Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Books for the opportunity to read and review the sophomore novel by Kathleen West - 5 stars! I was a big fan of her debut, Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes, and this one is just as good! I'm a sucker for these type of realistic life stories.

This book finds three friends - Alice, Nadia and Meredith - with their three kids now in middle school. Alice is the one who wants it all - great job as an interior designer and two kids. But now she's questioning how she can do it - her husband is traveling all the time, oldest son Teddy is having issues at school, and younger daughter is having reading difficulties. Nadia has always been known as the mom with the kid with issues, Donovan. Meredith is the perfectionist and daughter, Sadie, is the perfect child - until she does something very wrong. Then there are the family secrets - because of course every family has them, right?

How each mom deals with their kids, each other and life in general is at the heart of this book. Anyone with kids will recognize themselves and their kids in this book. Can I just say once again how grateful I am that I raised my kids before the advent of social media? This is certainly a hot button in this book and for parents everywhere. West's writing style just pulls you into this world and I loved the escape!

I really enjoyed this book about the difficulties of middle school, both for the tweens and for their parents. Middle school is such a time of change and this book portrays those changes very accurately. As a parent of a child this age, it did scare me a bit! These kids have poor impulse control and parents need to be on the watch, although the parents in this book were a little helicopter like and the kids still misbehaved. It is not easy!

Alice, Nadia and Meredith are friends until their middle school children and their actions cause a rift. Nadia feels judged by her friends due to her son Donovan having been in trouble but was working with a therapist to iron out his issues. Meredith’s daughter, Sadie, has always been the perfect student and good girl until a new boy catches her interest. Teddy, Alice’s son, becomes involved with a bullying situation, putting Alice in a tailspin as she reels from her mother’s family secret. The story really flowed well and the character development was done well. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Are We There Yet? explores family life with tweens, it made me happy my kids are long past that stage. Here it probes how far these parents go to control social media and how smart kids are to get around it.

Though it's told with a number of different povs, it's not as daunting as it sounds but rather it worked to get this reader into the minds of both the kids and moms, to see/understand motivations. I can say that I wasn't a big fan of most of the characters. Between their actions and decisions being made just made them appear out of control and impulsive. They almost seemed more concerned about reputation vs fixing/accepting what was going on.

I liked the writing and shorter chapters, even though I didn't like the players I was genuinely interested in what was happening and how this book would end. There was one story-line that had me wondering if it was necessary but it did enhance some character traits but still left me wanting to skip those chapters.

Are We There Yet? releases on March 16th. My thanks to Berkley Publishing for a digitial ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Are We There Yet” explores the challenges of suburban family life through the lens of three friends and have children in the same grade. Primarily centered on Alice, each chapter is told from the POV of someone in her life. Confident and meticulous Alice feels her life and career are going great until, in the middle of a parent-teacher meeting for her youngest, she receives an urgent phone call from her son’s Junior High school principal.

Unfortunately for Alice, this will not be the only phone from the principal and she finds herself anxiously searching for ways to manage her ‘tween’ son, Teddy, keep her unsympathetic boss at bay and come to terms with her mother, who has just revealed a long-held family secret on her. Alice’s carefully cultivated world begins to crumble as the seemingly insurmountable issues pile up and she begins to question her parenting skills, her friendships and who she can honestly rely on.

Parenting can be like a frazzled circus performer spinning multiple plates while trying to keep one or all of them from falling. Parenting *junior high* students who now have access to social media, must be like spinning plates while standing on skateboard. Although I’ll admit it took me awhile to get fully engaged in the storylines and just when I thought perhaps this book wasn’t for me, I found myself caught up in each character’s story and eager to know how each of their situations would play out.

I appreciated how the author faithfully captured the unique voices of each character, in particular the pre-teens who are grappling with the horrors of junior high but lack maturity to make good decisions (ironically something the adults struggle with too). As self-discoveries are made (or ignored) and resolutions are revealed, the ending felt a bit rushed but nonetheless was very satisfying.

This book would be a great selection for a lively book club discussion—and not just for ‘Mom’s’ groups!

My thoughts:
This book is all about mothers and their children, how each parenting style differ from one another and how it ultimately affects their kids’ behaviors. It also takes a closer look on middle school drama as well as how irresponsible social media use can ruin the lives of youngsters. Alice is the busy mom who thinks her kids are doing well so they don’t warrant looking closely. Meredith is the perfectionist who is uber hands on with her daughter’s life. Nadia is the “bad” mom who can’t control her misbehaving son. Evelyn is the psychologist mom who uses her knowledge to deal with her family. These moms are all too familiar. For sure we know somebody who fits their descriptions. I really enjoyed reading this book. The situations were scary but realistic. I may not agree with most of the characters’ decisions but I can certainly understand their reasons behind them. My only issue with the story is that Nadia didn’t have much voice. I would have wanted to hear her POV more especially as she had a difficult child from the onset. Surprisingly, out of all the characters, I liked her best. She isn’t perfect, but she is not in denial about her own kid’s problems and most importantly, she accepts her kid as he is and she didn’t try to mold him into somebody he’s not. Despite this, I still highly recommend this book. Naughty kids plus misbehaving mothers? Perfect for a lazy afternoon read! 💖

#AreWeThereYet by @kathleenwestwrites is such an eye opener as a tween mom! The middle school world is so much different than when I was a child! Social media galore. All these new apps and ways to hide things. I definitely recommend this book to moms and not moms alike. This is a great book to discuss with your book club and/or friends. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A lot has happened in Alice's life and they are certainly changing how she views her world, but it'll be all right as long as the other mothers don't find out.The thing is that she's not the only mother going through mind-opening changes and much less not the only one trying to keep it all under control.

