Family

All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin is a good read I can honestly say I enjoyed it. This is my second book by Emily Giffin but I don’t see it as it being my last. I borrowed this from my public library and I am very glad I did. I am still trying to get a handle on my reading after being in such a slump of where I take way too long with my books. Her writing is superb and easy to sink into. What a great book! I have a feeling I’ll be reading all of Ms. Giffin’s books.
The story: Nina lives the perfect life in the prestigious Belle Meade community of Nashville. A successful husband, a son who was just accepted at Princeton, a beautiful home and all the designer clothing and home furnishings she could only dream about when she was a middle-class child and teen in the less prosperous small town of Bristol. Then it all collapses when her 18-year-old son uses poor judgement and shares a suggestive and racist photo of a girl from his school.
As Nina and her husband Kirk struggle with the consequences and how to minimize the devastating effect this could have on their son’s future, she begins to realize how much she and her values had morphed since her childhood days in Bristol and her college days at Vanderbilt. She realizes that the way her husband deals with the problem are less than honest and she feels ashamed at how she allowed him to do that for so many years, and how his actions were turning their son into the same type of man.
As she struggles with doing the right thing through a myriad of increasing problems, she gradually begins to find herself again. This book will resonant with any mother who has dealt with the tribulations and clamor of a teen who has made stupid choices with grave repercussions. If that’s you, reading this book will help you realize that even those who seem to have everything still struggle through raising a teen who is testing limits, especially in a world where social media and text messages can destroy lives in a manner of minutes. I hope to find more time to read this author in the near future if not 2019 has lots more of this author in my future.
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I would give it three and a half stars total if I could. I felt like some parts were predictable but towards the end there were some surprising twists. Lyla grew on me and I was rooting for her but felt like she made some foolish mistakes but I guess that is part of being a teenager. I enjoyed the setting of Nashville. ( )

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book. This is a heartfelt story I keep replaying in my head. Initially, you may think "Here's a story with a plot of how this super-rich couple is unhappy because money doesn't buy happiness." In reality, about the only thing money has to do with the story is the power it buys you to tip the playing field in your favor.

Much of the story is told from Nina's POV and from the outside, it seems her life is pretty fantastic. Nina lets us peek at the underbelly of her life - both current and past- and we see her money is doing nothing hiding the ugly side of things in her life with a glittery blanket.

Another main POV we have is from Tom, single father to a daughter who goes to the same school as Nina's son, but in the money-status-world, they lead completely different lives.

The struggles from both Nina and Tom are ones most parents will relate to (and fear.) The author does a fantastic job of leading the reader through the repercussions of decisions made and how much a parent, and money, can affect the outcome. It's a great story that takes you on many ups and downs along with twists you don't expect and an ending that you'll think about even after you read the last page. ( )

Boy gets girl drunk and takes a semi-nude photo of her. The story is about the consequences.

I took a chance on reading this, because Emily loves to write in present tense. All was well until the last 50 pages or so, when she went back to present tense.

I will never read another book by this author. ( )