Rating: 
Summary: Didn't even want to finish
Review: I had heard good things about this book so I got it. I read into it about halfway and just couldn't take anymore. It wasn't holding my interest. I found it quite boring.
Rating: 
Summary: I devoured this book...
Review: I read the Divine Ya-Ya's before I read her first novel, Little Alters Everywhere. Little Alters is more about Viv's children, husband, and servants than it is about the Ya-Ya's. I got to know the Ya-Ya's in the second book and missed them terribly in Little Alters.The thing about the Divine Ya-Ya's book I did not care for was all the whining that Sidda did about her mother. You could tell right away Viv had a disfunctional past and this is what effected her present life. But her daughter was wollerin' in self pity through out the book.. I enjoyed that fact that these women were at home with their children, or away with them during the summer for a month at a time. I remember when that was the norm. You would think there would be more disfunction out there now, with mothers & fathers both working, than you could have dug up during this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Good "Chick" Book
Review: Great summer read, for the beach or wherever you vacation. Heartwarming. My favorite part of the book - some of the characters go to the Gone with the Wind premier.
Rating: 
Summary: What Is The Secret To 'Divine Secrets'?
Review: What is the secret to Divine Secrets? The complex relationship between mother and adult daughter comes full circle in this dramatic, comedic, real and inspirational story. Sidalee Walker is a 40 year play write, who comes back home to come to terms with her painful past - namely her mother Vivi Abbott Walker. Vivi is a high-spirited, unconventional woman/mother/wife - especially considering her background; born in the 1930's in Louisiana she is certainly not your typical Southern Belle. Vivi's tight-nit group of girlfriends - The Ya-Yas - are a huge factor in both Viv's and Sidalee's lives. The Ya-Ya's grew up together and caused a lot of uproar in their small Louisiana town. Being raised as a "Petite Ya-Ya", Sidalee had a lot of
freedom to be who she wanted and was encouraged to explore her dreams. But as Vivi was very free-spirited she was also a manic-depressive, binging on alcohol and verbally and physically harming all of her children. Especially Sidalee as she was the oldest of 4. After Sidalee comes home to seek answers about her past she meets up with the Ya-Ya's (minus her mother who is angry with Sidalee for spilling the beans on Vivi to a critic who reviewed Sidalee's first play) to get the answeres she needs. The Ya-Ya's bring a huge scrap book entitled "The Divine Secrets of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood" which answers a lot of questions for Sidalee and provides a lot of insight on her past as well as her mother's. This book will make you laugh out loud, cry and wish for one moment that you could meet these brave, funny, eclectic women.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book. Mostly.
Review: This book does so well what it does well that it's quite possible to overlook the parts that ring false or disturb. The story centers around a native Louisianan author, Sidda, and her mother angst, the mother being a self-possessed bon vivant who, at the same time, brought terror and fear upon her offspring during their childhood. The two stories told simultaneously, the Sidda's in present and the mother Vivi's in flashback, we the readers see the childhood causes of Vivi's duality of personality... and the effects of her scars on the subsequent generation. First, this novel does ring true with the friendship between Viv and her three best girlfriends, the "Ya Ya's." The girls are sincerely and believably close; the author of this novel creates this circle of friends during a specific time in that specific place with authenticity and sensitivity. The girls themselves, as well as members of their families, are clearly drawn distinguishable personalities. Their highjinks are amusing and appalling, and their shared experiences make believable the adult closeness which they share as daughter Sidda's story unfolds. Sidda herself is what doesn't sit firmly with me. She's a successful playwright who alienates her mother by using private scenarios from her childhood as fodder for her very public plays. Sidda, despite her success, is a woman fraught with insecurities and obsessive envy of her mother's place and position of security in life. She yearns for closeness and acceptance with her mother, but she has been disappointed too many times by her unpredicatable and not-always-reliable behavior... perhaps Sidda's discomfiture is understandable, but I find it hard to swallow that an adult woman with a distinguished career, especially one as cerebral and evolved as playwriting, hadn't dealt with her childhood megrims before the wholly adult age of 40. As a result of Sidda's issues, she's put her relationship with a man she adores and who adores her on hold... she's desperate to fill in blanks that have plagued her since she young (the linchpin scene concerning Vivi's breakdown emerges with tremendous power and startling poignancy), and find a context for her past before initiating her future. That's fine. It's just not as fun to read as the parts involving the Ya Ya's themselves, those four formidable Grande Dames of whom I'd like to be a part. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a unique cast of characters and that "good old boy," Creole variety, of the deep south. I'd read it again... as I already said, its weaknesses are more than offset by its strengths.
