The Best of Us: A Novel

Sarah Pekkanen does not disappoint! I have read all of her novels and short stories and after every single one, I've always craved more! Her writing style is so detailed and has me feeling like I know every single character.

"The Best of Us" is a story of four couples taking a trip of a lifetime to Jamaica. Their vacation is filled with fun and laughter, but not far off is hurricane Betty taping at their door. Not every relationship is perfect and just like the storm brewing, each relationship is tested to see how strong they are. Great book about love, friendships, and family.

If your a fan of Emily Giffin, Jennifer Weiner, or Sophie Kinsella.. Sarah Pekkanen is just as great, if not better! I would highly recommend this book to others and if you haven't read any of her prior books, well your missing out!

This is a book about women, the hopes, dreams, faults, failings, and secrets of all of us. This is a beautifully told story about the best and the worst of four women, three of whom knew each other so well and yet, really not at all. Most of us can relate to at least one of these women, if not all of them.

A week away in an island paradise seemed to good to be true and as are most such things, it was. Emotions run high as the couples cut loose and are hell bent on making the most of each moment, so much so that there are unexpected clashes as long ago feelings come to the surface. Add to all this a hurricane, a unexpected death in one family, and past due confessions. Sarah Pekannen hits the mark with this warm, witty, novel told with compassion and understanding! Don'tmiss this one!!

I've been a fan of Sarah Pekkanen since her first book and always look forward to her novels. When I first cracked open The Best of Us, I was a bit intimidated knowing there were so many main characters but Sarah writes in a way that I could easily follow along and each character is easy to get to know. While they are all different and have their own problems and personalities, I found that I sympathized with their struggles, from stressed-out mother of four Tina, to seemingly put-together Allie, insecure Pauline and flirty Savannah. During an all-inclusive dream vacation to Jamaica, the four couples will struggle with internal and external forces of nature from a hurricane to infidelity, jealousy, grief, infertility, medical scares and more. This is one not to miss and like all the rest of Sarah's novels, it is one satifying read that leaves you desperate for the next Pekkanen novel!

I've been hooked on Sarah Pekkanen since her first novel. She writes in such an engaging way that I always end up feeling emotionally invested in her characters. This book is no exception.

There are a lot of characters to keep track of but the women are the stars of this book. I love how Sarah is able to describe someone without turning them into caricatures. These women have depth and complicated feelings and aren't just pigeonholed as clichéd stereotypes like the harried housewife, slutty single girl, cold outsider of the group and the perfect woman.

It is so refreshing to read a book like this. The characters are multi-dimensional, the story line flows seamlessly between the chapters, and the characters tackle serious issues without getting preachy or being too flip. I just can't recommend this book enough.

I call books like this 'Married with Kids' chicklit, because that's who it is mostly targeted to - those of us who want to indulge in a chicklit type book once in awhile, but are past those that focus on 20-somethings and aren't interested in the Harlequin romance type variations. This particular book fits the bill. It centers on 3 girl friends - one an exhausted mother of 4 struggling to keep it together, one a slightly less exhausted mother of two who has just learned her birth father may have had a fatal genetic disease, and one recently separated from her husband and trying to figure out what to do next with her life. They are invited by the new wife of a male college friend to an indulgent birthday bash in the Caribbean. While there, all of the cracks in their lives and relationships are exposed.

All of the story takes place in the 1 week they are at this vacation home, with emotional dramas unfolding and shifting between them day by day. The narrative rotates between characters from chapter to chapter. There isn't any other plot besides the events of this week, so if you don't like books that focus on emotional journeys, then this one isn't for you. I found the characters satisfying enough, although because it rotates between them, we don't get to know any of them too well. The vacation setup seemed a little farfetched, and their misunderstandings sometimes felt like clumsy plot devices, but in the end most of their journeys had an authentic resonance to them. I didn't 5-star love it, but it certainly was a good read.

There is a paragraph at the end of the book that is the thesis of the story. The questions for readers also examines this quote. I have not read any other books by Sarah Pekkanen, but I enjoyed this story enough that I will check out the others. I'm glad I read the extended review by Jennifer Weiner. I agree with her assessment of the characters. It was easy to roll my eyes at the martyr, the flirt, and the peacemaker.

