Title: All We Ever Wanted
Author: Emily Griffin
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5

Nina Browning is living the good life among Nashville’s elite. Her husband sold his tech business for millions, catapulting them into the moneyed class, and her son, Finch, just got accepted to Princeton. It’s a far cry from Nina’s middle-class other-side-of-the-tracks upbringing.

Tom Volpe is a single dad who works several jobs trying to raise his independent daughter, Lyla. Since her mom left, he’s been struggling to keep Lyla from following in her drinking and partying ways, so Lyla attends the elite Windsor Academy, her way out.

When questionable pictures of Lyla surface after a party, Tom refuses to let his daughter be victimized, and reports the incident to the principal. Soon the entire school is in an uproar, and Nina is faced with believing her beloved son—even when his story doesn’t always add up—or following her own instincts.

I enjoyed this read about Nina, who on the outside looks like a wealthy wife with nothing to do but charity work, living off her husband’s money and content with the choices she made. But Nina isn’t content, and when she realizes what happened to Lyla, she does what she knows is right, bucking the system and society both, as well as her husband. This was a great read, and it delves into some of the questions surrounding social media use and taking advantage of girls with it.

Emily Griffin is a former lawyer turned best-selling author. Her newest novel is All We Ever Wanted.

(Galley provided by Random House/Ballantine Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Nina Browning, her husband and son are living a good life. The Nashville residents are excited because their son, a great student, has been accepted at Princeton.
Tom Volpe has been raising his daughter, Lyla on his own for several years. Lyla, a smart girl, has a scholarship at Windsor Academy, a prestigious private school that is giving Lyla opportunities she wouldn’t have had otherwise. And sometimes that’s a bad thing.
A party full of underage drinking, photographs taken and posted during the party and several lives are instantly changed.
Can Nina’s son survive the scandal and still attend Princeton? Should he? And can Lyla put one foot in front of the other and move forward through the controversy swirling around her at school?
This book offers a look at a situation that is probably happening even more than any of us suspect.

All We Ever Wanted is a very book of the moment. With the MeToo movement and social media’s effect on how we live our lives, All We Ever Wanted gives us the story of Layla who is at a party when photos of her were taken in compromising positions without her consent. What comes next is how she and the guy who is accused of taking the photos Finch react to what happened and how their parents see things differently than the teens do. Layla goes to rich private school with kids who have everything they could ever want. She doesn’t live that lifestyle, her single dad is doing his best and wanted her to have the best advantage in life so he was thrilled when she got a scholarship but he soon questions if putting her there has done more harm than good.

Nina and her husband live a great life and their son Finch never wants for anything but once they sell their company they have more money than they could imagine and soon Nina starts to wonder if it has changed them. She sees how her husband has changed and is scared if they have given Finch too much. He is spoiled and thinks he is untouchable so when she finds out he is accused of taking pictures of a girl without her consent she is scared she failed as a mom and more worried that her husband and Finch think it isn’t a big deal. Nina knows all too well that this is a big deal and realizes that while she has tried to suppress her past it's about to come to the surface.

I found this novel very on point. I found Nina very compassionate and while she loves her son she wants him to be punished for what he has done. She knows all too well that what he did is a huge deal even when he thinks it’s not. I found the reaction from Finch and Layla were real, teens today have no idea how their actions on social media are very important and that once something is out there it cant be taken back. This made me so mad at times, especially how Layla kept defending Finch because her crush on him made her believe he wouldn’t do that to her. I just wanted to shake this girl silly and scream about what he was doing!
I like how the parents Nina and Tom had a bond from the start. They understood one another and while nothing happened between them there was always something there, and that was so enduring to me. The respect between them was so magical that you wanted them together. All in all, this was one of my favorite Emily Giffin books, after The One & Only. I enjoyed the message and it speaks to what is happening in the world today. It shows us to take our social media habits more seriously and to realize what we do have consequences. This is one novel that is a must in today's society.

I always love reading anything by Emily Giffin. She is one of my favorite authors and her books are always must-reads. I’m always left still thinking of the characters after I finish. This book definitely stuck with me, also. I found myself looking at those around me, wondering if they really had the feelings that some of the characters did in this book. Giffin made me think about how class and race lines really are divided, how some take so much for granted. Some parts were upsetting to know that people really act a certain way and feel like it’s okay to get away with their behavior. Giffin handled some sensitive material with grace and in such a wonderful way. I greatly enjoyed this book so much. It was an engrossing, entertaining read. I would say this is one of my favorites by her, if not the best.

