Out of all four of these books, this one is my least favorite, mostly because of the lack of interaction between the main characters. Some of the characters were rather annoying throughout the book, but I do like the ending.

Koniec przygody z rereadem Stowarzyszenia po 14 latach. Nie ma wtopy, seria nie straciła w moich oczach, nie zestarzała się jakoś mocno, ale zdecydowanie czułam, że ciężko mi wykrzesać zrozumienie dla niektórych zachowań dziewczyn. Wątek Leny i Kostosa, który jako nastolatka uwielbiałam, teraz powalił mnie swoim przesadnym patosem. Trochę nie rozumiem, co się stało z Carmen w tym ostatnim tomie. Bridget jak to Bridget - robi coś głupiego, ale wszystko jest OK. I chyba najbardziej przemówił do mnie wątek Tibby. W tym tomie i we wszystkich poprzednich.

I did really enjoy the depth to the characters in this one. I feel as though the writing has grown a lot since the first book. I maybe connected with each character the most this time around. BUT, I thought this book contained soooo many overdone tropes. And they were so transparent and flimsy!

I was so irritated with Bridget's choices that seemed to stem from nothing more than boredom. Teens getting involved with an older, married person is such an overused trope and it's especially frustrating with it isn't used for anything. Not all 30 year olds with families are looking to cheat, I wish that books would stop portraying marriage this way!

I also came down with a case of eye-roll strain from the giant deus ex machina Kostos twist. Puh-lease.

But what I have really mixed feelings on was a scene with Tibby.  I'm not familiar with sex crime laws in 2007, but the scene between Tibby and Brian fits today's definition of rape. They were both drunk (you are unable to GIVE or INTERPRET consent if your mental function is altered by drugs, alcohol, or comatose state - yes, drunkeness is akin to being in a coma in rape laws!) and... here, I will just type it out word for word:

(Brian:)"Do you want to...?"
(Tibby:)"I don't know...."
She loved him. She knew she did.
And then in a moment, simple and pure, they were together in a way they hadn't been before.

Please show me the part where she said yes. Because I saw her say she wasn't sure and then it was happening. Love does not equal consent. Are we supposed to read between the lines and assume more dialogue happened that wasn't shown? Or that more consensual actions happened that weren't described?

Part of me thinks, but they were in a loving relationship and it doesn't even cross her mind if it was rape or not, so no big deal. But the other part of me knows that people are assaulted by someone they know or are romantically involved with way too often and the law doesn't exclude relationships and even marriages from sex crimes.

Honestly, I'm frustrated in myself for continually getting caught up in this kind of crap with books, but I'm even more mad that books keep blurring the lines like this.

I know, I know. "It's 9 years ago though, things are different now." Well 9 years ago I was in college and I promise you these discussions were happening then.

I don't think this was intentional, but I point this type of thing out because this is something I would use to start a discussion with kids if I had them, and what I wish adults had discussed with me when I was younger.

This was by far my least favorite of all the Sisterhood novels. Generally, I really enjoyed this series as a whole, but by the time I got to Forever In Blue, the last book, I was a bit let down by what I expected to finish off the series with a bang.

Forever In Blue is honestly a lackluster attempt to give the Sisterhood one last addition, and by now the characters’ endeavors have dried up and gone stale when the prospect of college and delving into the deep waters of true womanhood could have been such an interesting venture.

Let’s start off with my absolute least favorite part of this novel, the decline of Bridget Vreeland.

All throughout the prior three books, I was oddly enchanted by the charming, athletic, mischievous, and hypnotic Bridget. She has a deeply intriguing past with trauma and missing pieces of the puzzle that is her broken family, she’s also fun, free-spirited, supportive, immensely talented, and I think I probably loved her the most out of all the girls. That’s why I was extremely disappointed by Bridget’s parts of this book. While I admired her drive to bring her father and brother back out into the world and attempt to piece her remaining family back together, as well as enjoyed watching her explore a newfound passion of her fossil digging stuff in lieu of soccer, Bee’s feelings and romance with Peter were what let me down so drastically. While I understand and am glad that Bee relents when she witnesses Peter’s wife and children firsthand, they still dip their toes into the dangerous waters of an affair. With Bee’s loyalty, I was sure she wouldn’t dare step too close after she learned the man she was attracted to was married with kids, especially with her possession of a boyfriend of her own, Eric, who she had coveted in particular for quite awhile, and even more especially after she refused to stir anything up with Eric after he told her about his girlfriend and held true to that promise until he was broken up with her. That’s why it puzzles me to my core that Bee would kiss and nearly go farther with a man who she knew had a family of his own. While I’m glad she eventually backpedals from this decision, it still confuses me and seems to be a bit of a veering off path from the good-hearted continuity of her original character.

