Ann Brashares begins this book with a family tree. Make sure you study that because I found myself having to go back to it a few times over the first chapter or two. So she's his half-sister but he isn't related to her at all?

As Brashares shows, this is how it is with family: you're a part of more than one.

In the case of Sasha and Ray, it feels like they are related. Her father Robert and Ray's mother Lila were once married and had three daughters. They divorced - quite acrimoniously - and Sasha's father and mother had her, while Ray's mother and father had him. They may share three half-sisters, but they share no blood.

Another thing they share is a bed. In the course of the divorce, Robert and Lila agreed to divide time in a Hamptons family home. They alternate weeks in the summer, and for Sasha and Ray's seventeen years, they have shared a bedroom and a bed. Brashares details the minutiae of this sort of cohabitation - the scent Sasha leaves on the pillow, the crusted toothpaste Ray leaves in the bathroom - to show you how close these two are, even though they have never met and hardly communicated.

That all changes one summer, when both Sasha and Ray find themselves increasingly curious about each other. They are connected in fundamental ways - those three half-sisters - so naturally they would want to know more about each other. One of their sisters is getting married, which adds emotional drama to an already tempestuous situation.

Brashares also takes you into the minds of the sisters, Emma, Quinn, and Mattie. The young women work in the Hamptons, and they have steady relationships with their half-siblings. One of the facets of this book that I particularly enjoyed was seeing how Sasha and Ray viewed their sisters' relationships with each other. Does Quinn like Ray more? Does Mattie share more of herself with Sasha?

Another thing Brashares does well is show you that the kids have this all figured out. Emma, Quinn, and Mattie know how to operate within the shared households and families They understand how the family and sibling relationships work - how the whole thing correlates together. Their parents, on the other hand, do not. Bitterness left from the divorce lingers, nearly two decades later, and, as Brashares reveals, it renders the grownups far less capable than the children.

I enjoyed this book so much, and it made me realize that I need to read those Traveling Pants books. Brashares's sense of family is astute and empathetic: the emotional bonds we share, the emotional bonds of which we wish we could divest ourselves, the emotional bonds we wish we could forge, as well as the physical bonds that keep us together. I cried, I laughed, and I wished the best for these characters.

*** Scheduled to be published on the blog on April 25

Okay, so I know that Brashares has written more things than JUST The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but I honestly haven’t read anything else by her. I remembered really like that series though, so I decided to give this one a shot since it had a really intriguing premise to me. Right away, I really enjoyed the writing. The narration and dialogue all flowed together really well and the writing made the book very easy to read. The plot wasn’t super predictable, but there also wasn’t much that happened that was super surprising. This book is more about the characters anyway.

Family dynamics are very interesting. I’m going to say that it’s impossible for a family to be completely drama-free and the family in this book is definitely not an exception. The narration rotates between the five kids: the original three sisters (Emma, Quinn, and Mattie) and the new kids (Ray and Sasha). That, at times, got confusing for me. I was reading a digital ARC and sometimes there wasn’t a clear indicator that the book was changing narrators–I hope that’s something that is fixed or different in the physical book. That being said, if the narrators had very different tones or voices, this wouldn’t have been so confusing. Unfortunately, all of the narrators pretty much sound alike. It was very difficult to tell them apart just from the language. The only signals we get are from context.

The good thing about having so many narrators, though, is that I really felt like I got to know each of the siblings on a pretty deep level. If there had just been one or two narrators, we would have only gotten to know the other characters on a superficial level from our narrator’s perspective. I enjoyed getting to know how characters were perceived but then also having the internal viewpoint for each of them. I expected to not like at least one of the siblings, but I honestly really came to care for each of them in separate ways. Obviously they each had some less desirable traits, but I was willing to overlook them because I felt like I knew each of them on a deeper level so those things didn’t matter.

The only kind of negative thing that really stood out to me was that Jaime’s family seemed a little random. They had a ton of drama as well, but then they’re not really explored at all. I would have either liked more exploration there, or less description of it.

