The Darlings are Forever by Melissa Kantor

Publisher: Hyperion Book CH

Publish Date: January 4, 2011
Source: Library

Jane. Victoria. Natalya. Together, they are the Darlings. Best friends forever.
They have matching necklaces, their own table at Ga Ga Noodle, and even a shared motto: May you always do what you're afraid of doing.
When the friends begin freshman year at three different high schools in distant corners of New York City, they promise to live by their motto and stay as close as ever. The Darlings know they can get through anything as long as they have one another. But doing scary new things is a lot easier with your friends beside you. And now that the firls aren't spending all their time together, eberything they took for granted about their friendship starts to feel less certain. They can't help wondering -- will they really be The Darling forever?

I rather enjoyed The Darlings. It was a fun contemp, but it had some serious aspects as well which really brought it to another level.

So, The Darlings is told from all three girls' points of view. On the one hand, this was really fun interesting since you get to see what's going on in three totally different lives both from the inside and outside. The large differences between Natalya, Jane, and Victoria's lives really kept me invested and looking forward to every new page. On the other hand, sometimes three separate narrators all being talked about in third person could be a bit difficult to follow. It was almost like sometimes I didn't know who was supposed to be the main character at the moment so I felt like I wasn't attached to anyone and was just observing things rather than feeling invested.

I really enjoyed that The Darlings pulled off being both light and serious. I mean, we go from the whole banana situation (seriously, read the book just for this. I was giggling behind my hand like a crazy person!) to something  serious like a student/teacher situation. Nothing felt forced or unrealistic (though it likely was) which is awesome.

Final Thoughts: You'll totally want to jump into the book and be best friends with Natalya, Jane, and Victoria. If you love a fun contemporary with some serious life lessons mixed in, The Darlings is a definite must. It's cute, fun, and realistic :]

Pages: 336
Series: The Darlings are Forever #1
Rating 4 stars