I finished reading Brashare's book in the Holiday Inn Express in Mississippi that we stayed at on our way to Georgia. I started it in the Pep Boys on Battlefield the day before our trip. Why do automotive shops say it will take about two hours when they mean four (more on that later)?
The plot: Alice and Riley, two sisters, and their best friend Paul spend summers together at the their respective beach houses for several years. Paul stops coming to the beach, although I'm not sure why, but at the start of the novel, Paul is on his way for the summer. Alice is waiting for Paul which seems to be a central theme of the book--Alice waiting for Paul, Alice waiting for Paul and Riley, Alice waiting to let Paul know how she feels--yet I digress.
Paul is working on his last paper before entering graduate school; Alice is contemplating law school, while Riley is content to swim and explore the ocean. The dynamic with the three of them, simply put is--Paul and Riley are best friends. Alice and Riley are close sisters. Paul and Alice have a complicated relationship built around a lot of teasing and flirting that winds up being TRUE LOVE (read, Alice is a virgin until Paul who had never fucked anyone he cared about until Alice this summer).
Everything is going along swimmingly, literally, until we find out that Riley has copped up with a bout of rheumatic fever that nearly killed her as a child, and apparently when it comes back, it's worse. In her case it takes on congestive heart failure. Riley's only chance, a heart transplant, is just over the horizon, and in the meantime Riley doesn't want Paul to know she is sick. Being consumed with nothing else, Alice has to shirk Paul from her due to all of his questions about Riley and herself. Torn between her loyalties for her sister, and her undying devotion to Paul, Alice chooses her sister.
In the end, Riley dies, but not before Alice allows her swim in a heated pool each day for a few hours. Paul has been told about the illness, realizes why Alice shut him out, and makes it up to her by being supportive during the time when Riley is gone. At first Alice is plagued with thoughts of guilt because Riley found out about the relationship between Alice and Paul, but Riley forgives her. This forgiveness is what lets Alice know that it is okay to be with Paul even if Riley is gone.
Subplots include Riley and Alice's father having an affair with Paul's mother; Paul's father being dead due to an OD, a culture of lifeguards, two small girls who live in Paul's' house after he sells it, Paul's grandparents who are rich blaming Paul's mother for her husband's untimely demise, Alice's mother being terse about most everything.
Overall--6 --plot was bit predictable, characterization not stellar
The plot: Alice and Riley, two sisters, and their best friend Paul spend summers together at the their respective beach houses for several years. Paul stops coming to the beach, although I'm not sure why, but at the start of the novel, Paul is on his way for the summer. Alice is waiting for Paul which seems to be a central theme of the book--Alice waiting for Paul, Alice waiting for Paul and Riley, Alice waiting to let Paul know how she feels--yet I digress.
Paul is working on his last paper before entering graduate school; Alice is contemplating law school, while Riley is content to swim and explore the ocean. The dynamic with the three of them, simply put is--Paul and Riley are best friends. Alice and Riley are close sisters. Paul and Alice have a complicated relationship built around a lot of teasing and flirting that winds up being TRUE LOVE (read, Alice is a virgin until Paul who had never fucked anyone he cared about until Alice this summer).
Everything is going along swimmingly, literally, until we find out that Riley has copped up with a bout of rheumatic fever that nearly killed her as a child, and apparently when it comes back, it's worse. In her case it takes on congestive heart failure. Riley's only chance, a heart transplant, is just over the horizon, and in the meantime Riley doesn't want Paul to know she is sick. Being consumed with nothing else, Alice has to shirk Paul from her due to all of his questions about Riley and herself. Torn between her loyalties for her sister, and her undying devotion to Paul, Alice chooses her sister.
In the end, Riley dies, but not before Alice allows her swim in a heated pool each day for a few hours. Paul has been told about the illness, realizes why Alice shut him out, and makes it up to her by being supportive during the time when Riley is gone. At first Alice is plagued with thoughts of guilt because Riley found out about the relationship between Alice and Paul, but Riley forgives her. This forgiveness is what lets Alice know that it is okay to be with Paul even if Riley is gone.
Subplots include Riley and Alice's father having an affair with Paul's mother; Paul's father being dead due to an OD, a culture of lifeguards, two small girls who live in Paul's' house after he sells it, Paul's grandparents who are rich blaming Paul's mother for her husband's untimely demise, Alice's mother being terse about most everything.
Overall--6 --plot was bit predictable, characterization not stellar
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