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.

Decent book. The premise was interesting but I thought Nina was pretty shallow and I'm not sure I buy her lack of support for her son. I liked Lyla a lot though. A good book if you want a book that makes you think a little while remaining a pretty light read.

As an Emily Giffin fan I found this book to be very different from all her previous books...but in a good way! The book format reminded me of Jodi Piccoult’s writing style which I also love. I started off skeptical and thought I might have a difficult time connecting with the main characters due to their wealth and socioeconomic status but I quickly got sucked in and found Nina to not only be relatable but likable. The topics the book touched on were relevant to current events today without being unbelievable and over the top. My only complaint is how quickly it seemed the book ended! I would have loved to been able to see more detail into the consequences each character faced. I definitely recommend this book.

Every so often, a novel comes along that makes you feel uncomfortable. That may sound like a negative thing. It isn't. I'm talking about a book that gets you to rethink some things, and that makes you realize how surprised you can be by someone you thought you really knew.

Emily Giffin's new book, All We Ever Wanted, is told from the viewpoints of three different characters: a wealthy "society" mom who appears to have a golden life; a teenage girl who often feels like a fish out of water (looking back, didn't we all); and a dad who has gone to great lengths to protect his daughter.

The book begins with an innocuous enough sentence, that you soon realize holds a dark promise: "It started out as a typical Saturday night." The story goes on to reveal a single incident at a teenage party that got out of control (think, a terribly inappropriate photo that goes viral), which has now torn apart the lives of several families.

We get to know the families' backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses, and secrets. I sympathized with each of the three POV characters in different ways. Of the additional characters, though, not everyone is telling the truth, and I found my allegiances and conclusions shifting at a couple different points in the story. Once the truth finally comes out, several characters are left to pick up the pieces and put them back together into something resembling a life.

I won't give away more details about it, except to say this: both as a woman, and as the mother of a teenager, the party incident that caused all the trouble was uncomfortable. And that's where the wondering begins...

... Will "kids be kids" no matter how "good" they are or whether they come from a "nice" family? (As one of the characters indicates: kids do this all the time to each other!)

... What happens when we try to raise our children to be decent, moral human beings, and we don't get the result we expected? How about if one parent has a very different set of values than the other?

... How do we spend our entire lives protecting our child from harm, but step back and let them take the fall when they've done something terrible?

I don't have the answers. But I think it's clear that this novel touches on so many issues being discussed these days: consent (#metoo & sexual boundaries); the role & responsibility of social media; an "entitlement" culture that lets a certain few think they'll never suffer consequences for their actions.

All We Ever Wanted was hard to put down. I read half of it one evening and didn't want to stop, but forced myself to go to bed around 3am. Oops. I finished the other half in one sitting this morning. I needed to learn what really happened, discover how each of the characters ended up, and process how I felt about it all. I'm still working on the last part.

This was an insightful, thought provoking, and relevant story, and I'm betting a lot of people will be talking about it this summer. Ms. Giffin's latest releases on June 26th... I'd recommend you pre-order it. Make sure you're well rested before you begin. :)

Emily Giffin has a winner here. I have read a couple of her books and I have liked them but this is my favorite so far. All We Ever Wanted is a page turner that deals with the very serious and timely topic of sexual abuse/harassment. Nina is a very affluent mother of a teen boy who posts pictures of a semi nude passed out drunk classmate... and to add insult to injury the picture has a racist blurb. Nina cant believe that her son has done this but as the story progresses she begins to see that perhaps he could be guilty, after all, her husband has become a perfect role model for bad behavior. There is a lot to think about here and I feel like this is the kind of book I want to discuss in a bookclub with a whole bunch of friends. Who would defend their kid no matter what and who would make them take responsibility for their actions even if it ruins their future?

When I began this book I kept putting it down and picking it up. The truths in this book are a reflection on our world today and how social media as well as wealth, discrimination and moral decline has affected our children. Over all I finished this book and felt that there is hope for our world but it will take strong, kind, honest people to stand up for their values.

A wife and mother begins questioning whether her husband and son are making the right choices and if they are telling her the truth. Her son has done something very hurtful to another student, and he seems to be letting his dad take the lead in how to get out of it, by lying and paying off the right people. Although she loves her son, she feels that he needs to accept the consequences for his actions and take responsibility for what he did, whether it affects his admission to Princeton or not. It is an interesting story and uses three narrators to tell their points of view.

