all these presents with his engineering talent. Some people are complaining about his name bur seriously, Cricket Bell has a nice ring to it, and I think it's adorkable (and the fact that cricket is also a type of bug isn't really off-putting for me). I also like how he feels that he can't be a proper inventor, despite his obvious talent for it, because his ancestor (Alexander Graham Bell) stole other peoples inventions. Before I had read this book, it sounded like Cricket was going to take over as my new book boyfriend (which is still Hale from Heist Society series), but he hasn't.

Max - Well my douchebag senses were tingling from the get-go for this guy - I mean, hot rocker boyfriend, age-difference (which wouldn't have been a big deal if Lola wasn't a teen and he an adult), the fact that he is good and considerate because he doesn't smoke pot and cigarettes before he gets to see her parents, puh-lease, of course this guy is not an awesome boyfriend unless he undergoes some sort of transformation. I also get what others are saying about him being villain-ised through out this novel, but I reckon he was that way all along, but he just hid it from Lola, but when Cricket came along he just couldn't hide that side of him.

Others - Lola's parents the gay couple were pretty cool, I mean they were gay but they didn't go and flaunt their gayness and act all special and different because of it (which is good because gays are just any other people, so they shouldn't act different because of it). Calliope was also realistic and she had weaknesses and good qualities like all characters should have (some more minor characters tend to miss out on them).It's cool how we get to see how Anna and Etienne are doing now but I have to agree with most people, Etienne is acting differently.

The Plot:
The plot was not too special, pretty basic really (with some quirkier characters) but it was carried quite well with realistic emotions and actions. People are saying its just the same Anna and the French Kiss except with Etienne as the main character and female, and fine, if you want to go into the real basics it is. But books are more than just that,and this is saying that Max is like Ellie (who was for all intents and purposes nice, while Max was not) and Cricket is like Anna (when Cricket has been part of Lola's life a lot longer, and frankly Anna is more interesting) and the friends and families of Lola and Etienne are entirely different. Also, the title totally gives away the outcome of the book, that is my main (and one of very few) problem with Stephanie Perkins' books, the titles, even though they aren't really her fault they are still majorly off-putting.

The Writing: 
Was pretty similar to the writing style of Anna and the French Kiss, ie. funny, fresh, enjoyable, teen-talk-ish, but still descriptive and not-lacking in techniques. Btw, this is in 1st person but it is done well, I don't know some people find all 1st person sloppy (even the good stuff). 


Recommendation: For all fans of Anna and the French Kiss, which you should probably read first (see my review of it for the recommendation. Warning, this is a bit different. 


Quote: Ok, this one is an essay of a quote but it's just so dang romantic that I had to stick it in. 
“Once upon a time, there was a girl who talked to the moon. And she was mysterious and she was perfect, in that way that girls who talk to moons are. In the house next door, there lived a boy. And the boy watched the girl grow more and more perfect, more and more beautiful with each passing year. He watched her watch the moon. And he began to wonder if the moon would help him unravel the mystery of the beautiful girl. So the boy looked into the sky. But he couldn't concentrate on the moon. He was too distracted by the stars. And it didn't matter how many songs or poems had already been written about them, because whenever he thought about the girl, the stars shone brighter. As if she were the one keeping them illuminated. 

One day, the boy had to move away. He couldn't bring the girl with him, so he brought the stars. When he'd look out his window at night, he would start with one. One star. And the boy would make a wish on it, and the wish would be her name. 

At the sound of her name, a second star would appear. And then he'd wish her name again, and the stars would double into four. And four became eight, and eight became sixteen, and so on, in the greatest mathematical equation the universe had ever seen. And by the time an hour had passed, the sky would be filled with so many stars that it would wake the neighbors. People wondered who'd turned on the floodlights. The boy did. By thinking about the girl.” -Cricket Bell, Lola and the Boy Next Door

1 Year, 100 Books Challenge: The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

This book is part of my 1 Year, 100 Books Challenge, for more information visit this page. 

