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?
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.
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?
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.