Great story about friendship.

This was the first novel I read from Rice that it was broken into Parts.

Within Part One, I felt left out of a lot of details known to the characters. And they seemed to have this underlying language of understanding the details between each other, yet I felt left in the dark. What really happened on that car ride that took Emma’s life? Why did the girls all really lose touch? Why wouldn’t Emma read Stevie's books to her daughter? Why does Jack not even want to think about his sister, let alone be in the same room, or state with her over the accident?

In finishing part two Rice, in my opinion, has become stronger in her storytelling and connecting more to the reader (or at least me as a reader) in this novel. My heart just tugged at the end of part two. I had to take a break from marathon reading to check back into reality. However, a lot felt redundant in questioning the past and fixing it for the future.

I didn’t understand why Jack had to go to Scotland. He knew it was a bad idea to move out there, he was having doubts too, even made the decision to stay. But an encounter with his estranged sister flipped all those decisions? That didn’t make sense when he was considering reconciling with her too. Scotland was unnecessary and just gross.

Also unnecessary was the delay of Jack and Maddie walking to the church for Henry’s wedding. We didn’t need that worry aspect brought up, how to cope Nell etc.

In short, most of Part 3 was unnecessary or could have been approached differently to work towards the family resolves... which were close to being resolved in part two.

Even though I've become more of a fan of Rice's storytelling, how she writes bothers me a bit. I was not a fan of how much Rice would write in the broken sentence style of placing the spoken character in the middle of the sentence. For example: “But what if you considered,” said Maddie, “talking to me about this.” I skipped over that middle broken chunk most of the time.

4 out of 5 stars.

rtc

Hokey.

Quick easy read about friendship and family. Lose and love thrown in as well!

Oh boy this is the first book that I have tabbed and annotated and I loved it so so much. I love Stevie and Nell so much, and after reading this book whenever I would be having a cat I'll be having a black cat with green eyes named Tilly. I want more of Beach Girls! It was such a heartwarming read and for the first time I am sad that a book ended.

3.5

Not a bad book - just not my style. Have one more by Luanne. Will give it a chance.

Great story about lasting friendships.

Beach Girls by Luanne Rice is a really great summer read! It deals with grief and friendship and love and loss. Summer always brings feelings of grief for me. I spent a lot of my summers growing up away from home and helping my mom take care of my family that battled cancer. This book touches into grief and the effects it can have on us and the way we treat others. Friendship and love can do wonders for a wounded heart.

Beach Girls

A good beach read. The three girls start out very young and become beach girl friends that come back to the beach every year until one day they don't. They grow up and head in different directions. And life brings them back together. Its all about Love, friendship, loss and finding love and friendship all over again later in life.

I liked this book because it was about the beach on the east coast. I love beach reads in the summer time! Newport, Rhode Island was also mentioned, and it brought back a lot of memories of that place and the beautiful mansions along Bellevue Avenue. It is a sight to see! The story was a little predictable, but about right for the genre.