Thoughts before reading:
I don't know much of anything about the rest of this series, so we'll see. This one sounds promising at least.
The basics:
Kristy's enjoying a family dinner when her father, Patrick, shocks everyone by calling. He has some big news: he's getting married again, and wants Kristy, Sam, and Charlie to come to his wedding. Charlie promptly hangs up, while Sam and Kristy reluctantly agree. Patrick's unbothered, saying he knew they wouldn't let him down, and he's sending them plane tickets ASAP. He doesn't even mention or invite poor David Michael. Charlie's (understandably) furious, and tells the others he won't go and can't believe they are. David Michael, of course, hears all this and keeps begging to go. It falls on Elizabeth to tell him he can't, and to try and explain. She also decides that if Charlie doesn't go, Sam and Kristy also can't. This gets Kristy upset, because she really wants to go, and thinks this will be an important turning point with Patrick. She explains to Charlie why it's important to her, and he agrees to go, for her and Sam's sake.
It's not long before the tickets to California, where Patrick's still living, arrive, and the three are on their way to Sausalito. They arrive there to find things very different from what they expected. Their father is now a chef, has a big fancy house, and seems to be together now, although he offers them no apologies or explanations for the past. In fact, it's quite the opposite... he's easily angered by Charlie's open hostility towards him, still fails to even mention David Michael, and is clearly still a very selfish person. They do all like Zoey, his fiancé, who proves to be very warm and kind.
Patrick asks Sam and Charlie to be his best men, which Charlie angrily declines, much to Patrick's annoyance. He also refuses to go tux shopping, so Sam and Patrick go together, and end up picking out ugly yellow-orange suits. (I can't even picture what this would look like exactly, haha.) When Zoey, Charlie, and Kristy all agree that the suits are hideous, Patrick gets angry again. All this makes Kristy remember how easily angered her dad always was when he didn't get his way, or even when she didn't understand something right away.
The next day, everyone goes together to get new tuxes. Patrick sulks and acts bored the whole time, like a put out little kid. Zoey finally snaps him out of it, to Kristy's relief. She's unsettled to realize she likes Zoey better than her own father. (Which begs the question, why is this nice woman marrying this loser?) Another day, Patrick wants the kids to go spend time with Zoey while he goes windsurfing, and isn't thrilled when she suggests he take them to Angel Island instead. (Why spend time with the kids you abandoned, after all?)
Kristy also learns that her and her brothers are Patrick's only family attending the wedding. His parents died before she was even born, and his younger brother declined to come because of a fight they had awhile back. Zoey also mentions that her and Patrick want kids, which leaves Kristy feeling sick and angry.
Patrick ends up losing his temper with Charlie completely after an innocent comment (Charlie calls his tie a noose) and asks him if he could just "behave like a good son". Charlie responds that he never behaved like a good father, and Patrick has the nerve to then say they never gave him the chance because they didn't stay in touch! He even blames Elizabeth for how things have ended up, and calls Charlie spoiled. Kristy jumps in to defend Charlie, citing all he's done for the family.
All this goes down right before the rehearsal dinner, which Patrick ends up leaving for alone. The three kids talk things over, and Sam points out that Patrick will never live up to their expectations. They all agree it's best to just not have any. Kristy thinks that it's this moment and realization when she finally gives up on the idea of Patrick as her dad. They decide to go to the rehearsal, for Zoey.
Later that night, Kristy talks to Zoey and tells her about how their father just walked out on them. To her surprise, Zoey already knows. (To my surprise too! She really wants to make more kids with this guy??) She also says Patrick has grown up a lot since then, but will probably always be a bit of a kid, and she thinks he's learned from his mistake. (I don't! If he has then why is he blaming the kids and Elizabeth for it?)
Charlie still declines to be a best man, but Sam goes ahead and does it, and Charlie even makes a brief toast at the reception. Kristy dances with Patrick, and he thanks her for coming.
