I enjoyed this book more than I expected. I'm definitely not the kind of reader that particularly enjoys character development-focused books, but this one was good. I think it's very telling of a good writer that I have no idea what the authors politics are, despite politics being a main theme of the book. I enjoyed that the main characters were intellectually diverse, which to me is more important than just about anything else. I called the ending from pretty early on, but the further I got the more I started to doubt myself, so it still ended up surprising me somewhat. Only negative is that the book was very slow, and I would have loved to spend more time with the girls in college. I feel like we only got a glimpse and I wanted to know more.

As you can tell by the start and finished date, I was captivated by this novel. J. Courtney Sullivan really just scratches an itch in my brain with her writing that I can't quite explain. While I didn't like "Commencement" as much as "Saints for All Occasions," I still couldn't put it down and will probably come back to it at some point. 

I didn't fall in love with any of the characters (something I typically do with books I love). But, I found these characters to be flawed in ways that felt true to life. They felt like real people, and I like reading about real people. If I had to pick a favorite I think it would be Sally, but they were all imperfect in different ways and I had at least some rooting interest in each of their stories. As a recent college grad (not from Smith), my best friends and I are a group of four who lived on the same floor our freshman year - in this way, I relate to the novel's context and the birth of the central friendship almost completely. 

I did figure out that Ronnie was involved in April's disappearance somehow, but I thought April was actually dead. When Ronnie didn't show up for the civilian search party, I thought she was officially in heading. When it was revealed that April was alive and living in an underground cellar for months because of Ronnie's narcissism and manipulation, I genuinely thought I was going to hyperventilate reading the last 15 pages. I thought April was going to kill herself with the sleeping pills, or she would die from lack of food, or Ronnie was going to kill her when she finally got up the courage to escape. Why she went to Ronnie's house after getting out is beyond me, but it must come down to serious psychological trauma and emotional abuse. I wish we got more of the girls' reactions when they are finally reunited with April, but I love that Sally was the first one to acknowledge her return. And the fact that she named her baby after April!

One thing I thought would happen and didn't -

Celia would realize that she is gay/bisexual/pan and that she is in love with Bree. I really thought that would be why she was so against Bree and Lara's relationship, but I guess it was just underlying homophobic tendencies.

I was taken out of the book a bit by the outdated language and social attitudes. If I was to judge solely by this novel, language for bisexuality or pansexuality did not yet exist in 2009.

Bree repeatedly claims that she is not a lesbian because she would date a man if she broke up with Lara, but never says that she is bisexual or pan.

That element of her character was very frustrating for me. 

Favorite line: "There were so many ways to be twenty-six years old." (258)

4/5 stars - despite some frustrating components, I love the female friendships in this novel and the way they keep coming back to each other