I was afraid to read this book because I had read so many different opinions on it - either they loved it or they hated it. Although I didn't love it, I definitely liked it a lot. I loved how it followed the story of lives of two sisters from the 50's to present as they struggled to discover themselves and how they fit into a world that's changing rapidly. It touches a LOT of different topics such as sexual assault, rape, LGBTQ, abortion, drugs, etc. It's definitely a heavy read. I felt that it was a little long but enjoyed the writing style and flow of the storyline!

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. She is one of my favorite authors and I was so excited to get an advanced copy. However, very disappointed. Too long and too many issues in one book.

Mrs. Everything follows the lives of two sisters Jo and Bethie throughout their lives. I enjoyed the style in which the author provided for their coming of ages stories and how their lives were connected. I appreciated that the story spanned over four decades and continued to bring in additional characters and their coming of age.

Wow, what a fabulous book! I have been a fan of Jennifer Weiner's for many years and this is far and away my favourite of all that she has written. I really connected with Bethie and Jo, the main characters, and you are really taken on a very emotional journey with both of them. There are twists and turns that I didn't see coming and the writing covers so many moving topics, like grief, abuse, coming out as gay, single parenthood etc, so, so well. Absolutely brilliant, I couldn't put it down.

This book was incredible. A beautiful story of two sisters who grow up from young kids in the 50s to 60s teens, to rebellious 70s and on and on. It was so good. One I’ll be thinking about for a very long time.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy. I really loved this one.

I don’t know if I’ve ever encountered a more appropriate name for a book. Jennifer Weiner really packs everything into those 500 pages. At times I did feel like she had made a list of every difficulty and challenge a woman could possibly face in the second half of the 20th Century and started ticking them off as she wrote. While it wasn’t a quick read and I didn’t always feel drawn to read because of the difficult content, it is such an important read and I am so glad I took the time. The writing is fantastic and I felt so connected to Jo and Bethie. I felt like I went on life’s journey write along side them. As Jo says about the story of life and perfectly encapsulates the essence of this novel: “We lose ourselves, but we find our way back.”

First of all, I have to say that I have been a huge fan of Jennifer Weiner’s books since Good in Bed first came out. I have read them all, including her short story collection and her memoir, Hungry Heart. So when I say this book is Jennifer Weiner at her very best, I know what I’m talking about! It's her longest book to date and I wouldn't have complained if there were 200 pages longer.

How many times have women lamented that they need to be everything to everyone? That we occupy multiple spaces but never fully get to explore them before they have another space they have to fill?

That’s the main theme of Mrs. Everything. Jo and Bethie (don’t think I missed that Little Women reference!!) both struggle in their own ways to live up to what their mother and 1950s-early 60s society has told them they should. Bethie, as pretty much any heroine in a book taking place in the 60s, explores LSD, sex, and communes while Jo wrestles with her homosexuality, choosing between true love and living her dreams of being a writer with the reality that staying closeted makes for a far easier life, socially anyway.

If you’ve read Weiner’s Cannie books before, particularly Good In Bed, you probably remember Cannie’s mom, who came out as a lesbian years after her divorce from her husband, shirking her old suburban-Connecticut-mom image. Weiner has always said that character was based on her own mother, but Jo in Mrs. Everything is a true love letter to her. A letter that says, I think I get it now, Mom and I love you, I got you. We watch Jo, and Bethie, as they move from ambitious, spunky girls in the 1950s all the way up to now and I love that, as readers, we get to these eras from two sides. Often, to gain different perspectives, we have to turn to a different book or writer, but Weiner shows us both the “normal” track and the “hippie” track as we watch the girls become women.