Back in Stoneybrook when everything's over, Kristy tells her mom all about the trip. Elizabeth isn't angry, and wishes Patrick and Zoey well, sincerely. This makes Kristy realize her mom loves her life and is truly happy. (Not to mention, Elizabeth is the much bigger person.)
Later, Kristy talks things over with the BSC (by which I now only mean Stacey, Claudia, and Mary Anne... how weird is that??). She admits that although she loves her father, she doesn't like him. They sympathize and agree he's the one missing out on life, since if anything gets hard he just leaves.
Timeline:
It's August.
Misc. thoughts:
*No chapter 2 recap! No babysitting chapters! No side plots! This book is about Kristy alone, and we don't have any idea what's going on with the others back in Stoneybrook, or what babysitting jobs they have. It was really nice.
*Another nice change in this series already? The adults are actually around, and they watch their own kids! There's also parenting! Crazy, right? For instance, in a BSC series book, it would be Kristy explaining things to David Michael and trying to fix everything. Watson and Elizabeth would probably be off at an estate sale the whole time. I love that instead the adults are actually around now, and the 13 year old's are back to being kids.
*I really, really hate Patrick. Poor David Michael. I really wish the fact that he just completely forgot about him had been addressed more.
*Patrick apparently couldn't even pick Sam, Charlie, and Kristy up from the airport. He leaves them a car and directions to his house instead.
*Charlie's anger and hostility is completely justified in my opinion, and I think Patrick really gets off easy.
*I would love to read this story from Elizabeth's POV. I wonder what she was thinking this whole time, and what her and Watson had to say about it, away from the kids.
*Kristy says she wants to wear a tuxedo someday, like Princess Diana.
*All I could think about while reading this was, thank god these kids have Watson. Also, I'd love to read a scene where Watson tells Patrick what he thinks of him...
*I already said it, but I have to again... the biggest mystery of this book is why Zoey wants to marry Patrick. She must be really lonely? Yet she seems perfectly nice and sweet... I'm sure she could do way better.
*Watson's paying for Charlie's college tuition. Aww. That's a real man and father for you.
*I liked seeing more of Charlie in here, as he's one of my favorite characters. It was also nice, and so overdue, to see how Patrick leaving has affected each of them, likely for the rest of their lives. Charlie's angry, which is 100% realistic, since he remembers the most, and as the oldest, sacrificed the most. As a result, he's grown up to be easy going and reliable, the real man that his father never will be. Sam's (heartbreakingly!) trying to get his dad's attention any way he can, and I'm sure this is why he comes off as such a goof. It will probably affect his relationships too, as his dad leaving him has clearly made him insecure and in need of extra attention/validation. Kristy's conflicted on how to feel, hence the bossiness... she takes control of everything she can control.
*It was also interesting to see what kind of person Patrick is. Lends insight into what happened back when he walked out.
*I can't believe Patrick even wants to have more kids. He's clearly completely delusional... I really don't see him doing any better the second time around. He hasn't changed at all, if he's blaming his actions on his ex-wife, or on his kids for not keeping in touch... after he abandoned them and moved across the country?? It's infuriating how he can't own up to his mistakes or apologize, even after all this time.
*Kristy thinks that Patrick and Sam are similar, taking things lightly, avoiding what's hard or unpleasant. While this is technically true, I don't think it's fair. Sam has a lot more substance, and we've already seen his sweet, serious side. He isn't impatient or quick to anger either. I think he's just eager to please, mainly because of being fatherless.
*Patrick and Zoey walk down the aisle to "Take me out to the ball game". How lame.
*Ghostwritten by Nola Thacker.
Books mentioned:
None
My rating:
4 stars. This was sad and infuriating in turns, but this story was long overdue. I'm very interested to see what the FF books do next, as this was a very solid start. I loved how all the formulaic aspects of the BSC series were removed, and replaced by a focus on character development, family relationships, and exploring old dynamics that we've heard little about before.
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