I’ve had this book on my shelf for yearsssssss–and I’m talkin’ like 8ish years? I’m not even really sure why I picked it up now or why I never grabbed it sooner but it left me with SUCH a book hangover! I feel like this may be young adult fiction blasphemy, but I’ve never read Ann Brashares before–so yeah, I’ve never read Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. That said, I really love the way Brashares writes and this story was giving me everything that I crave in a fiction novel. It had romance, suspense, mystery and a little but of the improbable that goes along with my favorite kind of fantasy/fiction.   When I use the word fantasy, don’t think magic or dragons or anything like that. This book is about souls. Souls since the beginning of mankind that are reborn into new bodies when they die. Not all reincarnated souls remember their past lives but there are a small select few who remember. They know who they are–who they were. And this novel is about a love across millennia.

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Daniel has spent centuries falling in love with the same girl. Life after life, crossing continents and dynasties, he and Sophia (despite her changing name and form) have been drawn together-and he remembers it all. Daniel has “the memory”, the ability to recall past lives and recognize souls of those he’s previously known. It is a gift and a curse. For all the times that he and Sophia have been drawn together throughout history, they have also been torn painfully, fatally, apart. A love always too short.

Interwoven through Sophia and Daniel’s unfolding present day relationship are glimpses of their expansive history together. From 552 Asia Minor to 1918 England and 1972 Virginia, the two souls share a long and sometimes torturous path of seeking each other time and time again. But just when young Sophia (now “Lucy” in the present) finally begins to awaken to the secret of their shared past, to understand the true reason for the strength of their attraction, the mysterious force that has always torn them apart reappears. Ultimately, they must come to understand what stands in the way of their love if they are ever to spend a lifetime together.

So, if that synopsis doesn’t grab you by the collar and pull you in, then I don’t know. But I want more of this EXACT book. I did a pretty extensive Google search in hopes that I’d dig up a sequel or at least the talks of one in the works but sadly, no such luck 😦 I want to say that I’m interested in more Ann Brashares novels but I don’t think Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is going to be it. This novel felt so much more…mature than what I expect STTP to be. Maybe I’m wrong? Let me know if I am.

If it’s not plainly obvious, this book gets 5 stars from me.