Sorry for taking so long between reviews, but I've got college and seriously I don't want to fail it. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood is the sequel to the popular The Sisterhood of Travelling Pants by Ann Brashares. Make sure that you read my review of it because I do not want to repeat myself, here's the link. I will be doing my review for this differently to my usual reviews, in the same style as I did for The Sisterhood of Travelling Pants, and 3 Willows. Although it wasn't as strong as the first book, I still enjoyed reading about the Septembers further adventures.


Book Number: 11

Title: The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

Series: The Sisterhood of Travelling Pants, book 2

Author: Ann Brashares

Date of Completion: 16/1/2012

Rating: 4 stars

Why I Read It: I read the first one and I liked it.

Summary: After the brilliant journeys the previous summer the Sisterhood girls decide they should spend the Pants magic only on summers. Tibby is at a new film school and is short of friends. Lena at home and is still pining over Kostos, the wonderboy from last summer. After discovering some letters from her grandmother that her father hid from her, Bridget decides to visit and ask more about her deceased mother.  Carmen's mum is getting back in the dating game, and Carmen isn't sure how to react to that. Another great summer of the travelling pants.

The Characters and their Plots:
Tibby - I absolutely adored Tibby's story in the first book, but I missed Bailey, she brought the magic to it. Regardless Tibby's story is interesting and worthwhile. She learns a thing or two about friendship and fitting in and to consider others feelings more. Tibby is still the girl that she was in the previous book: sarcastic, witty and bored but you can definitely see that she has been changed by Bailey.

Bridget - You can tell Bridget is not the same after Eric, if you couldn't tell in the last book, you can certainly tell now. She ain't all sparky and confident, the worlds not her oyster anymore. She takes on a new persona, new name, new hair, and new personality. Her plot is great, she finds a lot about herself while being someone else, and learns a lot more about her deceased mother. I love it how the Pants stop fitting Bridget as she is not being herself. 

Lena - Lena is still pining over Kostos, and frankly quite annoying. Of course leaving a newly-discovered love behind overseas, is heck hard and obviously your feelings aren't going to disappear cleanly as soon as you hop on the plane. Still, Lena's pining seems a bit much, oh well, this is very relate-able there are many people are still pining for lost loves of varying degrees. EDIT: For any of you who read this before the edit, I'm sorry I made this huge rant about Lena losing her virginity, which I found out while reading the 4th book, never happened, sorry, I was heck confused though, stupid vague writing (I could barely tell when Bridget lost hers and I totally misread this part) anyway, enough about that, it doesn't end out too well anyways.

Carmen - I can understand the confusion and annoyance that Carmen felt, like if my mum started acting like a girly teen with a crush I would be very annoyed (that would be freaky, I hope that never happens!). Again Carmen's story is relate-able to a lot of people and her emotions are easy to understand and she's the same girl we know and love. 

Other Characters in Tibby's Story - Nawwww Brian is so sweet, I love how they met because he was a loser, but now he is fast on his way to becoming Tibby's boyfriend. It's good to see a bit more of Tibby's family as well. I miss Bailey though, she was great.

Others in Bridget's Story - I don't have to much to say about these, they were all fine, I liked her grandma and Billy.

Others in Lena's Story - I like Effie **SPOILERS AHEAD:** and it's sad that Bapi died **END SPOILERS**. But my gssh, Kostos, how could you do this, if you love Lena as much as you say you do, **SPOILERS AHEAD:** then don't date other people while still together, especially don't *bleeping* screw her after your second date. Don't tell your stupid sap stories and say you love Lena, after you got some other girl pregnant. Just don't, luckily he learnt his lesson kinda and isn't screwing girls straight away anymore **END SPOILERS** then don't be such a friggin' jerk to her. Oh well, I still have hope - Lena and Paul.

Others in Carmen's Story - David and Porter were both good additions to the story and it's great to be able to explore Christina's character more and see her relationship with Carmen more. It's funny in a good way, how Krista is trying to be like Carmen now, and it's fantastic that Carmen and Paul are good friends now.

The Writing:

Is basically the same as in the previous book, I do love the photo at the end, where it turns out to be the four of their mothers in jeans, it was just a really magical moment. 

Recommendation: If you have read the Sisterhood of Travelling Pants and you enjoyed it, you should already want to read this, so go ahead.

Quote: “There are two kinds of people in this world. The kind who divide the world into two kinds of people and those who don't.”