Rating: 
Summary: A pleasure to read and pass on.
Review: This book has become a shortcut language for my mother, my aunts, and my friends. The joy of the sisterhood is not so much in the time spent reading alone (although that's not bad, either), but in sitting around a kitchen table laughing about Pooty Pootwell and round-robin child rearing. I did not love The Divine Secrets because it is great literature. I loved it because it is great conversation.
Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious, thought-provoking, emotional rollercoaster
Review: This fabulous novel about friendship, & motherhood touched me like no other book has for a long, long time. I laughed one minute and cried the next. If anyone has been blessed with life-long friends, you will not believe the poignancy with which Rebecca Wells conveys this beautiful story. Put it in your basket ASAP!
Rating:
Summary: An "Unusual" Male Perspective
Review: A number of women have expressed surprise that a man would have read this book at all, much less express great respect for the work. Actually, I found the book remarkable in the way it explored complex relationships and it provided some very personal insights for me. I enjoyed the book tremendously and recommend it to any and everyone - with the caution that men reading the book will have numerous women approach them to inquire about their choice of literature.
Rating: 
Summary: Poorly written and unbelievable
Review: Caveat: Everyone in my book club liked this book except me. I just didn't buy the characters at all. I got so annoyed I put it down half-way through. Contrived, sloppy, and the characters were pretty unappealing.
Rating: 
Summary: Potential not realized
Review: I was fascinated by the psychological promise in the beginning of the book. I thought we were going to see how and why Vivi changed from the girl with so much inner spark and promise to the empty soul she became. What we got was a litany of harsh outer circumstances that could destroy some, but not others. I wanted to know why they destroyed Vivi. Or did they? The sappy and totally unbelievable ending seemed to say "nevermind." An unsatisfying book.
Rating:
Summary: Flawed, but worthwhile
Review: God save us from one more female protagonist who eats fresh pasta and grilled salmon steaks, exercises for FUN, has a flat stomach at forty --and who is surrounded by friends who apparently have no other purpose on this earth but to shelter and protect this delicate tortured heroine.Sidda is is the above-described heroine of this novel - and the least attractive, least ALIVE character in these 356 pages. As far as I'm concerned, Sidda is Ya-Ya NO. The book's ending was simplistic and maudlin - and didn't "go" with the rest of the book. The complex, messy relationships that are dealt with here couldn't, in my opion, be wrapped up so neatly in a jewel box wrapped in handmade paper. It's like Wells couldn't sustain the lovely mess. Or she didn't want it to continue. That, to me, was an ultimate sin here and in contradiction to one of her most important Ya-Ya-isms: "Life is a beast. Get on and ride it." BUT, keep your eye on the Ya-Yas. They are where this book (and a lot of us as well) lives. Wells redeems herself in my eyes in creating the Ya-Yas. Through them, we get to the heart of the matter: realtionships between girlfriends. Real girlfriends. It's not just in the outrageous antics of the Ya-Yas (which are highly entertaining, by the way) but in Wells' creation of a group of individuals who are able to relate to each other in a unique way because they happen to be women. We witness the real, raw, feminine mystique here. Wells reminded me of some purely girl-stuff that I thought I'd forgotten. One example that I will not be able to forget is the grief scene when a mother hears that her son has been killed in the war: she pulls her skirt over her head to hide her face. Only girls can do that - and only girls can really feel what that means. My thanks to Wells for reminding me of it.
Rating:
Summary: Ga Ga for the Ya-Yas!
Review: When I started this book, I didn't think I would cry -- was I wrong! Being just slightly older than Sidda & having waited until just this past year to marry (some would say "finally!") my own true love, I could so relate to her fears & questions. Pile on top of that trying to sort through the things she both saw & did not see in her parent's marriage... Well, I found myself cheering for her ability to finally accept Mama as a person -- finding similar likenesses as well as warts between her & her mother! Although my own mother is no longer here to divulge her "secrets", it is amazing what I've been able to learn from her "boxes of stuff" (I never knew that, like me, she saved little stones she found from wherever she'd been!). Now this book had inspired me to try to convince some of her long-time friends to share some secrets as well. I will pass this one on to my best friend -- every daughter should read this book!
Rating:
Summary: few books have the power to make me laugh and cry so hard
Review: this is a wonderful book that touched me deeply. not many books make you feel that you are actualy experiencing the sorrow and joy of relationships between mother and daughters, and between best friends
Rating:
Summary: From teens to grownups
Review: Hi, I'm 15. My mom and I both read the book and loved it. Faulous! Wonderful! I can't wait to read "Little Altars Everywhere". It was cool to find something that interested us both- books that are able to span OVER a 32 age difference aren't always that easy to find. Enjoy reading!
Rating:
Summary: An emotional ride.
Review: I really liked the book, but based on what I had heard about it before I read it, it left me slightly uncomfortable. The plot, the characters and situations were gripping and sad. It brought me to tears several times. Not being from the "cajun south", however, I found it difficult to relate to the setting. I think others not from that geographic area or culture may find it similarly difficult. I would still recommend it highly. A good read for any woman with a mother.
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