Rating:
Summary: Ya-Ya.............YESSS!
Review: The Audio version is so good, I bought an additional set for my life-long best friend! I did not want to part with mine. If you've lost your sparkle, get this set. The author, Rebecca Wells has a fabulous voice. You will find your magic again, and remember things long forgot. If only our children could experience these experiences.
Rating:
Summary: Smart, surprising, and very funny
Review: After I read this book, I wanted to be a child again. But not just any child, a 'petite ya-ya!' In spite of the completely dysfunctional, touching, and tragic lives many of the characters lead (the women concerned, by the way, are known collectively as the Ya-Yas and their children as the petites ya-yas), and in spite of the fact that the book deals mainly with family feuds, their lives are also filled with crazy love and maniacal laughter, silly secrets and wild adventures. The writing mirrors this beautifully, tossing the story from mother to daughter to grandmother and weaving the intense emotional world of the Ya-Yas into something wild and colorful that pulls you inside and keeps you a willing captive. It's an astonishing piece of writing. I have yet to read LITTLE ALTARS EVERYWHERE, but I am certain it will not disappoint.
Rating:
Summary: Laughs and Cries
Review: Reading this book had my emotions on a roller coaster ride. There were moments where I couldn't stop laughing and moments where tears rolled viciously down my cheeks. The relationship between Vivi and Sidda was very confusing. Vivi couldn't understand how her mother's childhood could be full of so much fun, yet live such a bitter, sad adult life. While reading you could only hope that the relationship between the mother and daughter would prosper with time.
The relationship between the Ya Ya's was the idea friendship. So full of love and good times. They were there for one another unconditionally. This book will get you thinking about your life and it makes you want a close relationship with your mom. I've grown just from reading it!
Rating:
Summary: love-hate relationship with this book
Review: Siddalee Walker traces her mother Vivi's life and lifelong relationship with her 3 best friends (the Ya-yas") through a scrapbook. While the stories of Vivi, Caro, Necie and Teensy growing up in the South during the early 20th century are fun and exciting, the group is just a bunch of self-ceneterd divas in the end (a pity, because they all have kids, but being a fabulous Ya-Ya comes first!) But the point is to see how they got there. Stories include when they are children in the 1930s and try out for a Shirley Temple lookalike contest, when they are 12 and go to Atlanta to see the premiere of "Gone With the Wind", when they are teenagers and are caught skinny-dipping in the reservoir. It's great to see that Vivi has such lifelong friendships, but you can't help thinking she messed up her daughter to the point where she doesn't have any herself. I don't like books that expect me to worship characters who are so obviously flawed. Apparently, in this book, everyone who has ever lived adores the Ya-yas. In real life, people wouldn't be able to stand them. They are too full of themselves.
Rating:
Summary: Uh-oh, more bad than good
Review: Hmmmm...after composing the following lists, I think I need to subtract a star. Maybe this book annoyed me more than I realized. Things I liked about this book:
*The character Genevieve
*Descriptions of the trip to see Gone With the Wind
*The scene where Vivi's brother has to take her to find out that Jack has been killed
*The boarding school parts
*Most of the letters
*The scene where Ginger tells Vivi, "Fix it yourself!" [speaking about the hot chocolate]
*This sentence: "I could taste a good nap like a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich on fresh French bread." Things I hated about this book:
*The predictable characters (the friends Wade and May--how contrived!--plus the perfect boyfriend)
*The insufferable nicknames that rang false to me: Sidd-o and Conn-o (NOBODY would ever say that!!), Siddo-Kiddo, Siddakins, Vivi Dahlin, Denesie-oh, Madame Voilanska, 'girlfriend', Huella, Teens, Darlingissima (my personal hell), Pal, Baba Wade, etc, etc, etc...you get the picture
*Gumbo Ya-Ya
*The fact that all the kids in high school worshipped the Ya-Yas. They would really have hated and mocked them.
*The boozing, smoking, etc--esp. the one who says, "Every time I light up I say a Hail Mary for Caro" [the one who has emphysema]. WHY DON'T YOU JUST LEARN SOMETHING FROM YOUR FRIEND'S SUFFERING AND QUIT???
*This passage (p. 312): "Sidda pulled the throw tightly around her naked body as she stepped back to the table. Connor stood, his arms hanging beside his naked body." Two "naked body" mentions in two sentences?? Booooo! Bad writing, worse editing.
*And worst of all, the boring, pampered dog who added nothing whatsoever
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