There are tragedies along the way, of course. If you’re a crier, you’ll need tissues more than once for this one. But I’ll tell you this: this is the most feminist book I’ve seen from Jennifer Weiner and she has never been one to write the Perfect Woman or follow the traditional patriarchal tropes we often see in books. The topics she covers in Mrs. Everything are the topics I’ve always wondered about. I loved that the experiences of Jo and Bethie were never “amazing” or stereotypical. Jo doesn’t become swept up in the Gay Liberation Front, becoming an outspoken advocate; she’s a simple everywoman who just wants to figure out how to live and be happy and what happy looks like for her. Bethie doesn’t become a world-renowned feminist, quoting The Feminist Mystique at rallies; she gathers women in conversation about their lives and the hypocrisy they see in it, lending other women a sense of camaraderie and you’re-not-alone-ness.

These are the women I want to see in books. This is why I’ve always read anything with Jennifer Weiner’s name on the cover. She writes the women we ARE instead of the women we want to be and that gives us, as readers, a sense of friendship with the people she creates for us. Mrs. Everything was everything I wanted it to be without being everything it was expected to be.

Mrs. Everything is really about everything that is a woman. It is every stage of womanhood from daughter to the end of life. It is what we see ourselves as. It is what society sees us as. It is finding yourself and your place.

Jo and Bethie are sisters and different as anyone can be. The story follows them from the 50s through today. Their ups and downs. Their pains and sorrows. Their loves and joys. Following their lives, you really get to know the characters to their cores. Bethie has something extremely tragic happen to her and throws her life into chaos. Jo, always attracted to women, lives a somewhat “normal” life of marriage and kids. Watching them go full circle is the complete joy of this book.

It is a long read. It slowly takes you through the changes of the decades, ones I remember so well. Each character is given their voice in alternating chapters so you see the world from both sides. We go from women waiting on the man of the home to a woman running for president. Wow. Times do change but one thing that does not change is you will enjoy a book by Jennifer Weiner until the very last page.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for an advance copy.

Mrs. Everything follows sisters Jo and Bethie from their childhood in the 1950s in America to the present, exploring the vast struggles for women to find their place and accomplish their dreams. The messages in this novel were extremely important, covering so many of the issues women in America have faced over the years. You will enjoy this book if you value character development, as we go with Jo and Bethie over their entire lifetimes. The reader learns about both girls so deeply and will fall in love with them both, understanding their struggles and their strengths. The book is dense - there were times I was having a hard time staying invested. But it always brought me back in - and the last quarter of the book left me in tears with a full heart. I will be posting a full review on my book Instagram account before the publication date, which can be found at @the_infiniteTBR_list. Thank you to NetGAlley and Atria Books for allowing me to early review!

This was a great book that tells the lifelong story of two sisters Jo and Bethie. This book delves into the often complex relationship between siblings as well as the relationship between children and their parents. Jo struggles with accepting her true self and goes through the life she is expected to live including marriage and children. Bethie suffers a traumatic incident and floats through her life for years before settling down on a commune and creating a business.. Ultimately the sisters find the lives they were meant to live. I liked reading this book as it followed Jo and Bethie throughout their lives. Tough topics though time were discussed including same sex relationships, interracial marriage, the expectation of marriage and to have children, divorce, difficult children, careers and death. The book was well written. My only critique would be that I felt the ending was a little rushed.

This book is about Jo and Bethie.... two sisters growing up in Detroit in the 50's. The story takes you through both of their lives....through their childhood, college and adulthood. The girls were as different as they possibly could be, with their lives taking two very different (and unexpected) directions.
I am a huge fan of this author and this book did not disappoint. It was easy to get lost in the story. This is a great book, and I definitely recommend it.

Two sisters spanning decades -- this is the story of their lives.

Bethie & Jo grow up in the 60s in Detroit. Where they are raised in a home where their father worked while their mother took care of the house. We follow these sisters through each decade and all that comes with growing up. Times with rage, happiness and riddled with disappointments. You wonder if these characters will ever survive and be happy.

