The first 25% was strong; I was hooked right off the bat. As it went on, however, the story felt redundant and it became clear that the plot wasn’t going much of anywhere. This could be forgiven if there had been significant character development, but I didn’t feel that way by the end of the book. I’m still giving 2.75 stars rounded up for the fact that I mostly enjoyed the book while reading it and it certainly was thought-provoking.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for the early copy!

As a teen India Allwood wanted to be an actor, but when she got pregnant, she had to make a decision that would be life-altering.

Later, after India Allwood is working on a movie that deals with adoption, everyone (media, pro-lifers, pro-choicers, the network, and everyone it seems), has an opinion about how adoption is portrayed in the show.

But as India comes to reveal in the tale, she knows more about the topic than most. Throughout the story, Laurie Frankel hoped to write a story that had positively portrayed adoption, which she does, but maybe a little too much.

The characters are well-developed, interesting, and detailed (to the point where we learn of certain character quirks, like India’s penchant for carrying around index cards, tearing them up, and tossing them to throw a celebration at any time), but the interactions between characters seem too tidy.

The tale is complex and there are a LOT of moving parts, the dialogue is funny (but often unbelievable especially from ten year-old twins Fig and Jack), and maybe it’s just India’s circle of positivity, but everything seems to be wrapped up too neatly with no objections by any of the characters, which makes this seem more like a utopian novel about adoption and less like a realistically-positive one.

Laurie Frankel’s books are likely to stay in your mind for a long time. Family, Family is an excellent entry in her oeuvre. Frankel addresses the many stereotypes related to adoption. Her main character wants to overthrow all the stereotypes and open people’s eyes to the spectrum of adoption stories. However, her celebrity is an impediment because none of her advisers want her to make waves. I will definitely recommend this layered story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book so much! It’s all about the families we have, choose, and make. I initially found some of the plot line a little difficult to believe but I came around to it and was rooting so hard for everyone in it. It was a sweet read full of love, humor, and heart.

Frankel writes stories that I love to read with larger-than-life characters. I inhaled this novel about family and adoption that doesn’t tread the usual adoption-is-trauma-for-all-involved storyline that is popular in media. India always wanted to be an actor, and in her thirties she seems to have it made, playing a wildly popular superhero on television and being an adoptive mother to twin ten-year-olds at home. India suddenly finds herself in the middle of a PR controversy after some comments she has made about an adoption-is-trauma movie that she starred in, and the book goes back and forth between the past and present to reveal India’s varied and fascinating life history and decisions. There’s a whole host of interesting characters, and I really enjoyed the entire book from start to finish. Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for a digital review copy.

Family Family by Laurie Frankel is a funny and quirky family drama that covers the topics of adoption and family. It was a captivating story full of memorable characters that I fully enjoyed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this great book!

As an adoptee myself, and a reader of Laurie Frankel's novel This Is How It Always is, I knew I would have to read this book. I am well aware of the school that says that adoption is always traumatic for the child and as an adoptee, I can dispute that, understanding that life with my adoptive parents wasn't necessarily ideal but now knowing my life with my birth mother would not have been either. The whole experience is grayer than either side portrays it. My biggest problem with the book is not the position that it takes but that admittedly, Ms. Frankel is an adoptive parent so that it is hard for me to credit her with understanding that makes the position credible. In other words, it would be easier for me to judge its merits on the topic had Ms. Frankel been an adoptee instead of an adoptive parent. With that out of the way, I am going to address the literary aspects of the book.
In comparison to This Is How It Always Is, I did not enjoy it as much, which was a little disappointing because I was very eager to read it. Some of the reason why might be a preference--I think I am not as keen on books that go forward and past in times because I find it confusing. I also found the pacing to be a little uneven--it was a little slower at the start, then it picked up, and then slowed and picked up at the end. I also had a little trouble connecting emotionally with the main character. I had a good grip on her personality, which was wonderful, but there were ways in which I had trouble getting her or understanding her.
That said, the plot was appealing and I loved all of the "side" characters, especially Fig and the ex boyfriends. They were connected and appealing.
I would give this 3 1/2 stars.

Because Laurie Frankel wrote one of my all-time favorite books, 2017's This Is How It Always Is, I will continue to read everything she writes. Although I didn't love Family Family as much as TIHIAI, I did like it more than 2021's One Two Three. Family Family is a complex and nuanced exploration of adoption and family, told through movie star India Allwood's life. Not only does she place two babies for adoption, one at age 16 and another at age 20, but she herself adopts a set of twins as a single mother once she is ready for parenthood. Narrated from an omniscient perspective in both the past and present timelines, we follow all the twists and turns of India's life as well as her biological and adoptive children's and all the associated biological and adoptive parents. This leads to a complicated storyline with many, many characters, but I was invested and couldn't stop turning the pages. At times the story comes off a bit preachy, but overall this was a fresh take on an adoption narrative we don't often see. Don't miss the author's note at the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Family Family by Laurie Frankel--this upcoming novel is about adoption in all of its complicated aspects. India is an actress who recently starred in a movie about adoption. After she makes some less-than-flattering comments about the movie people have varied outraged opinions about her online and her career is threatened. The reader then learns India's backstory of placing a child for adoption as a 16-yo and how her life unfolded from there. We see India as a person who placed a child for adoption and later adopted children herself. The plot has several surprises and I loved the examination of what makes family family. India has a perspective on adoption that isn't seen in media often--yes, adoption can have trauma associated with it but that is not all it is. Adoption is complex because family is complex. How a family comes to be is not what makes it complex. Family is family. There were some parts of the plot that seemed a bit unbelievable but I could overlook them as they served the plot well. The kids in the story were very charming.

A book about families in all the forms they may take.

