Great summer read! A beautiful story of life and forgiveness. I really enjoyed the strong female presence, also! Highly recommend!

Great story. Really picks up in the 2nd half. It’s a great story of forgiveness and has some amazing strong female leads! I recommend this book!

I've read all of Emily Giffin's books. I enjoyed most of them and I'm happy to say I thought this was a good read. These days, parents seem to think their children do no wrong and are to be protected at all costs. Nina was an amazing character and she found herself again in this story. The whole book covers just a week or so of time in the life of Nina and her husband, Kirk, son, Finch and Lyla and Tom. Money shouldn't buy favor in fiction or real life but we all see how that really works. A quick read for me as I wanted to see the truth of what happened "that" night.

Heartfelt emotional book. When an inappropriate picture of a high school student gets shared with the student body lives are changed forever. This book does a fantastic job of dealing with this heartbreaking issue. As a fan of all of Ms. Giffins books, I think this is her best one yet. As a mother of two teenagers, I feel this book should be required reading for all high school kids. It shows the way social media and one bad choice can set off a chain of events that can devistating. Great book.

Powerful and moving. All We Ever Wanted is told through the eyes of several characters: male, female, teens, and adults. Ultimately, a redemptive story about morals and what is truly important in life. Suicide, social media, and materialism, Emily Griffin's new novel tackles these topics all through the thought-provoking story of an incident at a private high school in Belle Meade, Tennessee. This one is hard to put down!

All We Ever Wanted was wealth, comfort, happiness, acceptance, and love. Emily Giffin’s latest novel, All We Ever Wanted is a coming-of-age story within a family drama.

Ms. Giffin’s story outlines the evils of affluence. Her message that with money comes a sense of entitlement that allows one to believe they only have to answer to themselves is not subtle. Many of her key characters feel justified in any action if it secures them their rightful place in their socio-economic class.

All We Ever Wanted is narrated from three points of view. After years of marriage, Nina Browning finally comes to the realization that her husband is a user and a liar. Worse yet, he is teaching their son, Finch, to be the same. She is a passive heroine. She is supportive of Lyla Volpe, who {allegedly} her son has publicly shamed, however, she makes no effort to push her son to own his misbehavior and accept the consequences of that admission. Single dad, Tom Volpe, tries his best to be a good role model and a protective father. He is not wholly successful, however, he is by far the only character who seems to be truly a good person. Lyla Volpe, the third narrator, is a typical teen. She is desperate to be noticed and to fit into with the cool kids at her posh private school. She makes serial bad choices, and she easily falls prey to the charms of Nina’s womanizing son and his friends.

Lyla’s story, along with that of her classmate Polly, allows Ms. Giffin to show her readers the pitfalls of social media and underage drinking. The author also broaches the tough topic of teen suicide None of these topics are explored in depth, but the author does show how quickly the well-to-do circle their wagons when accusations are made.

The story is well paced. There are a few likable characters, however, the only narrator I had empathy for was Tom Volpe. I liked the trajectory of Lyla’s life both in terms of her decision to tough out the rest of high school and later her happy and successful life. However, I was not completely satisfied with Tom, Nina and Finch’s story. The lack of justice is sadly realistic, but does result in an unsatisfying end. All We Ever Wanted is an excellent book for meaty book club discussions.

What would you do if your child did something really dumb, really ignorant, and with the potential to derail all of his future plans?

Nina faces this question, which in turn has a domino effect on the rest of her life as she begins to question more than just what a "good mother" should do. Tom Volpe certainly understands what it means to second-guess your parenting decisions. The single father to teenage daughter Lyla, he doesn't like it when he allows his temper to get the best of him, but it's hard to give her the freedom she needs yet also protect her from potential hurts.

Emily Giffin brings together Nina, Tom, and Lyla in a way that both terrifies you and sickens you. She creates a mystery surrounding something Nina's son may or may not have done, all the while asking you how much of your child's behavior is predicated on your and your partner's parenting. How much influence do parents really have on their kids?

I could not put this book down. I didn't want to put it down, either. I had to know what was going to happen to Nina, Tom, and Lyla. I had to know the truth about Nina's son and how she would react to that truth. Emily Giffin had me breathlessly turning the pages in near desperation.

And then we get to the epilogue, which is almost crushingly disappointing in its lack of clarity. It almost feels as if Emily Giffin reached the end of her word count and just ... quit. A plot point or two disappears, and another big one leaves you with remaining questions. As unsatisfactory as this is, it certainly does open up the book to a lot of speculation and discussion, making it a perfect choice for book clubs. But make sure you set aside a LOT of time because there is much to unpack here.

When you read this book, please come back and let me know your thoughts.

When an inappropriate drunken photo is passed around an elite private high school, two families must decide if they will place blame, accept responsibility, or forgive. Told from multiple perspectives, the book explores morality and personal values in parenting and in being a teenager. It's readable, relatable, and thought-provoking.

