“Forever in Blue” by Ann Brashares, narr. by Angela Goethals

It’s been a while since I’ve read a Sisterhood book, but I’m glad to continue on with the series. I enjoyed the first three novels: loved the variety of personalities that make up this friend group and admired the strength of the friendship between the girls, which I hope is maintained through to the end of the last book — the fifth in the series, Sisterhood Everlasting. However, I don’t have high hopes that this will happen since it seems the girls begin to drift apart in Forever in Blue and not even the pants could help prevent it.

Genre:

YA Contemporary

Series:

Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, book 4

Pubbed:

2007

Quick summary:

Forever in Blue begins in the summer following the girls’ first year in college. Carmen is at a drama camp in Vermont hoping to build sets for a play, Lena is taking a summer painting class in Rhode Island, Bridget is off in Turkey on an archaeological dig, and Tibby is creating drama for herself in NYC.

Of course, an issue pops up that throws the girls’ lives awry and they have to band together with (or maybe without) the magic travelling pants to resolve it by the end of the book proving that their strong friendship can weather any storm. (Goodreads)

My thoughts: (minor spoilers)

These books are entertaining, heartwarming reads that I whisk through and even more so since I listened to this on audio. It was great to visit with the girls again to see how much they have grown. The development they experience in this book is one of my favorite things about the story, although they sometimes act in a way that seem out of character to me.

Carmen was often my least liked in the other books because she was often controlling and selfish. However, she has always come across as a very confident character, so I was surprised that she allows Julia to mislead her in this book. Of all the characters, I expected Carmen to spot insincerity from miles away. I understand that Carmen was intimidated by her new experiences — being in college, independent, and away from home — but her insecurity (in this) seemed out of character to me and I found it hard to believe she took that long to realize what Julia was up to.

Tibby was my least liked character in this story. The way she treats her boyfriend following the pregnancy scare was a bit callous. I understand that the girls are still growing up, but it was very annoying to read from Tibby’s point of view when all she needed to do was TALK to Brian about what happened and how she feels. I hate it when conflict in a story is prolonged because the characters avoid TALKING about it or confronting the issue.

Bridget was my favorite character this time but that’s because I like her development the most. I’m glad she quickly realized that tangling with her married instructor was a bad idea, and I was beyond mad at the instructor for even entertaining the idea and acting upon it. I liked the growth and realizations that resulted from this experience, but (because I listened to the audiobook and did not take notes) I can’t remember what exactly those were. I just know that Bridget made a conscious decision to stop acting immaturely, which made me think she’s the most mature of her friends by the end of the book. I also liked how she manages to reconcile her relationship with her father and brother. Her family seems closer by the book’s end.

Unfortunately, the majority of Lena’s storyline didn’t appeal to me in this book. I liked that she was discovering her sexuality and becoming more comfortable in who she is, but before the complications with her sister and the travelling pants, her storyline was meh. I only liked that her sister forced her to realize that their relationship has suffered a bit because Lena is more committed to her friendship with her travelling pants friends. I think that realization and acknowledging how much her sister means to her made the relationship with her sister stronger.

Compared to the other books, the pants aren’t a major feature in this one. Sure, they are mentioned and the girls try to use it, but it’s as if its magic has faded or the pants is fading, which hints at what happens at the end. The friendship between the girls also seem weaker, unfortunately. Sure they band together at the end to support whoever is suffering the most at the moment, but the strength of their bond seems to have lessened. I hope the strength returns in the next book.

“I think we might have lost the Pants a while ago… I mean, I think we lost the idea of them. They came to us to keep us together, and I think we were using them to help us stay apart.”

Overall: ★★★★☆

Not as great as the first three in the series (which often left me in tears, not bawling but some droplets would let loose), but still a good read.

Also, the narrator did such a great job that I forgot to mention that in the main body of my review.

Buy | Borrow | Bypass

That’s what I did.

Quotes from the book:

“Why not celebrate what you had had rather than spend your time mourning its passing? There could be joy in things that ended.”