This was fantastic on audio! It’s short, and very bingebable, basically a one sit read! The author uses short backstory chapters interspersed with present day to tell the story of these high school best friends who dubbed themselves “the Rejects” Now 35 , they’re all at some sort of crosswords in their lives when they reconnect at Robbies beach estate in Delaware for a weekend of many surprises. The story takes place over a long weekend which made for super fast reading. The characters are all easy to like but also flawed - my favorite kind - the author uses humor, and nostalgia to tell a story about friendship, love, and second chances. The dialogue and witty one liners were so good and made me laugh many times using little details about marriage, parenthood and friendship that tapped into the wider human experience . He even included a couple twists to the story which I really enjoyed and I really loved the ending. I enjoyed all the characters but Wade and Cat were my favorites. Highly recommend!

• ALL TOGETHER NOW •

Much like with Norman's previous novel, Last Couple Standing, I was really impressed by the writing, heartfelt story, and the author's ability to pack so much into a relatively short amount of pages. There was a lot of complex and sometimes ambiguous things to delve into with the story and it was really interesting to see all the twists and turns the story took.

At the end of every high school book or movie, I hope for a montage about where the characters end up. Norman's book is that montage for four friends who supported and loved each other during the difficult time of adolescence. One of the characters invites the others to spend the weekend at a beach house. That person has a secret that will be revealed and will change the group's future. Norman evokes a beach town experience that makes the reader long for an escape to the surf and the sand. Great for a summer read!

Let’s start out with a big thank you to Ballantine Books for the ARC of 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐎W by Matthew Norman. I became a Norman fan with last year’s 𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, a riotous look at the realities of marriage coupled with approaching 40. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘛𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘕𝘰𝘸 takes a slightly more serious, but equally fun tone as it explores the bonds of friendship tested by time.⁣
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“The Rejects,” Robbie, Blair, Cat, and Wade first became friends in high school, while trying to find a place to belong on the cross-country team. That didn’t work out so well, but their friendship and dedication to each other did, ending up with their nickname after a controversial incident in their senior year. Nearly twenty years later, Cat, Wade, Blair and her family agree to spend Memorial Day weekend with billionaire Robbie at his Delaware beach house (mansion). I’m giving nothing away when I tell you that Robbie has recently been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer and wants to make sure his friends are all safe and happy before he leaves them.⁣
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Thus unfolds the weekend, and the lives of this quirky group. We learn about their teenage years, where each is now, and the years in between. We learn about heartaches and longings, successes and failures, dreams realized and others not. Despite the looming cloud of death surrounding Robbie, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know “The Rejects.” Friendships like theirs we too often allow to slip out of our lives. I appreciated they’d held on no matter how tenuously. I think you’ll find 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘛𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘕𝘰𝘸 a perfect beach read this summer. 4.5 stars

Wow, this was a great story about friendship, memories, love, and the fact that money can’t buy everything. The story is character driven and is beautifully written. I highly recommend.
Many thanks to Random House Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Oh my gosh. Y’all. As some of you know I am deep in my feelings since I’ve lost my brother. And this book #alltogethernow #matthewnorman #randomhousepublishing #ballantinebooks #netgalley just sucker punched me all in the feels 💔 this book. This. This is what friendship. Life. Love. Death. It covers it all. When our main character Robbie finds out he has #terminalcancer and he is soon to die he collects his three bestest friends since high school to bring them together. To say his goodbyes. This is such a sweet heartwarming emotional journey. You all definitely #needtoread this book. I may love me some Matthew Norman and will definitely be checking out his other #books he can tell a story. Make it flow. Keep you turning those pages 😍 go buy it now #amazon #indiebookstore #barnesandnoble #library #bookstagram #netgalleyreads #readersofinstagram #bookrecommendations #readingaddict #bookobsessed #netgalleyreview

SO funny & heartwarming. Bittersweet, but a great cast of characters and a very quick-read. My second MN novel, but it won't be my last! A quirky, sweet story that I would definitely recommend.