I appreciate the variety of perspectives and the journey of self-reflection that each of the narrators takes. However, this book touches on a lot of really difficult topics - sexual assault, racism, bullying, addiction - without as much depth and consideration as I would prefer. Lyla, in particular, lacks nuance as a character. Her race, the discrimination she experiences, and the trauma of having a partially nude photo of her spread around her school aren't treated with as much gravitas as needed. However, I appreciate that Giffin represented multiple experiences of sexual assault and its long lasting consequences.

I hate to admit this, but this is the first book I've read by Emily Giffin. Yes I know I know, but It wont be my last. What I enjoyed about this book is that a few chapters in I thought I had it all figured out, but was so happy that I was wrong. I enjoyed the authors' style of writing, the characters, and the story line. Everything flowed so seamless, I finished the book in two sittings.
The topic of this book is a subject we hear all too often. Teens drinking, passing out, girls getting taken advantage of, and photos being put on social media. Young boys and girls too old to act with such reckless behavior, but too young to have a mistake effect the rest of there lives? You can be the judge.
Two families are hit hard when a photo goes viral and into the hands of the school's head master. Lyla and Finch went to a party the night before and rumor had it that while Lyla was passed out, Finch took advantage and snapped an inappropriate photo of her. Finch swears to his parents he didn't do it, and Lyla is so humiliated she just wants the whole thing to go away. Unfortunately Lyla's father Tom won't allow that to happen, and neither will the school.. Finch comes from a very wealthy family who donates a lot of money to the Windsor Academy and Tom knows the chances of getting his daughter a fair trial are very slim. Finch has been a student at this school since kindergarten, and just got accepted to Princeton. Will he lose everything for something he saw as a joke? Did he even do it or is someone else responsible for taking the photo?
Nina is Finch's mother, and in the beginning she allows her husband to handle the school, but when Nina finds out that her husband has invited Tom over to bribe him to drop the whole case, she is furious. She won't stop until she gets to the bottom of who's lying, and what the truth really is. Is Lyla being picked on because she dressed inappropriately, is this because she's a minority, or is this a case of the popular kid taking advantage of an innocent girl?
So many turns in the story, you'll be wondering who's lying and who's telling the truth. Friendships will come out of this bad situation, marriages lost, and new beginnings.

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!

Kudos to Giffin for taking on a subject (and doing it extremely well) that happens way to frequently in our society and needs to stop. One that is too often swept under the rug. An emotional packed journey about doing the right thing to save those you love most. A perfect story for the world we live in today and about making the right, though difficult, decisions. A gem of a book by a talented writer!

Another great book by Emily Giffin. This was unlike her other novels however. As a mom I really felt for the main character, wondering what I would do and how I would feel in her shoes. So realistic I feel like this is something that often happens when teenagers and social media these days.

A powerful book about teenagers making bad decisions and how the adults in their lives react to them. It reminded me of Beartown, but without quite as much intrigue. A little painful to get through due to the heaviness of the subject matter, but handled well by the author. The story moves quickly between three POVs and the twists in the "he said, she said" game were surprising but realistic. This will be a quick read - it was hard to put down!

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! Powerful story about class, race, privilege and the path to losing oneself for reasons that only seem right in the moment. Emily Giffin has written a compelling novel about teens caught up in a sexting scandal and the manner in which they as well as their parents search for or maneuver around the truth.

This book was excellent! One of my favorite Emily Giffin books in years. I was quickly sucked into the story. I love who they chose to focus on and I found all their POV to be distinctive and very interesting.

Emily Giiffin’s "All We Ever Wanted" may seem genetically engineered to please middle class mom book clubs, where symbolism and foreshadowing are eschewed in favor of white wine and local gossip, but there’s an astute heart beating beneath this suburban story. Nina is a salt-of-the-Earth-turned-upper-class-housewife who fills her days shopping and attending fundraisers while her silver-spoon-born husband writes checks and closes significant financial deals. Her seemingly perfect world is shattered when, thanks to the immediacy and omnipresence of social media, her golden boy son, Finch (a little too on-the-nose for me) sends around a picture taken of a partially exposed “scholarship girl from the wrong side of the tracks.”

This picture throws Nina’s life into upheaval, dredging up her own repressed memories, and introduces us to her co-narrator and father of the victim, Tom, a hands-on single father/man’s man carpenter. The crux of the story is as subtle as a brick, but still interesting: Has this girl truly been assaulted, or was it a harmless bad joke? Should Finch get expelled and lose his acceptance to Yale, or is that too extreme? Is something that happened off school grounds the school’s responsibility?

This is where I’ll leave the remainder of the story to the author and share the Good and the Bad of "All We Ever Wanted".

The Good

-Its characters are self-aware:
Is a cliché a cliché if it knows it’s a cliché? Every time I inhaled to gather the breath to scoff, Giffin beat me to it and I had to respect that.

Like when Nina considered smashing a piece of crystal in anger, but realized its futility:
"In real life, though, I knew the satisfaction wouldn’t approach the effort required to clean it up."

Or when Tom cringed at his daughter’s role to play:
"…it was just so predictable that the rich boy did the shitty thing to the poor girl, and I hated being part of the cliché.

