Charlotte thinks "Her children, it seemed, were irredeemably messed up. It was her fault, and furthermore." This line sums up the entire book. It's family dysfunction at it's worst but with travel mixed in! This book was a quick read...it should be on a list for 2020 beach books this year.

I was so excited when I received this book to review. The author does a great job exploring some darker topics but in a way that still feels light and didn't bring me down in a time where there is a lot of down topics. It was filled with humorous and touching moments which is exactly what I wanted when I read this. The exploration of each family member is done well, you really get a sense of who they are and what their struggles are.

I really wanted to love this book. The March Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick had so much potential. I felt like all the characters were so selfish - literally none of them would call/text to check on each other - not even ‘hey what time do you want to eat dinner' or 'what are you wearing today’ despite them being together on a cruise ship. They would just ghost each other! I also wish it had dug deeper into how their lives changed after the cruise. I really wanted to know how their relationships improved or digressed.

The Jetsetters revolves around the dysfunctional dynamics of a family on a cruise. With nowhere to escape from one other, the way they present themselves to the world and each other clashes with who they really are. It doesn't take long for all the secrets and ugly truths they've kept from each other and sometimes from themselves to come stumbling out into the light.
I don't think the characters were written to be likeable, but more vulnerable and flawed. Each one seeking redemption and acceptance in their own broken way.
Because in the end, that's really what we all want.

I received a copy of this book from Random House - Ballantine and Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Thank you publisher and netgalley for the early copy!

This was an interesting look at a dysfunctional family. I enjoyed the writing style and character development. I did struggle a bit with the pacing but overall it was a good read.

I recommend checking this out if it sounds interesting to you!

Rating:

3.5 Stars Out of 5 Stars

The Jettsetters is not the usual type of book I go for but I am glad I read it! I found it to be pretty relatable. I loved Charlotte and I really enjoyed the family dynamics as well.

Not sure how to rate this book, some parts are a 2, some are a 3, so I guess I'm rounding down from a 2.5
Overall it is super uneven, the pacing is strange--drags in some parts and then the ending is very abrupt. There are too many POV characters and none of them are explored thoroughly enough to make us root for them. It would have been better to have had Charlotte be the main character and then glimpses at the others through her eyes and then tell the truth. But for Charlotte's surprising past, she is an ostrich with her head in the sand where it comes to her children and they don't help matters because they don't ever confront her or face their own struggles or problems head on with her (or even with themselves for that matter). There are some deep issues here--dealing with a hidden suicide, alcoholism, infidelity, and one character struggling with coming out to the family--yet none of them are handled with the depth that the subjects deserve. Because there are so many characters each issue is touched on but isn't emotional enough or deep enough to connect with me as a reader.
So much of the book is completely unbelievable, although I did enjoy the descriptions of the tours they took and some of the history described, it again didn't go far enough to paint a picture and put me in the story. I never "felt" like I was on a cruise or in Europe.
I don't even know who would really enjoy this--it isn't light enough to be a fluff read, but it isn't deep enough to be a real family drama. The cover is cute and the premise is great, too bad the execution of the premise is not as good as it could have been.

I really enjoyed this light and fun read. It was a particularly perfect choice for a book to read while stuck inside, as we get to live vicariously through the family as they travel. I loved the alternating points of view between the family members, it gave each one a bit more depth.

After hearing so much chatter about this book, I expected so much more. The characters, all part of the Perkins Family, were more than dysfunctional, and as a result, all were unlikeable. I’m addition, as a cruise lover, I felt that the author was parodying Cruises in an unnecessarily negative way. I really thought this would be a book I would love, but sadly, I would skip it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

So, had the world been able to have spring breaks, this could be a fun book to read while on it. The author's writing style is very easy breezy and relaxed. It reads quickly. And hey, you're on a cruise - what's not to love? Mix in a little family drama, hidden secrets, taboo topics that come to the surface and it should be a recipe for a knock it out of the park book. But for me it wasn't. I loved the beginning of the book, really the first half I thought was great. Then the excitement dropped and kept dropping right through the end. The second half of the book and especially the ending was a ship wreck for me. It drives me up the wall when authors just abruptly end a story and you don't feel the story should have ended yet. Layer on top of that a few unanswered questions that are just left hanging out there and I get frustrated as a reader. The first half I would rate 4 stars. The second half I rate 2 stars, landing me right in the middle at 3 stars overall. I didn't love it yet I didn't hate it either.

