Rating: 
Summary: Simply divine!
Review: Divine Secrets, and soon after, Little Altars Everywhere, were perhaps two of the most enjoyable books that I have read in quite a while. I was captivated by this tale of Siddalee growing up with the YaYas and coming to terms with her life, her upbringing and her family itself. These books were a sort of guilty pleasure that left me torn between wanting to finish them and not wanting them to end.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT GA-GA OVER YA-YA
Review: Large portions of this book were either unbelievable, trite, or downright annoying. For examples, leaf through the book for any mention of the dog, Hueylene. All of the "dog" passages reminded me of the stuff I used to put in term papers so that I could meet the minimum length requirement.There were some cute little stories stashed here and there, but all in all, I'd have to say that this is the most overrated book I've read since Memoirs of A Geisha.
Rating: 
Summary: Divine Secrets of Ya Ya Sisterhood
Review: After hearing countless positive recommendations, I picked up this book and began to read the adventures of a character not unlike myself. The beginning of the book is difficult to get into. At first, it is slow and relatively boring. However, if you make it half way, you are sure to find the book a delightful treat.
Rating:
Summary: Good Writing
Review: I admire this book more for its gorgeous writing style more than the plot and characterization. Sidda could've been fleshed out more, and the Ya Ya Sisters themselves seemed cliched stereotypes more than flawed and human, as one of the reviewers noted. It didn't seem very real and belivable to me, but it is fiction, so I won't be too hard on the book for that. What made me enjoy it the most was the way it was written, though. Rebecca Wells is very talented in that respect.
Rating: 
Summary: What a good book!
Review: "Secrets....." was hard for me to decipher at first. I didn't know what to make of the flip-flop of years between Sidda and Vivi. It was a bit hard to follow up until the middle. Then the book really takes off. All I can say is... I wish I had been with Necie, Caro, Teensy and Vivi the night they hit the local water tower. You go, girls! I liked Rebecca Wells style of writing so I think I will check out "Little Alters Everywhere."
Rating:
Summary: Please ! This is not the south !
Review: I half way enjoyed this book. I picked it up from the new book shelf in my library just after it hit the bookstores. And just as I thought, many, many readers believe it to be a portrayal of southern women. I have NEVER met anyone like these characters. And I don't think I live a sheltered life. In addition, I read about "Ya, Ya friendship groups" popping up all over the country. Many of these people were "discovering" friendships with women for the first time in their lives. How Sad ! To think this book about drunks, smoking fiends, and (as seen in Little Altars)child abusers, directed women to cherish the other women in their lives; and how bizarre to need a ritualistic club to do it in. Personally, I would rather have experienced more about Sidda's relationship with her boyfriend. He seemed really wonderful ! Who WAS that guy?
Rating:
Summary: We need more books like this!
Review: This is a bold, beautiful book. It goes where many books don'tdare go - women's friendship, mother-daughter, marriage, career,alcohol, raciscm; and all in one book! I had a hard time putting itdown. After two months I re-read it in one day. I laugh, I cry. And I gave it to all my girlfriends.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Book
Review: My cousin turned me onto this book, and I owe her a great big thanks. I was totally absorbed and hooked. What an amazing read....there's nothing else like it. It's the sort of book that makes you happy that authors share their ideas and creativity with you. We're very lucky to have this one. It's smart and very well-down. And, worth every minute of time spent reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Based on other reviews, this book was supposed to be wonderful. I was sadly disappointed. This book is about a bad relationship between a mother and daughter. The ending is nice, but too drastic to be realistic, given the bad feelings that seem to harbour for so long in both parties. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Gumbo, Zydeco and Ya-Yas - a Rich Mix
Review: If you read "Little Altars Everywhere", you will be glad to know that "Divine Secrets" takes a look at the life of Siddalee Walker from the distance of heavily analyzed adulthood. "Divine Secrets" focuses once again on Siddalee, but this time she is a 40-year old successful stage director who is taking some time out from her career and her love life to put to rest some old ghosts. After having humiliated her mother in national print (a New York Times reporter calls Viviane Walker "a tap dancing child abuser"), Siddalee is gifted with her mother's scrapbook, which, in Vivane Walker's typically outrageous style, has been named "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood". Viviane sends Siddalee this volume of personal mementos in an effort to have Siddalee understand her better without having to put any personal effort into the process. Inside this scrapbook, Siddalee discovers bits and pieces of her mother's past - pictures, newspapaer articles, mementos - but she is not granted the entire story surrounding each of these titilating fragments. The reader is able to learn, through Viviane's own memory, all of the interesting details that Siddalee doesn't get to know. This, I feel, is the greatest weekness in "Divine Secrets". The reader gets to see Viviane as a child and an adolescent, living in a home where she is abused by her father and openly detested by her mother. We learn about the death in WWII of Viviane's first and only love and the stresses put on her by having four stair-step children and an absentee husband. Siddalee, however, is not privy to any of this information. She reads tantalizing tidbits in newspaper articles, gleans what meaning she can from photographs, party invitations, and mysterious keys, but never knows any of the details the reader does. Because of this, it is difficult for me to believe that in the end of the novel Siddalee can forgive Viviane her many transgressions. It doesn't seem to me that she has enough information to be that magnanimous. Other than this one flaw, "Divine Secrets" is a beautiful book. The women in this novel are fully realized characters - I recognized each one of these women, and even grew up with some of them (but not all of them together, thank goodness!). The descriptions of Louisiana are rich and detailed, and as much as I hate a crustaceon, I was dreaming of crawfish for days after turning the last page. "Divine Secrets" is about forgiveness and the power of love. Rebecca Wells is brave to offer up a novel filled with women who are real enough to not always be likable (in fact, Viviane is almost never likable), and she is a talented enough word smith to keep these women sympathetic. "Divine Secrets" is a soothing, redeeming follow up to "Little Altars", and I recommend it. Throw some Zydeco on the stereo and curl up with a cup of java - this one will keep you up all night!
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