TAGBOARD. 100% width will do for MAIN & FORM.
Then set MAIN height=80% and FORM height=20% ;)


*CBOXMAIN displays the messages, the CBOXFORM displays the...well, the form. Set your bg to transparent and fonts to white..just a tip.
ahoy there.
These are reviews by two girls who simply want to share their thoughts. Bear in mind, these are merely our thoughts; Our greatest hope is for our words to inspire you to pick up a book.
♥ Grace and Serena
 dream big.
keep smiling.
stay sweet.
inspire.



I'm sure most of you know Ann Brashares as the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series which chronicle the summers of four girls who find magical pants. Well, Three Willows is the next installment as a sequel to the original series.

In Three Willows, we meet Ama, Jo and Polly, best friends as children who grew apart when they entered middle school. Jo is more concerned with popularity while dealing with the loss of her brother, Ama is trying to get out of her older sister's shadow and Polly misses the old times as she struggles to appreciate her unique beauty. This summer is the summer before high school and the three girls separate to their own paths but soon find that what they miss most is the comfort of each other.

The title Three Willows stems from the three willows the girls were given as kids to look after. It was the same day their friendship started as they planted their plants on Pony Hill. Ann Brashares in her usual format inserts interesting facts about willow trees between chapters as she inserted interesting quotes in her previous series.

The friendship here is very much different from Traveling Pants as the three of them are estranged from one another due to the course of time. It is nice to see the reality of most friendships portrayed in the three completely diverse girls. Its life, our best friends change and sometimes they move on. But the fact remains, if they call for us, we'd be there in a second. There's no tight camaraderie as there was in the Sisterhood but there's acknowledgment of each others weaknesses and learning to renew broken promises, broken bonds.

The Sisterhood girls and characters do make cameos throughout the book. For example, Polly, Ama and Jo grew up listening to stories about the magic pants and the four girls that they too tried doing something similar with numerous items but none had the same magic. I remember with my friends that that idea did come up but failed to be carried out. I like how Ann Brashares seems to tease her audience with their own behavior as normal girls try to capture the "it factor" of the Sisterhood. I think its her way of telling us that our friendships are unique and even though they don't reflect the spirit of the Sisterhood 100%, they're still real.

Brian, Lena, Effie, the Rollin's family and Carmen's baby brother appear at points in the book with mentions of Bridget and Tibby at the start.

I recommend this book for Sisterhood fans. Its different and it makes you reflect on your own friendships throughout the years.

My rating: 8 out of 10.


photo credits: 12

Labels:


Layout by ohfudge!. Colours from Colourlovers. Font from Google Web Fonts.