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I'm having a hard time deciding if I liked this book or not. On the surface, not so much. About 30 pages in, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it through, or if I was going to go insane if I saw the word "Ya-Ya" one more time.

There were some things that I liked about it. Friendship that endures, closer than blood. Knowing there's always someone there in your corner, and they've been there your whole life. Daughters learning that Mom had a life before she became a Mother, and has a separate identity apart from "Mom."

I think my main problem was that I thought the Ya-Yas were all a bunch of spoiled brats that we're supposed to love just because we're told to. Oh, they're so fabulous, it's okay that they desecrate a religious icon that means a lot to Vivi's mother! It's okay that they strip down naked and go swimming in the town's water supply! So the message seems to be that you can get away with whatever the hell you want, as long as you act like it's your birthright to be so obnoxious.

Meanwhile Sidda (daughter of Vivi, one of the Ya-Yas) pretty much seem to do nothing but page through the old scrapbook (the "Divine Secrets" of the title), avoid her fiance, and Think Deep Thoughts as she walks around the woods, or wherever the hell she is. She doesn't really seem to have much identity of her own, she just exists so there can be a Happy Ending, that we all knew was coming anyway.

The main conflict between Sidda and her mother seems to be that Vivi beat the holy hell out of her kids, and she's mad that Sidda is now famous enough to be interviewed for the New York Times and she told them about it. So Vivi's mad that...the truth was told.

So. I guess I'm glad I read it. I'm also glad I only paid half-price for it at the used bookstore.