24) The Darlings Are Forever

Bibliography: Kantor, Melissa; The Darlings are Forever; Hyperion Books; New York; 2011; 328 pages; ISBN 978-142312714-7.

Plot: Best friends since kindergarten, Jane, Victoria, and Natalya must face high school without each other.  Each girl has been accepted to a different high school in New York City.  Jane will be attending the The Academy of the Performing Arts and trying to win her way into the school play.  Natalya will be at the elite Gainsford Academy.  The school focuses on academically gifted students.  Victoria will be attending Morningside, where teachers expect her to live up to her perfect older sister’s legacy.  Each girl has big developments in their lives, but in the end they know they will always be friends forever.

Review:  I enjoyed this book.  The concept of three best friends being seperated for the first time is one that many teens will be able to relate to.  Kantor also developed three very different characters that many teen girls will be able to find themselves in.  Jane is the artsy one, with a passion for theatre.  Natalya is the smart one, with a passion for science and chess.  Victoria is the average girl, with a passion for cooking.  Out of all the characters I found something in each of them.  So many girls wish to play a part in a major theatre production.  Jane is the only freshman cast in her school’s big fall performance.  She feels special and enjoys the idea of being an oddity amongst her peers.  Natalya only wants to be part of the popular crowd.  Her actions make her change who she is to be included in the popular group.  Victoria wishes that people would stop thinking of her as the “good girl” and stop comparing her to her older sister.

Kantor does an excellent job with writing characters and situations that many teens will relate to.  When Jane develops a crush on her teacher, it is only a matter of time before she gets the wrong idea.  While I really enjoyed Jane’s story line, I kept thinking to myself, how many times has this concept been written.  So many times younger girls get the wrong impression from older influential adults.  I felt that Jane’s character was too smart to put herself into the situation.  She seems so in control of herself and her surroundings that I kept expecting her to see the roadblock that was ahead.

Victoria is probably my favorite character.  I totally understood what she was going through with her teachers always expecting her to live up to her older sister’s intellect.  I also felt for her when she was brought down by her actions.  She didn’t ask her dad to run for office; she didn’t ask that all of her actions be public knowledge.  I think out of all the characters, Victoria is the one that most readers will relate to.

Natalya bothered me.  While I enjoyed her character when she was with Jane and Victoria, her actions when they were not around made me want to rip my hair out.  Why did she want to be a friend of Morgan’s so badly?  I just felt that Morgan was such a transparent character that smart Natalya should have seen right through her.  I wanted Natalya to wake up and show the reader how smart she really was.

Even though I am wishy washy about this novel, I will be reading the follow up.  I have to know what happens next for these three girls.  I have a feeling that many readers will be asking for more for a long time.

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction/Chick Lit

Interest Level: age 12 and up

Related Books: Masquerade by Melissa de la Cruz; Princess Mia by Meg Cabot; TTYL by Lauren Myracle.

Author Information: http://www.melissakantor.com/about.html