Review: 3 Willows by Ann Brashares

3 Willows: A New Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares is a brand new sisterhood, this time with three girls instead of four, set over the summer like the previous Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants books.

There are a lot of differences between this new sisterhood and the previous one; the main difference being that this sisterhood aren't really even a sisterhood! They used to be friends but have since drifted apart and barely interact over the summer. In this way it felt like 3 Willows is almost setting the scene for more books in the series where we can really appreciate the friendship between the three girls, which for me was what made The Sisterhood of the Travelings Pants books so successful, the strong bonds between the four girls no matter where they were in life and in the world.

The three characters in this book are Polly, who is a bit lost and almost left behind by her other two friends. There's Ama who lives in the shadow of her genius sister. And there's Jo who has moved on from her two friends to get into the popular crowd.

The three girls all spend their summers doing different activities; Polly goes to modelling camp, Ama goes on an outdoor adventure camp though she hates the outdoors, and Jo spends the summer bussing tables at a restaurant on the beach. The story switches between the three girls perspectives at regular intervals.

My favourite girl to read about was Jo, she had a love interest at the restaurant and I guess that for me was the more exciting storyline. Ama's storyline was a bit predictable; she usually spends all her time in the library and then goes off to an outdoor adventure camp, determined she will hate it... what will happen? Maybe she will learn a life lesson, hehe :) Polly's storyline was the most complex, she struggles to gain some control over her life, never having known her father and with a mother who is never really there for her.

Overall, I enjoyed reading 3 Willows and I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for more books about the three girls. I rate it 3/5 stars.

Have you read it? What did you think?

Also, I hunted down all of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants book covers I could find. Go check them out :)