Having enjoyed a couple of Jennifer Weiner’s early books, I was pleased to have the opportunity to obtain a pre-published copy of Mrs. Everything via Net Galley and the publisher. The opening pages gave me a warm blast from the past as I read about Jo in the early 1950’s. She hated to wear dresses, and loved playing outdoor sports. (Holy cow, I’m thinking, Jo is me! I am Jo!) And her sister Bethie was the opposite “belle of the ball” type who liked playing dress-up, and being the center of attention.

I thoroughly enjoyed sharing time with these two sisters as they made their way through the next six decades of their lives. The book explores gender politics, race relations, sexual assault, and homosexuality. It also raises questions as to how the emotional impact of youthful decisions and experiences can result in living a life quite different from one’s expectations. Can we judge others for their not recognizing our silent cries for help when we most needed them? Or maybe it’s easier to blame than to acknowledge our own contribution to our downfall? Did we make our early life choices because of what we really wanted, or because we found it easier to play the game than to fight the system?

How do we end up with the lives we do? How much do we choose, and how much are choices made for us? There’s lots to chew on here. Plenty of guilt, shame, forgiveness, and fortitude. All part of the human experience which is shared in this story.

A very good read. Congrats to Ms. Weiner for a job well done.

This book reminded me so much of a Judy Blume adult novel. I mean that as the highest compliment to Ms Weiner.

The story takes you on a journey through the lives of two sisters from the 1940s to present day. It is full of social commentary reminiscent of Judy Blume’s novels. Not in a preachy way you so often find in contemporary fiction. The characters are flawed yet lovable. Whether you feel like hugging them or slapping them, they are human.

I highly recommend this book from young adults to adult adults.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Mrs.Eveything" is a novel that follows two sisters throughout their whole life. Their stories bring into light hard times that women face and have faced our whole lives- abuse, rape, abortions, motherhood, sexuality. You name it and it was covered in this book. That's what I like about books that follow them throughout their whole life and not just a few years. We see what happened,how they live with what happened and how it changed them. Mrs. Everything was a beautiful story and couldn't come out at a better time. So many women are stepping forward these days and the #metoo movement. The world has changed alot since the 1950's but it still has a long way to go.

I wanted to like this book because I loved her memoir. However, while it had some good points, it fell flat for me. I will try some of her other novels, but this one just wasn't my cup of tea.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

I know the characters. I grew up in the times. I faced the issues. I even grew up in the same culture. Nonetheless, the book does not actually do justice to any of the issues it touches on, and I found it a slog

Great writing but it’s a DNF for me. Just couldn’t get into the plot/content through I tried multiple times.

4.5 stars*

This novel follows sisters Bethie and Jo as they grow up, fumble through adulthood, and finally find solace in middle age. Although both women are very different (Jo a tomboy and a lesbian, Bethie pretty and eager to please others), their lives are equally complicated by gender inequality and how society (and on a personal level, their mother) believes women should behave.

Their journey sweeps through the decades, giving us a glimpse of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. I enjoyed and empathized with both characters, and liked that they didn’t stick to their stereotypical boxes, but became multi-dimensional. I especially enjoyed Bethie’s trajectory to finding her true self.

I did wish the novel was longer. Jo’s children, especially, weren’t strongly portrayed, and I felt that they played an important part in many of the life choices she made.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and felt it had an important message about societal progress and gender equality.

I really, really loved this book. It had the feel of Curtis Sittenfeld's American Wife and the tone of Anne Tyler. I loved it's simplicity and elegance, the way it explored the everyday life of two ordinary American sisters but explored them in such great detail. There was a cosy, familial feel to the book and it was one I kept wanting to go back to. I read some reviews that said it was slow but I disagree. Whilst it might not be a mile a minute suspense--filled thriller, it has a subtle beauty to it and the author's restraint was what I loved. Would definitely recommend.

I would like to thank Netgalley for this opportunity.

I really enjoyed this book. I laughed, I cried, I wanted to smack some characters and ask then what they were thinking.

This book made me realize how far we've come with gay rights and acceptance, and acceptance for interracial couples. I can't imagine not living my best life with the person I love because of what others think.

While reading a book, if I am both completely invested in one or more characters AND find the plot so intriguing that I cannot wait to pick it back up, chances are I will give that book five stars, the highest rating possible. Such is the case with Jennifer Weiner's new book, MRS. EVERYTHING. I have been a long time fan of Jennifer Weiner's and this book might be my favorite.

The epic story of two sisters, Jo and Bethie, drew me in from the beginning. MRS. EVERYTHING is a story about families and relationships and the love, disappointments, and struggles that surround them all. Their stories are real, at times painful, and very timely. A saga that covers a span of 70 years, Weiner handles several socially, emotionally, and politically charged topics. (There are parts of this book that are uncomfortable to read and possibly triggering for some readers as it deals with sexual abuse several times in the story.) Weiner handles all of the characters' struggles in a way that keeps you invested and interested without weighing the story down with too many details and unnecessary descriptions. The character arcs were never predictable, at times pleasantly surprising, and always stayed true to who the characters truly were.

Jo and Bethie were far from perfect sisters, but their love for one another was true and their bond a special gift to read. I will be telling EVERYONE that they should read MRS. EVERYTHING.

A high 4 stars!

