This a good book about flawed relationships and how they evolve over time. It does a great job or portraying the complexities of early motherhood, finding your new self, and how this impacts the relationships we are during this time.

While I think the rebuilding of the relationship between Carrie and Amanda is important for this time period in Amanda’s life, I feel like the reason she ran to begin with is overshadowed, but just as important. It made the ending of the books seem a little disjointed.

I listened to the audio version of this book. The narrators did a great job.

I was expecting to be Wow’d by this book based on the synopsis, but felt it was just “good”

3.5 Stars – Rounding to 4 for Goodreads

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

A lovely woman-character driven story. A story about motherhood, friendships; i love the way relationships are explored in this book.

The story goes between current day and flashbacks, which i enjoyed.

As far as audiobooks go, this is top notch stuff. I really enjoyed listening to it. The story itself isn't new but it's a fresh take which I really appreciated.

What a beautiful story of friendship and family, and I loved the small town vibe. As a Mother, the themes of Postpartum depression was so impactful, and I loved how raw and emotional this book felt. I could relate to those early days as a new Mom and the feeling of such overwhelming love but also fear and anxiety.

*many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own

"Everything Here is Under Control," is an interesting look at the way the main characters’ (Carrie and Amanda) flawed relationship breaks, twists, and evolves over time. I initially thought the story would be about motherhood and the impact of having/raising children on their lives, but it shifted to focus more on the friendship of these two women as told through alternating flashbacks and present day scenes.

This book’s strength was definitely in its unflinching portrayal of early motherhood and the complexities of successfully raising and building a positive relationship with a child, however I felt like the other relationships in the book were less developed. Although the story’s main focus seemed to be on Carrie and Amanda’s friendship, it didn’t feel genuine and I struggled to see a real connection between these two characters in spite of flashbacks revealing a long history between them.

While I listened to this as an Audiobook, I think I would have enjoyed it more as an ebook. There were a few technical issues with the audiobook that occasionally made it jump between chapters and even when it was working smoothly I often missed when the story switched to a different point of view because the narration was a little too flat/consistent to differentiate between characters.

I think this story will appeal to literary fiction readers who enjoy exploring messy friendships through alternating perspectives and dual timelines.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and Netgalley for an advance copy of this Ebook.

Thank you Netgalley, Blackstone Publishing and Emily Adrian for free audiobook of Everything Here is Under Control in return of my honest review.

Amanda, a new mother, experiences a motherhood breakdown, she realizes how demanding a baby is when he comes and that her partner is not as supportive as she expected him to be. She packs herself and her young son up, gets in the car and drives all the way to rural Ohio from NY. She is looking for support in her estranged best friend from youth, who has a baby while being a teenager and already knows all about motherhood struggles.

Overall, I think the story is interesting and engaging with some unexpected and jaw-dropping twists. Characters are well-developed and Amanda in particular stirred some emotions. I, personally, did not like her and I winder if it was intentional due to storyline.

On the other hand, I feel like there were one too many cliches about a newborn parenting, inter-racial relationships and mother- daughter connection.

This was my first experience with a novel by the author, Emily Adrian. I enjoyed the narration, which can make or break an audiobook. With that being said, I struggled with this novel as I had a hard time being drawn into the characters and getting involved in the storyline. I was determined to finish the storyline but it was a struggle. I didn't hate the book, but it wasn't my favorite either. Possibly if I had read the novel, I would have felt differently.

Everything Here is Under Control brought me back to my new mom days. It was refreshing to have the struggles of being new to the parenting game discussed so openly and honestly.

The female friendship discussed in this book was also refreshing. It is beautiful to see women supporting each other - even when it isn't easy to do so, or the friendship has been tested.

This is a slow paced story, but it's appropriately done for the message it brings to readers. Adrian also drops a bomb I was NOT expecting partway through the book, which totally changed the dynamics between characters and made so much more clear.

I struggled either this mostly because Carrie is clearly a black woman written by someone who is not black. Not every character has to be own voices, but it was just clear that it wasn’t. I also struggled with the convenience factor, everything was wrapped in a bow at the end and it felt like it. It’s okay for things to not end perfectly, messiness is a part of life.