This book explores a lot of different issues including class divisions, racism, immigrants, sexual exploitation and the different attitudes towards boys and girls. The story is extremely well written and pulls the reader in immediately. I couldn’t put it down. Multiple view points are used to tell the story and while I completely understand why this was necessary I think it actually took away from the story a little. There were so many issues at play here and none of them were explored in enough depth because we kept jumping around to different people. That being said I really liked all of the characters, especially Nina. I did feel like she had turned a blind eye to the what all that wealth and privilege had done to her family and let it slide to far. One of the things it really made me think about was parenting. The book centers largely around two teenagers and how their parents react to the photo. I had to pause a couple times to consider what I would do. I gave the story 3.5 stars simply because of the lack of really getting into certain issues. Otherwise I really liked it!

I loved the dynamics of this book. It looked to be a she said, he said and rich vs poor. However, it turned into so much more. It definitely made you think about character, morals, values, and just what it means to be a decent human being. I encourage everyone to read this, you just might learn something about yourself.

I received this book as an advanced ebook from NetGalley. Thank you for the book. This book and its characters are so relevant to today. With kids and social media, taking pictures of everything. You never know who has posted a picture or video of stupid acts. This story also speaks of those better off and how they may use money or persuasion to get their way. Sadly this happens everywhere.
The book was a fast read, kept me engaged.

I didn’t know if I was an Emily Griffin fan, but after reading those book I definitely want to be! It was a quick fun read, driven off a premise any mother can relate to: am I raising a child with a strong moral compass, and if not, what will/can I do to right his wrongs? Nina is a very strong female character that is easy to identify with, I was rooting for her from start to finish!

The cover blurb reads "riveting" but I found this story depressing. Unhappy, nouveau-riche Nina discovers that her high-school senior has distributed incriminating semi-nude photos of a younger student from the wrong side of the tracks-- and her son not only refuses to take the blame, he's supported by his dad. Her own teenage trauma comes to the surface as she reaches out to the girl's father and then to the young victim. Typical mean-girl behavior on the part of students and parents adds fuel to the fire. At times you're not sure who's the bad guy, but you always know the motive. While the book did contain some surprises, the ending was predictable.

I've only read one of Emily Giffin's books, "Love the One You're With," and found it to be a quick fluff read. I was expecting something similar with "All We Ever Wanted" but was surprised by the depth of the content. Emily Giffin takes on sexual assault and bullying, something that unfortunately happens way too much. This book especially hit home for me because there was a similar incident in the town I work in. This book is told from several perspectives; Tom the single dad working hard to raise his daughter, Lyla a girl who is trying to fit in at a prestigious private school and Nina a well off woman who is questioning aspects of her life and family. I enjoyed having the different perspectives from each of these characters. They are dealing with the same issue but from different perspectives. Emily Giffin did a wonderful job of portraying how each one is processing and handling the situation differently. It was especially intriguing to see Lyla's perspective while she tries to push aside the photo scandal, minimize it and then comes to realize how serious it is.

I also enjoyed the multifaceted aspects of this book. It is about much more than a sexually explicit picture going around school. It is also about the privilege of the rich, a single father's struggle, a girls attempt to fit in and a woman's attempt to figure out her life. I thought this book was very well written and is a story that needs to be heard. This book didn't glorify anything and instead seemed very true to how situations such as these play out in real life. I found this book to be a powerful and emotional journey. I highly recommend it, especially to parents of teenagers or school teachers. This book deals with a timely topic.

Beautifully written story. This is my first title by Emily, and it won't be my last. I can't wait to share with friends about this amazing story that's relevant with our time.

This was such a good book. Nina is married to a man who sold his tech company for a lot of money. They are living the life, so she thinks. He’s successful, she’s involved in philanthropic projects, and their son has just been accepted into Princeton.

Then her perfect son makes a bad decision which victimizes a scholarship student at his tony private school. The word, and the photo, get around fast and Nina’s world stars to fall apart.

The father of the girl, Lyla, is a carpenter. His wife is an alcoholic who left him to raise their daughter alone. His whole life revolves around her and when he sees what has happened, he wants someone to pay.

This book is well written, as all of Emily Giffin’s books are. The storyline sucked me right in and I couldn’t put it down!

