3 Willows by Ann Brashare (25/81)

Seeds
Polly has an idea that she can't stop thinking about, one that involves changing a few things about herself. She's setting her sights on a more glamorous life, but it's going to take all of her focus. At least that way she won't have to watch her friends moving so far ahead.
Roots
Jo is spending the summer at her family's beach house, working as a bus girl and bonding with the older, cooler girls she'll see at high school come September. She didn't count on a brief fling with a cute boy changing her entire summer. Or feeling embarrassed by her middle school friends. And she didn't count on her family at all. . .
Leaves
Ama is not an outdoorsy girl. She wanted to be at an academic camp, doing research in an air-conditioned library, earning A's. Instead her summer scholarship lands her on a wilderness trip full of flirting teenagers, blisters, impossible hiking trails, and a sad lack of hair products.
It is a new summer. And a new sisterhood. Come grow with them.

This is from the author of The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants which I really liked ... So this is a new book with new characters ....

Well this is definitely a wee book that my 11 year old daughter would love .... A book about 3 young teenage girls and how their friendships grow !!!

I loved the little factual quotes about the Willow Tree it was very interesting ... It is a sweet book and an easy read .... And I am sure alot of young girls will identify with the girls ... My favourite girl in the novel would have to be Ama ... She is funny, smart and willing to give anything a try !!! I cannot really say anymore just that it is a nice wee read !!!

I rate this book 31/2 ***

Red Dress Walking by S A Jones (3/81)

The dress haunts my steps. Flashes of red on the street mesmerise me. I am alive to red cars, red shoes and the red of Suella's lipstick. It is silken laudanum that has thrown a distorting film over everything. The dress flutters through my dream life like a taunting red banner. Dreams innocuous and surreal are sure to be punctuated by a crimson flash. Sometimes there is just the barest hint of it so I am not even certain that it flared at all.This is the story of an intimate circle of friends and one couple, Will and Emily, who are very much in love with each other. But one day Will gives Emily a stunning, deeply sexy red dress, and somehow everything changes. A thought-provoking novel of beauty, books, love and desire, Red Dress Walking is a playful, clever and sexy novel about men and women, breakdowns and break-ups, the fierce friendships that women have, and what certain books mean to us.

Ok the cover is lovely but the story is lacking .....

I think I will start with what I didn't like about this book then finish with something abit more positive ...

I have to admit that I skipped alot of the last few pages mainly because I really couldn't be bothered to read it ... There is alot of bad language and I lost count how many times the F word was mentioned ... There are a few graphic sex scenes as well ... I did have a few high hopes with this novel but I was sadly disappointed ... Not to give to much away but one of the main characters has a break down about half way through the book but it doesn't really portray why? And you are sort of left with feeling is she really having illusions as a form of escape or is she just suffering some sort of mental breakdown ...

OK now for what I liked about the book there where a couple of things ... Firstly the book is divided equally between two characters Emily and Will ... This is very cleverly done and you do received a different insight into both the Male and Female prospective ... A classic example is when Emily received the RED DRESS and puts it on she feels fat, short and unattractive while at the same time Will thinks she is the most beautiful creature he has seen ...

The other bit that I liked was the mention of reading books in the novel ... As avid book readers they would never scribble in the margins and pages turned down at the edge was a big "no no" In the words of the author " Were the stuff of nausea" and stating that "the real book lover will sever long and abiding friendships over the sacrilege of books not returned or returned with dog-eared pages and scuffed spines" .....I can completely relate to that ...

For me I picked the book for the cover and the back entreated me but it is a book that has a few moments that are good but it is overshadowed by bad language and crudeness ... Which is a shame ...

I rate this book 1*