As posted on Amazon, Friends, lovers, and the lives they created. This is a very good time to listen to Madeleine Lambert read Emily Adrian's words, as the time it took place was 2016, during the Presidential election season. With three intertwined main now-adult characters, we are told of their relationships with each other and learn that although they are uniquely different persons, they have profoundly influenced one another and created two additional unique human lives. The story flows, the characters are developed well enough that it wasn't difficult to differentiate the female leads, particularly since the narrator did not much alter the speech patterns. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed her voice because it was very soothing and in these current anxiety-producing times with the 2020 elections a few weeks away, a pandemic looming, the future of the Supreme Court and the futures of our children and grandchildren at stake, I personally appreciated listening to a comforting voice without a lot of drama. More importantly, I enjoyed the words as written which evoked memories of my own youth, the things I did, the birth of my daughter, and the feeling of a bond with a best friend. This novel is not burdensome to follow and I consider it as light reading, offering a hint of optimism and an occasional chuckle. The casting of the narrator was spot on.

I was provided a copy of Everything Here is Under Control in audio format by NetGalley.

A very interesting read that was well written. I especially enjoyed the narration. It helped Me get into the head of the character and better understand the choices being made

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. I'll be posting my review on Goodreads and Amazon

Everything Here in Under Control starts off with the challenges of motherhood, specifically with a new born baby. It turns to be more of a book about the friendship between Carrie and Amanda. The chapters alternate between current day and flashbacks to when the girls were in high school.. Come to find out there is a love triangle with children involved yet these two women rebuild their friendship. Great read for someone who enjoys character fiction.
The narrarators voice was smooth and she communicated some of the story with her inflections and tone.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I connected with this story of female friendship, motherhood, identity, and the desire to be deeply known.

Growing up, Amanda and Carrie were more like sisters than friends. It was Amanda who was in the delivery room with Carrie when she gave birth to her daughter during their senior year of high school. But in the thirteen years since then, the two women have gradually drifted apart. Now, Amanda has just become a mother. Going through the challenges of new motherhood is bringing back memories of her friendship with Carrie along with a desire to be with the person who once knew her better than anyone in the world. Amanda makes a spur of the moment decision to leave her partner Gabe behind in New York City and travel with her infant son back to her hometown in rural Ohio to try to pick up the pieces of the friendship she left behind.

At its core, this is a novel about a complicated female friendship. While there is a male character who is central to the plot, I thought the author does a good job of not allowing it to become a cliched story of two women who were divided by a man. The dynamics between Amanda and Carrie were complex and nuanced. I was intrigued by watching them try to reconnect after so much time, carrying the weight of their shared history, all that happened in their time apart, and the huge changes that come with motherhood.

I thought the author handled the plot twist/reveal impeccably. This isn't a mystery/thriller and rather than letting the narrative build up to some big dramatic moment that would inevitably be a bit of a letdown, Emily Adrian perfectly paced the revelation of information and details so that the reader had a huge perspective shift that was surprising, but still made perfect sense. I thought it was so well done and believable.

Although the crux of the story was about friendship and motherhood, it also touched on issues of racism, politics, gender roles, and postpartum depression. Somehow, the author was able to do all of this without making it seem like she was tackling too much.

I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Madeliene Lambert who made Amanda, Carrie, and Nina come to life. I think the prose style of this book lends itself to an audiobook format and I found Lambert's narration engaging and easy to listen to.

My one complaint about the book is that the ending was a bit too tidy for my liking. Overall though, I really enjoyed it and am excited to read more from this author in the future.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy of this title.

This book wasn’t what I expected at all, and it was wonderful in a totally different way. A beautiful exploration of friendship, love, motherhood and home, this was a solid literary listen. Loved the narrator - the dialogue was well done, with the different characters’ voices done well - not overstated (or understated either!). I will be recommending this!

It’s always jarring when aspirations of someone else’s life does not meet your own.

I was gifted an ALC of “Everything is in Control” Unabridged by #Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Emily Adrian is known for her YA works, “Like It Never Happened” and “The Foreseeable Future”. This is her first entry into adult fiction and I’m not surprised she chose to center this story around childhood friendships interrupted by “early” motherhood.

