Author Jennifer Weiner has written a book about women in the 20th Century with all of their struggles and successes, on political, personal and social levels. Mostly, this is a tale of Baby Boom girls/women and their lives. It is a huge canvas for a writer best known for her skill at finding the intimate details in any setting that almost any reader can immediately identify with and share. She doesn’t always succeed in creating a viable story around both of the sisters serving as protagonists in MRS. EVERYTHING but she does very well with one of them, the eldest, Jo. The younger sister, Bethie, is too often an afterthought and used as a filler for all of the Baby Boom activities that Jo has not experienced. I’m a big fan of the author but this book wasn’t my favorite, although I struggle to identify why. There are many unlikable characters that don’t grow better over time. Changes that do occur over time seem useful for the plot but unlikely. I kept reading the book hoping I would like it more because it seemed so perfect for me. I keep thinking my age and having experienced some part of the Baby Boom years is causing me to struggle with this book. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

What an enjoyable story. Jo and Bethie Kauffman are my age and I could relate to this story very easily. The girls are so different that their mother, Sarah is sometimes baffled and in the dark. The book is narrated in alternating chapters by the girls and the views of their family life is very different. Jo does what is expected of her, marries and has children. Bethie is a wild child and explores the world. As time progresses and they all grow older many modern issues are introduced into their lives including race, sexual identity, religion and the role of women in society. Good read. I never read many of Jennifer Weiner's previous books, but I'm glad I was able to read this one. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I absolutely loved this book! A family saga, this novel explores so many different themes about sisterhood, womanhood and feminism, raising important and interesting questions while keeping the reader engaged with the memorable characters and gorgeous writing. My favorite Weiner book ever- it was magnificent!

I am really enjoying what a breath of fresh air this book really is. I haven't seen a contemporary novel like this in a while, and I find myself drawn to the main character.

Jo and Bethie are sisters, who care for each other, despite being very different from each other. The story spans over decades with both having their ups and downs in life. The story covers so many hot topics, but not in an in your face kind of way. It is what one would expect from Jennifer Weiner and more. You will not want to miss this book.

Mrs. Everything follows the story of Jo's life from the 50s up until about the present day. Following along with Jo's life and the women who are in it you find yourself relating to their struggles, identity crises, challenges and drive as they work to find their own way in the world.

Jennifer Weiner created complex characters who need to come to terms with the women they want to be and the compromises they must make on that path. I really enjoyed this book, it has a timely message and relatable characters that were a pleasure to get to know.

Jennifer Weiner’s look at women’s lives becomes more sophisticated and sharp with each book she writes. I’d rank this one as her best and my second favorite after “In Her Shoes.”

Jo Kaufman and her family made the move from Detroit to the suburbs in 1951. Jo, her sister Bethie and her parents Ken and Sarah were one of the few Jewish families in their town but did their best to assimilate. Jo was the “tomboy” and Bethie was sweet feminine little girl who seemed to be her mother’s favorite. Their lives all changed dramatically when Ken died at 48 and left the family struggling. Sarah had to find work and the girls were often left alone after school.

Bethie had been offered a job by her Uncle but he used it as an opportunity to sexually harass her. Fortunately Jo was able threaten the uncle and extract money from him to keep quiet about the harassment. The experience had an effect on both girls.

Jo had never been interested in boys even though her friend fixed her up with dates all through high school. Eventually the girls became lovers but her friend was set on marrying a wealthy boyfriend. Then Jo went off to the U of Michigan where she fell in love with another girl with whom she had planned to travel the world after graduation. Once again her lover left her to marry a man.

Bethie visited Jo at Michigan and got caught up in the radical campus life of the 60s. She hooked up with a drug dealer and spent two years living with him. However he left her after she had taken some bad drugs at a concert and ended up being raped. Jo was traveling abroad alone when her mother asked her to return home to help her sister. Bethie was pregnant and had a sexually transmitted disease. She did not want to keep the child and so Jo spent the rest of her travel funds on an illegal abortion for Bethie.

By now Jo was tired of trying to find a woman to love her. So when she met a man at a friend’s wedding and started dating, she drifted into a marriage to someone she liked but did not love. Her husband was a charmer who moved from job to job but allowed her to stay home and raise their daughters.

Bethie had adopted a nomadic lifestyle and ended up in a commune of women in Georgia.

The story traced the different lives the sisters were living through the 70s and 80s. After many disappointments the sisters were finally able to find happiness.

This story spans the years from 1951 to 2016. The final chapter is set in 2022 when Bethie takes Jo’s grandchildren back to to the home the family moved to in 1951. The book examines the changes that women underwent as opportunities opened for them and their daughters. It also touched on the social changes that occurred in the US in that period.

It is told in chapters narrated alternately by Jo and Bethie. Each of them had their own struggles and conflicts with their mother, a traditional Jewish woman. The author mentioned that her own mother was a lesbian, eventually divorced her husband and met a woman with whom she was able to share her love.

This is not a classic “chick lit” book but will appeal to women. It will force to reader to compare the lives of American woman in the 50s to the lives of women today.

I loved this book! It’s a epic tale that follows two sisters throughout their lives from adolescence to old age. We’re there for heartbreak, triumph, love, loss, and so much more. It’s a story about finding yourself, being yourself, and what it means to be a woman in this world (and how that has changed—and hasn’t changed—over the years). It’s funny, sweet, sad, and moving. And I couldn’t put it down! I truly grew to love these women and to cheer for them. When I finally closed the book, it felt like I was saying goodbye to two dear friends. And I miss them already.