I think my dislike of the characters' flaws proves that the author succeeded. After being unsure that I was going to like the book, the characters faced reality and examined their respective marriages. While some reviewers did not like all of the endings, I think the stories illustrate reality. I am not going to be a spoiler.

This book reminds me of the movie The Story of Us. I don't recommend reading it if you are in a bad relationship because it might make you stay in it. However, if you are in a good relationship, it might make you more appreciative.

I have read all of Sarah's books and I have really enjoyed all of them... They're really easy reads. And I like all the different sorts of relationships in them including friendships and romantic relationships. While reading this book I felt happy, sad and curious and even laughed out loud. I could really relate to the book because Sarah's characters seem so real and a normal which I really like. There were several times where I really reflected on my life and I guess that's what a good book is all about. When I start one of Sarah's books, I can barely put it down and very rarely take more than two days to read them even if I'm really busy. I can't wait for Sarah's next book.

Four best friends reunite for an all-inclusive birthday celebration in beautiful Jamaica, and the trip couldn't come at a better time for all of them. Tina's an exhausted mother, Allie is worried about a newly uncovered family secret, Savannah is hurting from an unfaithful husband and Pauline is stressed from keeping secrets from her husband. Will Jamaica help to solve these woman's problems?

I found the book okay, but was only really attached to a few of the characters. I thought Tina and Savannah were easy characters to get into and I enjoyed their stories. Even though all of the characters follow typical tropes, those two to me seemed to have the most individuality. The others I found myself skimming the stories as they just didn't really grip me. It also seemed as if the group really didn't work together and the magic that develops within a college group didn't really exist within these group of friends. It felt more like four couples randomly uniting on a trip than four old friends on a reunion.

I've enjoyed other of the author's novels much more than this one, but still thought this one to be mildly interesting.

This book was decent - not spectacular by any stretch - but light and fun to read at the beach.

Here's what I liked:

• Great premise: a group of old college friends invited on an extravagant all-expense-paid trip to Jamaica by the "nerd" of the group who grew up to be a big success. This sounds simply delicious and it is, for the most part.

• Loved the descriptions of the setting and the sumptuous lifestyle this group gets exposed to, including a sunset helicopter ride, massages and pedicures on the beach, gourmet dinners, and a beautiful waterfront house with every amenity you can imagine and then a few more.

• Good believable dialogue between the characters, and plenty of movement in the plot (no slow lags).

• Good ending/well done.

The problems with the book that kept it from being a 5 star for me:

• I had a very hard time liking the most of the characters until the very end of the book, when they all turned around and became better people/showed a better side of themselves (well, except from Dwight, who got worse in my opinion. Oh, and Pauline and Gary didn't improve by much either). During the bad part, each person was acting like a jerk and there wasn't a good reason for being such big jerks, nor were there good reasons revealed at a later time for their bad behavior. Allie in particular was a character that I had a hard time believing. This was the part that I had to force myself to keep reading. I'm glad I did, though (see good stuff above).

• The writing itself is very basic. I read, partly, for the pleasure of language. Someone who is brilliant, say Pat Conroy, is a joy to read. This author's writing is functional - telling the story - but that's it.

• The characters were less than well fleshed out. Many things were left unexplained about their behavior.

Generally, I would recommend this to someone who wants a light and fun read, but not to anyone who's looking for deeper characterizations or anyone who insists on a brilliant writing style/literature.

I usually enjoy Sarah Pekkanen's books, and this one was still entertaining, but I think it's the weakest one. I'm not looking for outstanding writing in a beach book, but this one was so poorly written that it took me out of the story a little bit. There was clunky expository dialogue ("Come on, who would have thought that he would have made a million dollars starting a company that did A, B, C, and D? He's a genius!" ), extremely unsubtle foreshadowing (hmm... I wonder if that character's health concern that we've been told about three times is going to come up again), and ridiculous "girl talk" conversations between the friends that we're supposed to think is hilarious but really isn't. The characters, particularly the "good girl" and the Samantha Jones "goes for shock value" girl, were one-dimensional and unbelievable.

That said, I did finish it, enjoy the tropical setting and the characters' back stories, and want to find out what happened at the end, but I will probably not read any more of her books.