Rating: 
Summary: Grab the tissues...
Review: This one is a tear jerker. You laugh, you cry, you get angry with these characters. Every mother and daughter should read this book. In an effort to know herself, Siddalee Walker gets to know her mother as a person.. The author takes us on a journey through Siddalee's mother's life. A thought provoking and thoroughly enjoyable book! I couldn't put it down. Readers who enjoyed this book will also enjoy Little Altars Everywhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Too cute, too contrived
Review: I couldn't even finish it. Hasn't this been made into a movie several times already?
Rating:
Summary: Utterly overrated!!
Review: The Ya Yas are a bunch of selfish, useless, inconsiderate, alcoholic women. I found absolutely nothing redeeming about their adolescent behavor. I forced myself to read this trite to the bitter end to see what all the raves were about, but I am still puzzled. I didn't find the book particularly amusing. Of course, I didn't like the Bridges of Madison County either, maybe I just have good taste!!! By the way I am a successful adult woman with many women friends who loves a good laugh and a good time.
Rating:
Summary: extremely disappointing
Review: my sister and I read the Ya Yas, having seen all the great reviews. we both HATED it....boring people.... didn't care if they lived died or did anything else. the whole book screamed FILM SCRIPT to me and while this often doesn't matter (see the Horse Whisperer), this was a truly disappointing book. Pity as we were both looking forward to finding an interesting southern woman novelist, given we love that area of the States.
Rating:
Summary: It'll make all moms & daughters stop and think!
Review: The only thing I can say negative about this book is that Siddalee's character seemed a bit flat. It's a stretch but perhaps this was done on purpose so the reader could put themselves in her shoes?? I can identify with wanting to know your mother's story --what was she like, what did she enjoy, what kind of things happened to her when she was young, how much like her am I...? I've always wanted to know these things about my own mother --too bad she didn't keep a scrapbook for me to explore and doesn't have friends like the Ya Ya's to help fill in the blanks! (It's not that she's passed on but that she doesn't care to reminisce!)
Rating: 
Summary: Witty and irreverant dialogue, but slim plot
Review: I agree with most of the online reviews about how the dialogue jumps off the page and grabs you. That is true. You can tell the author is a playwright. But I found the plot to be thin. It seemed to jump around from scene to scene without ever coming together. I wish I had read Little Altars Everywhere first, which I thought was much better than Divine Secrets. I did enjoy reading about my home and culture. (I am from South Central Louisiana in the heart of Cajun country.) It made me homesick and reminded me of my mother and her friends. However, there were some things that bothered me. For instance, we call it "crawfish" not "crayfish." And there is no New Orleans Saints baseball team. It's the football team! I guess Ms. Wells has been in Seattle too long. At least James Lee Burke gets back to New Iberia often enough to write about it accurately. Maybe I'm being picky, but I've seen so many authors (and screen writers) write about Louisiana unauthentically.
Rating: 
Summary: Captivating
Review: I can not remember the last time I ever felt so passionate about a book. It drew me in and made me a part of the "Ya-Ya Sisterhood". I read this book twice. The first time, I just couldn't put it down. The second time around, I lazily memorized each page trying capture the smell and feel of the "Ya-Yas", the lives they led together and apart, and their loyalty to one another. I laughed and cried and in the end I felt whole and happy.
Rating:
Summary: Good study in how to be dysfunctional Southern-style .
Review: Siddalee<where DO they get those names?>was a self-absorbed twit, her mother was worse and the Ya-Ya's were all rich, spoiled brats who live high at the expense of everyone around them. They're to be admired ? Puh-leeze ! The maid was far more interesting, the cosmetics selling white-trash girl had more character and the rest of them were one-dimensional bores. Waste of paper by a writer who thinks she's Anne Rivers Siddons in-training but doesn't quite have it yet. And yes, I grew up in the South.
Rating:
Summary: Wild, frustrating, wonderful daughter/mother relationshipip.
Review: From page one the reader is caught up in the estranged relationship of Vivi and her daughter. We learn of the incredible 50 year relationships of 4 women in the Ya-Ya Sisterhood in Louisiana, who would stop at nothing to protect one another from anyone or anything. Beautifully written - one of those books where you stop reading so that you never have to face the last page. One hopes that these women's lives and adventures would go on forever!
Rating:
Summary: wildly funny
Review: One of the best books I've read this summer. If you have ever had any enduring relationships with female friends, this book will bring back many of those memories. I am now enjoying Little Altars Everywhere!
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