3.5 rounded up.

To be honest, I was expecting something closer to Liane Moriarty, considering all the school/mothers/children drama, so for a part of the book I was disappointed the focus was very different even if the starting point was almost the same (no one was dead here). However, Kathleen West has this gripping style that makes you consider eating the pages to make it go faster so you'll know what she has prepared next.

I can't say I related to the characters. I'm not a mother and I'm not preparing to be one. I'm of course not a middle-school student. Though I did like some characters in the beginning, it doesn't seem to be the author's intentions to make that love last, because we will find out one can be worse than the other. By the middle, I was hoping for more wood on the fire, because it was sadistically fun to see all those long-lasting foundations from the beginning crumble down.

I'd say this book could have been much better. Like, some character that really made you like her—I do feel the author didn't want any saints standing in the end and that building a charismatic character strong enough for us to still cheer for her isn't an easy task, but that's one thing the book unfortunately lacked. Also, I would have liked a better point. I don't think this book was just for enjoying the ride and I enjoyed the ending, but it could have had more oomph. It's a book above average but once you're close to the end and feel you won't get much further plotwise, the read drags. For so many turnabouts in the beginning, the finish like was lackluster.

This was a pleasing read and also a quick one—I wasn't expecting to be done this soon. It's more of a women's fiction than a thriller, but it does give you some thrill. I feel curious about this author's works and will keep an eye on her next endeavors.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Thanks to Berkley and Netgalley for an advanced copy of Are We There Yet by Kathleen West.

Are We There Yet looks at the friendships of 3 women whose kids have been friends since Kindergarden but as their kids enter 7th grade and junior high problems errupt will their friendship survive this?

This book is a suburban mom drama that is funny, but also shares some of the trials and tribulations of being a middle schooler or parent of one in the 21st century fill of "finstas" and other challenges. Reading this made me so glad I didn't get a cell phone until I was 16 and they only made calls and texting wasn't a thing until I was a senior in high school!

Each chapter was one of the mom's or kids point of view and I liked that you were seeing it from differnet viewpoints. None of the characters were super likable, but I think that was the point of the book. It took a few chapters to keep the characters straight, but it is a quick read.

I enjoyed reading this book and if you're a fan of suburban mom drama this book is for you!

This story is told from multiple points of view. 3 moms meet when their kids start kindergarten. Alice finds out her daughter is falling behind in reading and her son is a bully. Alice's mom also unloads a secret she has been holding onto for years. This was slow moving book for me and I wasn't sure I wanted to keep reading but it did pick up about halfway. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

I really liked this book. It did make make me extremely nervous about sending my kids to middle school though. It took me a little while to get into this book but once I did, I couldn't put it down. I wish the ending wouldn't have felt rushed but overall I was satisfied. I can't say much on how I feel about certain characters because I don't want to give anything away! I think the author did a really good job thinking like a teenager. Middle school and even high school parents should for sure read this!

This novel held so much emotion for me. I am a mom of a daughter that will soon enough be in middle school. I have a son that will eventually be there as well. I live in a town where I have built beautiful friendships with so many.

First, to think that middle school could bring rifts there-it is hard to swallow. To know it is true though, and that everyone can come out on the other side of it a better person, and more in tune to who we truly are...that is what kept me reading.

West has built a beautiful, multi-voice story with a spiderweb of woven connections between each- as moms, working moms at that, as well as their children navigate the halls of middle school, life, community, and happiness.

Well done, I recommend this book 100% to my friends with children that are on their way to middle school. So much to talk about involving social media, changing school landscapes, friendships...all of it!

Books like these make me so grateful for my own mom-friends. Like the women in this book, we met when our kids were in preschool and kindergarten. Unlike the women in this book, we are genuinely caring and supportive of each other. These characters care about appearances as much as they care about their kids (to be fair, they all care for and about their kids a lot). The fact that, Alice, the mom from whom we hear the most, is an interior decorator, is a little too on-the-nose, a fact that doesn't go unremarked upon in the book.

When Alice learns that her 2nd grader is reading significantly below grade level and her 7th grader is acting like a bully, she is equally concerned with how her "friends" will react with how to actually help her children. To be fair, she does step up and do the hard work to help her kids get back on track. But following along as she perserverates about other people's perceptions was quite a slog (at least as bad as reading about all the brand-name accessories she uses to decorate her own and her clients' homes). Alice's other problem is her mother, who is about to drop a bomb on her in the midst of all this. Alice's mother a child psychologist, and I can only say that I'm glad not all child therapists are as selfish as she is.