My thanks to Amanda Eyre Ward, Ballentine books and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward.

Charlotte, a middle aged widow of adult children, just won an essay contest and now gets to go on a cruise! This is the perfect opportunity to bring her family together, her children have been distant and could use some time together.

But putting everyone under the roof of one ship, comes at a cost. Histories kick up emotional dust, secrets are revealed, and relationships that were supposed to heal, become more strained. Are these "jetsetters" going to end up better or worse after their adventure.

This had so much promise! I loved the premise, family dramas are my jam. But this was a bulls-eye that just didn't quite get hit. In my opinion there was way too much conflict and not enough resolution. Maybe it's not a realistic or feasible opinion, but if you're going to reveal all of these issues and flaws in a character, at least give up hope that they are on the road to healing. But when this ended, I felt a bit abandoned.

I was really looking forward to reading The Jetsetters. I loved the beginning. The author had me fully engaged with this dysfunctional family. So many problems to solve. I felt for the three children living with a very dysfunctional father. And what happened to him. The author then moves the story forward thirty years with Charlotte winning a cruise, and she brings her three adult children and son-in-law with her. My thoughts at this point was that the family would resolve all of their issues. Unfortunately, the sympathy I had for Charlotte, Lee, Cord, and Regan disappeared. For me it was painful trying to finish the book. I would give 5 stars for the beginning and 2 stars for the middle and ending of this book. Thank you Ballantine and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

2,5 stars

Prim and proper Charlotte Perkins was sad when her husband died, of course, but now that she’s lost her best friend, too, she feels unmoored. She’s 70+ years old and just so lonely. When she sees an ad for an essay contest—the grand prize is an all-expense paid European cruise—she decides to enter. After summoning a bit of liquid courage via a glass of wine (or four), she bravely writes about losing her virginity to a famous artist.

To her surprise, she wins the contest, and, with her extra cruise tickets, decides to bring her three grown children with her for some much needed family bonding time. She’ll be accompanied by her daughter, Lee, a somewhat famous actress; her son, Cord, a handsome venture capitalist and eternal bachelor; and her youngest daughter, Regan, a stay-at-home mom with a seemingly perfect marriage. The estranged family will spend ten days together on a ship, determined to bond…all while they sidestep emotional landmines and try their hardest not to reveal long-held secrets, resentments, and regrets. What could go wrong?

MY THOUGHTS
I love the premise of this book. It reminds me a lot of The Floating Feldmans—though that book was marginally better. While it’s always entertaining to watch a struggling family implode and then try to sort through the fallout (don’t judge me), I had trouble staying engaged with The Jetsetters. My biggest problem was that I couldn’t understand the tone of the book. Was it supposed to be funny and light? Jokey and sarcastic? But then what’s going on with that super dramatic and serious ending?

I just wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel about Charlotte and her family, wasn’t sure if they were going to make it out okay in the end. And that confusion impacted how I connected with the characters. The only person who had a believable, fully-formed, and consistent personality was Cord’s significant other. Everyone else felt unknowable to me, like a puzzle that I couldn’t solve (and what’s worse, I stopped even wanting to try to).

I had hoped this would be a light and entertaining read with some heart, but unfortunately it didn’t deliver.

