"Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" is an incredible book. It deals with difficult subjects without turning people into stereotypes. It tackles subjects of abuse, and the reactions from it psychologically on both parties. It details loving relationships between people without turning to sentimentality. And it's hilarious and heartbreaking in the same page at times...Everyone has things that they must learn to forgive our parents for. We all carry wounds from the way we were raised. We all have a sense of love for our families and friends that transcends the boundaries of rational thinking. The Ya-Ya's are truly eternal reminders that we must hang on to those things, grow from them, learn from them, but most of all, keep them close and don't analyze them...Just love them for who and what they are.

Filled with humor and heartbreaking tragedy, interesting; quirky characters, you will fall in love with this story as I have. It is best to read the companion bk., Little Altars Everywhere first.

I really enjoyed the style of writing Wells uses, kind of familiar. This is a great story with some ditsurbing parts, but well written and catches you in pretty quick. I also enjoyed the follow-up, YaYas in Bloom.

I have heard raves for this book, but it didn't live up to the hype for me. It wasn't focused enough; the plot wasn't as compelling as I'd have liked.

WONDERFUL book and movie. This was one of those books I have re-read quite a few times. I read this book first and then read Little Altars Everywhere - which helped clear up some questions I had regarding this book. Well worth your time. The 1st time I read it, I did so in two days.

Great read. I really enjoyed it. Alot better than the movie which most books are. I laughed out loud at some of the adventures of the Ya-
Ya's

ISBN 0060928336 - A #1 New York Times Bestseller, Divine Secrets proves, yet again, that marketing can make a mountain out of any molehill. I really WANTED to like this book even half as much as the marketing told me I should, but I just couldn't work up that much enthusiasm about it.

Sidda is engaged and the wedding date nears when she freaks out, realizing she doesn't "know how to love" and runs off to contemplate her belly button. Blaming her lack of "knowing how to love" on her mother, Vivi, who Sidda recently offended - in the New York Times, no less! - Sidda finds herself adrift without the anchor that Vivi and her mother's friends had been for most of her life. Believing that the answer lies with these women, Sidda is fortunate when her mother relents just enough to send her a scrapbook of Ya-Ya-rablia. Sadly, little scraps don't tell the whole story and Sidda can't piece it together without help.

After the introduction of each scrap, Wells puts it in context for the reader, telling the story of Teensy, Caro, Necie and Vivi - the Ya-Yas. Sidda is NOT aware of these stories, except in rare instances when a character talks TO her or it is her own memory, which makes for some mild confusion. Sidda has to wade through the mess in her head and the scraps in the book in order to feel that she can love - and be loved.

Wells felt the need to subtly point to the fact that Sidda's fiance looks like Vivi's one true love, Jack, several times, but it is never clearly said and therefore seems pointless - most especially since the only person who doesn't seem to remark upon it is Sidda. Oddly, the only thing about the book that sticks in my head after finally finishing it is that every exaggeration was "eighty four thousand" - "saw it eighty four thousand times", "dyeing eighty four thousand eggs", etc.

Fans of chick-lit will like this book. Others, like me, will find themselves referring to it as "the blah-blah sisterhood". The story of the Ya-Yas themselves, without a character like Sidda in the way, might have been more interesting. On the up side for me, I did rather enjoy seeing religion portrayed as one of the worst evils in the story. Not awful, just not worth more than the current used price of one penny (plus shipping).

- AnnaLovesBooks

A good and funny (and a little heartbreaking) read. I like the way you see the characters as they are all grown up, then you learn about their past and why some are they way they are... some of it you can forgive and understand better knowing what they have been through. I read these books in the order they were published and found it satisfying, but would probably read "Little Altars Everywhere" first if you've never read them.

A nice story for those who enjoy the mushy points of life.

This is a sweet novel and an easy read. Nothing too complex, but good reading for the pool or a nice hammock.

Read All Book Reviews of "Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood"

It took me reading about three quarters of the book before I was really interested. It has some great stories and great dynamics to ponder, just not an easy-flowing read.

really liked it

I read ''Little Altars everywhere'' first and liked it very much, this one was not as good.

good book

I wanted to get into this book and to like it, but I just couldn't.

The book is so much better than the movie. A wonderful read full of brilliant imagery, lots of laughs and plenty of tears.

Great book! The movies is one of my favorites but the book is so much better. It's about a mother and a daughter relationship and how they interact is so real and comical. One minute they are friends, the next minute they are aweful to each other. A lot of the book are flash backs of both the mother and daughter and what makes them the way they are.

A delightful look into the lives of four southern girls, following them to adulhood. More fun than the movie

great read!

The Barnes & Noble Review
A powerfully literate yet thoroughly engaging and accessible novel, this story of a close-knit society of southern women has become a modern cult classic bolstered by author Rebecca Wells's abiltity to transcend standard-issue chick lit with bold and unique characters and a tale that digs deeply into the complex bonds of family.

The entangled story of actress Siddalee Walker, her mother Vivi, and Vivi's group of pals -- the Ya-Yas -- gets off to a heated start when Sidda's disparaging remarks about her mother run in the New York Times. Vivi declares all-out war and immediately cuts Sidda out of her will, pushes a libel suit, and forbids the other septuagenarian Ya-Ya's to speak to Sidda ever again. Convinced she doesn't "know how to love," a shaken Sidda postpones her upcoming wedding and flees to a remote Washington cabin. Suddenly concerned about her daughter, Vivi convenes an emergency Ya-Ya council and at last decides to reveal her jealously guarded past to Sidda through her treasured scrapbook, "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood."

The scrapbook spans Ya-Ya history, documenting among other things the hilarious Shirley Temple Look-Alike Contest that first united the four women in a conspiracy against polite society; the secret history and initiation rites of the group; a trip to Atlanta to attend the premier of Gone With The Wind; and Vivi's first and greatest love. It also sheds light on Vivi's reaction to the constraints of motherhood and the alcoholism, self-medication, and spiritual confusion that eventually led to a complete nervous breakdown. Also buried in the book is the key that unlocks Sidda's childhood memory of a lost lesson of love and brings her to a new understanding of her family's shared triumphs and tragedies.

Much more universal in its appeal than the "women's book" some reviewers have been tempted to call it (according to Wells, "It's a book for women -- and smart men"), The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood manages with passion, humor, and an irrepressible gift for language to somehow show readers of all backgrounds a mirror-perfect reflection of their own life experiences. (Greg Marrs)

Read All Book Reviews of "Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood"