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tasha_fullybooked's review
3.0
Each of the Darlings try to navigate relationships with the opposite sex in this novel. Each brings their own individual take on relationships. I liked all three girls, which was suprising because I thought at least one of them I would not be to my liking. But that was so not the case.
Jane had the misfortune of falling for the wrong guy not once but twice. Who can't relate to that, right? Natayla seemed to be finding love once again after letting it slip through her fingers before. Victoria, the only Darling with a boyfriend, seemed to be the only one giving in that relationship.
The guys in their life left a lot to be desired, but the girls had an unbreakable friendship. Kantor did a wonderful job of capturing that. This novel truly is about girls and their friendships. The message of these novel was clearly that guys may come and go in our lives, but Darlings are forever.
Jane had the misfortune of falling for the wrong guy not once but twice. Who can't relate to that, right? Natayla seemed to be finding love once again after letting it slip through her fingers before. Victoria, the only Darling with a boyfriend, seemed to be the only one giving in that relationship.
The guys in their life left a lot to be desired, but the girls had an unbreakable friendship. Kantor did a wonderful job of capturing that. This novel truly is about girls and their friendships. The message of these novel was clearly that guys may come and go in our lives, but Darlings are forever.
pegahe's review
2.0
I didn't like the characters. they felt really immature and unbelievable to me. did these girls live in a bubble or something? I could predict everything that happened, but what bothered me most was that I didn't believe any of it. the story didn't feel realistic.
it wasn't that bad tho. I did enjoy some parts (like the writing) but I wish the story would be more original and have less clichéd storylines and HEAs. I'm probably not the right audience for this story (is it MG?) and I'm not in the best of moods (after watching my hockey team lose) so I'd still recommend this book to those who enjoy light, fluffy, romances.
it wasn't that bad tho. I did enjoy some parts (like the writing) but I wish the story would be more original and have less clichéd storylines and HEAs. I'm probably not the right audience for this story (is it MG?) and I'm not in the best of moods (after watching my hockey team lose) so I'd still recommend this book to those who enjoy light, fluffy, romances.
lpcoolgirl's review
5.0
Really great book, I really enjoyed it, want to read more, because there are a few things that can keep going!!!
lowkeybooks's review
2.0
It honestly gave me a headache trying to keep up with these similar girls. I also laughed at how easily in love they were. their problems seemed really immature, but that's probably why their fourteen. Which is a little young to proclaiming your love anyway.
aprilpoole's review
3.0
I enjoyed this book a fair amount and was somewhat curious to see how it turned out. Although the story was somewhat predictable it was fun to read and I was at least a little curious about exactly how the ending would play out. My other complaint is that while I like the characters to a certain point, they felt a little cliche as well as immature. I'm only two years older than the three girls but I wouldn't have made most of the decisions they did in their circumstances. So, on that end, it was occasionally a little difficult to take.
mrskatiefitz's review
5.0
This second book about the Darlings - Jane, Natalya, and Victoria - follows immediately on the heels of The Darlings Are Forever, picking up on the romantic dramas each girl left unfinished at the end of that first book. Natalya still has a crush on Colin, the brother of one her classmates at school, Victoria is now dating Jack, even though she's not convinced they have anything in common, and Jane has found love on the stage, acting opposite Simon, who is everything she wants in a guy, except for the fact that he might be gay. Each of the girls struggles throughout this book to figure out how to juggle romance with the rest of her life. Victoria, in particular, agonizes over every detail of her relationship with Jack, torturing herself as she tries to get things just right. Natalya, too, struggles to decide whether it's okay to be interested in a boy who has a girlfriend, especially if that girlfriend is also her friend. Everything culminates, for better or for worse, at an art show, honoring the work of Jane's late grandmother, Nana, who was a special influence in the lives of all three girls.
Compared with the first Darlings book, this one moved a lot faster, and kept a stronger momentum. Jumping from point of view to point of view had me in a constant state of suspense. I'd be reading the latest twist or turn in one girl's part of the story and also anxiously waiting to find out what would happen to the other girls. The pacing was just right, and I was really impressed by how seamlessly Kantor changed between viewpoints. I never got confused about whose mindset I was in, and I never got lost in the many, many threads that tie this story together.
The book also has a lot of emotion in it, something that teenage girls can definitely relate to. Jane, Natalya, and Victoria experience many highs and lows throughout this book, and the reader really empathizes with them, even when we might not agree with the girls' actions. The girls' friendship also remains as strong as ever, which is a wonderful testament to the importance and power of friends in the face of great difficulties.
Melissa Kantor has quickly become one of my favorite contemporary YA authors. I really hope there will be another Darlings sequel, and I can't wait to read anything else Kantor might write in the future as well.
Compared with the first Darlings book, this one moved a lot faster, and kept a stronger momentum. Jumping from point of view to point of view had me in a constant state of suspense. I'd be reading the latest twist or turn in one girl's part of the story and also anxiously waiting to find out what would happen to the other girls. The pacing was just right, and I was really impressed by how seamlessly Kantor changed between viewpoints. I never got confused about whose mindset I was in, and I never got lost in the many, many threads that tie this story together.
The book also has a lot of emotion in it, something that teenage girls can definitely relate to. Jane, Natalya, and Victoria experience many highs and lows throughout this book, and the reader really empathizes with them, even when we might not agree with the girls' actions. The girls' friendship also remains as strong as ever, which is a wonderful testament to the importance and power of friends in the face of great difficulties.
