Book Review - The Last Summer (of You and Me)

The Last Summer (of You & Me), by Ann Brashares (the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series) is an adult novel which tells the story of three friends/siblings: Paul, Riley, and Alice. Each is in their early twenties, and like the generation they belong to, they’re still on the cusp between childhood and adulthood, trying to figure out who they are and their relationships with each other and the rest of the world.
Riley is especially immature; at twenty-five she still makes a career out of being a lifeguard and has yet to enter into any sort of romantic relationship. But she’s always been the leader, encouraging her sister Alice and her best friend Paul to cling to childhood traditions and to reject the pretentiousness of adult pleasures. Because they love her they agree, but everything becomes more complicated when Paul and Alice fall in love. Guilt compels them to keep their relationship hidden from Riley. However, when Riley becomes seriously ill the strength of their love is tested, and the bonds both of family and friendship are put into question.
“The idea of love is always easier than the practice of it.’ Brashares states this towards the end of her story, and by the time she does so, it’s almost unnecessary. The entire novel is a beautiful, lyrical testament to the complexities of all sorts of love, yet never is the reader made to feel manipulated nor pandered to. Instead, the characters, their thoughts, and their relationships are built up and described so lovingly, that the book and its subject matter become one and the same: like the summer it describes, this novel is at once beautiful and fleeting. It’s impossible to put down, but at the same time you’ll want to cling to it, to draw it out and not let it end. After you do, you’ll promise yourself you won’t forget the way it made you feel, even though you know that (unfortunately) you will, all too soon.
That’s okay. Unlike summers, books can be relived, over and over and over.
This is one you’ll want to visit again for sure.

Book Review - Secret Society Girl and Under the Rose

Amy Haskel attends the fictional, yet highly prestigious (think Harvard and Yale) Eli university. In Secret Society Girl Amy is a junior, and is surprised one day to be tapped as a pledge for the enigmatic Rose and Grave society. Having matriculated from a state university myself, I don’t know much about the Ivy League or the secret societies that form within them, but after doing a quick Google search, I’m guessing Rose and Grave is supposed to be comparable to Skull and Bones, which both President Bush and John Kerry joined while attending Yale.
Anyway, once she joins, Amy finds that power and connections have its advantages, but also drawbacks. Soon, she is embroiled in a scandal over the society’s recent decision to allow women to join, and she’s faced with a dilemma whose outcome could destroy her closest friendship, ruin her love life, and seriously hinder her post-graduation career.
Yet she pursues on, and in Under the Rose, Amy is a senior, facing another scandal that could not only bring down the Rose and Grave society as a whole, but may also jeopardize Amy’s very well-being. Meanwhile, Amy needs to figure out who she ought to be dating: George, the shallow but gorgeous society brother, Brandon, her sweet and vulnerable ex, or Jamie (although she claims to despise him, I can tell there’s some romantic tension a-brewing.)
I read these books back-to-back, which for me, is very high praise. I usually like to mix things up a bit, and space out my chick-lit reads with more weighty or serious-minded material in between. But after finishing Secret Society Girl, I thought “What the hell?” and dove right into Under the Rose without a second thought. They’re perfect autumn reads – I’ve always enjoyed stories with academic settings at this time of year, and the descriptions of college campus are exactly what I was hoping for (lots of old architecture, grand libraries and concert halls, etc). In addition, both books have a creepy element to the plot, which is great for the Halloween season.
Best of all, Diana Peterfreund (who attended Yale herself) manages to create a believably intelligent and capable heroine without making her needlessly pretentious. After reading Megan McCafferty’s Jessica Darling series, where the heroine attends Columbia and cannot resist reminding the reader of how smart she is every 10 or so pages, I appreciated the understated smarts of Amy Haskel.
Secret Society Girl and Under the Rose are super-fun and well written. Peterfreund is coming out with a third installment this summer, and I for one can’t wait. Keep them coming!