★ 3.5 / 5 ★

I can’t believe the first time I read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was when I was in 5th grade—and here I am just finishing the series (I realize there’s a 5th book, but that’s more of an add-on to the series). Either way, this was put off for too long, but I’m glad that it didn’t disappoint.

As always, I connected the most to Lena. As someone who is extremely modest and not too willing to step out of my comfort zone, I felt like cheering for her every time she did something “risky,” because I almost felt like I was watching myself. Ha … not that I would ever do what she did with Leo.
Still.

I loved how raw Bridget was in this one—she’s so relatable with how she prefers to hide her feelings rather than talk about them. Don’t tell me I’m the only one who does that, too.

Carmen and Tibby, as always, weren’t my favorites; however, I learned to enjoy Carmen more. I enjoyed seeing her gain confidence and learn that she’s worth more than keeping “friends” who just pull her down (ahem, Julia). Tibby’s story, too, was entertaining and nerve-wracking—though, not as good as Lena’s or Bridget’s. I felt like it was slow and, quite honestly, I wasn’t a fan of Brian.

Overall, I’m thrilled to have finished this series. It makes me think about my young self and when I “really” started reading books. It was nice remembering that feeling and re-connecting with these characters.

This was the perfect ending to the series. Very well done

November 2015: I feel like the series has gotten formulaic by the end but I am interested in how the later addition fits in.

July 2016: I forgot that the only thing I truly loved when I first read this was the ending to this book because I felt like it was a great end to the series, but it's no longer the ending and now I'm not sure how I feel about this book.

Ehh.
This is the fourth and last (though at the end of the book, the author hints that she may at some future point revisit these girls) of this series. And to be honest, a lot of the book fell flat for me. A lot of the plot lines are the same (especially with Bee, who's storyline was very similar to book 1 which was kind of annoying to me) and to be honest, some of the "angst" that the girls go through was overdone and rather tedious as well.

To me, the only storyline I rather enjoyed and related to was Carmen's. And really, only because of the "been there, done that, don't EVER want to go back there again" factor. Though, I really like Carmen (probably the best of the 4) and really relate to her the best. If I had to pick one of them that was most like me in HS, Carmen would be that (minus the Latino factor LOL).

This book was also WAY more "adult" than the previous three (maybe because they have finished their first year of college...I don't know). I f I was letting my young teen read these, I would try and be prepared for some pretty open and interesting discussions about the books and the activities that take place.

The end was a bummer for me as well. I was really let down in a way. And I don't know how to describe how or why I was let down. I just felt that it was really flat after the first three.

All in all, it was a good book, but not as good as the first three.

YA/T (15+)
Minor language
Minor sexual references

did not like how it was great, expected, etc. for college kids to have sex when it wasn't okay in high school

Read the first three books in the series for sure, but I would reccomend passing this one by. I liked how things ended with the third book. I felt it left things off with good closure and a nice outlook for things to come for all of the girls. This one took me off in directions I would rather not have gone, almost all of the girls did things I felt did not fit with their characters from the first books. This one left things more open endeded than before.

I guess the Traveling Pants series couldn't go on forever, especially once the girls started growing up and starting college. As a whole, I would rate the series 4/5 stars. I liked each of the 4 girls for their unique merits/weaknesses/struggles, and the concept of a magical pair of jeans that fit each one of them was special. The collection of memories in the way of scribbles, patches and whatnot on the pants seemed like a cool 3D scrapbook. It reminded me of a journal that 3 other high school friends and I would trade amongst each other, taking turns to write in it between class periods and homework. We actually had 2 versions of this journal, one started earlier by another friend and returned to her and the other later, me. When I go through the journal that I have, I wish we had treated it a little more like a scrapbook with magazine clippings and photos to preserve more of the visual culture from back then.

In any case, going back to the book... It was definitely more adult than young compared to the previous 3 books, dealing with identity, boundaries, and premarital sex. But I think Brashares tried too hard to make the book relevant to contemporary teen themes that I felt like I was reading a book version of Seventeen. The writing still remained effortless and enjoyable but honestly, I was disappointed with it being as the ending, and the actual ending felt too innocent to reflect the recently past events. However, the movie version may be more fitting for the story since the girls are and look older than their book age.

From Bridget's point of view



[Thursday, February 16, 2012] 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.



I loved the whole series, I read the first 3 books but I wanted to read other things so I took a break and now I am back and I want to finish the last book in the series.

didn’t cry but felt a warm glow in the last 100 pages. saving my tears for sisterhood everlasting. OOH BABY.

Bridget - GIRL. STOP. YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND. YOUR PROFESSOR HAS A FAMILY. STOP STOP STOP. I am so frustrated with her - has she learned nothing?!

Tibby - I understood her freakout about how her first time was basically rape (or at least, I never saw where she said yes) and possible pregnancy. However, I still think she was a little vicious to Brian. And then the whole thing with Effie and Brian and just. No. I was over that storyline really quickly.

Lena - I really wanted her and Leo together. They seemed right to me. But stupid Kostos had to get in the way. I really kind of hate him at this point. But I did feel for her in the whole Tibby/Effie drama. It's hard to choose between your best friend who is basically your sister and your actual sister when you know more about what is going on than your sister maybe does. I just don't know if Effie knew everything like she thought she did.

Carmen - I wanted to punch Julia in the face for Carmen. But I loved seeing Carmen grow into her true self again.

Also, is it bad that I'm kinda glad that the Pants disappeared? Because good Lord they must be disgusting by now. Four summers with four sweaty ass teenage girls wearing them and not washing them? Ew.

I listened to this on audio. This was my least favorite of the 4 books. Please note that there is mature content in this book (sexual content). The author continues with the quotes that aren't even related to the story at each chapter and the changing of POV's without warning continues to be an issue confusing the reader.

This installment was heartbreaking and poignant. I found myself tearing up at many parts, I am unsure if this is because I knew the young lives of the sisterhood were transitioning over to adulthood or if their problems were too relatable. I loved this one because it contains things that almost every young woman must go through and although the book doesn’t offer any shiny panacea to young women problems, it does offer contentedness with things and the way life goes. I think the fourth summer ended exactly the way it should have.