This book wasn't at all what I expected. Based on the fun cover and the fact that the location was a cruise for the most part, I didnt expect this book to be so heavy. I suppose that's in me for not reading the description better. I had a very hard time connecting to any of the characters. They were all to wrapped up in their own problems that the failed to even listen to their siblings and mother. There also weren't very many resolutions to any of these problems, which was extremely unsatisfying. Overall, nothing really happened in this book other than a family going to Europe and not enjoying it.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

This story follows family members on a journey that is meant to reunite them...but will it drive them further apart. Dysfunction at it's finest as these siblings and their mother brace a trip on a cruise. Imagine being confined to ship with people who you haven't been connected with and lots of family secrets, of course drama will ensue.

At first, I wasn't interested in the characters. The writing seemed a bit shallow, but as I continued to read, I really became enamored with each character. Ward does a great job of getting a reader hooked to her characters. I really wanted to keep 'jetsetting' with them.

Ward's newest novel THE JETSETTERS is written in a breezy tone that belies the depth of the story it tells. The Perkins family reunites on an impromptu cruise that will make them face the secrets they have kept from each other for so long. It will also cause them to reevaluate their own lives and dreams and, by the end, cause them to change their trajectory both as a family and as individuals. Ward (I think deliberately) makes each character appear as a stereotype: the gay guy who can't come out to his family, the sister who relies solely on her looks the get what she wants, the uptight mother who is always in denial and the youngest sister, the doormat. But Ward beautifully unwinds each character's story showing the complexity of each of them and the pain they are each experiencing. She does it so deftly, like leaving breadcrumbs along the path, drawing the reader ever farther into the story. THE JETSETTERS starts out shallow, but ends deep.

Life is full of choices. Sometimes the choice is to just be happy with you. Amanda Eyre Ward Is the author of a book called The Jetsetters where Charlotte, age 71 wins a cruise from Greece to Spain by writing an essay on her first love. She takes along her three adult children to bring them back together since they grown apart in adulthood and is the typical dysfunctional family. Lee, a bygone actess, Regan, an unhappy wife and mom of two girls, and Cord, a gay man that is afraid to come out.

Chapters are built around each character and how “life” treated them. Life was hard and choices have to be made to accept or to change that life. Each character did this in surprising ways though sometimes I just wanted to say come on!

#TheJetsetters #netgalley

Here is a story of a dysfunctional family but the rendering is so sensitively written.
Charlotte, the matriarch of the family, has won a writing contest with a cruise as the prize and she brings her 3 grown children along for the ride--and what a ride it becomes. The idea of aging plays a major role in the mother's make-up and acceptance of it. Ward does an excellent job of conveying the angst of that feeling. Her children are all going through their own issues. They must come to terms with their own lives, especially the negatives which seem, initially, to certainly outnumber the positives.
I especially loved the description of the cruise, itself. She seemed to truly capture the details of cruising, in a humorous and honest manner. Her visual scenes of masses of food and attempting to find your way from deck to deck were so well-written.
The well-being of the family, as complicated as that may be, appeared to be rediscovered, making it a great read!

Aging widow Charlotte whose husband Winston committed suicide has not seen her estranged children in ages and yearns to reconnect with them. She comes across a promotional writing contest and begins to write, baring her soul and winning the contest that will send her and her family on an all expenses paid European vacation.

Once together on board, tension mounts as each work through issues of past and present, all having been scarred by their miserably wicked father. Together time is used for rediscovery, to revisit past challenges and bury the hatchet. I liked the familial characters (who could be pretty unlikeable at times) but liked the peripheral characters more. I presume the author did this purposefully, creating these catalysts to soften the edges of Charlotte and her children.

This is the first time I’ve been given access to a book on my wishlist, so this was an extra fun read for me! The Jetsetters is a book for anyone who enjoys family drama and dysfunction. Each character has their own secrets, many of which spill out on a family cruise. This book didn’t entirely click for me, but I can see it becoming a majorly recommended book for anyone looking for a Spring Break beach read.