After reading (and pretty much loving) this book, I was surprised to see that there were many negative reviews for this book on Goodreads. One reviewer in particular (who admits to being a straight, white, female) thought that this book displayed “blatant sexism, body-shaming of all sorts, stereotyping, and some racism”. While I could see her points, I just wanted to give my two cents on some of those things. I’m also straight and female, but I’m only a quarter white so I might have a slightly different perspective.

“Blatant Sexism”. The reviewer points out a section of the book where one of our main characters, Ray, is looking at another character’s body–specifically her chest. The reviewer’s response: “This is a direct example of the ‘boys will be boys’ attitude that results in the normalization of rape and sexual assault. What could Ray do? Well I’ll tell you–he could have not looked down at Sasha’s dress, and kept his eyes to himself…” I see her point and I’m not at all trivializing the normalization of rape and sexual assault that is happening. However, I was listening to an interesting podcast the other day. It was a rerun for This American Life (great podcast if you’re not already a subscriber). It was an episode completely about testosterone (listen here). In one of the sections the reporter was interviewing a transgender man about his transition. As part of the transition, he had to be injected with a very high dosage of testosterone. It was really interesting to hear him talk about how he thought about women pre-transition (and testosterone) versus post. There was a stark difference. Obviously, we all have agency and can make our own choices, right? However, as a woman, I felt that my eyes were opened to this chemical thing that happens in boys that doesn’t happen in girls that I really had no idea about. It seems apparent to me that it’s not just a moral or ethical thing, but that natural chemicals and hormones are coming into play as well. I guess what my point is, is that even though I agree that Ray shouldn’t have been looking at Sasha’s chest, I don’t feel that this interaction was necessarily out of place. I was uncomfortable when I read it too, but I’m not necessarily angry at Brashares for including it–I feel like I get it.

“Some Racism”. The reviewer describes her frustration that an Indian American man (actually he was raised in Canada) is stereotypically a “tech genius”. Just as an aside here, I thought he was in finance, but I could have gotten that wrong. Another reviewer criticized the fact that this same character, Robert, was really trying to downplay the fact that he was Indian and wanted nothing more than to be just like all the white men out there. I can see why that’s bothersome, but I feel like we need to look at the overall context here. He was adopted by white parents and it sounded like he was raised in a white community. So from that perspective, it makes sense that he might not identify as being Indian–he wasn’t raised that way. In addition, it can be frustrating for people to make assumptions about you based on your physical appearance (I speak from personal experience here). I can understand why Robert would want to be “as white as possible” (for lack of a better term) since that’s more or less what he identifies as.

Those are just some of my thoughts about the negative comments that have been made about this book. I think a lot of the problems that people have with this book just need to be viewed in the appropriate context instead of being taken out and examined under a microscope. I, personally, was not offended by the book as a woman or as a person of color–in fact, I actually really enjoyed it! I’ll allow you to judge for yourself, but I don’t think these negative reviews should be enough to keep you from reading it if you would have picked it up otherwise.

Overall Rating: 5
Language: Heavy
Violence: Mild
Smoking/Drinking: Moderate (some drinking and some underage smoking)
Sexual Content: Moderate (nothing explicit).

Note: I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This has been called out for extremely problematic content and it really dissappointed me.

It pains me that I didn't like this book because I had such high expectations for this book! I really wanted to like this book, and I did like a few parts of it, but the parts I didn't like definitely outweighed the positive aspects of this book.

The first thing I didn't like about this book was how confusing it was. There were a lot of characters so it was hard to connect with any of them. A lot of the characters seemed so similar that I really couldn't keep track of what was happening to which person. I thought there were some interesting plot points that were brought up, but because there were so many characters with different story lines, those plot points didn't get fleshed out. I think it would have been less confusing if there were fewer POVs. I think Sasha and Ray should have been the only POVs, because that would have been easier to follow. I think this book could have been split up into multiple books so it would have been less confusing and easier to connect with the characters.