Wow! I really didn’t expect to like Mrs. Everything as much as I did. I’ve read some of Jennifer Weiner’s novels in the past, and I think of them as entertaining but generally quite light. This felt different. The story spanned four generations, covering what felt like complex situations while delivering real emotions. I found myself fully engaged and was oh so grateful to have a leisurely Saturday to plough through most of the book — and grateful for a few tissues too. The story focuses on sisters Jo and Bethie — I hadn’t made the Little Women connection until now — starting in the 1950s when they are children. At first, it feels like Weiner is portraying Jo and Bethie as overly recognizable types — Jo is boyish and at odds with her mother and the world, while Bethie is pretty, feminine and popular. But things turn out to be way more complicated. And the complications reverberate through the generations. I don’t want to say too much to avoid spoilers, but I will say that I loved how Weiner wove in political issues about women’s roles, sexual politics and race relations without letting politics make her characters unidimensional. The only thing that kept me from giving this novel 5 whole stars were a couple of coincidences that irked me, but these were minor flaws. Overall, this was a powerful contemporary tableau of women in the 20th and 21st centuries. I’ll definitely be on board to read Weiner’s next novel. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

I’ll start off by saying that I have read everything Jennifer Weiner has written. After Goodnight Nobody, I didn’t feel as connected to her books and it seemed more that she was just writing to fulfill a contract and didn’t feel the spark that came with her early works. I had high hopes that this book would turn things around, and though it wasn’t her greatest work, it is a good read. The last quarter of the book seemed too easy and just filling in the pages of a (long) book. If you follow Ms Weiner on social media, you’ll know she is very liberal and this book definitely reflects her views. To sum it up, this is a good story, entertaining and kept my attention, but definitely not up to past standards of Jennifer Weiner’s work.

I loved this book so much. As a younger millennial, it can be difficult to appreciate the vastness of the changes in society women my grandmothers’ age have lived through. This is an important book for helping younger women understand our foremothers more fully. It avoids stereotypes and tells a great story. It mad me reflect a lot on our current political situation, but it made me hopeful that we can learn from our grandmothers and work as hard as they did to accomplish as much as they did.

I was so excited to receive an advanced release copy of this book- I absolutely love a good Jennifer Weiner book (and I typically don’t read a ton of books like hers so it’s always a fun break to read her stories)!

Jennifer starts the book with a note about how she had always wanted to write a book that covered characters through their whole lives- And that’s what this one is. This follows the lives of Bettie and Jo, sisters, growing up in Detroit in a time where women were expected to stay home and rear the children. The story expands all the way to near present (2012) and covers many of the very real things women faced coming of age in that time span.

I felt totally immersed in this story and the characters. There were times it dragged on a bit too much and then other times felt a bit rushed, but overall, it was a great read that I think will resonate with women everywhere. A solid 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me. This book will be released everywhere June 11, 2019

Thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy of this book!

I really wanted to like this as I love Jennifer Weiner but I just couldn't get into it. At all. I'm sure it's my own failing and many other people will enjoy it.

I don't like to post negative reviews online because I don't think that is helpful to the writer (or their Goodreads rating!) so I won't post it anywhere.

First, It was too long, too descriptive and tried to cover too much. None of the characters were likable and there was some seriously bad parenting on display here, from Sarah on down through the family. What did the Lila story contribute? Why have someone so unlikable take up so much of the story? It would have been a better story, less aggravating, if there had been no Lila.

I am of the Jo and Bethie generation and yet I don't know of anyone who resembles these women. I understand the generational divide when it comes to biracial relationships and those involving people of the same sex. The same thing applies to women with children working outside the home. Yes, life was different back then and our parents generation didn't understand the need for us to bridge the gap that existed between people of different beliefs. We wanted to do it all and some of us have done that in spite of being told not to try.

Why did skin color get mentioned so often? We get it. It was not necessary to go so overboard reminding us of the different colors. Why was so much time spent describing things like the color of the curtains, etc that had nothing to do with the story? I found myself skimming them and don't think I missed anything by doing so.

Also, the title Mrs Everything, didn't really fit the book. I didn't like that title and wondered as I read the story why it would have such a title. The book did cover everything from being raised in the 50's to the presidential election to #metoo so the title would have been better called just Everything rather than Mrs. Everything.

All in all, too much. Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion. I'll give it 3 stars for trying, but feel 3 is also a reach. Others will love it for being so sweeping, but I felt it could have been better with less, much less.

I loved this book. Loved. I know this is the first time the author has written a book of this nature, and it really appealed to me. The characters were developed and flawed, and it made me want to keep reading to see where their journeys would take them.

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from the publisher and net galley in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. It’s been a while since I read anything by Jennifer Weiner but this was so much different from her previous works. I appreciated her intro where she explained her reasoning for writing this novel now, it gave some great context.

I think this is an important book right now with everything going on especially in the United States. It was timely and relevant. The characters were complex and it was great to see them change and evolve over their lifetimes.

I really recommend this read to women of all ages.

This book hit me right in the feelings. I’m the oldest of five girls, and my relationships with my sisters are some of the most rewarding and complicated relationships in my life.
This book follows Bethie and Jo from early childhood to late in life. I picture their lives as two waves that intersect. One of them is in a wave while the other is a trough. And then it switches, and then it switches again.
The author does a great job of showing the complexities of sister relationships, and the feelings of responsibility and love and resentment and blame that come from those relationships. I love the focus on women and how the author examines lesbian relationships in the 1960’s, biracial relationships and ‘traditional relationships’. As I think back on everything that these characters endured, I’m surprised that reading it didn’t feel trite. It takes a skilled author to introduce that many trials without it starting to feel like a plot device.

I got Mrs. everything from netgalley as a read now.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2817714444

I’m a BIG Jennifer Weiner fan, but this latest novel was just not my favorite. Maybe it tried to cover too much ground? I did love the focus on the two sisters - I’m a sucker for sister stories. Just a 3-star rating for me.