Rating: 
Summary: Ya-Ya
Review: Rebecca Wells' novel, "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," captures the powerful lifelong friendship between four Southern women, the Ya-Ya's: Vivi, Teensy, Caro, and Necie. The author gives each of her charming characters a unique Southern accent, from Vivi's innocent voice, to the low, raspy tone of Caro. Her use of imagery paints a distinct image of each character and brings the reader to a more personal level with the four women. As a child, Vivi, the protagonist, struggled in coping with her deranged, alcoholic mother who sent her to a convent school in her streak of distorted piety. Vivi's daughter, Sidda, shares the same unstable relationship with her mom as Vivi did with her mother. When Sidda reveals her mothers abusive behavior in a New York Times interview, she is sent her mother's journal and learns the truth about Vivi's secret life. Wells' exercises the device of flashback to provide a first-hand account of Vivi's childhood life. The flashbacks illustrated in Vivi's journal truly bring Sidda to terms with her mother's past. "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," ultimately ties in both humorous and tear jerking scenes to create a deeply emotional and exceptionally entertaining novel. Wells' novel about pain, love, and the bonds of friendship can truly relate to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Divine Secrets Revealed
Review: When I began to read the novel Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, it struck me as a very simple and easy read. Like my mother always says, the only reason it's on the New York Times Bestseller List is because it's written for the masses, and so it has to be easy. I'll admit, it's no Crime and Punishment but it is a delightful representation of lifelong lessons of the strong bonds of true friendship and the importance of family as the fulfillment of life. The author uniquely reveals elements of the protagonist Vivi's past through letters she wrote as a child and flashbacks recalled to the reader through her daughter Sidda's thoughts. She uses the element of foreshadowing several times as Sidda peruses Vivi's scrapbook "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood." Sidda finds a receipt to a pawn shop amongst her mother's keepsakes. The receipt is the result when Vivi pawns an expensive ring her father gave to her in exchange for a weekend getaway by herself. It foretells of several more instances of abandonment of her children and her continuing struggle with motherhood and alcoholism. An underlying theme throughout the novel is racism. In Vivi's time, it was not unusual, especailly in Louisiana, to have black maids around the house to wait on the occupants of the household. One night, Vivi cannot sleep. She goes to wake up her maid Ginger and finds her crying. Ginger informs her that she misses her family. When Vivi asks if she misses Vivi's grandmother, Ginger snaps that her grandmother is not her family, rather she has a mother and father of her own. The author reveals the underlying theme of the unfeeling nature of whites toward blacks and its effects on blacks in this time period. The author uses symbolism throughout the novel as well. When Sidda is on a weekend getaway at her friend's cabin, she catches sight of two eagles in flight. "Those eagles...don't distinguish between work and play. To them, it is all one and the same." The eagles are symbolic of memories of the jovial times of her childhood when things were simple and relaxed. She has vivid memories of trips to Spring Creek where the Ya-Yas would lay on blankets with their Bloody Marys, oil themselves, and sleep--not worrying about their children or any work to be done. Sidda wishes for the days when there was no such thing as "time management" and she longs for the "unplanned, improvisational laziness" of it all. Inevitably, the novel concludes with a happy end to the conflict between mother and daughter. It is an important stressor of strong, lasting bonds of friendship and unconditional love of family.
Rating:
Summary: A Comedic and Touching Piece
Review: The book, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Siterhood, written by Rebecca Wells, is an insightful novel about four best friends re-living their unforgettable pasts, as they try to deal with their children and other unusual events that occur throughout the book; this novel passes through three generations of crazy bayou debutantes trying to survive marriage, motherhood, pain, and love. This book is a comedic piece that kept me smiling as I turned each page. The story, which is based on strong bonds and friendship, truly relates to everyone everywhere! It touched me, as I found myself feeling the same emotions that the characters in the book felt. This novel is brimming with unforgettable characters, family secrets, and incisive humor. I would definately recommend this book, but not to anyone. This book requires a high level of maturity due to its descriptive, sensual content, yet it is definately a good book for anyone with a big heart. This book was totally written for women.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent piece
Review: This book was quite successful, being filled with great humor, and yet still remaining sensitive. It has an outstanding way of showing both types of bonds between women - mother and daughter bonds and the friendship bond. Wells was rather clever in her way of showing how the two types of bonds can intertwine. Without a doubt, a must-read.