I just finished reading All Together Now by @thenormannation and what a great book to kick off the start of summer! When billionaire Robbie learns that he is dying, he invites his three closest friends to spend the weekend at his beach house on Fenwick Island. Wade, Cat, and Blair have been his best friends since high school and while all of them are going through some hard times, Robbie is determined to help them turn their lives around. This book was a quick read for me and I loved the relationship between the four friends. I also thought it was really cool that I recognized most of the places they went to throughout the story! Even though dealing with a sad subject, this read will most definitely make you laugh and I would hurry up and add this to your tbr if you haven't already done so! Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse for the copy!

This is the first book that I lave read by this author and I LOVED it! It captured my interest immediately and I couldn’t put it down. I lived the character development and was quickly hooked into their problematic lives. Robbie, their billionaire friend, brings them to his beach house on Fenwick Island to try to help his three friends from high school find direction to their lives. He hasn’t seen them in 20 years but has kept track of them.and has brought them together for his final goodbye. Robbie has been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. He sees the struggles his friends are having and tries to lead them down a path that he feels is right for them. The friends come to terms with their own lives with his help but not always with the same same answersThis is a character rich story that moves back and forth between the two time periods. Even though we know Robbie’s destiny we see what truly matters in friendship as the story comes to it’s final conclusion. #AllTogetherNow #MatthewNorman #NetGalley

This is a story of friendship. Sometimes friends grow apart. In this story 4 friends; Robbie, Wade, Blair and Kate who were close childhood friends are brought back together due to an illness. The friends relive their past memories and find away to be close again. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this bittersweet story in exchange for an honest review.

The overall premise of this book was fun; four friends meeting up under a veiled excuse by their billionaire friend for a weekend of joy and debauchery in a summer house, intriguing. The four aforementioned friends all have long ties that keep them together; young love, being outcasts and sharing secrets and allegiance to each other that reminded me of my own high school friends that I still keep in contact to this day. After discovering that one of them has a terminal illness they must face the fact that the lives they've presented to each other might not be as honest as they all hoped to be and perhaps their friendship not as tight as it used to be.

I really enjoyed the idea of this book but I wished there was more meat to it. I very much reads as a beach read and can be easily read in a day, though some topics are heavy it felt like we coasted on emotions not wanting to confront or dig too deep lest we lose the light read vibe.

I would recommend this to someone who enjoys a quick read on the beach or by the pool that ties everyones ending neatly.

This book felt like it glossed over some big plot lines at times. Even though these are extremely short chapters, it felt that I slogged through this one.

I absolutely adored this book!
Getting caught up in these 4 friends life was so much fun despite the reason why they were reuniting. I loved that each chapter was from a different characters POV, I didn’t know who to like more.

This can be a tough subject but the author threw in light hearted and funny moments to help weave the tough times. Each character brought something unique to the story. I laughed and cried and was so sad when this book was over.

Definitely recommend this book!
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for my gifted ebook copy.

What a nice surprise this book was!! The writing flowed nicely, the setting was nice, and there was an interesting assortment of believable characters. The main characters checked all the boxes - billionaire lonely guy, failed writer, bored mom, mixed-up lesbian - without becoming caricatures and the extra characters rounded out the group nicely.

The story is sad - and yet has moments of happiness to balance the inevitable sadness. It was just a nice story and a great summer read. I really enjoyed it.

All Together Now is a superb novel - it’s about friendship and what money can and cannot buy. It made me laugh and it made me cry. (And it made me miss the beach SO much!) The four old friends at the heart of this book call themselves the Baltimore Prep Rejects and are now in their mid-30s. They haven’t actually been “all together” for quite some time (hey, life gets in the way!) but Robbie is super-rich and he’s dying and he brings them back together. The characters and their situations seemed quite real to me, not just stereotypes. This is my first book by Matthew Norman and I will definitely be checking out his other books in the near future.

“Make a list of the most important people in your life. The ones who truly matter. Then, spend as much time with them as you can.” Such good advice.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book is set primarily over one eventful weekend at the beach for four high school friends now in their 30s, alternating viewpoints between each of them, each of whom have their own problems. Robbie is a billionaire who finds out he is dying from pancreatic cancer so arranges the weekend to bring them all together; Blair is feeling kind of stagnant in her marriage and minivan mom life; Wade is a struggling writer who has always been hopelessly in love with Blair; and Cat is dealing with a breakup and her desire to have kids. So despite the beach setting, it’s not just a fluffy book but deals with some heavier topics, though with humor and a light touch.

