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kristinhzta90's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. Just wow. I couldn’t put this story down. It is a very poignant story about teenagers, parents, social media, character, entitlement and truth. Nina is an incredible woman.
stepharina's review against another edition
4.0
I got the advanced readers copy of this book courtesy of Goodreads. I’m a big fan of Emily Giffin and this book exceeded my expectations. I think she created a story that was a different feel from her other stories and I liked that. I liked that the story was told from different points of view. I also like that it kept you guessing at the truth. I’d recommend this to others!
hollidayreadswithme's review against another edition
2.0
Check out my blog at www.readingreckless.wordpress.com for more reviews and bookish content.
All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin is about a middle-class woman who is thrust into an opulent lifestyle and raises her son alongside her husband in the upper crust of the Nashville elite. Their life is perfect, or at least it seems when a photo surfaces that her son sent around. This is the story of the fallout from that picture and how far someone will go to protect their child.
This audiobook was available to me via Libby, my favorite app ever.
When I finished the book I thought that this was the most infuriating thing I have ever heard. I think that it had a very similar premise to Beartown by Fredick Bachman. I am so angry. Scratch that, I’m still angry.
Giffin drones on and on about this woman’s life and how hard it is for her to be rich and spoiled by her husband who is an awful person who thinks that everyone can be bought off or persuaded. I understand what the author was trying to do, trying to make us feel bad for the protagonist who at every turn of raising her kid and choosing her awful husband just did was easiest instead of what was right. It was exhausting to see her justify her own behavior. It was exhausting for her to describe the thing that happened to her as an excuse to step out her own life and become a puppet in someone else’s. It was so hard to keep listening when I disliked Nina so much. Someone needed to tell her she was a bad mother and no one did.
Tom was a character who bordered on martyrdom. A single parent to a teenage girl who is victimized by her crush. I liked Tom. There was no attempt for us to feel bad for him. So I ended up feeling bad for him. He is the only person who seems like he had any sense.
Lila was the epitome of stupid. Her friend, Grace, was telling her something was up with the way that something is not right with Finch and yet, she trudges along, determined to believe someone who she doesn’t even know because she is SURE he is a good person. None of that makes sense. She’s “brave” at the end but at what cost?
As for the ending, Welcome to the spoiler section of the review.
I was sick of hearing Finch is a good kid. What does that mean anyway? A kid who gets good grades, is popular, goes to an Ivy League school? Good kids don’t make child pornography, racist jokes and then try to gaslight their ex-girlfriends and blame them for their indiscretions. This is something that the book makes light of. As if a mother’s love can absolve a person from despicable acts.
Overall, in its attempt to make me sympathize with a bad mother (and not having boundaries for your child makes you a bad mother), this book took a premise with promise and ruined it. The sad thing is that it was really well written and even though I really didn’t like this book, I would probably give this author another shot.
2 stars.
All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin is about a middle-class woman who is thrust into an opulent lifestyle and raises her son alongside her husband in the upper crust of the Nashville elite. Their life is perfect, or at least it seems when a photo surfaces that her son sent around. This is the story of the fallout from that picture and how far someone will go to protect their child.
This audiobook was available to me via Libby, my favorite app ever.
When I finished the book I thought that this was the most infuriating thing I have ever heard. I think that it had a very similar premise to Beartown by Fredick Bachman. I am so angry. Scratch that, I’m still angry.
Giffin drones on and on about this woman’s life and how hard it is for her to be rich and spoiled by her husband who is an awful person who thinks that everyone can be bought off or persuaded. I understand what the author was trying to do, trying to make us feel bad for the protagonist who at every turn of raising her kid and choosing her awful husband just did was easiest instead of what was right. It was exhausting to see her justify her own behavior. It was exhausting for her to describe the thing that happened to her as an excuse to step out her own life and become a puppet in someone else’s. It was so hard to keep listening when I disliked Nina so much. Someone needed to tell her she was a bad mother and no one did.
Tom was a character who bordered on martyrdom. A single parent to a teenage girl who is victimized by her crush. I liked Tom. There was no attempt for us to feel bad for him. So I ended up feeling bad for him. He is the only person who seems like he had any sense.
Lila was the epitome of stupid. Her friend, Grace, was telling her something was up with the way that something is not right with Finch and yet, she trudges along, determined to believe someone who she doesn’t even know because she is SURE he is a good person. None of that makes sense. She’s “brave” at the end but at what cost?
As for the ending, Welcome to the spoiler section of the review.
