The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares

Series: Sisterhood, #2
# of Pages: 373
Publication: April 22nd, 2003
Source: Library Audiobook
Genre: YA Contemporary
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Brashares returns to the beloved characters she brought to life in her first novel, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, for a new installment that's equally authentic and engaging. With a bit of last summer's sand in the pockets, the Traveling Pants and the Sisterhood that wears them embark on their 16th summer. Bridget: Impulsively sets off for Alabama, wanting to both confront her demons about her family and avoid them all at once. Lena: Spends a blissful week with Kostos, making the unexplainable silence that follows his visit even more painful. Carmen: Is concerned that her mother is making a fool of herself over a man. When she discovers that her mother borrowed the Pants to wear on a date, she's certain of it. Tibby: Not about to spend another summer working at Wallman's, she takes a film course only to find it's what happens off-camera that teaches her the most.

Please keep in mind that this is a review of a second book in a series. There may be spoilers in this review. 

Diving into the second book of the sisterhood series created a sense of apprehension. I did not dislike the first book; however, I found that the first book was definitely written for individuals of a younger age group. I found a few of the main characters to be frustrating and immature. While I still had problems with this book, I found that a lot of the characters matured in unexpected ways and handled their conflicts in an adult like manner when they were only 16. Instead of doing a review of the book as a whole, this review will be broken into four sections as they align with each character. 

Bridget: Bridget was one of my favorite characters from the first book. During the first book she spent a great deal of time figuring out how to function as a teenage girl without the presence of her mother and with the physical and emotional distance of her father. She was impulsive and too forward and had her heartbroken. In this book, Bridget deals with a lot of demons from her past specifically those related to her maternal grandmother. While she was prevented from having contact with her grandmother by her father, Bridget made the ultimate decision to create a "disguise" and travel to Alabama. While Bridget still came off as impulsive, I really related to her need and desire to connect to her mother through her grandmother. In my personal opinion, Bridget struggled a lot with understanding why her mother committed suicide. By building a relationship with her grandmother, she was better able to get an understanding of why her mother struggled so greatly with mental health. There was also explanation of how her father and mother came to meet and why her father was so determined to protect her mother. I found Bridget's narrative hilarious in some parts because she thought that the "disguise" she created was enough to prevent her grandmother from recognizing her and I respect her grandmother for playing along with the disguise. I don't necessarily believe that Bridget received closure from her visit, but it did allow her to connect with her mom in a way that she wasn't able to after she died. 

Lena: Lena was one of my least favorite characters from the first book. She complained a lot about things that seemed irrelevant and unnecessary especially when her character counterparts went through so much. However, my opinion of her definitely changed in this book. Lena felt a heartbreak unlike any other in this book and it reminded me not only of my first heartbreak that I experienced when I was Lena's age, but also a heartbreak that I'm currently going through. While I expected Lena to fall apart and completely shut down, she handled herself in such a mature and adult like manner which spoke beyond her 16 years. Her character shift gave me a whole new level of respect for her and her experiences. 

Tibby: I strongly connected with Tibby in the first book; however, I didn't really relate to her in this second installment. She remained an interesting character; however, her experiences didn't really resonate with me as an adult. In fact, while reading this book it seemed as though every other character's story line overshadowed anything that was going with Tibby. This stems from the fact that Tibby simply learned the meaning of true friendship instead of trying to fit in and be cool. While it's an important lesson, I think that compared to the other characters it was juvenile. However, I did tear up when she developed her final movie that heavily focused on Bailey. It was definitely a beautifully written scene. 

Carmen: Oh Carmen. We have a true love-hate relationship. Carmen is ultimately my least favorite character out of all the girls. She's selfish, self-indulgent, and immature. I was hoping that the two of us could reconcile from the rocky path that we had in the first book, but it only got worse in this book. Carmen is 16 years old and incapable of allowing her mother to have a relationship which is ridiculous. While I didn't agree with the lack of communication that was exhibited on her mother's side, Carmen did something really grimy things in her narrative to prevent her mother from moving forward in her relationship. She causes her mother to slip into a depression and ultimately shows no remorse until the end of the book. It was almost cruel and it truly prevented me from feeling any form of sympathy for her as a character. Hopefully in the future I'll be better able to relate to Carmen. 

Overall, this was a decent installment in the series. I'm looking forward to seeing how each character develops in the next three books. 

.5