I just devoured Emily Giffin’s All We Ever Wanted. Emily is a new author to me, and I received this book through NetGalley. This will not be my last Emily Griffin book. I was hooked from the beginning. This book explores current problems such as teenagers and sexting, parenting issues, ....There are strong characters who need to decide right from wrong and figure out if there is redemption. The reader develops strong feelings for the characters in this book. I predict this book will be a huge success!

This was my first Emily Giffin book but it won't be my last! Powerful topic about the have's and the have nots in life and what we think we know about our children. More importantly, this shows us what our children are thinking and the impact social media has on their lives and their futures.
An EXCELLENT joining of two worlds and insights.

*I received this book from NetGally in exchange for an honest review.

Giffin does it again! This book is the perfect summer read as it captures several different genres as the story unfolds. All We Ever Wanted is a little romantic, a little mysterious, has a little current issues, a touch of parenting, and a lot amazing! I honestly can say that I did not see the ending coming, and I'm so glad because it was a beautiful wrap up to a mesmerizing story!

A fun “palette cleanse”… that’s what All I Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin provided for me. It’s an effortless page turner you’ll not want to put down.

Giffin writes the story from her 3 main characters points of view. She flip flops between chapters, writing each character’s perspective in first person. This is a style which I like to read. Her characters are colorful. They include Nina, a mother living a rich, country club lifestyle in Belle Meade, Nashville. Lyla, an insecure teenager living on the East Side of Nashville and attending the private school Windsor Academy, on scholarship. Tom, Lyla’s father, a single parent working as a carpenter by day and an Uber driver on most nights.

The story unfolds when Kirk, Nina’s spoiled, entitled teenage son, invites Lyla to a party. Things go south from there. A picture is taken and goes viral. What ensues is mostly “he said, she said” with some shocking twists and turns.

This isn’t a book I’ll be reflecting on for weeks to come. It’s light…not much substance, but that’s what I needed right now! I’ll read more of Giffin in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Ballantine Publishing Group for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Giffin gives a very timely take on the 1% here with Nina's story. She manages to get straight to the heart of several #MeToo and financial issues that plague certain sectors of society. As always, she manages to string them together with an outcome that either leaves the reader satisfied, or still questioning each character's logic and motivation. Giffin definitely likes to leave her readers thinking about the characters long after the last page.

Let me start off by saying I have read and loved all previous books by this author. For whatever reason, I couldn’t connect with this one. I think I had a hard time relating to any of the characters – Nina, Tom Layla….
It took me about a month (picking it up, putting it down, picking it up…) to finally finish it. And I can say
I enjoyed the ending. The epilogue was great! I don’t want to ruin it for you, but the ending was exactly how I would have pictured it. Exactly! I wouldn’t make any changes to it… it summed up everything very nicely.
I think this is a good book for some, just wasn’t for me. The writing was just as good as it always is, the story line just didn’t hold my interest. Despite this, I do recommend this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House Publishing / Ballantine Books, and Emily Griffin for the ARC of this novel. I have read a few of Ms. Griffin's books, but this really resonated with me. I loved how she took many of the current issues we are facing today to the forefront. About how it is so easy to take advantage of young women, how these young women don't want to make trouble or come forward about what has happened to them. How wealthy, some wealthy, people feel entitled., and how they pass that on to their children. They don't even make their own children work for anything, it is just given to them. I love how Nina, faced her past and wanted to help her son and Layla, through this tough situation. That Nina could help Layla try to save another girl who was thrust into a situation, so her boyfriend wouldn't get into trouble. I know we all wish we were rich, but after reading this story. I'd rather struggle with the bills, and enjoy what I have and not keep looking for more. If you have your health, and your family you have everything.

I have not given a 5 star review in a while, but this one deserved it! I have always been a fan of Emily Giffin and this one did not disappoint!

A provocative book that delves into an issue facing many teens. A moral, ethical, and racial issue with two teens caught in the middle. A scandal that pins a privileged, white, upper class male against a working class, mixed race, female. And it all started with a party, and one picture sent out on social media. In the end all lies will be discovered.

