Rehashing the drivel that is FF
Wow, so I just read my first Friends Forever ("Everything Changes"). I went into it with an open mind, really I did, but just... ugh.
1. I don't see why the book is called "Everything Changes" if nothing about the Baby-sitters has changed.
a. Kristy is bossy and obsessed with running her pet organization.
b. Mary Anne can't stand up to asshat Logan.
c. Claudia thinks she can't get along with her family.
d. Stacey's having issues with a guy (somewhat) out of her league.
HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER BOOK? The only thing that changes is they stop just short of disbanding the club at the end.
2. Even my boyfriend, who had never read a BSC before (and only read this one because I left it at his apartment ^_^;;), wanted to know why Kristy and Mary Anne never wrote Claudia or Stacey, and vice versa. You'd think they were complete strangers. Not even, "Hey, how's the island? Camp is great"? Or, "Hope NYC is fun, Logan's being a pain"? For that matter, why didn't anybody write to Abby, Jessi, Mal, or Shannon? Why didn't Mary Anne ever write to Dawn, for god's sake? I can see that AMM wanted to write the other members out of the series, but it just wasn't a very smooth transition at all.
3. Claudia's creatively-spelled chapters got old FAST. (I was very thankful she never had a California Diary -- can you imagine the spelling AND the handwriting?) Even worse, though, was Kristy's journal entries. Her staunch refusal to use complete sentences or actually write out somebody's name drove me up the wall.
4. Continuity. I had to see the "I've never been stranded on an island before" line to believe it. Also, maybe this is something only me and a few of you would notice, but I distinctly remember Claudia reading A Wrinkle in Time in (I'm pretty sure it was) #12, when she was behind on her homework from hanging out with Ashley. And I remember her saying she really liked it. Must not have been that memorable if Stacey had to recommend it to her again.
5. I have to admit, the storylines were all right, if not terribly original. I liked that Kristy and Abby were able to bond at camp, and I liked the relationship between Mary Anne and her grandmother. (The other members showing up at MA's house? I was like, "THANK YOU, THEY EXIST!") Even Claudia's story was amusing -- the lobster every day bit was fun, as was her finding out that her family was breaking the rules. But... yeah. The storylines didn't really redeem the way in which they were delivered. (Stacey's was completely boring, btw.)
6. The cover was nice, but when did MA grow all her hair back?
There are a few FF books that look pretty decent. I'd like to read about Kristy's dad's wedding, and I want to read "Welcome Home, Mary Anne," if only for the CD/BSC crossover aspect. And "Graduation Day," of course. But I'm definitely not looking forward to a Stacey-Claudia fight that spans the entire series (doesn't it?) -- what are they, the new Dawn and Mary Anne? ;p
So yeah. Thoughts?
1. I don't see why the book is called "Everything Changes" if nothing about the Baby-sitters has changed.
a. Kristy is bossy and obsessed with running her pet organization.
b. Mary Anne can't stand up to asshat Logan.
c. Claudia thinks she can't get along with her family.
d. Stacey's having issues with a guy (somewhat) out of her league.
HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER BOOK? The only thing that changes is they stop just short of disbanding the club at the end.
2. Even my boyfriend, who had never read a BSC before (and only read this one because I left it at his apartment ^_^;;), wanted to know why Kristy and Mary Anne never wrote Claudia or Stacey, and vice versa. You'd think they were complete strangers. Not even, "Hey, how's the island? Camp is great"? Or, "Hope NYC is fun, Logan's being a pain"? For that matter, why didn't anybody write to Abby, Jessi, Mal, or Shannon? Why didn't Mary Anne ever write to Dawn, for god's sake? I can see that AMM wanted to write the other members out of the series, but it just wasn't a very smooth transition at all.
3. Claudia's creatively-spelled chapters got old FAST. (I was very thankful she never had a California Diary -- can you imagine the spelling AND the handwriting?) Even worse, though, was Kristy's journal entries. Her staunch refusal to use complete sentences or actually write out somebody's name drove me up the wall.
4. Continuity. I had to see the "I've never been stranded on an island before" line to believe it. Also, maybe this is something only me and a few of you would notice, but I distinctly remember Claudia reading A Wrinkle in Time in (I'm pretty sure it was) #12, when she was behind on her homework from hanging out with Ashley. And I remember her saying she really liked it. Must not have been that memorable if Stacey had to recommend it to her again.
5. I have to admit, the storylines were all right, if not terribly original. I liked that Kristy and Abby were able to bond at camp, and I liked the relationship between Mary Anne and her grandmother. (The other members showing up at MA's house? I was like, "THANK YOU, THEY EXIST!") Even Claudia's story was amusing -- the lobster every day bit was fun, as was her finding out that her family was breaking the rules. But... yeah. The storylines didn't really redeem the way in which they were delivered. (Stacey's was completely boring, btw.)
6. The cover was nice, but when did MA grow all her hair back?
There are a few FF books that look pretty decent. I'd like to read about Kristy's dad's wedding, and I want to read "Welcome Home, Mary Anne," if only for the CD/BSC crossover aspect. And "Graduation Day," of course. But I'm definitely not looking forward to a Stacey-Claudia fight that spans the entire series (doesn't it?) -- what are they, the new Dawn and Mary Anne? ;p
So yeah. Thoughts?