And even when Nina’s husband orchestrated a setting to bribe Tom:
"He then gestured to a couple of arm chairs floating in the middle of the room. I had feeling they were freshly staged, and it gave me the creeps."

-The topic is timely:
I’m not sure if this plot will age well, but for the current times, it could not be more apropos. We live in a society bombarded by the sharing of everything, big and small. For some, it’s desensitized us to the real horrors of the world and human nature, for others, it’s created Social Justice Warrior (SJW) who cry foul and demand retribution at the slightest provocation. Healthy probably lays somewhere in the middle, just as in this book.

-The writing is compelling:
Love it or loathe it, the book is utterly addictive. Giffin’s writing is so smooth and nuanced, she turns throwaway dialogue and gestures into verbal minefields and carefully-concocted actions.

The Bad:

-Nina’s blink-and-you-miss-it personality change:
While you do get a satisfying explanation as to why Nina is so immediately and urgently affected by the picture, and why her loyalty lies with the victim, not her son, her character’s motivations change so quickly you’ll get whiplash. She goes from being vaguely guilty about her charmed life to a crusader for justice who hates everything her lifestyle stands for. If the character development had happened gradually over a year or more, I’d be more forgiving. But as it was, this all happens within a week or so.

-Nothing really happens:
I assumed the picture was more of a catalyst for things to come, but I was sadly mistaken. Maybe I’m one of the aforementioned desensitized masses, but the picture alone didn’t warrant an entire book in my opinion. I understand that it was the jumping off point to challenge Nina and Tom’s life choices, but I was underwhelmed at the limited scope of the story. It’s all tied up a bit too tidily and saccharine for my taste.

TL;DR: Readers searching for a meaty story to sink your literary teeth into need not apply. But if you’re looking for a compulsively readable beach book that’s heavy in social statements and family drama, but forgivably light in plot points, "All We Ever Wanted" may be all you ever wanted.

I can't say enough good things about this book. I really enjoyed the story and the way it twisted and turned until you weren't sure what was the truth anymore. Each character was very strong and I enjoyed the way they developed through the story. I think the best part was when Nina had her breakthrough about her life. The author did a great job of making the reader understand what Nina was going through. I appreciated the way lyla's father did not give up on her and make her report the issues she had with Finch. After reading what teenagers and young adults go through in this age of digital media such as facebook and instagram I am glad that I did not have that to deal with growing up. Really enjoyed the book, it was a quick read.

MY REVIEW OF “ALL WE EVER WANTED” BY EMILY GRIFFIN Ballantine Books Published June 26, 2018

“All we Ever Wanted” by Emily Griffin is a captivating, dramatic, intense, emotional. and riveting novel. I had different thoughts and a variety of emotions as I was reading this page turning contemporary novel. The Genres for this novel are Fiction, and Women’s Fiction. The timeline of the story is in the present and goes to the past and future only when it pertains to the events or characters in the story.

The author mentions contemporary issues as media, bullying through media, entitlement issues, and shows us the disparity of class through wealth, and the dynamics in families. As a result of these issues the characters seem to be complicated and complex. There are betrayals and secrets. Some of the characters seem to be unbalanced, dysfunctional and unlikeable. There are a few characters that is easy to feel empathy for. The blurb says” Different people must choose between their family and their values.”

Nina Browning is living an extraordinarily wealthy lifestyle with her husband after he sells his business, and can have anything that money can buy. Their son has just made Princeton, and they have every reason to celebrate, until one evening, some tragic events occur.

While the Browning’s are out at a charity event, their son is at a friend’s house while there is a party going on. Lyla Volpe one of the students, who has gotten scholarship for her academics, and goes to the same private school becomes drunk, and appears to be unconscious. Tom Volpe, Lyla’s dad is called. Tom is a single father bringing up Lyla, and has been extremely over-protective. Tom is a talented carpenter but works many jobs to support his daughter.

At this party someone took a picture of Lyla holding a green Uno card, and is partially exposed. Someone has written a racial comment on the post. Nina’s son was at this party, and there is a possibility he took, wrote, and posted the picture. This immediately gets the attention of the administrator at the private school the kids go to. There is an investigation, and there will be a hearing.

Tom is outraged and wants justice., and worries for the emotional repercussions for his daughter. Nina’s husband has donated a tremendous amount of money to the school, and as Nina watches everything unfold, all her values come into question. If Nina’s son is found to be guilt, he will probably not be able to go to Princeton, and this will be marked on his permanent record. Nina’s past secrets make her feel very protective of Lyla.

Emily Griffin has written a significant and thought provoking novel, that I highly recommend. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

This is a heart wrenching emotional roller coaster of a book. I loved every word of it! Ms. Griffin has written another fantastic book. Hurry and read this one!!!

I received an ARC of "ALL WE EVER WANTED" from NetGalley for an honest review. I wish to thank NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and Emily Giffin for the opportunity to read this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and could NOT put it down once I started reading it. The author has a great style of writing that IMMEDIATELY gets one sucked into the plot and characters. The best part of the book was that the characters were well-fleshed out which I always enjoy. The writer also has a nice style of writing which is really easy to read and enjoy!

Definitely as THE summer read of the season!