I read this book on a recommendation from a friend. I got it from my library (and I had to wait awhile for it, as there was a long waiting list ahead of me for it). I read it in four days, over the course of a series of flights across country and back. It was a great travel read; I was so engrossed in the story that the long hours seemed to pass surprisingly quickly.
I thought it was a wonderful story of friendship, that often made me
ache for my own best friend whom I do not see nearly often enough. However, there were times when I felt like the two main characters were a bit flat and one-dimensional. While the author does a wonderful job of writing about the friendship, there were times when I felt like I didn't REALLY know either one of these women.
I loved the references to eras gone by, from the hippie seventies, to the glittery eighties, and through the nineties and into today. There were so many trendy styles and fads that the girls took up, and I was reminded of my own silly obsessions with things like banana clips and leggings... Lol. I also enjoyed the references to the political and social issues of the times. While they weren't overstated, I thought the author did a wonderful job of using them to show how they helped to shape the women's lives.
Overall, this was a great tale of friendship and of the struggles women go through to get it all right, so to speak. While both Tully and Kate had the lives they wanted, they both struggled at times to feel complete; they each wondered if they had made the right decisions, and whether they had missed out on something as a result of what they had chosen.
It was also particularly poignant as a mother-daughter tale, and illustrated beautifully the struggles involved in that relationship. I would recommend this book for women who grew up during these decades, for mothers-and-daughters (adult ones), or for anyone who enjoys a great story. I would not have picked out this book on my own, as it's not usually the type of thing that I read (it's kind of light, borderline chick-lit, although far from light in the end). However, I did really enjoy it, and it was a nice, easy break for me while I was on vacation. ( )

Kristin Hannah does it again. Keep the tissues by your side when you read this. ( )

I love the way Hannah writes. This was by far one of the best books of hers that I’ve read I really enjoy the storyline of two best friends that we Trail the happiness of sadness everything that they’ve been tail together I don’t want to give away too much I know there’s a show on Netflix on it but reading the book was far better ( )

En el caluroso verano de 1974, Kate Mularkey ha decido aceptar su papel de cero a la izquierda en la vida social de su instituto. Hasta que, para su sorpresa, «la chica más guay del mundo» se muda al otro lado de su calle y quiere ser su amiga. Tully Hart parece tenerlo todo: belleza, inteligencia y ambición. No pueden ser más distintas. Kate, destinada a pasar inadvertida, con una familia cariñosa pero que la avergüenza a cada momento, y Tully, envuelta en glamour y misterio aunque poseedora de un secreto que la está destrozando. Contra todo pronóstico, se hacen inseparables y sellan un pacto para ser mejores amigas para siempre.

Durante 30 años se ayudarán mutuamente para mantenerse a flote esquivando las tormentas que amenazan su relación: celos, enfados, dolor, resentimiento... Y creerán que han sobrevivido a todo hasta que una traición las separe... y someta su valor y su amistad a la prueba más dura.

Tully and Kate became friends in 1974 when both were 14 years old. Tully was raped by a high school senior and only confided it to Kate which seemed to seal their relationship. The would sneak out at night and explore the region on their bicycles. Tully's mother was a drug and alcohol addict who came and went in her life, mostly leaving, which affected Tully a lot. She dreamed of becoming a network news person where she and Kate would be working together since Kate was a wonderful writer and organizer. After college they lived together in Seattle which is where Kate met Johnny. He was the producer of local TV segments who took Tully on initially as an unpaid internship. When the office needed a secretary, Kate was hired and she fell hard fro Johnny, but told no one since she saw how he looked at Tully. However, Johnny and Kate eventually married and had three children, Marah and twin boys. Meanwhile Tully was on her way up to network television, becoming a well-known personality. Tully and Kate maintained a relationship for over 30 years, Kate becoming a stay-at-home mother and Tully became a star. Unfortunately for them all, Kate was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. ( )