Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood (Sisterhood of Traveling Pants)

I loved the first three books in this series. I loved Bridget, Carmen, Lena and Tibby, and how they all had personalities, talents and quirks of their very own. Their friendship was very strong, unique and was beautifully portrayed. Ann Brashares did such a great job with the first three books in character development, plot and with writing each of the four girls. Brashares wrote each of the four girls so well in the previous three books that I was looking forward to the final book. I was really excpecting something great.

Instead, I am very disappointed. The only thing that is keeping me from giving this book a one star review is the fact that it is written so well, and that Brashares does a great job at capturing the voice of a teenage girl.

Carmen, first of all, was entirely out of character. In the first three books, Carmen was my favorite character, and her perspectives on the events in the previous books were my favorite to read. I loved her feistiness, her independence and stubbornness. In this book, Carmen was a ghost of her former self. I hated that she suddenly became a shy, timid doormat for Julia. Carmen was NOT herself in this book at all, and that disappointed me. I also hated how Win, from the previous book, wasn't in this one. Their chemistry in Book Three was enthralling, and Brashares set them both up perfectly. I was expecting, and hoping that their relationship would continue on into this book. I was disappointed to see that Brashares had conveniently written Win out of Book Four so that she could expand more on the story line concerning Carmen becoming a doormat. I was, however, glad that Carmen came out of her shell toward the end of the book. That was somewhat redeeming.

I also did not understand Bridget's plot line. I felt as though it had been recycled from Book One, except the location, and her "love" interest were different. When I was reading Bridget's perspectives, it was like I was reading the first book again. I was, however, glad to see that she hadn't entirely given into her selfish desires, and I did like the sub plot of her developing a stronger relationship with her twin brother, Perry. In fact, I wish that her relationship with Perry had been the actual plot line instead. Perry is such a tragic character, and I wish that he would've been developed more, and that Bridget would've been able to grow closer to him and help him through some of his issues in this book. Instead, I got a recycled plot line.

Then, there is Lena. I liked the character of Leo being introduced, and I loved how Lena became more confident in herself and in her ability as an artist. I hated that Kostos returned in this book. I felt that the Kostos ship sailed a long time ago, and I felt that it was unnecessary that he return. I wanted Lena and Leo to stay together because I felt like they had more in common, as opposed to Lena and Kostos.

I also disliked Tibby's plot line. During the entire pregnancy scare, and after it, she was so out of character. One of the things that I like about Tibby is that she tries to show off a tough exterior, however, she is quite vulnerable when the circumstances arise. I felt that this was handled gracefully in the previous books, but in this one, Tibby was just annoying and blubbery.

Another thing that I hated about this book was that Paul was missing. Paul was also such a dynamic character, and very stable. He seemed to provide stability to Carmen's insane life. It was sad for me to read this book and to realize that he wasn't in it.

Lastly, I felt like the ending was a complete cop - out. I felt like Brashares ended the book the easiest possible way. It was disappointing.

Overall, this is the worst book in the series. The first three books were so strong, and this one falls drastically short. It was a very disappointing ending to a fantastic series.

I found this book and the rest of the series in the Young Adult section and I'm surprised how much I loved all of them. I think Ann Brashares did a most wonderful job of ending the series and tying up all the loose ends. It seems sad to say goodbye to "The Septembers" ... they became real friends during the journey of the Pants. My favorite character seemed to change in each book as the girls matured and lived life. Carmen remains my favorite since I think she stayed true to herself throughout. Someday, I'll read it again.

Let me just start out saying that I loved this book! It exposed human nature and thought unlike a lot of books I have read. I can relate to a lot of their thoughts and insecurities, and this comforted me. Also, it was full of surprises--a few predictable ones, but a few not so predictable.

I was sad from the beginning that Win (Carmen's love interest in the 3rd one) was not in this book-but at the same time I appreciated that. Life is never going to work out perfectly, so I am thankful the book was somewhat realistic. It also allowed you to see Carmen down and depressed and not confident and out-spoken anymore. If things had worked out between Carmen and Win, then Carmen would not have been so lonely without any of her friends. However, the whole way through I was hoping she would call Win or something because I just loved him.

I also didn't really like the whole Bridget making out with a married man, but hey, she discovered herself through that and something she needed to change about herself. I loved the stuff with her and her family at the end...that was really important!

Lena and Kostos sort of being together at the end made me happy, and I really appreciated the points Ann Brashares made through this that their love fell apart and was somewhat imaginary because you can't love each other when you are trying to be perfect. You have to learn to love the imperfections and relax and show your own imperfections to each other. Both of them had to learn to not be people-pleasers.

I really appreciated what happened between Tibby and Brian. Oftentimes, couples don't realize how sex changes your relationship. However, I do wish that at least one of the girls could have head a steady relationship through the novel, but that would probably be too boring haha.

Anyways, I couldn't put this book down and read it all in 2 days even though I was soooo busy! I am sad the series is over, but at the same time, it was able to end on a good note and really expose human nature!

Most teenage girls can relate to the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. My niece loved them as a birthday gift at age 14 (prior to the movie), and I just had 4 girls from my neighborhood, ages 12 and 13 read
the books I had now ordered. They read them in record time, passing them around and declared them "great". It's refreshing to see youngsters reading, and as a former teacher, I keep a reasonably well stocked library to lend to young friends.

I read this book in a matter of days....I was hooked! I could not put it down. The books definitely brought flashbacks of my teenage yrs. Going through the struggles of being a teen with love, school, friends...etc.

As far as the disappointment, I was kind of sad that the Lena/Kostos story was not really wrapped up...just kind of leaves the reader hanging. They were probably my favorite characters. I really wanted to find out if they would ever get a chance to be together. After all they've been through together and apart. I guess this is why the author left it open to the reader to speculate.

I did like the fact that in the end the girls figured out they didn't need the pants to keep the bonded together, it was the strength of their friendship that kept them together.

Overall, it was a good book. I wish the series would've continued at least through their college yrs. I hate to see it end but I guess as they say all good things have to come to an end.