It has been said that Weiner poured everything she had into her newest book. This has been touted as her most ambitious and timely work yet. I believe it-- unfortunately, I don't think it landed. She created compelling characters but spent too much time weaving so many hardships that none of them worked effectively. I dare you to come up with a plot device that wasn't used in this book. I get it, I get that our lives are messy and rarely pain free. I just find it a bit of a crutch to use to generate emotions from the reader. I think it could have been stronger if she focused on a couple of major plot devices and spent the time making these more compelling so that they would have really hit home. It was distracting having SO many pieces. I can certainly appreciate Weiner's approach and writing about some tough topics. I appreciate the research she did and the storyline that she drew.

I think this could be a great pick for many readers- especially those that are fans of Weiner's writing, but it just wasn't for me.

This book was everything! I've read all of Jennifer Weiner's novels, and they aren't kidding when they say this one is her most in-depth and epic book of all. It was wonderful and fascinating to follow these sisters and their family through their lives, experiencing cultural and societal decade changes right along with them. I absolutely connected with Jo and Bethie, and was enthralled from beginning to end.

Was looking forward to reading about the dramatic change for women over the past several decades. Loved this focus on women, work outside of the home, and expectations. It is there throughout the book, but at times subtle, then later in the book it becomes the beat of the pounding drum.

I didn’t mind that nearly everything happened to these two sisters, yet there was oddness in it as well. The characterization of Bethie and her drug use did not ring true. In fact her character overall I understood the least. The novel focused on more depth for Jo, and at times way too much (sexual) detail that didn’t propel the story forward.

As the novel progressed, time would jump, then we’d look back over those past years. It was an odd way to present these two sister’s lives. We had more exposition than action and jumping forward then back then forward was awkward, then became predictable style.

The book was good in parts, but overall not stunning for me

Jennifer Weiner has been one of my favorite authors since "Good in Bed". I adore her writing and was so excited to see she had a new novel coming out. This book sucked me in from Day 1. I LOVE when novels start from childhood and follow the characters through their lives as this one did. It followed two sisters who are very different yet similar in odd ways. It started in 1951, so you got to go through so many decades with them and I love how Jennifer touched on everything from loss of a parent, sexual abuse, homosexuality, drug use and women's rights. I also enjoyed how both women were so realistic, they struggled with their own believes, desires and morals. I highly recommend to all!

Absolutely loved this pick! I've been a fan of Jennifer for years, and her other novels. This one did not disappoint! Jessica's writing style is distinct, and Mrs. Everything was a breath of fresh air in the midst of my reading life. Jessica is coming to my local bookstore next month and I am going to buy a copy and get it signed! I cannot wait!

I have enjoyed a number of Jennifer Weiner books in the past, so I didn’t hesitate to dive into her latest novel, Mrs. Everything, with great anticipation. Although he first chapter caught my interest, it was soon tried and tired from the overly long trip through the decades with Jo and Bethie (yes, I guess it’s a nod to Little Women, but not a witty one). I slogged on through some engaging and some duller parts to get back to the modern narrative, which I found satisfying and enjoyable, but the soggy middle of this book needed some firmer editing. One shining spot, the surprising betrayal by someone close to a main character. Not only did I not see that coming, it was truly impactful storytelling. I would give the first chapter and the last few chapters a 5, and the middling parts a 2 or 3. Doing some book math, this rounded to 4 stars, but I wish some editor had been more critical and allowed this book to be its best, shorter, self.
PS: Clever title! It's explained late in the book.

A powerful, thought provoking story about women, their roles, expectations, relationships and hopes. Beginning in the 1950's to present time, this flowing novel explores love of many kinds, grief, disappointments, family support and re-invention. Very well done! Thank you NetGalley for the advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book written from the perspective of two sisters. The characters were easy to relate to. The story spans their lives from childhood to adulthood, addressing challenges and victories along the way. This book was very engaging, addressing various social issues and I am confident that this book will be read and enjoyed by a wide audience.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is by far the best Jennifer Weiner book I’ve read so far. It had everything I need for a 5 star rating: strong characters, family through generations, ethnic traditions, historical accuracy, and most of all, it made me emotionally involved. I can’t recommend this book enough! Many thanks to Simon & Shuster and Netgalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.