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Summary: This book comes to life!
Review: I enjoyed this book so much! very single part of it jumped out at me. Rebecca Wells makes the story really come to life, so you feel like your there with Vivi or Sidda. The movie did not do justice to this wonderful book, though a good movie within itself, emotional parts were left out. So if your in the mood for a book that'll take you away from everyday life, I recommened this book.
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Summary: A good book, mother daughter issues treated well.
Review: I found this book stirring. Vivi gives a wonderful representation of those days of early parenting when the babies are small. I could completely relate to being covered with baby mess, being angry at having to get up at all hours of the night, and only wanting to escape. Vivi's fear of telling her sisters about how the children make her feel is real. I was impressed with how the author depicted the depression experienced by some women who are not the perfect mom. A good read on this subject is The Mask of Motherhood: How becomming a mother changes everything and why we pretend it doesn't by Susan Maushart.I can also relate to the deep wounds caused by child abuse and the adult tension that is created between mother and child. Looking at the lives of our parents and what molded them can be helpful in understanding their behavior. Then again sometimes you just have to look past their moments of darkness and remember the loving moments to find peace. I liked the way suspence was built by getting little snippets of information as the author moved back and forth between Sidda's perspective and that of Vivi, both of them moving easily into the past and present. I really liked the mix of the Blessed Virgin Mary and pagan dancing under the moon. The thread of spirituality that wove itself through the entire book was uplifting.
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Summary: Divine is Divine!
Review: This book was a wonderful jumble of family relationships, learning to cope, and learning to accept what life throws at you. I really like the story. At times, I thought the main character, Siddalee, was a little whiny. I also thought that most girls would not have done some of the things that the YaYas did, just because of the times (pre-war). All in all, it was a wonderful story about enduring love.
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Summary: A surprising favorite
Review: I wasn't sure what to expect, but the title caught my eye. I loved every page of the book and have recommended it to all my friends. It takes you through the up and down emotions that all women experience, including the crazy and insane thoughts that can go along with the emotions. I caught myself laughing out loud in many parts. Definitely a must-read.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: i loved this book. it is not as good as the movie but the movie was one of the best chick flicks ever.the movie didnt leve allot out and it is one of my all time favorite movies. the book is odd very odd. i mean the mother daughter letters. read it and see the movie while your at it.
Rating: 
Summary: I liked it.
Review: I loved this book, I found it different from the movie and I am glad that I saw the movie first. Perhaps I liked the book because I liked the movie. I found the closeness and the forgiveness that the women have for each other inspiring. They were and are there for each other no matter what. They love each other with a love that rivals the love they have for the husbands. Moral of this story: we all have a story that few people know about, a story that shapes who we are and what we are. I would recommed this book
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Summary: This Book Doesn't Have Much To Do With Rolling Stones
Review: I bought this book, thinking it was about some "sisters" who were going to get their "Ya Ya's" out, whatever that means. Just based on the Rolling Stones Album of that name, I thought it had something to do with drugs or sex or something wild like that. And you know what - there isn't anything in here about anybody getting their ya ya's out!! It's about some family living in the south, and depicts southern culture and stuff, but none of the girls are gettin' their ya ya's out, from what I can tell and there is no mention of the Rolling Stones. So if you're a big Rolling Stones fan and you're looking for a movie based on one of their songs, I would recommend that really stupid 1988 Justine Bateman movie, Satisfaction, where she plays a rock and roller. At least they come closer to gettin' some ya ya's out (whatever that means) than they do in this sorry story.
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Summary: A Good Beach Book
Review: I had heard so many wonderful things about this book by people that I know, that I had to read it. However, I was not too impressed with it. Parts of it were very interesting, but most of it I skimmed through. It is a good book to bring on vacation or to the beach. Very light reading.
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Summary: Mothers and daughters
Review: If you are a woman who has a mother or a mother with a daughter, something in this book will ring a bell and touch your heart. Buried in the Southern dialog, the drinking, the Southern culture, the craziness is the basic relationship between mothers and daughters. This was the core of the book for me. How could Sidda possibly be well-adjusted and secure with a mother like Vivi, and how could Vivi possibly have been normal with a mother like Buggy? We only get a glimpse of Delia, but it's clear that her relationship with Buggy was nothing to shout about. Daughters generally learn mothering behavior from their own mothers and it's clear from the relationships Rebecca Wells describes that nobody was learning much in that family. It makes me wonder what one would find if the family history was exposed back a few more generations. Another theme that it seems no one has mentioned is the phenomenon of young girls sending young men to a war from which the young men did not return. Vivi decided to marry Shep because it didn't really matter who she married--because her true love, Jack, was killed in the war. How many other girls in this country "settled" for someone because of the same thing? How many young women of that generation married just to marry and slowly fell apart? Shep Walker's habit of disappearing anytime the going got rough didn't help the emotionally fragile Vivi, who was fortunate to have the Ya-Ya's to support her. My guess is that there were/are lots of marriages like that, and not every woman is lucky enough to have close friends to see her through. The book may have its flaws, but these themes really touched me and made me think of my relationships with my own mother and my daughters, and consider my marriage and the friendships in my life. I revisited my own childhood and it made me think and wonder. That is the mark of a good book for me.
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Summary: Ya-Ya For Life!
Review: After reading the "Divine Secrets" I have a whole different outlook on life! This book brought me back to the deep south and made me want to stay there! Despite the distrubing storyline of an abusive, alcoholic mother...Vivi had a heart for her children, she just wasn't ready to be a mother yet! So many of the situations of the Ya-Ya's both young and old, rang true in my ears. The bonds of friendship are never broken throughout their whole lives. I love Siddalee's character and her lot in life...having her past haunt her and learning to live and love again. This book is a "life" book. It's not meant to be a fairy tale, or a soap opera...it's just life..raw, take it or leave it life! Wells captured that in such a Divine way. I am a Ya-Ya for life!
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