Customer Reviews

All About Us #5: Tidings of Great Boys: An All About Us Novel

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mac doesn't want to spend her two week holiday in her dad's castle in Scotland. She invites her friends Lissa, Shani, Carly and Gillian to join her. She believes if she organizes the traditional dance and asks her mother to help her with it that she will be able to get her parents back together. This is just the beginning of problems for Mac and her friends. I think the one thing I enjoyed os much about this book was how clean it was. It was refreshing to pick up a book that was not vulgar or obscene. I look forward to putting it on my shelves.

I love when my teenage daughter picks up a book! I really love it when it's a book with a positive message and grounded in morality. I love it best when God is a prevalent character in the book. And this is the case with Shelley Adina's "Tidings of Great Boys". Shelley's books speak right to teens where they live with intelligence, humor and compassion. She touches on issues that young Christian women face and gives them positive role models to emulate when they experience similar circumstances.

My daughter has devoured not only this book, but Shelley Adina's entire series. I recommend these books to any mom who wants her teen girl to read wholesome, godly material.

Again I wish we could give 1/2 star ratings because this is really a 3.5 stars.

This is the fifth book in the All About Us series and picks up right after the ending of book 4 with the girls making plans to join Mac in Scotland for Christmas. There are several agenda items which include getting Mac's parents back together. In the meantime Mac also has to try and reconcile her relationships with her American friends as well as with her Scottish friends. In doing so she learns who are truly her friends through thick and thin. This was another sweet story as we follow the girls adventures in a real life castle. The ending was a bit of a surprise and I am curious how the next book will pick up after all that has happened.

Tidings of Great Boys (All About Us, #5)

"Some people are born with the gift of friendship. Some achieve it. And then you have people like me, who have friendship thrust upon them."

This is my first experience with the All About Us series and it was thoroughly enjoyable! You meet a close knit group of teenage girls from the exclusive Spencer Academy at the end of their fall term. Tidings of Great Boys is the fifth book in the series and focuses on Lady Lindsay Margaret Eithne MacPhail, a.k.a. "Mac", the daughter of a Scottish earl and an heiress, with 500 year old family castle. Mac invites her closest friends to spend Christmas in Scotland. They all come. Her best friend Carly Aragon, with an eye for fashion and the captain of the crew team as her boyfriend, turns down an invite to her mother's second wedding to be there. New York loudmouth Gillian Chang is fashion plate with a photographic memory, a stellar academic record and a natural musical ability. Lissa Mansfield, daughter of world renowned film producer, is a laid back Santa Barbara girl, except when she's ferociously protective of her friends. Shani is longtime family friend and former betrothed of Prince Rashid al Amir, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Yasir. Mac's excited about this chance to show her friends the Scotland she loves - and she has a secret plan to bring her parents back together.

Tidings of Great Boys is a fun read! Not only are each of the young characters well fleshed out but you can clearly feel the warmth and affection that they have for each other. The book isn't limited to banter, there is plenty of action and humor woven in. Each chapter brings you closer and closer to the crazy ending. You'll finish the book both satisfied and looking forward to the next in the series.

Publisher: FaithWords (September 8, 2009), 256 pages.
Courtesy to the publisher.

The problem with novels for teenage girls is that their culture is constantly changing. What was popular yesterday is, like, so last year today. Fashion, language and even friendships are, like, random. Tidings of Great Boys and the other books in the All About Us series are relevant today, but may be laughed at by girls who read it in five years. Aside from that, it's a fun book. I enjoyed it because I like teenage girls. It has less talk about high fashion and gourmet cuisine than the other book from the series I have read, and that made it flow better for me.

All of the books are told in the first person, but each has a different narrator. The girls are friends at an exclusive boarding school and move in circles that include royalty and business moguls. But they face the same problems with family, friends and boys that any teenager does. Lady Lindsey, the narrator in this book, is just Mac, a girl trying to reconcile two worlds while scheming to bring her divorced parents back together. Except that she lives in a castle and knows people like Prince Harry of England. Except that she can confidently face down the paparazzi. Except that she can easily buy a friend a plane ticket to Scotland with her allowance.

It's Mac's lifestyle that gives the book the extra spice to attract her audience, but the well told story and complex characters will keep them reading. She and her friends act like any modern teen trying to live her faith. Some of the problems she faces are of her own making, but some are part of growing up. With the help of her friends, parents and her burgeoning faith, she resolves them wisely, yet the plot is not predictable. I would recommend this book to all the teen girls I know.

Pros: Strong characters with an exciting setting and plot. In spite of the title, there is just enough romance to be realistic.

Cons: The book is solidly set in 2009 which may outdate it for teens in a few years.

[...]

I have loved this series since the first book came out. It's one of my favorite YA series, both Christian and general. It's a really fun series to read and the girls are portrayed as real, down to earth characters who enjoy fancy labels every now and then. I've always appreciated how Shelley has gotten teen speak down to a T. You'd think actual teens wrote this book from the way she uses correct slang and just enough pop culture to make it relatable without being cheesy or dated.

I was geeked to read that this book would take place in Mac's homeland and this would involve the girls getting to travel to Scotland. I love book that take place in foreign countries especially those in Great Britain. This is partially because I want to go visit there myself one day, and until I do, reading about others' travels is the next best thing. I really liked how Mac has done a complete 180 since her introduction into the series. When we first met her, she was stuck up and very withdrawn. Of course the reason why, as we learn in the third book, makes total sense as to why she acts in this way. Therefore it's really nice to see a book from Mac'sPOV and see her loosen up and be comfortable. The interaction between her and the other girls is excellent as always. I was really glad to see her tense relationship with family begin to ease down.

While usually series books are sometimes read as stand alones with this series, I highly recommend reading the previous books before picking up this one. There are several references to past events and there is a huge subplot that follows what happened in book 4. Without spoiling too much, it's just amazing how technology manages to spread things likes wildfire and causes incidents to happen that could have been cleared up easily. One small thing I have noticed about the books is the consistent use of the same cover models. It's a small detail but one I have appreciated. I really can't stand when they change models halfway through a series and then you have to guess again who each person is supposed to be.

Now as for the boys, as stated in the title, there are quite a few of them. I think it's great how these girls DO date and they are responsible about their feelings and actions towards guys. It is very realistic and I think most girls can relate to this. I really enjoyed reading this book and getting to know Mac more and learning about her home country. Also this book put me in the Christmas spirit which is always a plus. If you're a fan of this series, you MUST pick up this one!

Tidings of Great Boys by Shelley Adina is the fifth book in the It's All About Us series. Mac, Lady Lindsey MacPhail, takes on narration duty in this volume which takes place over Christmas break of the girls' senior year. Mac wants all of her best friends to celebrate the holidays with her at her family's castle, Straithcairn, in Scotland, as well as to get her parents back together, but neither will be an easy task. Especially when you throw in a batch of jealous childhood friends and Shani's trouble with the Sheikh of Yasir, this is guaranteed to be a hopping party! I really enjoy reading Adina's writing; this title may not have a lot of heavy issues like the previous volumes, but it reads like a sorbet, it's refreshing and cleansed the "palate" of my brain from the darker books I've been reading as of late. Adina nails teenage girls with their dialogue, bursts of temper, and shifts of loyalty, along with boycraziness! It's a fun read, and while the girls are Christians, there is no preachiness. Adina balances just the right amount of humor, faith, and zaniness to appeal to teenage girls and their mothers!