Ya-Yas in Bloom: A Novel (The Ya-Ya Series)

The first novel was magnificent. The second one was pretty good. This one is not worth your money. Wells is trying far too hard to make the characters funny and touching in this book. It comes off trite and cheesy, especially the last story, which is positively smarmy.

The portrayal of African-Americans in this book is borderline racist and stereotyped. Southern black people are not half-wits. I half expected one of the black characters to bust out with a "Mo' biscuits, mastah?"

Another reviewer had it right when she called the main characters "caricatures" of themselves; that's exactly what they are.

Don't bother with this one.

Rebecca Wells must have been bugged senseless to write another book. So she dug up all the pieces that were culled from her previous two books and slapped them together with duct tape and sent it to her editor. That's the only way I can deduce that this book came about. It has no flow, it leaves random loose ends, and there is suddenly a "plot" two-thirds of the way into the book. Is it enjoyable? Enough to rate two stars. Get it from the library.

I think she has beaten this YaYa dead horse enough. Loved her first two books, but this disjointed sprinkling of stories that led no where left me confused and more than a little sorry that I bought the hardcover. Her characters have become sterotypical, predictable, single-faceted Southerners and even her writing style seemed very elementary. I felt like I was riding a roller coaster that I couldn't wait to get off.

Definitely not worth the wait. This much anticipated follow-up to "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" reads like a series of personal family vignettes and remembrances instead of a plotted novel. I was very disappointed. It was nice reading at the first of the book how the Ya-Ya's met as children, but the story quickly went downhill from there and became tedious and boring. Save your money and check it out from the library. I wish I had.

It's difficult to believe that this novel was written by the same woman who wrote Divine Secrets and Little Altars. I kept anticipating a turn from fluff into the twists and turns and quirkiness of the previous books but it never happened. This reads like one of those minimally plotted romance novels...without the romance. I'm really disappointed; I was expecting a lot more.

Did the author simply take the chapters that did not make it into the other two books to create this colossal disappointment? I bought four hardcovers at the same time-this and The Ice Queen, Lost in the Forest, and The Mermaid Chair. I'd recommend ALL of the other three, Lost in the Forest in particular. Steer clear of this one even if you are a die hard Ya-Ya fan. You will honestly wonder if you enjoyed the previous tomes as much as you thought...this is shallow and not worth your $.

I am a huge fan of both "Little Altars Everywhere" and "Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood" and so I bought this book with great delight and eagerness. The lack of plotline throughout the book is dismaying, as is the sudden and unexpected seriousness brought about by the kidnapping. Although the sections of the book narrated by Mevis and Edythe Spevey are better than the trite, rehashed Ya Ya offerings, they are out of place and would be better in a book by themselves. This is a fluff piece, worthless and a waste of time for Ya Ya fans. I have read articles where they've mentioned that Rebecca Wells has been very ill the last few years. If so, my sympathies for her, but please have more respect for your fans and do not publish until you are READY. Editors, take note: when the spelling of Tres Petites changes from chapter to chapter, and drinks suddenly go from gin & tonics to branch and bourbons in the space of one paragraph, clever readers will pick up on it. It is a shame that you put this book out, it clearly wasn't ready.

It does seem as though some writers are stuck with their characters and in this case, it is just the younger generation we read about. I loved the first Ya-Ya tale, enjoyed the second, but was bored to pieces on this latest. Having roots in Louisiana and knowing how southern girls hang together, I could relate to the first two books, but this one was a terrific disappointment and waste of time. Luckily it was very short and a quick read. Please Ms. Wells do better if you try for a fourth Ya Ya book. One of these days, I will write a rave review.

Rebecca Wells knows how to bring the reader into the story. I listen to audiobooks on the way to and from work and listen to these stories made me want to stay in the car when I arrived at my destination.

I, too, liked this latest Wells novel and found some beautiful prose to read again and again. I believe that Rebecca Wells will join the ranks of important Southern novelists although her works are not "deep", thought-provoking tomes. Anyone who has lived in the South for more than ten minutes will identify with the characters and events portrayed in Ya Yas in Bloom and anyone who has read the other two novels will get to know these families even better through their children.

Having never read the two books that came before this one, I can't possibly compare it. However, I have become a fan of the Ya Ya's and immediately after finishing this book, went to the library and took out the first two in the series. Yes, there are some characters added only to plump up the story line and they could easily have been eliminated, but the southern charm of the main characters won me over. My one big complaint was trying to keep track of all the children the author felt necessary to briefly touch upon. I stopped trying to figure out who belonged to who. I also agree with a previous reviewer about how many editorial mistakes I found. This galls me more then anything in a book that has supposedly been read and reread by the authors editor et al.

I feel about the same as everyone else. I enjoyed the book at the beginning but somewhere talking about crazy ladies and the kidnapping I wondered if I had picked up another book in mid-chapter.

The first two were outstanding but this one didn't hold up to the rest. Great writer, just not a fully developed story line this time.

Vive, Caro, Teensy and Necie are like old friends to those who are familiar with the work of Rebecca Wells. In this book we are fortunate to spend time with the children of the original four best friends and Ms. Wells does not disappoint.

I found myself worrying over the safety of little Roslyn, laughing at the antics of Jeezy and wishing that Baylor were my very own brother.

Spending time with these familiar characters was like paging through a family photograph album for me. I found myself remembering old times and feeling sentimental. But even more profoundly, I found that I long to be part of the Walker clan even more than I did when I finished reading "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," because while this family is dysfunction as hell, they love wholeheartedly - through the laughter and the tears, and they are fiercly protective of their own.

