Sisters Meredith and Josie grew up having a loving, but argumentative relationship. But when tragedy strikes their family, that loving relationship is shattered and the sisters grow apart. Fifteen years later, the family has changed and the sisters find themselves even more apart than they have ever been.
I am a huge fan of Emily Giffin. I loved the first book I read by her, Something Borrowed, and I have continued to enjoy her subsequent novels. However, I’m not sure how I feel about this book.
On the one hand, it had all the emotions. Every character is dealing with something and they all feel the loss of their brother. I’ve read some reviews that say this is a book about grief and healing and forgiveness. And in some ways, it is. But I also felt the main themes of the book were overshadowed by the annoying characters.
I couldn’t stand Meredith. I found her to be judgmental and self-righteous, with no real explanation, and I think that was my big issue with her. She was so mean and condescending to Josie and I couldn’t understand why. She just seemed to be an unhappy person and I wanted to yell at her to tell her to grow up and to look at all the wonderful things around her.
Josie wasn’t as annoying as Meredith but I definitely found her to be self-centered with a one-track mind. I also felt that none of the characters had grown or changed by the end of the book. I didn’t see the progress that the sisters needed in order to fix their relationship. In fact, we still don’t know why the sisters hate each other and even after big secrets are revealed, nothing had changed.
Despite what I thought of the characters, I do think that Emily Giffin is s superb writer. Like all of Giffin’s books, I was taken on an emotional roller-coaster and, from the first page, this book sucked me in.
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