Jennifer Weiner has been one of my favorite writers since college. After 2016’s “Who Do You Love” (which I loved), Weiner took a break from adult fiction to write a memoir and two middle grade novels.

I was thrilled to learn that she is releasing a new adult novel finally.

Mrs. Everything incorporates the themes Weiner often focuses on: sisters, weight struggles, domestic drama, but on a much more ambitious scale.

Beginning in the 1950s in Detroit, sisters Jo and Bethie’s ups and downs through life are chronicled through civil rights, the feminist movement of the 1970s, the fitness craze of the 1980s and 90s, all the way up to Hillary Clinton’s presidential run in 2016.

Along the way, the sisters face all sorts of drama from rape to coping with sexuality when the world was not as accepting of the LGBTQ community. They fall in love, not always with the best people, develop careers - or give them up for motherhood. They make bad decisions and grow and evolve as people.

While the trope of the older responsible sister and wild younger sister from her earlier books like “In Her Shoes” are present, Jo and Beth do not feel like a retread of Rose and Maggie. They are very much their own persons. Sometimes I was frustrated with decisions they made, but loved seeing how they grew and developed over the years.

The end moved me to tears and I am so happy that Weiner has finally returned to writing such an ambitious, smart, funny and moving book for adults.

"We lose ourselves, but we find our way back." Mrs. Everything is a decades long story of two sisters losing and finding themselves, while trying to share their wisdom with the next generation of family as they do the same. Jennifer Weiner does an excellent job of flowing through time and major societal issues, without lecturing the reader. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the way it made me think about supportive female relationships. We're all losing and finding ourselves; how lucky we are when we find people who are gentle enough to remind us when we may stray from our intentions and strong enough to help get us back on the right path.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

#MrsEverything #NetGalley

mrs.everything follows three generations of women through their journey—at a time when the very definition of what it means to be a woman changes with each generation. this book has a lot of heart.

Perfect. The plot was well-paced and the characters well-developed. Despite my slow reading speed and the length of the book, I finished it in a few days. And days after finishing, I co to us to think about the story and the characters.

Jennifer Weiner is back with. Sweeping saga in her unique and masterful way. Jo and Bethune were great characters to follow, though I would have liked to have seen more written about their lives in the 1980’s and in the years between Jo’s initial diagnosis and the end of the book. What’s important is that Jennifer Weiner is back, and that is always a good thing.

This tale for the outcasts—the Jews, the “Negros”, the interracial couples, the homosexual couples and, yes, women—gives a real sense of the life in the 60s and throughout the 80s with the protests, the raising of awareness and differences and injustices, the rigid roles that women were expected to conform to, and the evolving world toward the end of the 2010s. Great characters, carefully drawn and breathing their struggles across the pages, round out this well-written story filled with historical and cultural references, and the best “trip” description, ever—if that doesn’t convey “kids, don’t do drugs!” I don’t know what will! If the book doesn’t open eyes on women’s condition, I don’t know what will, either.

I was fortunate to read an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Warm thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity.

OMG this is one of the best books I have read this yr and I read ALOT!!!!!!! I found myself pausing in my reading because I didn't want it to end. I totally see a book hangover for the rest of the day from this book. You fall right into the characters lives and feel like you know them. I felt myself triumphing for them, my heart hurting with them, feeling their happiness. I don't think I've gotten this in tune with characters in a long time. Probably 6 years since Jennifer Weiner's last book lol. This novel introduces us to Bethie and Jo, 2 sisters, at a young age and follows them all through their lives. Through their trials and tribulations of life. We follow right along with them as they grow up and become women and everything that comes with. If you have never read a Jennifer Weiner novel you are solely missing out. Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for my honest review and the opportunity to read and review this amazing novel

A story which spans decades, Mrs. Everything closely explores women's roles in society, homosexuality, ethnicity, race, sexual assault, and family relationships. It is a well-written, character-driven, fast and easy read.

Mrs Everything by Jennifer Weiner. My first book by Ms Weiner which unfortunately fell flat for me. The story seemed to drag with too much detail about Jo's teenage sexual angst. Bethie's story seemed to be glossed over. While I didn't enjoy the book, I am positive Ms Weiner's fans will like it.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

I really liked this book for about the first half - a young, widow raising two daughters who were as different as night and day but ended up metaphorically trading places. Ms. Weiner sensitively posed issues such as rebellion, lesbians in hiding, racially mixed marriage, but the book ultimately felt flat and trite to me. I’ve enjoyed many of Ms. Weiner’s earlier books which were both wry and extremely funny, but in this attempt at serious literary fiction I think she misses the mark.

Had Mrs. Everything been about half as long as it is, the story could have been told tightly and engagingly, but overall , the characters were no more than the very stereotypes the characters so disdained.

I received this book as an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley.

I am a huge Jennifer Weiner fan! I really enjoyed this book although it feels a little different from her past novels. It centers on the lives of Jo and Bethie, two Jewish sisters growing up in the 1950's and it follows them through present day. Weiner explores many topics in this book, racism, sexual assault, sexual identity, the changing role of women, mother/daughter relationships, and explores whether women can ever truly have it all. This might be too much for some authors to take on in one book but Weiner succeed and the book kept me engrossed from beginning to end!