I cannot wait for the NEXT Ya-Ya book!

I loved "Divine Secrets" and "Little Altars" and now I think I will have to re-read them in order to erase the memory of Wells' latest book. As the other reviewers said, there was no substance or depth of character. There were glimmers of the charm found in the other two books, such as Baylor's story, but these were few and far between. The Christmas pageant at the end was excrutiatingly bad. I have to wonder if the author dashed this book off at the publisher's request.

Okay, I finished this book in about two days, and I have to say, I did like it, a lot! The Ya-Yas are so readily identifiable, and I loved the story Sidda told about going to see the Beatles. I laughed out loud!

Why, though, were Myrtis and Edythe brought in to the story? The abduction thing, why? What about Lulu? What about her point of view? We've heard from Sidda, Baylor, and Little Shep, but where's Lulu?

I really hope Rebecca Wells writes another installment, and if so, I can't wait!

I wish I had read these reviews before spending money on this book. "Little Altars" was superb storytelling. "Divine Secrets" was good, but a bit melodramatic. I'm halfway through this book and bored with it. The storytelling is trite and the characters seem unreal compared to their portrayal in the earlier books.

Reading this book is a bit like drinking a flat soda. If you really want to read it, wait until "Bloom" goes into remainders. Sorry, Ms Wells, it's time to say "ta ta" to the Ya Yas.

Terrific. I almost didn't read it --thinking that as a collection of short stories (related)--it couldn't be as well done as her two previous works. But Rebecca Wells again shows her ability to make place a character, to make characters real and enduring. The book is fun and funny, and sad and sentimental--all in a great mix. Life. A beautiful book.

I thought the book was somewhat disappointing after reading "Little Altars" and "Divine Secrets." It was still well-written but the story wasn't nearly as engaging as the first two. If you've already read the first two books it is still a good read though because it ties of some of the loose ends and goes deeper into some characters.

I AM EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED IN THIS SEQUEL-IT'S NOT WHAT I WAS YEARNING FOR. MOST OF THE STORY IS BUILT AROUND THEMES FROM THE PREVIOUS TWO BOOKS BUT SLIGHTLY MORE DESCRIPTIVE. THERE IS NOT A LOT OF NEW STORY TO SINK YOUR TEETH INTO. I ALSO FELT LIKE THE AUTHOR TRIED TO "PRETTY UP" PREVIOUS CHARACTERS WHO I FELT WERE MORE REAL. THIS VIVI STILL CUSSES BUT IS NOT THE CHARACTER SHE WAS IN THE PREVIOUS NOVELS. MAYBE WE WERE ASKING TOO MUCH OF REBECCA WELLS TO GIVE US MORE AFTER SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. I FELT THIS WAS A BOOK WRITTEN TO MEET A PUBLISHERS DEMAND AND NOT ONE FROM THE HEART LIKE THE FIRST TWO. WAIT UNTIL THE PAPERBACK COMES OUT TO BUY IT.

While i did enjoy this book somewhat...i agree with the other reviewers that it wasn't quite up to snuff with the first two books. I did enjoy the storyline with Sidda, Little Shep,Lulu and Baylor...the rest was just filler and gave me a slight headache.

I was disappointed in this book especially since Ya Ya Sisterhood was so good. I think the author was trying to add more to the Ya Ya books but it didn't work. It's kind of like a movie part 2 that is bad! Don't waste your time!

Disappointing. Starts with some laugh out loud scenes - which is what I expected having read the other books. By the middle of the book I was checking the binding to see if my copy was missing a number of pages. The "Bruised Plantings" chapters were out of the blue. I "got" how that was a turning point in the lives of the Ya-Ya's families, but there was so much else missing that I was left shaking my head and wondering "what the heck?"

Wells' best book was Little Altars Everywhere. This latest is not worthy of publication. I get really annoyed when a writer has some success and then puts out any old garbage since they've gained a readership. I won't buy another Wells book.

This book had no plot, no continuity, no reason for wading through until the end. It was unfunny, unstructured, and unworthy of a sequel or prequel to the first Ya Ya book. The stories were boring, the narrative had no thread, and the writing was flat. I wouldn't purchase this book.

I loved the first YaYa book, enjoyed the second, and hated this one. It had no story, it resembled a book of short stories but not enjoyable ones. Clearly the author just wanted to make some quick money or something, I can't think of another reason why she would have written this. I had liked and cared about the characters, and in this book I couldn't stand any of them.

This third collection of Ya-Ya stories was as beautiful, poignant, funny and sad as the first two. I had to keep a pencil by my side in order to underline the especially beautiful turns of phrase and, believe me, there were many.

I absolutely loved the first two books in this series, so I was very excited to read the newest installment. However, this seems more like a collection of Ya Ya stories that weren't good enough for the 1st 2 books rather than the 3rd installment in a series. I am not sure of the point of the collection of stories, which are all sugar coated, and seems to me to totally contradict the message of the 1st 2 books.

"She can wait for years, can wait lifetimes for her daughter to know she is loved and that her soul is not stained, but radiant, filled with lunar light, luminous with a star that lives inside her heart, inside her body at all times."

This book is full of cute little stories, mostly disconnected from one another. It did not keep me reading because it is NOT a page turner at all.

Do not expect ANYTHING remotely as good as the Divine Secrets.

[...]this was the poorest written piece of drivel i've picked up in years. it is geared to the pre-school level in it's presentation-rarely was a grammatical contraction used-as if to lengthen an empty plot and storyline. my first grade primer had more interest.save your $