"The Whole Thing Together"

“The Whole Thing Together”

Written by Ann Brashares

Review written by Diana Iozzia

            This fictional novel about complicated families, summer romances, and discovering selves was a really interesting read, from one of my favorite childhood writers. (Maybe this makes me a little biased, but it has been a solid 5-7 years since I’ve read one of her books).

            A couple who’ve had three daughters together goes through a very ugly divorce. Mom marries new man, has a boy with him. There are two sons from new man’s previous marriage. Dad marries new woman, has a daughter. 17 years later, we begin reading about one unforgettable summer. Mattie is interested in a boy. Emma and Jamie are hiding their relationship from their father (original couple’s father.) Quinn is a free spirit. Sasha and Ray (the two youngest in the clan who are not technically related) share a strange bond, because the two families share the original beach house, switching off every other week.

            Lots of events are kick-started this summer. Some happy, some confusing, and some sad. Although the family is very confusing to understand at first, who’s whose daughter or son, who’s stepmom is whose. Lord almighty.

            I really enjoyed this book, read this in about a total of five hours, I’d say 3 hours yesterday, two today. A very easy young adult read with no sexual content, no illegal content, but like I said, some sad events. I feel that every character is relatable, but I really enjoyed Emma and Jamie’s storyline the best, second with Sasha and Ray’s. I could easily see this book having a sequel or a third novel later on. Lots of interesting characters and plot lines that I could imagine be very interesting to read on about.

            Cons:

            1. Confusing family tree, but there is a slight diagram at the front of the book. Had to bookmark that!

            2. Mattie’s storyline is subpar.

            3. The resolution to most of the plotlines feel very rushed and a bit forgettable.

            4. Sasha and Ray’s bond/relationship/story line seems very pushed on the cover, but it’s not the main plot. I feel that all of the plots coincide well, and none of them stands out as the most important, but the description speaks differently.

I received this as a complementary advanced reading copy from the site, Blogging for Books. Thank you.