When a new Emily Giffin book arrives at your house, you put the kiddo to bed, pour a glass of wine, and devour it in one sitting (or is that just me?). In All We Ever Wanted, Giffin has tacked some timely and difficult topics. Nina is living the high society life in Nashville when she discovers that her son Finch, has distributed a photo of a semi-nude fellow student. Her husband Kirk is only interested in getting the incident brushed under the rug, but Nina and Lyla's father, Tom, both think Finch needs to suffer the repercussions of his actions. Told from the perspective of Tom, Nina, and Lyla, this story discusses knowing the people we love, and how we show our children our love for them even when their choices have devastating consequences. How does the life we live impact the decisions they make, and how do our choices, like who we parent with, impact them?
I'm the mother of a young son, and ever since I found out I was having a boy, I have worried about how to raise him to NOT make the kind of choice Finch makes at the start of this book. The parents in this book are living opposite sides of this choice, and both are trying to do the best for their children, and wondering how their families arrived at this point. It was a super fast and compelling read, and Nina was a character who, while her lifestyle is far different from mine, was really understandable. The Nashville setting was interesting and enjoyable (I haven't read many books set there, and it's one of the top US places I'd like to visit). The only challenge with this book is perhaps that Giffin tackles too many difficult issues, so there isn't necessarily a deep exploration of all of them (in addition to the inappropriate/illegal snap are issues of racism, immigration, and suicide). I still thoroughly enjoyed this one though, and the only bummer is that now I have to wait for the author's next book!
I'm the mother of a young son, and ever since I found out I was having a boy, I have worried about how to raise him to NOT make the kind of choice Finch makes at the start of this book. The parents in this book are living opposite sides of this choice, and both are trying to do the best for their children, and wondering how their families arrived at this point. It was a super fast and compelling read, and Nina was a character who, while her lifestyle is far different from mine, was really understandable. The Nashville setting was interesting and enjoyable (I haven't read many books set there, and it's one of the top US places I'd like to visit). The only challenge with this book is perhaps that Giffin tackles too many difficult issues, so there isn't necessarily a deep exploration of all of them (in addition to the inappropriate/illegal snap are issues of racism, immigration, and suicide). I still thoroughly enjoyed this one though, and the only bummer is that now I have to wait for the author's next book!