Next, Tibby and her pregnancy scare. Tibby is usually my least favorite of all the girls to read, so I didn’t expect much from this book, but Tibby’s stubbornness and distance from all her loved ones was frustrating and eventually boring to read. Yes, I understand the frightening prospects of an accidental baby, but for me Tibby takes it a step too far when she totally avoids her friends and family as well as Brian, eventually even breaking up harshly with him without giving him much of any plausible reasons. Then, when Effie comes to Tibby asking for her permission to date Brian — a very considerate thing to do, I thought, when she could’ve just asked Brian if he was broken up with Tibby and asked him out when he said yes — Tibby suddenly is overcome by her desperateness to get him back. Just because Effie wants to go out with him? Yes, I acknowledge that Effie is a wanderer and a bit of a flirt and it most probably would not have lasted very long, but it was still something Effie wanted and who was Tibby to get in the way of that? I think Tibby and a Brian were good together only because I liked Brian’s character — sweet and sensitive, albeit a tad boring at times — and didn’t want him to be sad. Anyways, Tibby just seems to be something of a constant disappointment, so while I didn’t like her storyline, it really didn’t come as a surprise to me.

Third, Lena. I liked Lena the best in the movies (which sadly I watched before I read these books, I know, I know), which was why I was disheartened by her character throughout the whole series, particularly in relation to Kostos. ‘Sweet, shy, and beautiful’ Lena had such potential to be a lovable and even complex character, but unfortunately fell flat when most of her plot lines consisted of pining after, having her heart broken by, and eventually running back to Kostos, her never-ending-love interest. This is a tiring storyline and romance, and by the time Forever In a Blue rolled around, I was thoroughly exhausted by the constancy of the Lena/Kostos thing as a whole, and virtually detested Kostos. This is a man Lena barely even knows, and falls madly in love with in the first book after a few chance encounters and a couple exchanges with little to no words even spoken, especially on her part. Lena could have had a couple avidly interesting storylines but in the end they all fell flat with the ultimate inclusion of Kostos, or at least him being mentioned throughout. It really baffled me how Lena could attach herself so tightly and for so long to such a dismissive and horrid character that she was barely even acquainted with. Their relationship is far superior in the first movie, so I would recommend you watch that to see a much better all around interpretation of Lena and everything revolving around her. This book is by far the worst for Lena, in my opinion, because even though she finds a cute boy that shares her interests, has an amazing mother, and the potential for a stable relationship and her actually getting to know him, she hooks up with him and ditches in favor of Kostos, who comes crawling back to her, recently divorced, and even though she slams the door in his face at first, and rightly so, she eventually gets down on hands and knees and joins him in his crawling back.

Lastly, Carmen. I always really liked Carmen’s character, especially in the movies, and I thought it was a major shame that she was basically wasted in the storylines of her family doing stuff and her being infuriated at that stuff and returning with petty meanness and the silent treatment. This storyline was rather good in the first novel, with her dad concocting a whole new family that Carmen feels are simply better versions of her and her mother and not even telling Carmen about it until she arrives. I liked Carmen’s eventual camaraderie with her step-brother a Paul, and how she grows to understand her dad’s decision and take to his new family and become apart of it — I especially liked the scene in particular when Carmen, her father, his wife, and Paul come to retrieve Krista and they all have lunch and a good time together, even including Carmen’s mother Christina. Carmen was a firecracker, she was bold and loud and unique — shaped differently than her friends and proud of it, which stood out to me the most. I think her character was better portrayed in the movies, but it was pretty well written in the books, save her redundant storylines. Much like Lena, Carmen is devoted to and seems to always turn back to one thing in particular — but for Carmen it’s not a boy. Carmen clings to the past and a sort of fantasy version of her family, letting her temper rage wild when things aren’t how she wishes them to be. Her anger at Christina when she first started dating was understandable, as well as when Christina doesn’t tell Carmen she’s pregnant, but Carmen clings to her anger it just gets irritating and overtaxing. Girls In Pants was the only book in which I liked one of the girls best, and that girl was Carmen. When we first see Carmen in this book, she’s overeating, trying to be invisible, and in a deeply toxic friendship that she isn’t aware of. Her temper and spark have dissolved, and she is distancing herself from her loved ones because she is afraid for them to see her in her pitiful state. But once Carmen gets the part of Perdita, her life begins to clear and she sort of finds herself again. She discovers a passion she never knew she had and had never explored before, and Julia’s distasteful character begins to become obvious to her in her envy of Carmen and bipolar attitudes: happy when Carmen is sad, brooding and angry/sad when Carmen is happy.