All We Ever Wanted is a thought-provoking, powerful, timely novel. Nina's husband Kirk recently made a fortunate selling his tech business and now they are living the good life in Nashville with their teenage son. Surrounded by the wealthy, they live an opulent lifestyle and send their son Finch to a prestigious private school. One night, during a party, a drunken photo is shared from Finch's phone of a half naked girl with a racist caption. Suddenly, the rose colored glasses come off of Nina and she now sees her life, her family, her friends, and her marriage with new eyes. Also told from the perspective of Tom, a hard-working, middle class, single dad of Lyla. Lyla happens to be the girl in the photograph and their world is forever changed. These two families lives are now intersected and the ensuing fallout changes everything for them. As a mom of boys, this book hit me hard. In this technology driven era, it is more important than ever to drill it into our children the power they hold with these smartphones and how the ramifications of one bad choice on these devices can change lives forever. I absolutely loved this book and think it's an important story to hear. Without giving away any spoilers, I was disappointed in events at the end so it fell from a 5 star read for me. You know that feeling when you are reaching the end of a puzzle and you are attempting to fit a piece into the puzzle that seems to fit, but it's not quite the right fit? That was the ending for me. It seemed tidy, and hurried, and left me feeling unfinished. With that said, this is Emily Giffin's best work yet and I'm excited to see what she brings us next. For me, All We Ever Wanted was ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars. Thank you @randomhouse for this advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

I loved reading this book so much. Emily's writing was absolutely perfect!! She ended the first chapter exactly how I wanted it to end -- making me want to read the second!! My favorite part about this book was the growth she showed with Nina from the beginning of the book til the end.

Fast read about issues that seem more and more prevalent these past few years. One Giffin's best books to date.

I have read all of Emily Giffin’s books. While I found this one engaging and relevant, it wasn’t my favorite.

I enjoyed the social media aspect, but couldn’t quite get a read on Finch. Is he good? Bad?

What happens with Tom and Nina? I felt like it just ... ended. So I enjoyed reading throughout but I felt unfulfilled at the end. It was a good read, but not her best.

Thank you netgalley as I received as an ARC for an honest review.

Light beach read tackling a serious and scary subject (especially when you are a mother of teenagers). Characters felt a little flat and unreal to me.

Another hit from Emily Giffin. I truly loved this book and could not put it down. It touches on many things going on in society today and how no matter the situation we need to be good humans to one another. As a mother to a boy I found it important that she loves her son but held him accountable for his actions and did not just brush the aside. A great read!

4 of 5 stars
Wow, this was totally unexpected. Emily Giffin’s previous novels have been contemporary romances, but this one deals with so much more! Rape, inappropriate sexual photos, bribery, infidelity, lies, shame, and how some people with money and privilege behave in various situations.
I think this book is a real departure from Ms. Giffin’s earlier works, and I was impressed that she tackled such difficult subjects. I am looking forward to more books from Ms. Giffin, as she writes along these theme lines.
Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
#NetGalley #EmilyGiffin #AllWeEverWanted #BallantineBooks

I received an advanced reviewer copy from the Publisher (RandomHouse) through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I've never read Emily Giffin before, so this is my first read of hers and I think that's a great thing because this book is SO GOOD. I've heard from most people that Giffin writes 'chick-lit' (which is an annoying term b/c just because women love it doesn't mean its lesser but that's a whole other talk). This book is not that and even if you've stayed away because you've heard she writes rom-com, please read this book, it's an important read.

What It’s About: Nina and Kirk have a lot of money and are able to get themselves and their son, Finch, whatever they want, including a wonderful education at a prep school and a future education at Princeton. Then their send snaps a picture of a classmate with her nipple showing and a racist caption. This sends their lives into a spiral, as Nina comes to grips with how she could raise someone who did this. Meanwhile, the victim, Lila, and her father Tom deal with the fallout as well with Tom refusing to concede because his daughter was wronged despite Lila's embarrassment and her desire to make it all go away (by the way I agree with Tom's fight for justice for his daughter but also her desire to move on)

What I loved: Everything. This book is a rollercoaster. I love the story from the mother's perspective of how her son turned out like this. I love the story of the father who wants to defend and protect his daughter, while the daughter wants it all to go away. It is incredibly well considered and thought out and you feel for all the narrators and their dilemmas. This book is very timely. Also, a lot of people hated the ending, I won't spoil it, but it is also very timely and I think that was Giffin's point.

What I didn’t like so much: I didn't like some of the characters but you were meant not to like them. I didn't like the ending (but I thought it was fitting). At times I got annoyed by Tom's anger being taken out on the wrong people but again, it felt realistic. Basically, I guess sometimes I was frustrated but it was part of the story and really I loved the book.

Who Should Read It: Everyone. Sexual assault and harassment are huge issues, and Emily Giffin writes an outstanding novel addressing it from a different perspective.

General Summary: An important read about rape culture that is told (mostly) through the parent's perspective: what happens when your child is the victim? What happens when your child is the abuser? A must read.