Rating:
Summary: Don't seee the movie until you "see" this audio version
Review: Some readers of this book have given it a ya-yawn rating and I am so sorry that they didn't discover its true and wonderful language and dialect by listening to the Unabridged AUDIO version of it first. The characters come ALIVE and the story weaves a wonderous tale of friendship, love, family, and what it means to be part of a whole... southern style.Now think of Charo. Yes, Charo. How do you think she would say the words YA YA? Try it again. Yap it out of your mouth. YAYA. THATs what it means to be a member of The Divine Sisterhood. The excitement, exuberance and wonder of this story can only be spoken (in this case, very well acted) by a wonderful interpreter. Yes, the movie is good. But I highly suggest buying this audio tape or CD and listening to it on the way home or to work, or in the hours you find just for YOU. THEN see the film. It will add so much more to your enjoyment of each of the arts. Why? The film cannot, of course, follow all of the wonderful characters in this book, although it does its best to provide the viewer with a good version of a great story. But this is an oral history, sisters..... the kind our country is losing even as we speak. The Ya yas' history seeps out of a big scrapbook filled with pages that open deeper and deeper into the workings of a group of wonderous (and privileged) young girls in the south; and how their lives become tangled -- and finally untangled -- into a clear understanding by the child who can't understand why she cannot commit herself to marriage. I won't spoil another damned thing here, except to say that the ladies should have all gone to "The Betty" but had they, the antics would not seem feasable and the storyline would lose its edge. Get up on that elephant, all the Siddhas of the world! and learn to live life the way you want to live it! Tap dance through dinner! Show your child you can save her by being her best and favorite lifeguard in and out of the water! Do the best you can with what hand was dealt to you! And men, enjoy that fishing cabin. 'Cause in this story, the girls are the stars. Five of 'em. YA YA!
Rating:
Summary: Divine
Review: A wonderful novel - filled with the seemingling-real ghosts of the south. Ya ya will not win a Nobel Prize but it is a terrific escape into the lives of strong women. I enjoyed the humorous entries about motherhood and overcoming hardships. For entertainment and laughter, real this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Hope the movie was better than the book
Review: I heard all this hype about this book and was not impressed at all...I had a hard time picking it up to read it...I thought...It must be me! Or it's going to get better, BUT it didn't. I was hoping for a lot more than the book had to offer...
Rating:
Summary: Nothing divine. Yawn-yawn.
Review: This book is a verbose, homoerotic, waste of time. And the great conflict between mother and daughter was just plain unbelievable; there was no pay-off after all that slugging through. Don't bother.
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't like it
Review: My mom liked this book & recommended it to me. I couldn't stand it. It was just too, too....oh, I don't know.... self-congratulatory, unbelievable, or something. "Look at what a cute little book I wrote about a bunch of women with cute little Ya-Ya names". Maybe because I'm not from the South but it seemed like the author was trying way too hard to be oh-so-clever. Didn't work for me - made me cringe. But as you can see other people liked it. Or maybe that means it was a good book because it DID invoke feelings in me (even though they were hateful feelings). No criticism of the author as a writer - I just didn't like the characters & story - a matter of preference.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I'm going to be honest, I don't read many books. I don't have time and I usually get bored after the first page. That being said, I was glued to this book. My goal was to read the book before I saw the movie and I am glad I did. The plot of the book is much richer than the movie. There are more twists and turns. My reccomendation is to read this book whether or not you have seen or plan to see the movie.
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