The short version: You might not actually like any of these characters, but you might recognize them. You'll almost certainly recognize their struggles, if you have kids. You might not actually sympathize with them, though, or enjoy reading their inner monologues, but if you're in a book group, especially with your mom-friends, you'll definitely have a lot to talk about.

There was a lot going on in this book and while I appreciated the story telling and certain elements of the book overall I was underwhelmed. There was too much going on for the reader to really be able to connect with any one story line or character. As for all of the characters, I didn't really like any of them so that was a miss for me too. It had the potential to be a good domestic drama but overall it just didn't do it for me.

I really enjoyed Kathleen West's latest novel. Her writing style is so crisp and easy to read, yet she's tackling some tough subject matter. I found the characters to be completely relatable and often wondered if the author had hung out in my neighborhood. The theme about parents vicariously competing through their children and friendships dissolving overnight because a child makes a poor choice is an incredibly accurate assessment of modern culture. I loved the unique cast of characters and their various arcs as the story progressed. A delightful and thought-provoking read from start to finish. I highly recommend!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary copy. This is my honest review.

This was a really good book that explored the dynamics and relationships of family and friendships. The story starts off being introduced to three friends, Alice, Meredith and Nadia. All three have 7th grade kids and they became friends back when their kids were kindergartners. Drama unfolds and at times it was like watching a car crash or a good soap opera. The author did a brilliant job of telling the story and writing such multi-dimensional characters that you are rooting for despite their flaws.

Wow.

Kathleen West does a bang-up job of recreating the junior high years, which without a doubt are THE MOST stressful years of parenting that you will endure. And they suck for the kids, too. (If your kids are still young, I apologize for freaking you out. But I speak the truth.)

This book is told from several different perspectives, mainly three adult women who have been friends since their kids were in elementary school, along with their children and one of the women’s mother. It was a little hard to keep track of everyone at first, and some of the transitions were a little rough, but overall I really enjoyed the format and reading from the different perspectives.

Our main character is Alice. Alice feels like she's finally found her groove in middle age, but it only takes one moment for her perfectly curated life to unravel. On the same day she learns her daughter is falling behind in second grade, she gets call from her son’s school accusing him of bullying.

When it comes to light that the incident is part of a new behavior pattern for her son, one complete with fake social media profiles with a lot of questionable content, Alice's social standing is quickly eroded to one of "those moms" who can't control her kids. Soon she's facing the very judgement she was previously all too happy to dole out.

Then her mother unloads a family secret she's kept for more than thirty years, and Alice's entire perception of herself is shattered.

As her son's new reputation polarizes her friendships and her family buzzes with the ramification of her mother's choices, Alice realizes that she's been too focused on measuring her success and happiness by everyone else's standards. Now, with all her shortcomings laid bare, she'll have to figure out to whom to turn for help and decide who she really wants to be.

This book is Girls with Bright Futures for the junior high set, with more moms behaving badly. I absolutely loved it (although it made me fervently thankful that my kids have both passed the junior high stage).

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Berkley for the arc of Are We There Yet?
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Are We There Yet? started out a bit slow, for me, but I ended up really enjoying the novel toward the middle, and then racing to the end. This book is contemporary fiction, and I got major Big Little Lies vibes.
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As a parent, this book really spoke to me. Life is hard trying to juggle: kids, a household, a career, etc - so when Alice hears that her 2nd grader is struggling in reading, her middle-school son is succumbing to all the middle school drama, and her boss is leaving her our of important decisions at work, all while her husband is traveling, I immediately sympathized and obviously related to her character.
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This novel is told from multiple POVs. I enjoyed the story told from the mother's perspective, but I ended up mostly looking forward to the chapters told from the kids' perspectives.
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This is an easy read and I was thoroughly entertained. I absolutely recommend the story if you enjoy Moriarty novels, contemporary fiction, and a bit of family drama.

People always talk about the drama that young folks have in middle and high school, but this book shows that the drama just starts there . . .

Told through a wide variety of perspectives from the kids themselves to the parents, this book shows how perception and reality don't always meet and how life has both ups and downs. The main mom is Alice Sullivan as she begins the book happily married with two kids who have been doing well until middle school happens to her son and his antics send the entire family into a tail spin.

I love to read these books and sprinkle them in between a high intensity mystery/thriller or darker moody historical fiction. Reading about "low level" drama makes me happily roll my eyes and puts my own trials and tribulations into perspective. Although I am not a parent, a good "mom drama" is fun to read now and then.

I was excited to find out after finishing this book that Kathleen West has another book that looks to be similar and I hope to slate it into my reading when I need a little lift.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a beautiful family drama that kept me interested the entire read. The author developed characters that were engaging and believable and an excellent plot that sucked me in, I love when a book can do that.

Are We There Yet? pulls the reader in from the first page because the book is filled with words perfectly chosen to make you feel what each character feels, to see what they see. The author describes them all perfectly for they are vulnerable to the love, jealousy, betrayal, lying and grief that colors their lives at the moment.

This taunt family drama blew me away. You get caught up in all of the drama. It keeps you engaged from the very first page and there's a shocking betrayal that I can't say much about without giving it away. Highly recommended.