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denisehiller's review against another edition
3.0
Loved some parts of this book and enjoyed reading it, but on the whole it was pretty predictable. It didn't have the same magic as I remembered in Ya Ya Sisterhood!
pammoore's review against another edition
2.0
I was so disappointed. I loved Wells's other work but this didn't even come close to her other books. I found Calla likeable enough but neither she nor the other characters were as fully developed as I would have liked. Much of the dialogue did not ring true, either.
ardaigle's review against another edition
2.0
I received this book as a gift either the Christmas before last, or my last birthday, and decided it was time to check it off the old to do list. I have read other books by Rebecca Wells a while ago (8ish years?) and remember enjoying them. She is the author of "Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood" which is part of the "Ya Ya series" that made the rounds in popular culture and was turned into a feature film in the early 2000s. The series appealed to me as I am a Louisiana native, and Wells captured the female friendship (or at least the mythos of it) that is a popular paradigm of the south, along with our traditions and food. I thought that this book would be like cuddling up under a blanket on a porch with a mint julep, but it was more like Louisiana summer: oppressive with humidity and not at all refreshing.
Calla Lily is the daughter of loving parents in the 1950s in fictional La Luna, Louisiana. With two older brothers and parents who teach dance lessons and a mother who is a hairdresser, they live, laugh and love throughout her childhood. It's a small town where everyone swings from rope swings, Cajun dances, and black people are only the tiniest bit looked down upon, like in the good ol' days of fiction, where we can sort of whitewash (pun intended) what it was really like. And that is the crux of my problem with this book. It is just...treacly. It creates an idealistic version of Louisiana that instead of filling me with warmth as I imagine their "aw shucks" lifestyle instead just causes me to roll my eyes. Calla Lily's mother tells her that the Moon Lady will watch over her, and the Moon Lady has a few chapter intros where she discuses watching over her people...and I just can't with it. I could deal with the moon lady, I could deal with a version of the south where non-whites have one skirmish that one time, and everything other than that is okay, but both is just too much to stomach. This book also dabbles with a little bit of magical realism, which I enjoy with one of my favorite authors, Sarah Addison Allen, who weaves similar feel good stories in North Carolina. I just think the setting of Louisiana set my teeth on edge. Like trying to watch "True Blood" it is too close to home, but paints it so incorrectly, that I can't get past it.
The question though is that if I didn't enjoy it because the book wasn't good, or if I just am a different person than when I read the first ones, and I am inclined to think it's me. When I read her other novels I was living away from Louisiana, so I think a certain amount of rose-colored glasses were worn, but now I'm just older and mired in the reality, which is fine, but unwilling to swallow all the sugary goodness that Wells was serving up.
Calla Lily is the daughter of loving parents in the 1950s in fictional La Luna, Louisiana. With two older brothers and parents who teach dance lessons and a mother who is a hairdresser, they live, laugh and love throughout her childhood. It's a small town where everyone swings from rope swings, Cajun dances, and black people are only the tiniest bit looked down upon, like in the good ol' days of fiction, where we can sort of whitewash (pun intended) what it was really like. And that is the crux of my problem with this book. It is just...treacly. It creates an idealistic version of Louisiana that instead of filling me with warmth as I imagine their "aw shucks" lifestyle instead just causes me to roll my eyes. Calla Lily's mother tells her that the Moon Lady will watch over her, and the Moon Lady has a few chapter intros where she discuses watching over her people...and I just can't with it. I could deal with the moon lady, I could deal with a version of the south where non-whites have one skirmish that one time, and everything other than that is okay, but both is just too much to stomach. This book also dabbles with a little bit of magical realism, which I enjoy with one of my favorite authors, Sarah Addison Allen, who weaves similar feel good stories in North Carolina. I just think the setting of Louisiana set my teeth on edge. Like trying to watch "True Blood" it is too close to home, but paints it so incorrectly, that I can't get past it.
The question though is that if I didn't enjoy it because the book wasn't good, or if I just am a different person than when I read the first ones, and I am inclined to think it's me. When I read her other novels I was living away from Louisiana, so I think a certain amount of rose-colored glasses were worn, but now I'm just older and mired in the reality, which is fine, but unwilling to swallow all the sugary goodness that Wells was serving up.
sausome's review against another edition
2.0
Sappy, schmultzy, overly sentimental . . . just a few words to describe this novel. It's what I think of when people want a "beach read", or something akin to "chick lit". That being said, I did, in fact, read the whole thing. There was something in the descriptions of the setting, the development of at least the main character, that kept me interested. Wells' descriptions of this small, thoughtful riverside town of La Luna, Louisiana, actually made me interested in going to the south and seeing those huge plantation houses, the trees blooming with flowers and figs and pears, and just the very "Southern" ways of these people (minus the negative parts, of course). I didn't read "Ya Ya Sisterhood", but I loved the movie, and I can see this being a decent movie once you cut out the sappy, schmultzy, overly sentimental dialogue and crap.
tarahmanning's review against another edition
5.0
I thought this was a wonderful book! It had me addicted by the end of the first chapter. I even thought about the story when I was working during the day! A fun read by a great author!
kristymakes's review against another edition
5.0
It's been a fair amount of time since I last picked up a book, so good, that I couldn't bear to put it down until 3am, and even then it was a struggle to convince myself to do so. I've read only one other book by Rebecca Wells, and as I suspected, there will be many, many more. I picked up 'The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder' on whim, because I had enjoyed 'Divine Secrets..', and thought I'd give the author another shot. I was NOT disappointed, in fact I was overcome with how much the book touched me. I openly sobbed at parts of the story, and I can't recall honestly ever having done that before, at least to that extent. It was a TRUELY wonderful read. It made me FEEL. It reminded me again of why it is so important to connect with people, to live, to love & to heal.
minerva1221's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a total cry-fest for me, so obviously the characters and the story got to me, despite some of the flaws other reviewers have already pointed out. Side note: there is also a quick mention of my hometown, which I never expect to see in a book but am always just a bit tickled when I do.
angobstarr229's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. I thought the first quarter was really good but then the plot sort of fell apart for me. It kept my interest but still disappointed. I read Ya-Ya many years ago but I remember it being written better than this one.
bookapotamus's review against another edition
3.0
I love Rebecca Wells' writing and most of her stories, but this one was definitely not one of my favorites. I felt it was a bit on the goofy dramatic side, and very predictable. I enjoyed the characters, and loved the setting and all the sweet, charming southern people who lived there, but it just didn't lure me in as her other books do.
I could have done without the La Luna / Moon stuff entirely. The writing also seemed very juvenile, even as Calla grew up. It was a cute story, so I wouldn't NOT recommend it - but not that fun to read, and a bit out of Wells' character for writing style.
I could have done without the La Luna / Moon stuff entirely. The writing also seemed very juvenile, even as Calla grew up. It was a cute story, so I wouldn't NOT recommend it - but not that fun to read, and a bit out of Wells' character for writing style.