Superstar actress India Allwood is happily raising two adopted children away from the spotlight of Hollywood. While promoting her latest movie, her comments get her into hot water on the subject of adoption; suddenly she's the latest victim of "cancel culture" and has to do damage control. As the media whirlwind gets more intense, eventually the world discovers that India had previously given up a child for adoption, long before she was famous. Several family units, all connected by adoptions and blood relations, end up drawn into the media storm, and each of them must work out for themselves what family really means.

Simultaneously heartfelt and full of humor, this book features an unforgettable cast of characters, particularly kids, and will have you rooting for the bonds of family.

I really liked this novel that follows TV star India Allwood from her high school days in Seattle to her college days in NYC to her life in LA as a TV actress and mom whose remarks about her debut film set off a media scandal. Focused on the issue of what makes a family and the need for representation of all types of stories about all types of families, this was a good read — only taken down a star by the author’s get a bit preachy toward the end when subtlety would have made her point just as effectively.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Family Family tackles adoption unlike any book I’ve read before, and it was refreshing to see it discussed in a positive light and not shown as "a last resort" or tinged as an anti-choice talking point. The book shows that adopted families are just as real, special, and messy as biological families.

India Allwood, famous TV star and recent movie star, is under fire by the media after she speaks her mind, specifically about her movie deals with adoption. We alternate between the past and present to uncover just how close this topic is to India and the rationale behind all the choices she's made.

I enjoyed the book, but it felt like it could have used a little editing. It would have benefited from being condensed (in my opinion), and I exceeded my tolerance of precocious children's quips by the time I finished. Despite that, it was an interesting story that touched on several hot topics with a refreshing, lighter approach.

India is an adoptive mother of two children who appears in a movie that makes adoption advocates angry. Her comments after the movie make them even angrier. As India becomes a pariah online, or “cancelled” as her kids say, they try to help her in ways that she could not imagine. Who is family? Why are all adoptions pictured as stories of pain and regret? This is a family story that I have not read before and I adored. It is so different and thought provoking.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this one after a few chapters. I couldn't get into the story, I felt it was going around in circles a bit.
I hope other readers enjoy it though.

I really enjoyed Frankel's This Is How It Always Is, fiction about issues and feelings that the family of a gender dysphoric child may have to deal with. When I saw she had written a new book, I quickly requested it from NetGalley. I think Laurie Frankel tells a story quite well when she writes from her own experience, and she is successful at doing that once again in Family Family. This is another work of fiction, one that looks at adoption and shows us that all adoption stories don't have to be about trauma in some way. India Allwood is an adoptive mother who placed a child for adoption before she entered college and after college, she became a famous Hollywood actress. After starring in a movie about adoption, her life gets drastically upended after she makes some comments about the movie. Family Family examines how children who are adopted might feel, the feelings of parents who adopt are considered, and how it might feel for a woman who has placed a child for adoption. I don't have experience with any of these situations but I'm a firm believer that reading a well-written book can give me an idea of how others who may have dealt with issues might feel. With representation and enlightenment, understanding and empathy can grow more easily and Laurie Frankel has provided all of these in Family Family.

“Regardless of how they get made, family is a force to be reckoned with.”

Thank you to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. This book will be published on January 23, 2024.

This book has so much to unpack that I will just say read it. This is only my second Laurie Frankel book and to be honest I have struggled with some of her other books. This book grabbed me from the start. I did find it a little long but the writing was good and I loved the characters. It gave me a different view of adoption and placing children.
Thanks too NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for a honest opinion. 4⭐️

What a captivating book! Famous actress, India Allenwood, finds herself in the hot seat after giving her opinions on her latest movie. The movie focuses on adoption and provides one perspective on the topic. However, India has her own, very personal, opinions on the subject as well. As she tries more and more to tell her story, the media continue to misinterpret her words. We follow India and her extended family as they navigate the spotlight. This book is really special and sheds a lot on adoption. Thank you, NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! I love Frankel's books so was so excited for this one! At the beginning the time jumps confused me a little bit but this was a very beautiful story about the positive sides to adoption. I really thought it was a very pro choice novel as well. I did find myself enjoying younger India's storyline the most though.

This book is so well-written and funny and delightful!

While we do follow other characters (each of them more wonderful than the last - Andy’s chapter especially!), we are mostly inside Fig’s and India’s heads, and their voices are pitch-perfect. Fig is a precocious—but not annoying!—ten year old; a rare child in literature who didn’t make me roll my eyes in annoyance or cringe.

And India. I loved her so completely. She was such a full, vibrant character; she leapt off the page at me. I loved her when she was 16, I loved her when she was in college, I loved her when she was 26, and I loved her when she was 32. At one point, Davis says what he loved most about her is that she was weird, but I’d say what I loved most about her was that she was herself. And while she evolved, she never changed who she was at her core. Just a really wonderfully-written character and such a heartwarming book. I expect this to be near the top of many best-of-the-year lists in 2024!

Thanks, NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company, for the Digital Review Copy. Available: 23 Jan 2024

I loved Frankel’s 2017 book, THIS IS HOW IT ALWAYS IS, so I jumped at the chance to read her latest family drama. The story is heartwarming, heartfelt, and gloriously messy. The author is an adoptive mother and uses her story to shine a bright spotlight on the beautiful side of adoption and counteract all the negative press it often receives.

India went from a driven student confident of her acting success to a Broadway ingenue and TV star. But after a movie dramatizing adoption, she makes the mistake of speaking her mind. The ripples that rock causes pull more and more of her family into the drama that ensues.

I loved Frankel’s characters (especially 10-year-old Fig) and the strong family ties demonstrated. I enjoy her writing style because she is wordy in a good way. (Imagine the Gilmore Girls delivering the lines.) The combination kept me reading late into the night and eager to return to the story.