Sisterhood Everlasting is the epilogue of the well-read Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. Somehow I missed the pre-release hype and the initial release of the book. Thank goodness a friend texted me informing me of its existence.
I liked the Sisterhood series. The series ended, I thought, favorably enough so though a fifth book was enjoyable to read, it really wasn't necessary. While the previous four are written about teenagers for a mostly teenage crowd, this epilogue is definitely for a more mature crowd. I usually hate lumping a series of books into one homogenous group, but I'm going to do it here and refer to the first four as simply the Sisterhood. Go with it and hate me later.
The time gap between end of book four and the epilogue is about a decade. A lot can happen in ten years, even to fictional people. It's hard not to envy the Septembers, four friends born in the same month, in the same area, to mothers in the same prenatal class. The idea seems corny, but the concept works for the story. I think part, if not most, of the reason these books were so popular, is the unshakeable friendship of these girls. Their trials and tribulations pale in comparison to the bond of friendship that trumps the bonds each of these girls have with their own siblings.
Until tragedy strikes. After a decade, the inevitable happened. All four girls went separate ways. This was already in motion during book four. What's more surprising is that when their worlds all get rocked, the friends, for seemingly the first time, don't seek refuge and support with each other. In fact, they all turn outward and communication between them is almost nonexistent. That was the single problem I had with the book. It took so long for the friends to reunite that it lacked the breeziness and friendly dialogue that I so loved about the original books.
Bee's behavior is most predictable. She was always my least favorite of the four. Taking off on her flowered bike, she hopes to combat grief and deal with other personal problems by taking California head-on. Although I'm sure she's not the first think so, California never fixes anyone's problems.
My biggest disappointment was Carmen. I think her life went in the least expected direction, with her becoming a fake actress that crowd Hollywood's, or in her case New York's, streets. She tries to hide her Latino heritage by passing herself off as white, losing herself in the meantime. Her fiance couldn't be more wrong for her and I spent most of the book rooting for their breakup.
Lena has always been my favorite. If anything, she's predictable and consistent, sometimes frustratingly slow. But I like that the 'beautiful' friend is also the introspective, quiet, insecure one. She's more real that way. I thought I would have been annoyed by the endless story of Kostos, but Lena's happiness is made it worthwhile. Good for you Lena.
A worthwhile read, even if the story was so unexpected. I cried, felt the shock, and wished I could hug each of the girls in turn and tell them its okay. These books are the only ones I've read by Ann Brashares, although I know she's got quite a few others on the market. Her writing in the epilogue definitely beat the previous four, but whether thats from experience or she just writes better for an older crowd, I'm not sure.
I read the entire book in one sitting. Definitely worth the evening at home.
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