The thing that bothered me the most in this book was the sometimes subtle and sometimes not so subtle sexism, stereotyping, and racism throughout the story. The most noticeable racism in this book came directly from a female character, Mattie. In the book, Mattie was considered to have gotten blessed with her looks because she had blonde hair and blue eyes. These physical characteristics made her feel superior and more attractive than her siblings who looked more "Indian" and "exotic". She loved that she had lighter skin, hair, and eyes, but still could be "unique" because of her ethnicity. That felt so wrong and just disgusting to me. That did not sit well with me at all.

Mattie was also so petty and rude when it came to other women. Mattie didn't wear makeup, and she thought poorly of those who did. She seemed to think she was better than women who would wear makeup. I HATE IT when women bash other women for wearing makeup. It is one my biggest pet peeves. Women should be supporting other women, not bringing them down. Also, she seemed to also bash other women who didn't like what she liked??? Excuse me???

So, Mattie was the worst.

Overall, there were too many negative things in this book for me to enjoy it. I wanted to like this book, and some of the storylines had potential, but I just couldn't bring myself to like this book.

1 / 5 Fangs

*This ebook was given to me in exchange for an honest review. *

I loved this book! It is so relevant to right now with so many fractured and overlapping families. Why did it have to take a death to start to mend the family. This book should be an inspiration to puzzle piece families everywhere.

I only requested this arc because Ann Brashares is the author of the famous The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I never read the book, only watched the movie over 8 years ago back when I used to think every movie/tv show with teens was awesome. I remember that it was fun. Now I know I'm not reading it.

This book is a mess. In any novel, having multiple POVs is not an easy job for the author. It can be confusing, annoying, useless, and so much more. Let alone contemporary. This book was not an exception. Everything that can go wrong while using multiple POVs was found here. I think I need to explain here. You see, at first, I thought Ray and Sasha are the main characters. I was wrong, we read from their sisters pov too. 5 people! And I didn't care about any. I was confused who was telling the story each time especially with the 1st person usage.

The characters were so richly annoying. Let's start with the sisters. The author tried to make them 3-dimentional but terribly failed. Quinn was oh my so perfect and so good. I hated Mattie, she was the worse of the 3. Emma was boring. I didn't care about them. The book was like fillers from page 1 until the end. I forced myself to finish it. It earned many eye rolls.

We all know Ray and Sasha will end up together but God, the cringe. Did I mention that I disliked everyone? So these two fellows practically fell in love with each other because they shared a room and stuff (never at the same time) and before they ever met. Well, the author never said it, but it was pretty obvious. I didn't root for them. Maybe it's because the story didn't only focus on them but also about the sisters' lives. Maybe because of the cringe-worthy letters. But in any case, I was indifferent.

The Asian rich father (of course, he works with techs. That's all we Asians do) and the irritating mother were so childish. <spoiler>I hated that the author used this cheap way to bring them together, killing the girl with no romance interest </spoiler>. Sasha didn't appreciate her mother and she even knew it but it didn't help.

I even had a headache while reading this book. I never have headaches.<s> okay rarely but it saying rarely doesn't ring well.<s> I even made it to the end only to hate it even more. Even though I liked how it ended for Mattie, the rest was stupid.

If you still want to read this book, go for it. Sometimes "it's me not you" kind of book but this one is definitely the book's problem.

I know this was an ARC, and as such there are possible changes before it hits shelves, but one of my major complaints is the transition in POV. Several times there were no discernible spaces between different characters, so I'd be confused and have to re read . And it wasn't just the formatting. While I understand the desire to have all the children have their own voice I am not sure it worked well, or that I enjoyed it. I loved the idea, of having two not really siblings who share a space but haven't met, that is what I wanted more of. Maybe it,was just my mood, or my expectations, but this was a somber and heavy read, a "women's fiction " book that takes itself seriously. I think maybe my issue is that it felt joyless. That is definitely the word I am looking for; the book and my reading of it were joyless.

HE WHOLE THING TOGETHER is a wonderfully written story about family, love, and what happens when secrets come to the surface. Brashares manages to capture the dynamic of a fractured family with a distinctive and fresh take on the subject.