Spoiler
The fact that Finch had no real-world consequences for his actions, except for the dissolution of his parents' marriage, is realistic, but what isn’t realistic is the fact that Lila just let that go. I find it problematic that she got absolutely no justice. I was offended for her. The problem with this ending is that there is no payoff. Finch lies, cheats, steals and plots against Lila in order for his life to turn out well, for him to go to Princeton and nothing happens to him. I’m not asking for a cleanly wrapped up ending but if you are going to have a girl get manipulated into having sex with a guy who is using her and lying about what he did to her. He needs to have some consequences and that was completely within her control.I was sick of hearing Finch is a good kid. What does that mean anyway? A kid who gets good grades, is popular, goes to an Ivy League school? Good kids don’t make child pornography, racist jokes and then try to gaslight their ex-girlfriends and blame them for their indiscretions. This is something that the book makes light of. As if a mother’s love can absolve a person from despicable acts.
Overall, in its attempt to make me sympathize with a bad mother (and not having boundaries for your child makes you a bad mother), this book took a premise with promise and ruined it. The sad thing is that it was really well written and even though I really didn’t like this book, I would probably give this author another shot.
2 stars.
kremington's review against another edition
3.0
4 stars, maybe just a bit less. Mainly for the rushed ending which left me wanting a little more. Very fast read, though.
*edit: Changed my review to 3.5 stars. The more I sat on it the more I realized how rushed certain things were and how much I would've like at least one chapter from the POV of Kirk, Finch, or even Polly. I wouldn't say the book was bad by any means, but definitely left something to be desired. I would still recommend for those looking for a quick or beach read.
*edit: Changed my review to 3.5 stars. The more I sat on it the more I realized how rushed certain things were and how much I would've like at least one chapter from the POV of Kirk, Finch, or even Polly. I wouldn't say the book was bad by any means, but definitely left something to be desired. I would still recommend for those looking for a quick or beach read.
vickigee85's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. And frankly, i find myself irritated. The book is good, but what’s communicated is another woman supporting the idea that women should “move on” after hash taggable “metoo” sexual pressure/abuse. It’s sad, and for me, takes away from the merit of exploring these events.
cierraotis's review against another edition
3.0
Although I enjoyed the plot and how well it was written, it was a bit intense. Could have gone without the frequent explicit language and graphic content.
mjanethings's review against another edition
2.0
As a fan of Emily Giffin's books, I picked this one up expecting it to be great, but I have to say I was a disappointed. Not to give too much away, this novel is told from three perspectives - Nina, Tom, and Lyla. The main story centers around a Snapchat photo scandal that occurs when Nina's son, Finch, from an upper class white family, sends a scandalous photo of a passed out Lyla, Tom's daughter who is half Brazilian and from a lower middle class home, to his friends. The photo quickly spreads through the larger community forcing the families and the school to decide on how to handle the situation. The characters also must deal with how this effects them personally and what it means to do the right thing.
I usually enjoy multiple first person perspectives, it gives the reader a chance to see what the different characters are thinking and feeling; however, I didn't think the characters had a strong enough voice, and without the section titles telling me whose perspective it was, it may have taken a bit of reading before being able to tell, and even then it would've been more environmental factors rather than voice. But with that being said, it left me wishing that there were more perspectives from some of the more seemingly villainous characters, who felt very empty.
The book as a whole doesn't seem complete, it's a very shallow representation of the situation, the characters, and draws on stereotypical personality traits in almost every circumstance - the privileged white male, the rich white woman from a poor background who resents her wealth, the working class dad, the naive teenage girl. I can see how the author tried to incorporate modern social media devices to seem relevant, but it felt very forced and broke the flow of the story telling.
All in all it was a fairly easy read, I didn't hate it, just found it a bit boring, with shallow characters and the ending left me feeling unsatisfied.
I usually enjoy multiple first person perspectives, it gives the reader a chance to see what the different characters are thinking and feeling; however, I didn't think the characters had a strong enough voice, and without the section titles telling me whose perspective it was, it may have taken a bit of reading before being able to tell, and even then it would've been more environmental factors rather than voice. But with that being said, it left me wishing that there were more perspectives from some of the more seemingly villainous characters, who felt very empty.
The book as a whole doesn't seem complete, it's a very shallow representation of the situation, the characters, and draws on stereotypical personality traits in almost every circumstance - the privileged white male, the rich white woman from a poor background who resents her wealth, the working class dad, the naive teenage girl. I can see how the author tried to incorporate modern social media devices to seem relevant, but it felt very forced and broke the flow of the story telling.
All in all it was a fairly easy read, I didn't hate it, just found it a bit boring, with shallow characters and the ending left me feeling unsatisfied.
laura_corsi's review against another edition
2.0
Not delicious like I thought it would be. I thought this would be a slightly salacious feel-good book. And I suppose it was all of those things except I just didn't have as good a time as I thought that I would. Maybe it was the fact that the events take place at an elite private school where only the rich people send their kids. Perhaps, I just couldn't relate. Mostly I just didn’t like any of the characters.
srartese's review against another edition
4.0
I didn’t read anything about this book before diving it and I really enjoyed it. Nothing super crazy just a good plot and I love the style of writing from characters perspectives. She will always be one of my fav authors.