Melissa Kantor has quickly become one of my favorite contemporary YA authors. I really hope there will be another Darlings sequel, and I can't wait to read anything else Kantor might write in the future as well.
shutupnread's review
2.0
So I’ve enjoyed Melissa’s books back in the day and I believe I had listed this series as a TBR because I liked her books. However, in a way, I think I have outgrown her writing now that I am in my mid-20s. I can’t believe I’m already this old…
Anyways, while I still found her writing style to be engaging and entertaining, I found the content of her books to be on the childish side. I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I would have liked and I found a lot of the arguments and problems to be a bit juvenile.
The three girls: Victoria, Jane and Natalya are all incredibly different and they’ve been friends forever but now they are starting high school at different places and they’re trying to overcome new friends and new places while maintaining their best friend status. Let’s just say that I found all of them to be tedious. For example, I did not like Victoria at all. I found her too timid for my liking and I thought she would have matured by the end of the second book but that wasn’t the case. She was so shy even with her friends and she let her friends take the fall when her parents found out about a certain incidence and then blamed her friends for her own mistake all because she couldn’t speak for herself. And the same thing happened with her boyfriend in the second book where her fear of speaking up caused a huge rift and she was all depressed for literally zero reason. I mean, I’m glad things worked out at the end but there was all this tension and drama nonsense.
As for the other girls, I found both Jane and Natalya to be incredibly slow but at least Natalya grew up at the end of the series. The whole thing with Jane was just crazy. She was stupid in the first book and then just even more stupid in the second book. She tried to come off as this smart girl and boy smart but in reality, she was probably the dumbest. I can’t believe the person she fell for in the first book – she was reading all these nonexistent signs and when her friend told her it probably wasn’t smart for her to like that person, she got all crazy and defensive. And then in the second book, the guy literally told her what was going on and she absolutely refused to hear it. The people around her even hinted that maybe he was right and yet again she refused to hear it. I was literally mind-boggled by it.
For Natalya, I found her annoying in the first book but at least I found her the most relatable out of the three. She was starting a new school and just wanted to have friends and she got sucked in with the popular girls by association with a certain politician’s daughter. However, she figured out at the end of the first book who exactly was more important and what kind of friends she wanted to have around her. And in the second book, with that boy drama, she made the right choice as well because she valued friendship over a boy. So, I guess, even though I didn’t particularly liked any of the three girls, I did find Natalya’s ending to be the most rewarding.
The ending was also a little disappointing – I was hoping that all of them would have a happy ending but only Victoria did. Granted, I approved Natalyas’ decision but still. And for Jane, well, in a way she got what she deserved but I think it would have been nice if she ended up with the guy I was rooting for. I felt that there was something between the two but I guess not.
Overall, this series was just okay – it was a fun summer read though.
Click here to view entire review: http://holedupinabook.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-darlings-are-forever-series-by.html
Anyways, while I still found her writing style to be engaging and entertaining, I found the content of her books to be on the childish side. I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I would have liked and I found a lot of the arguments and problems to be a bit juvenile.
The three girls: Victoria, Jane and Natalya are all incredibly different and they’ve been friends forever but now they are starting high school at different places and they’re trying to overcome new friends and new places while maintaining their best friend status. Let’s just say that I found all of them to be tedious. For example, I did not like Victoria at all. I found her too timid for my liking and I thought she would have matured by the end of the second book but that wasn’t the case. She was so shy even with her friends and she let her friends take the fall when her parents found out about a certain incidence and then blamed her friends for her own mistake all because she couldn’t speak for herself. And the same thing happened with her boyfriend in the second book where her fear of speaking up caused a huge rift and she was all depressed for literally zero reason. I mean, I’m glad things worked out at the end but there was all this tension and drama nonsense.
As for the other girls, I found both Jane and Natalya to be incredibly slow but at least Natalya grew up at the end of the series. The whole thing with Jane was just crazy. She was stupid in the first book and then just even more stupid in the second book. She tried to come off as this smart girl and boy smart but in reality, she was probably the dumbest. I can’t believe the person she fell for in the first book – she was reading all these nonexistent signs and when her friend told her it probably wasn’t smart for her to like that person, she got all crazy and defensive. And then in the second book, the guy literally told her what was going on and she absolutely refused to hear it. The people around her even hinted that maybe he was right and yet again she refused to hear it. I was literally mind-boggled by it.
For Natalya, I found her annoying in the first book but at least I found her the most relatable out of the three. She was starting a new school and just wanted to have friends and she got sucked in with the popular girls by association with a certain politician’s daughter. However, she figured out at the end of the first book who exactly was more important and what kind of friends she wanted to have around her. And in the second book, with that boy drama, she made the right choice as well because she valued friendship over a boy. So, I guess, even though I didn’t particularly liked any of the three girls, I did find Natalya’s ending to be the most rewarding.
The ending was also a little disappointing – I was hoping that all of them would have a happy ending but only Victoria did. Granted, I approved Natalyas’ decision but still. And for Jane, well, in a way she got what she deserved but I think it would have been nice if she ended up with the guy I was rooting for. I felt that there was something between the two but I guess not.
Overall, this series was just okay – it was a fun summer read though.
Click here to view entire review: http://holedupinabook.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-darlings-are-forever-series-by.html
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