The place where this book shines for me is in its characters. I loved how the author developed Sasha and Ray. The way they reacted to each other as well as how their relationship grew without really knowing who the other is face to face is so great. At times, I felt for Sasha as she seemed to be permanently on the quest to discover who she really is. Yet, it is not just those two that made an impression on me. There is a true three-dimensionality to all the people that you meet throughout the book. Their interactions, thoughts, and emotions have a truth to them which really elevates the story.

If you are looking for a young adult book that hits heartstrings, has a bit of teen angst, and deals with the difficult realities of divorce, this is the book for you.

I really wanted to be blown away by this book, I had such high expectations specially from such a seasoned author, but it was just awful.

The plot was boring. The story is really hard to explain so I suggest reading the synopsis above before reading the rest of this review. The book is about a kind of blended family whose relationship with each other will change this summer. I don’t even know how to start this review to be honest with you guys. I had really high expectations and the story seemed like such a great premise and it felt like it had a lot of potential and it was a massive let down. Starting with the writing style which was slow and really confusing. There are five different points of views in this book, none of which are designated with a name or anything once you’ve switched to their perspective. The narrative is third person omniscient but none of them were distinct. There was a lot of flowery descriptions and kind of poetic language but that was true for every single one of the characters so every time the POV changed, it took me awhile to catch my bearings and to know where I was. Which made it really annoying to read since they changed quite a few times within each chapter. It was just constant confusion. There was no real plot here, just a whole bunch of family drama, that’s never fully explained, and the day to day lives of these people. There’s a lot of separation and anger in the way the families are in their relationships with each other and it was almost way too over the top. So much drama and while this could be classified as a family drama book, it was way too much in my opinion. There was a lot of potential to explore some important themes like identity and self-acceptance and forgiveness. But this potential was completely ruined by body shaming, girl hate, sexism, racism and a weak resolution. Between the girl protagonists and side characters there was a lot of judgement and hate between them which is unnecessary. The father in this book is Indian but is someone who rejects that part of his heritage and there’s a lot of derogatory and sometimes harmful descriptions of the biracial main characters. There’s also some sexism in the way that one of the main characters thinks about other girls and it’s just really distasteful. The resolution left a really bad taste in my mouth as well. It felt unnecessary and kind of disappointing. I don’t think you need to have a horrible tragedy happen in your life to get your shit together and to act like a respectful human being to the people in your life. If you’d like to look at evidence of the problematic aspects that I’m talking about here, there’s this review which has quotes from the ARC which is what I also read.

I don’t know what to say about the characters. I tend to want to write a whole paragraph about the characters and my thoughts on their personalities and attitudes. But I can’t say anything that I haven’t already. They are all bland, stereotypical and I can’t really tell you anything special about any of them. There’s no redeeming qualities, nothing that I can really think of.

One of my problems with this book is also the romance. It wasn’t needed at all whatsoever and it was also kind of weird. Ray and Sasha are not related which is stated constantly in the book, they just have half-siblings in common. They have shared a room in a summer home for their entire lives and everything that comes with that room. The bed, the closet, the bathroom, the bookshelves, everything and this has created a very peculiar connection. It was almost worse than instalove because their connection is established before they even met and then their romance developed in about three to five in person conversations and just a few email exchanges. It made me uncomfortable and weird and I didn’t understand what they really saw in each other. I just think it was something that was added because it’s a YA contemporary and not because it made any sense to the actual story.

Overall, I was really disappointed in this book. When I first heard of it, it was one that I was really looking forward to but it definitely didn’t live up to my expectations. There’s a lot of problematic aspects throughout the book and the potential that this book as was totally ruined by the focus on the drama between the family and that’s it. The characters are all boring, bland and one dimensional and I don’t remember anything about them that makes them stand out. I didn’t like this book at all.

I love the sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. That is the perfect YA contemporary read. I was excited to be accepted to review her newest novel. The premise sounded amazing and very different from anything I've heard of in a long time. The standard tropes didn't seem to be a part of this story and that made me interested to give it a try.

