Unfortunately, I did not finish this book. I got about 40% in in a 9 months period and still could not get through it. I'm so disappointed as Brashares wrote one of my favorites series, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and I was looking forward to more of her words and world.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Oof. If this wasn't an ARC, I would have DNF'd. The first half was spent trying to keep straight the abundance of one-dimensional characters. The second half was slogging through in disbelief that the author would try to make a borderline-incestuous teenage romance and a callous and unnecessary character death happen. This was not an enjoyable read.

Ann Brashares knows how to make you love her characters. It was true in the SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS, and it is true in this young adult contemporary, THE WHOLE THING TOGETHER.

This book tells the story of a family divided. Robert and Lila, once married with three daughters, are now divorced with new spouses and each with another child. They hate one another so much that they can't be in the same room, yet they share the same beach house and alternate weekends while never crossing paths. THE WHOLE THING TOGETHER chronicles one summer when Robert and Lila's parallel paths finally come to a head.

Despite really enjoying the overall story, I found it a bit difficult to follow. Brashares dips in and out of characters quickly, and in the ebook it was difficult to know who was who. I think this is best read in physical form, as I kept wanting to flip back to reference the family tree. Once I got stock of the characters, I liked the book much more.

Similarly, sometimes I felt like too much was happening in the story. For instance, some issues, such as Robert's adoption and birth family, I wanted to know more about, but they weren't fully discussed. There was also a brief moment where a side character's alcoholism came to light, but never got mentioned again. Thus, it may have been better to focus on a few big topics instead of glancing over many.

Nonetheless, THE WHOLE THING TOGETHER is beautiful, sad, and hopeful. It shows how messy some families can be, and how a divorce can wreak havoc on the children even as they grow into young adults. This quick read had me choking back tears, and wishing I got to spend more time with these characters. I recommend this book for those who like YA contemporaries, and those looking to read about a unique family dynamic.

The Whole Thing Together is a creative undertaking with a complicated family and their various experiences. It I'd entertaining for young adults and has a satisfying ending.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Whole Thing Together by Anna Brashares
A Special thanks to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed this ARC all thoughts and opinions are my own.

From the author of the sisterhood of the traveling pants comes a multi perspective family drama.
Ray and Sacha share the same three older sisters. They share the same room whatever they’re in the Hamptons but they have never met each other.
Rays mom and Sasha’s dad We’re married and had three daughters and then got divorced. After a bitter divorce each parent had one more child. Now they are both turning 17 and things are starting to change. But with so much family drama between them can anything romantic ever happened?
It seems every member of the family has their own drama going Emma is trying to introduce her boyfriend, Quinn is trying to figure out where she belongs and Mattie is in love with Matt but doesn’t know how he feels about her.

At times it was hard to keep the character straight because there are so many. The family tree at the front of the book helped a ton with keeping things straight.

I love Ann Brashares from the sisterhood of the travelling pants, but this book was pretty problematic for me and unfortunately i couldn't finish it.

This book was difficult to read and connect to. It switched perspectives too frequently and I often didn't know which character I was reading. The book had a lot of potential but the characters were all terrible and I had no motivation to finish the story.

I deeply appreciated the opportunity to read and review this book. I'll be using it's contents in my teaching and will make sure to keep an eye out for more works from this author and publisher.

I was disappointed in this book because the plot leaps around to different characters and seemed a bit predictable.

It's hard to go wrong with Ann Brashares. If you liked the Sisterhood books you'll like this one as well.

I want this to be made into a movie, please! Or a Netflix show! I loved everything about these books from the story to the characters to the setting.

To me, the name Ann Brashares means The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. That series beckons thoughts of friendships, girlfriends, girls supporting girls, having each other to cling to in good times and in bad. It was with this lingering spirit of female empowerment and friendship that I opened The Whole Thing Together and began reading.

From the first chapter, I was met with themes that made me personally uncomfortable–with an obsession on skin color and the “other” and the shock value of marrying an Indian man presented to Grandpa Harrison. This isn’t just mentioned in passing, it’s brought up repeatedly throughout the novel. In this day and age, these references feel dates and, quite frankly, racist.