A mother who thinks her son is infallible, while his father thinks money can win everyone over and right all wrongs. The teenage son believing that there are no serious questions for his actions, and his father will take care of everything. While another father is trying to protect his daughter, and show her the importance of standing up for herself. The teenage daughter not wanting to cause trouble at her prestigious school (which she attends on a scholarship), not taking what happened seriously, and not wanting to confide in her father. With a mother that left early in her life, she is looking for a female role model. Can these two families see eye to eye? Can the wrong be righted?

Told from the point of view of Nina (the mother of the teenage boy), Tom (the father of the teenage girl), and Lyla (the teenage girl). Each dealing with their emotions over the scandal, while trying to stay positive. Each perspective uniquely different from the other, yet intertwined and forever connected.

This was a refreshing book to read. Taking on a topic like this could make or break a book, but Emily Giffin artistically and gracefully succeeded. I have never been a big fan of "chick-lit" but if I can find more books as gripping and thought provoking as this one I will become a fast fan.

From the first page to the last I had to find out the truth, not because of the scandal, but because of the intricate way the story unfolded. And all I wanted to read was an apology, holding on until the last few pages. I love how one event from Lyla's past shaped her entire future, for the better.

Thank you to the publisher, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, the author, Emily Giffin, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

All We Ever Wanted is one of Emily Giffin's better books. I enjoyed her earlier works more than her last 2-3 books. With All We Ever Wanted, the storyline was extremely relevant to the current social media climate and held my interest throughout the story. However, I did feel that it was slow in the first half and then the second half came together quickly and was tied up a little too neatly..

I received this ebook from NetGalley for an honest review. I have always been a big fan of Emily Griffin so I am always excited when she has a new book come out! I also love the cover of this one! I really enjoyed this book and read it very quickly. I have already recommended it to friends. I love the characters in this book and I love that until close to the end I wasn’t exactly sure what had happened and who had done what. This book did a good job of hitting on topics that actually affect parents/students/administrators today. Another great book from Emily Giffin!

I have read all of Emily Giffin’s books and this is definitely one of my favorites! It grabbed my attention from the beginning and I was excited to see what happened. With 3 small kids it usually takes me awhile to finish a book but I finished this in a week!

Nina thinks she has it all: a beautiful house, money, a loving husband, and a son who was just accepted into Princeton. They’re living a perfect life until a scandal involving her son threatens his future and makes Nina reevaluate what’s really important in life. I loved the characters and found them really relatable. Read this book you won’t be disappointed especially if you’re a fan of Emily Giffin!

*Hidden for slight spoilers regarding the ending*

I am a longtime fan of Emily Giffin’s novels and am happy to report that her latest did not disappoint. Though a departure from her usual brand of romance, this story still has all of the elements that make her books great - timely subject matter, a simmering plot and relatably flawed characters doing their best to navigate complicated relationships and decisions. Fans of her earlier works like “Something Borrowed” and “Baby Proof” might be surprised to see her steer away from romantic love, but “All We Ever Wanted” delivers a story about one of the most complex loves of all - that of a parent for their child.

The story is told from the alternating perspectives of three characters. Nina Browning is an increasingly disillusioned member of the suburban Nashville elite who finds herself questioning the way that wealth and privilege have affected the values and morals of her husband and son. Tom Volpe is a single father whose wife abandoned their family years prior and is now doing his best to raise a teenaged daughter. Lyla Volpe is a sixteen-year-old who is trying to fit in at her affluent private school and navigate her crush on Nina’s son, Finch, a popular senior. The lives of the Brownings and Volpes intersect when a scandalous photo of an unconscious Lyla is sent out through Finch’s Snapchat and quickly spreads through the school’s and larger community’s gossip mill.

My only complaint about this book was that I felt at times like the plot was occasionally telling us how relevant and timely it was rather than letting the story itself leave that impression. I still enjoyed it very much, but it is definitely a lighter and more palatable version of a “Me Too” era issue. I also understand how some readers may feel unfulfilled by the conclusion of the story, as it finishes with a quieter sense of justice/redemption than what the climax seems to be promising.

I greatly look forward to Giffin’s next work, as I always feel that her writing has a unique way of tapping into the zeitgeist and popping off the page.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for providing me with this ARC.

I've read all of Emily Giffin’s books and while I felt this one was very different from the others, it was a great book! This book is in line with the current #metoo movement and is definitely on point with current events.