I did like the writing style, of course. The plot was intriguing in that these to teens never have met but share sisters and a vacation house. In terms of their story, it was a bit predictable but the plot takes a slight turn that I found unexpected. For that, I can say that I liked the book.

at its heart, the whole thing together is about family. it's about the family you are born into and the one you chose to build. it is about siblings who love each other and appreciate even if they don't understand each other's differences. it is about how our families and our place in it shapes who we are and how we relate to the world.

the thomas-riggs family tree is complicated in that twenty-first century kind of way. lila and robert were married. they had three daughters: emma, quinn and mattie. then they divorced. it was very acrimonious. when they remarried, lila to adam and robert to evie, they each had a child. lila and adam had ray. and robert and evie had sasha.

as part of their divorce settlement, they shared custody of a beach house, alternating weeks throughout the year. and sasha and ray sharing a bedroom. without ever meeting. they've come close but managed to avoid any actual connection. except this summer, their ever-industrious sister emma, finagles them a shared job. and for the first time, they must communicate directly.

in seventeen years they had plenty of time to come up with an idea of each other. in some ways they shared their most intimate secrets with one another. but there was always the mystery the other half of the family, they never quite got the whole picture because their halves were whole. it's their sisters' family that fractured.

this summer is different not only because sasha and ray suddenly open communication. emma is secretly seeing a man that she loves and adores and whom she is determined to marry, but first, she has to figure out how to introduce him to her crazy, splintered family. and quinn is floating, as she does. she gardens and observes and is there for her siblings with unconditional love. and they really do need it. and then there is mattie, who is learning that maybe asking questions leads to unexpected and unwanted answers, who comes to realize that what she always believed about her identity may not be reality, and who is stuck questioning her place in this already complicated family.

it's not an easy summer. when things come to a head and everything falls apart, it's hard to see how they can come back from that. everything is so broken. but love, when given freely and unconditionally, the kind of love you have for your siblings and parents and those you chose to call family, is all-encompassing and healing. and maybe when everything is put together again, things don't look exactly the same, but maybe it's better.

i loved the last summer (of you & me) and i think people who loved that book, in particular, will love this one. this is different in tone from the sisterhood series, even though that series also tackled some pretty tough subjects. in some ways, this novel feels more adult. but that's okay. it's really just a beautiful story.

I was so excited to read Brashares' newest, as I've always loved her Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. Unfortunately, the book was a bit of a letdown. The story kept me engaged, but there were just a lot of issues with it. Many parts left me feeling a bit uncomfortable because the bordered on (maybe crossed a line into) being racist, sexist, and just questionable. I don't think it was the author's intention necessarily, but too many things were problematic with it to get past it. I think the book had potential to be really good, but it fell short even without the other issues. It was not as well-written as this author is capable of, at all. Also, it's written in third person omniscient, which I don't particularly love, and it rarely seems to be done well, and is definitely not done well here. It just leaves a disconnect between the reader and the characters in my view, especially when not executed well. I'm sad to say this is one I can't really recommend.

Can't say that I enjoyed this book. The characters were shallow and the only one halfway likable died.

2.5

Review will be posted week of 5/1

Lila and Robert fell in love, got married, and had three daughters. Lila comes from old money and Robert is part of the nouveau riche and desperately wants to fit in. Robert helps to restore Lila's family's shore house on the Hamptons. They should have their happy ending, but things don't got easily. Lila and Robert go through a nasty divorce and they both remarry. They both have new babies at the same time as well: Sasha and Ray. When they divvy up the time at the beach house, Sasha sleeps in Ray's room and vice versa. Both kids share a room, alternating each week, but have never actually met as their parents despise one another. But that doesn't stop Sasha and Ray from sharing a bookshelf, having a seashell collection together, etc, in their shared rooms. So, they both grow up very curious about one another. Their paths collide when they not only meet unexpectedly at a party in the city, but they also share a summer job at the beach, which prompts an informal email relationship. Then their entire family is forced to deal with one another when one of the siblings decides to get married. Nothing brings out family drama like a wedding, right? The Whole Thing Together by Ann Brashares is an interesting glimpse into an unusual family, but overall, this promising novel fell flat for me.