Since Sisterhood presented such positive female empowerment, I was also surprised to read that so much female enmity. I know that it was a point of resolution in the plot, but seeing as I’m naturally drawn to positive plots and characters (unless they’re the villains), I was also put off by this.

There was some interesting plot building methods with multiple points of view, slowing building of the arc of the story. Unfortunately, for me personally, there were ultimately points that just weren’t for me and that I couldn’t get past.

This book was remarkably profound. Diving deep into family and secrets and well , honestly, the whole thing together. I love the exploration of a modern day family dynamic and the way our characters learn to embrace the life they were dealt.

I'm still not sure what I read other than it was uber confusing and went nowhere. I'm almost upset that I didn't DNF this one.

I've read other books by Ann Brashares that I enjoyed, but this one was just not so good. It's a dysfunctional family novel, about whatever the opposite of a blended family is - there are three sisters whose parents divorced when they were little, and both quickly remarried and had another kid - so Emma, Quinn, and Mattie are part of both families, and have a half-sister Sasha from their dad's remarriage, and a half-brother Ray from their mother's remarriage. Sounds complicated, right? And it is - I had a little trouble keeping it all straight, especially because the book is written from all 5 kids' perspectives and shifts often, including multiple times within the same chapter. It's set over the course of one summer, mostly in the Hamptons' house the two families use in alternating weeks. Sasha and Ray grew up using the same bedroom there (though not the same time) and have never met but during the course of this book they finally meet. Which was the second problem with this book - even though they are not actually related to each other, the fact that they have the same sisters made their growing interest/attraction to the other kind of gross. Plus I just didn't care for the other dramatic turn the book took towards the end.

This is a look at a very complicated family, or, well, two families. The best part of the book is Sasha and Ray's relationship, the only two kids in these families that are not at all related to each other. They've technically shared a room since they were little, but haven't ever met. One night they meet at a party and they become sort of obsessed with each other. I feel like the relationship is always skirting the edge of uncomfortable, but you can't help but root for them.

I don’t read very many contemporary books a year. Usually it’s all fantasy, horror and romance all the time. On the very rare occasion that I want read a contemporary book, I want it to be worth the read. I like contemporary books that really hit me right in the feels or make me think. The Whole Thing Together did both.

I loved how The Whole Thing Together was all about a parent’s divorce and how it effected the entire family. First two people married and had three little girls. Then the family fell apart and went through a very contentious divorce. In fact, the parents no longer talk or want to see each other ever. They both remarried and each have a single 17 year old. One boy and a one girl.

The way that the boy, Ray and the girl, Sasha feel about their blended family was fascinating to me. Ray and Sasha both have the same sisters but they aren’t related to each other at all and have never met. The family shares a beach house and Ray and Sasha share a room, one week at a time. First Ray sleeps in the room and then they leave at 11am on Sunday. Sasha arrives at 1pm and stays for the next week until they switch again. I loved how Ray and Sasha know all about each other, even though they have never seen each other. Their feelings about their family were incredibly understandable and relatable. Plus, it really made me think and wonder about how divorce affects kids, even if they weren’t alive when the divorce took place. Ray and Sasha’s blended family turned their lived upside down.

If there was one thing that really hurt me about this book, it was the abrupt end. I thought the content was good but I wanted more. I definitely didn’t want the book to end when it did. In my opinion, it could have been like 5o pages longer. That’s hard when you are loving a book and it ends and leaves you wanting more.

Sasha and Ray come from two different families. During a bitter divorce, the beach house property cannot be settled so the families share the house. Neither family is in the house at the same time so the two blended families are not so blended. While Sasha and Ray may share the same room, some of the same books, and even the same summer job, the two have never met. Bitter family relationships will change this summer as events will cause the two families to come together but secrets could tear them further apart. A good book that will have you thinking about how you treat people.

I tried quite a few times and just couldn't get into this book. Now that it's been published for over a year, I'm going to admit defeat. Sorry, but this one just isn't for me.

I'm sorry I couldn't get through this book so I will not be reviewing. Thank you for the galley.
Best,
Kimberly
TheWindyPages.com