This was my first audiobook in a long time too. Madeleine Lamber’s narration of the book was easy listening from beginning to end. There was hardly any bleed over with dialogue between Carrie, Nina, and Amanda. I also appreciate her not giving Carrie a stereotypical, black woman twang that so many 80s tv shows suffer from. Thanks go again to Emily Adrian for taking the time to acknowledge how close this could’ve ruined it for future readers.

WARNING: This book touches on elements of Postpartum Depression and Teenage Pregnancy.

I am not a mother. And yet I daydream all the time. I get that impression about Amanda did too when Carrie had her baby at 16. Only 15 years later, Amanda has her first after trying for so long. And it is not what she thought it would be.

Motherhood changes women in profound ways. Not only physically, but emotionally too. Suddenly, it’s not about you anymore. But Amanda is dealing with postpartum and a husband so buried in work that he forgets the little things.

We follow Amanda’s sudden need to be home and surrounded by the familiar. Most importantly, Carrie. Now a famous tattooist still living in a small town in Ohio.

Listening to Madeleine’s narration, The town Amanda grew up in is still unchanged, unlike her. Flashbacks to teenage Amanda and Carrie. Present-day, Carrie is starring at Amanda on her doorstep with a crying baby. She lets her in any way.

My take away from this story is that relationships are messy. Even as an adult, it's messy. The plot twist is a testament to this.

After listening to this Audiobook, I’m excited to try more soon.

Everything Here Is Under Control by Emily Adrian is a slow-burning, character-driven novel that brushes on SO many themes. Motherhood, friendship, marriage, and forgiveness are just to name a few. The story is centered around the friendship between two women, Amanda and Carrie. The relationship is strong yet fragile, comfortable yet complex. So many truths are uncovered with snippets from the women’s friendship as teenagers and into adulthood. There’s a big focus on early motherhood which brought back a lot of personal memories and makes me want to recommend this novel to every new or expecting mother out there. It’s raw and extremely relatable. This one is available now and I highly recommend it.

A great book about motherhood, friendships and family! Friendships can be difficult to maintain as we get older and busy with all that life demands. I like the flashbacks to earlier days so we could experience their connection.

Amanda is a new mother, and she is breaking. After a fight with her partner, she puts the baby in the car and drives from Queens to her hometown in rural Ohio, where she shows up unannounced on the doorstep of her estranged childhood bestfriend. After their friendship ended, their lives diverged radically. But the trauma of childbirth and shock of motherhood compell Amanda to go back to the beginning and trace the tangled roots of friendship and family in her own life.

What an emotional read; this book was powerful and engaging.
As a mother I found Amanda’s struggles so relatable: the fatigue, the fear of the unknown and also the resentment.
Everything Here is Under Control is an honest and raw story about motherhood, friendship and love.

Thank you Netgalley and Black Stone Publishing for giving me a copy of this ALC in exchange for an honest review.

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For anyone whose become a new parent, the early days of adjustment can be a tremendous challenge. With sleep deprivation, changing maternal hormones, the often difficult challenges of breastfeeding and learning the baby’s needs it is likely one of the greatest challenges in a woman’s life. Everything Here is Under Control is a discussion of early motherhood and the importance of active support and friendship.

Amanda is a new mother and is struggling to cope. Her partner Gabe has not been the support she so desperately needs. Desperate for some help, Amanda drives herself and baby from New York back to her hometown in Ohio. Not to seek help from her mother who still lives in the town, but to the home of her estranged childhood friend Carrie.

The reasons she chooses Carrie are slowly revealed throughout the book. Carrie’s daughter is now twelve years old - much older than the last time Amanda has visited. The story is told from the Then and Now perspective which illustrates the complex and highly intimate relationship between the two women. Indeed, there is a bond that allows the two to not only support, but to challenge one another. Furthermore, the book highlights the unique characteristics of perception and personal experience and does so with compassion.

I love a book that addresses common experiences of women. Let’s face it - childbirth and the early postpartum period is not for the faint of heart. This book acknowledges this and, to some extent, normalizes it. It also celebrates those that actively support us through trying times and stay with us through the good days and bad days.

I listened to the audiobook version which was narrated by Madeleine Lambert. I enjoyed her performance when there was dialogue, but found that the narration of the book was quite flat otherwise. Therefore, I would recommend reading this book over choosing the audiobook version.

Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for the ARC of this audiobook in exchange for the honest review provided here.