Sasha is a character I genuinely liked in The Whole Thing Together. She is of mixed-race (Robert is from Bangladesh) and sort of stands out from her other sisters. She has always been curious about Ray and sometimes it's easy to forget that she isn't related to him. Her family is a crazy one. I found myself having to refer to the family tree quite often to remember which daughter came from which mother and who Sasha's mother is, etc. It all got quite confusing, especially because Brashares doesn't focus on just Sasha and Ray.

There's the older sisters (Emma, Mattie, and Quinn) that Brashares also focuses on. This is a lot of characters to get used to in The Whole Thing Together. Emma is probably the most important of the sisters as she is the one that is getting married and consequently bringing both sides of the family together despite their volatile relationship. Mattie also uncovers some hard truths during the summer about their family, so this only adds fuel to the fire.

The best part of The Whole Thing Together was the beautiful Hamptons setting and the old beach house. I loved Brashares descriptions of the gorgeous summer and Sasha and Ray's shared room. Also, Quinn works at the Farmers Market, which was also a great summertime setting.

What irked me regarding The Whole Thing Together was how essentially this story is about rich people behaving badly. And adults no less. The adults wreak havoc on their children's lives by not getting along. At first this was an interesting dynamic, but then it got tiring. I mean I can only handle so much angst from privileged people. But of course, there is a major truth that is uncovered this summer that rattles the family to its core and tragedy strikes as well. Also, there's one more thing that bothered me. There were a few comments about a particular female's appearance and her body type with a side of slut shaming. It really annoyed me and was done a few times. I was very taken aback by it and didn't expect it from Brashares.

So, if you enjoy novels about family drama set in idyllic locations, check out The Whole Thing Together by Ann Brashares. But if you are looking for the next heartwarming Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, look elsewhere.

This is what I posted on my Instagram. My first-ever DO NOT PRE-ORDER post. I have an ARC of this and before reading it I checked the reviews on Goodreads. I read several and one in particular caught my eye - you must go read the review by Mia @pensandparchment to get the full picture of what is wrong with this book and why it should NOT be purchased for HS libraries. I checked numerous things she wrote and all were accurate, the most offensive being the constant slut-shaming and fat-shaming, along with the horrendous burqa comment. I will scan a finished copy of the book at a bookstore as soon as it is out on 4/25 to see if that was removed in the final version, but from the parts I read it isn't well-written (3rd person and annoying) and the objectionable parts (and possibly harmful) far outweigh the possible positives. I'm posting this because I, as a HS librarian, was thisclose to pre-ordering simply on the author's name alone. I'm shocked that it's listed as Best of Titlewave and reviewed so positively by all the major trade pubs based on what I read of it. I'm so happy I didn't order it.

Sasha and Ray are not related, but they share the same half siblings. In this twisted family tree, the original divorced couple must come together for their oldest daughter's wedding. Soon sparks fly between Sasha and Ray, while destructive fires are ignited in other parts of the family.

This book was confusing at times because it was hard to keep track of the characters, especially at the beginning before the author had a chance to develop the distinct personalities. I felt like this book seemed to be like a last book in a series, but it isn't. It will do better with the new adults and older teens.

I have enjoyed Ann Brashares' other novels, I have read everything by her.

Long Island beach house
Multiple points of view.
Dividing between two families due to divorce/remarriage- house, year, holidays, food, costs, to paper products, and lawn and pool maintenance and most importantly -Sisters. This division has shaped their lives.
Half-life...put together would make whole.

You will become a part of this family and although separate but together to become a whole

A complicated but believable family structure results in two teens of similar age and with shared family members (but not exactly related to each other) occupying the same summerhouse bedroom -- on alternate weekends. This should appeal to Sarah Dessen fans as well as readers of Ann Brasheres' teen books -- perfect for summer reading.