I loved Matthew Norman’s Last Couple Standing so I was excited to get an advanced copy of this one, which comes out today 6/15/21, and I look forward to catching up on his previous books as well. If you like authors like Jonathan Tropper and Tom Perotta, I definitely recommend checking Mathew Norman out - basically, his two books that I have read are like the male author equivalent of contemporary women’s fiction but written from a male perspective, though he also writes female characters equally well.

What a delightful, thoughtful book this was. I enjoyed “Last Couple Standing”, which was my first book by Matthew Norman and was curious to see if I enjoyed another novel by him. The answer is “yes” as he has an easy way with words while telling interesting, but thought-provoking stories. This book, “All Together Now” explores how friendships and relationships evolve and how we can often lie to ourselves and thus, some of the people we love the most. This book grabbed me from the first page and was an enjoyable summer read. 4 stars ⭐️. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Sometimes funny, often poignant, All Together Now is an account of a tight group of high school friends that soon went their separate ways. Now in their mid-thirties, one member of the group, Robbie, is diagnosed with a terminal illness and asks his friends to gather once more. He has become extremely rich in the years since high school and he’s hoping to use his wealth to help his friends achieve their dreams since his own was cut short. He soon finds that he can’t control their lives any more than he can his own death. The characters are well-fleshed out with their own separate storylines that come together well. The author captures Fenwick Island well; it’s a sleepy little shoreline town that you’d never know is less than 10 miles from the carnival that is Ocean City, MD. The pace moves along quickly. It’s a little heavier than a beach read, but you can always pretend you got sand in your eye as you read the ending.

I received this Advanced Reader Copy of All Together Now from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

All Together Now by Matthew Norman is a contemporary fiction novel about a trio of thirty-five year old former classmates that reunite on Fenwick Island, Delaware per the request of their friend Robbie, a successful businessman and billionaire. Little do they know Robbie is hiding a devastating diagnosis and this is his last chance for all of them to be together.

Cast of characters:

Robbie- single billionaire, new cancer patient, uses his brilliant mind and unlimited cash to try to “fix” the lives of his best friends

Wade- published one time novelist, Beatles superfan, single after carrying a torch for Blair for 20 years, evicted and about to move in with his parents

Cat- lesbian, television producer, desperate to be a mom, in a relationship that is going nowhere

Blair- former artist, unfulfilled mom, dissatisfied with her marriage and acting out

Matthew Norman tackles the difficult topics of cancer, heartbreak, marriage issues and career setbacks with both humor and a realistic touch. Although most of us do not have a billionaire friend Norman somehow makes the relationships and struggles within the group of four friends relatable. I highly recommend this novel for readers looking for a beach read with laughs and a lot of heart.
4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(ps. I also highly recommend his 2016 novel We‘re All Damaged)

*my copy of All Together Now was provided by the publisher and NetGalley for review purposes

Blair, Cat, Robbie, and Wade have been friends since their high school years in Baltimore. But, like many hs friends, they’ve moved on with their lives and haven’t all been together for six years. Robbie is determined to change that and invites everyone to Fenwick island (a favorite place during their high school years) for a weekend get together.
The friends don’t initially know that Robbie has just a short time to live but they quickly learn that he wants the old gang back together, not only for the weekend, but for the long term. Robbie can’t buy his way into curing his cancer, but he does have the financial resources to plan an amazing weekend with activities that he hopes will improve his friends’ lives.
I spent the first half of the book loving the relationships between the friends and feeling terribly sad about Robbie…then really not liking Robbie…and then feeling (what I won’t reveal since it would be a spoiler).
The characters are all beautifully developed and interesting people, and I also loved getting to experience Fenwick Island. All Together Now is a lovely and emotionally draining novel and should be on your summer to be read list!
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read All Together Now in exchange for an honest review.