Overall I really loved this series and it’s portrayal of girlhood and it’s end, the rush into womanhood and the wading into it, as well as realistic, diverse, and distinctive portrayals of girls/women, girls having positive friendships with each other, and pragmatic approaches of relationships and feelings. The series is amazing, just watch out for this last book.

LOVE LOVE LOVE! I know I've said that for every book in this series so far, but Ann Brashares just has a way of tugging at your heartstrings and making you love these characters so much!

As always, she did such a great job at developing the characters. They continue to grow so much through every single book, yet they still stay true to themselves, which seems like a really hard thing to do! This book, I related to Bridget the most because she realized that her family did love her, just in a slightly more unconventional way. I used to think that some friends or family didn't like me, but that was just because I was looking for signs of the kind of love I give, not the signs of the love that they give. I really related to Bridget's inner struggle and turmoil over this, and thought that Ann Brashares did it really well.

Also, I have to mention Lena, Tibby, and Carmen's stories, because they were ALL so good! With Lena, I thought it was too much at first that she was still obsessed with Kostos, and I was even getting kind of annoyed. But Ann Brashares wrote it really well, so that it wasn't overdone, and I love how at the end Lena and Kostos got a sense of closure. They didn't have to be obsessed with each other every single second, but there was also a chance for them to be together in the future! I thought that was really well done.. For Tibby's story, I really loved how yet again how Ann Brashares was unafraid to hit on tough topics like teen(i think) pregnancy, and how Tibby struggled with how to love. And for Carmen, it was really cool how she found something she was passionate about, and learned to advocate for herself rather than relying on toxic friends.

I hated and loved the ending. I technically watched "The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2" movie, which included parts from books 2,3, and 4, before I read the book, so I already knew what happened at the end. It was still really sad though! I'm always a huge lover of sentimentality (you can probably guess that lmao), so it was really heartbreaking to see the pants disappear. But I loved how it somehow brought the girls closer together and deepened their friendship even more! I cried so much at that part haha

That was my longest review ever for this series haha, but I loved all of the books so far! They're cute but heartbreaking, light but heavy, and cheesy yet serious. They make you cry (a lot) and laugh )(a lot!) Basically, they're the perfect kind of rom-com, coming-of-age, friendship stories that you need to read during the summer. They touch on so many tough issues and focus on love, all kinds of it. They're absolutely beautiful and I'd recommend them to anyone who enjoys that kind of thing! (For real though I love these books so much) ;)

The girls are growing up. Seeing things that need to be changed, improve, get through and just stand up for yourself and not be anyone's pushover. The need of the pants isn't what makes them who they are and they are finally seeing this. It has been a lot of emotions going on for these girls and all in different ways but they see that they need to start growing up and stop acting like teens. They are learning and they're starting to become adults now. Yay!

4.5

It was slow in the beginning, but by the last third I just couldn't stop reading.

Nine months have passed since the previous summer and the girls find themselves once again apart and meeting new people and in some cases leaving people behind.

I've grown to care about these girls so much but this book was so painful to read. It felt like book #3 didn't even happen at all and the girls learnt nothing from past experiences. What happened to Win?? What was with the hopeful hints of Paul and Lena as a couple? Why did Lena continue obsessing about Kostos in this book? Bee is separated from Eric again and their relationship is patchy once more? There was no calm before the storm hit. The issues just piled up for the girls and they were thrown at us from the beginning. The moments of happiness in this book were very very few.

It was confusing to find that since we last saw Carmen, she became quiet and was missing her feisty side. I couldn't recognise her at all. Bee totally solidified herself as an out-of-sight out-of-mind kind of girl and I didn't like how we got a repeat of her reckless behaviour. Lena once again lacked any development and was forever in a depressed state... Last but not least, Tibby was the one who annoyed me the most with her crazy bi-polar behaviour. I spent most of the time feeling angry or frustrated at the way all the girls were acting. Everyone has issues but these girls just had WAY TOO MUCH drama and angst in their lives. They were seriously never happy.

I'm glad there is another book and I'm holding out hope that it will allow me to leave the series on a better note.

I wanted Leo x Lena for life. I'm sad now. (Sorry if i only post short reviews at the moment)

Ann know what she doin!

Forever in Blue will leave you feeling miserable and heartbroken. That much could even be suggested in the title. I really enjoyed the journey with these girls and although this one was much more depressing I still reckon this book was worth reading. I would've liked the characters introduced previously to stick around but they were so easily forgotten that I questioned why they were introduced to begin with. Billy? Win? Paul? C'mon. Forever in Blue delivered a bittersweet conclusion to the series but left quite a lot to be desired.

Took me FOREVER to get through. Probably one of the worst books I've ever read