Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Jocelyn

Forever In Blue is the fourth and, I believe, final installment in Ann Brashares' popular Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. I myself have loved each of the previous books in the series, and I'm sure many of you have, too.

This fourth book was slightly disappointing. Sure, it was great; I doubt Ann Brashares is capable of writing a bad book! However, I didn't think the ending tied up enough loose ends, considering there will probably not be any more books in the series. It left some loose ends, which is fine if you're planning on a sequel...but not so much for the last book. But perhaps that's just a matter of personal taste. And it's not like everything was left dangling, but not everything was tied up, either. I also missed the presence of a couple of familiar characters--for the most part, the girls' families and significant others weren't as present in this book as I would have liked. I especially missed Bridget's boyfriend, Eric. I was also disappointed that Carmen's relationship with Win didn't work out (this is revealed early on), and I felt that some of the new characters weren't as realistic as the old (Carmen has a friend, Julia, who didn't seem as real as she should have, for example).

However, it was exciting to find out what comes next for the girls of the Sisterhood. It's the summer after their first year of college. Now being apart is not just a summer thing; it's an all-the-time thing. Lena is spending her summer working on her artwork, and she meets a guy--but she can't forget about Kostos (I missed Kostos in this book...even though he made mistakes, he was a favorite of mine). Carmen goes with her actress friend, Julia, to a theater festival in Vermont. Bridget goes on an archaeological dig in Turkey. The destination itself wasn't what I would have expected for her, but something readers will connect to past books does happen--she falls for an older guy. This time, however, she has a boyriend (Eric) at home. I really didn't like this part of the book. It didn't seem completely like the Bridget I feel I've come to know in the past three books. Tibby stays in New York, and is having some problems with Brian, her boyfriend. This felt a lot more realistic than Bridget's problems. I missed seeing as much of Tibby's family and Brian as in the previous book, though...

Fans of the series will be glad to read this book, but it's not for those new to the Sisterhood. It's an enjoyable read, even if it didn't quite meet my high expectations! It was still well-written and full of great characters (even if a few were missing), and certainly worth reading.