Laurie Frankel has done it again. This book is excellent. She is one of the best of telling a complicated family story. She handles issues so delicately but thoroughly. I love the way she weaves all the characters together and explores what it means to be a family. This is going to be on a lot of best books of the year lists.

ARC received from NetGalley. Opinions my own.

I enjoyed “This is how it always is.” Laurie Frankel’s follow up after that? Not quite as much. So I didn’t know what to expect going into “Family Family” but I was sucked in immediately, invested in the characters, their stories, and how their lives were woven together. A captivating read.

A delightful story about the joys and complexities of family. India has been on Broadway and a hit TV show. While facing criticism for her latest movie and how it handles adoption, India impulsively tells a journalist she agrees that the movie could be better. This comment sets off a media frenzy which forever alters the lives of India and her twins.

I so enjoyed this! The story unfolds in a lovely and well-paced way and there are many surprises. India was compelling and lovable and the other characters are just as memorable and add to the plot.

Thank you very much to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

I was not a fan of this book. It did not keep my interest and took me many time to complete. I think the characters were a bit flat and didn't enjoy the story line.

India Allwood dreamed of being an actress, but she suddenly becomes the media’s focus when she criticizes her latest film as providing only one version of adoption emphasizing the negative. “Family Family” by Laurie Frankl is a heart warming and life affirming story of adoption and that not all stories of adoption are about trauma and regret.

Frankl does a great job at diving into each one of her characters and creating a fast pace engaging novel that was hard to put down. It is a complicated family drama where family is truly more than blood. Overall a great read.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #HenryHoltandCompany for this #gifted ebook.

This insightful, engaging, heartfelt novel explores the meaning of family through multiple perspectives of adoption. This fresh take on what makes a family is both subtle and nuanced, inspiring introspection and excellent conversation with fellow readers. Featuring dual timelines, with steady pacing and very quotable passages, this book also mixes in just enough witty banter to be completely delightful. Family Family will be in my top ten of the year. 5 stars!

Once again, Laurie Frankel does it. This is a beautiful story with the perfect title of "Family Family". It's about a woman and her life and dream to be an actor that gave me such a boost of love and peace and acceptance and insight into things I didn't know much about. Throughout the book, I found myself, at times, holding my breath because the moment was so beautiful and complex and beautiful. Book discussion groups take note: Add this one to your list - so much to share and discuss and learn for a group. Together. Lots of takeaways in this book but one I may start immediately is always having a pocketful of ripped up paper because you never know when you need confetti to celebrate something wonderful.

So the fact that a few stories about adoption are the only ones that ever get told seems like a problem to me.

from Family Family by Laurie Frankel
For a hilarious, joyful read, this novel’s intent is serious: to rewrite the adoption narrative. These wonderful, complicated, messy characters have made complicated and wonderful choices.

India Allwood was seven when she saw her first Broadway show. She dedicated her life to forging an acting career. Nothing was going to get in her way. Not the fact that she couldn’t sing, or wasn’t the most beautiful person around. Not love. Not a teenage pregnancy. Putting a career first meant giving up her baby and losing her true love. But she knew the adoptive parent was perfect, that she had given joy to someone who wanted to be a parent, and had given her baby a good life, and given herself the freedom to follow her dreams.

Years later, India has adopted twins and has a cult following for her television show. But there is blowback for her portrayal of a pregnant teenager in a movie made during the Covid pandemic. It threatens to end her career.

Her children, though, have set into motion a series of events that are revelatory and healing for all involved.

It’s all about family and ‘family family’, how love is not always enough, and how adoption can be joyful and positive. It’s about the challenges of parenting and growing up as an adopted child, and how a decision that can be right for a child affects the parents. It’s about love, and the limits of love, and how love sustains and never ends.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book.

I loved this novel. The exposition of a modern day family! I didn’t agree with a lot of the main character’s choices but it was such a compelling story. It took me a bit to realize the connection between the two timelines. Frankel has a matter of fact writing style that allows you to understand her characters through all of their actions. I really appreciated the depth to India’s character and all of the contrasts between her younger life and her older life. The choice of Fig as a narrator for a chunk of the story was interesting. I would have also appreciated Bex’s perspective.

How am I so lucky to have a 2024 favorite already!

Family Family… where do I even start?! My reading experience was superb… I haven’t read this author before but have heard great things! Also a PNW local… the cover immediately grab my attention as well as a short blurb about adoption and it being a family drama.

With short chapters alternating time periods and constant jaw dropping bombs throughout. I highly recommend going in with very little info. I think not reading the synopsis made the surprises sprinkled throughout more… OMG WOW… I MUST KEEP READING.

Adoption is a theme I gravitate towards. My mom was adopted and it’s been a journey finding out info and much like what happens in the book everyone has a different journey and it’s just so refreshing to read stories like these.

Also make sure to read the authors powerful note at the end. 🧡

This book was an amazing story about what it actually means to be a family. Yes, it's a book about adoption but not your typical "bullshit representation" of adoption to steal a line from one of the characters. And it's not JUST a book about adoption. It's a book about choices, about how wonderful it is that we have choices when it comes to starting a family or not starting a family and sometimes the way we start a family isn't necessarily how we thought we would. The story of India Allwood and Jack and Fig and all of the other quirky characters that make up their family will stick with me for a long time.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publication date is January 23, 2024,

Thank you for giving me the chance to read this fantastic book! I adore Laurie Frankel's story telling and characters and find myself needing to know what happens next. This is another wonderful and enjoyable story!
A solid read, and will be a great addition for book clubs. Thank you again!

An outstanding 5 stars!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for allowing me to read an ARC of Family Family by Laurie Frankel in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely love Laurie Frankel's writing style. It feels almost like I'm with the characters, and listening to their thoughts and dialog.

Laurie tackles tough subjects and gives them life and makes them make sense (does that make sense?). I feel as though I not only learn more, but I also feel more through her stories.

Family, Family is enchanting, engaging, amusing, and amazing! I loved India in all her forms, and India's family family is perfection!

I would like to thank Henry Holt and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC.This is a difficult book for me to write about. There are several time lines and story lines, all intersecting. It starts with a woman named India Allwood. She is an actress who has 2 adopted children. The story begin in 2020, during covid lockdown. India has been in a film about adoption and has been criticized for the film by a group of people who feel it wasn't a true portrayal of adopted children and the parents who placed them. India tries to respond and creates more problems , and finally criticizes the movie itself. India's adopted daughter , Fig tries to help, with semi disastrous results. As we find out in the flashbacks to India as a High school student, she became pregnant her senior year and placed her child for adoption. This is only part of the story, and I do not want to give away any spoilers. On one level, it was an interesting story based on the adage of the family we choose, as opposed to the one we are given. It is also , to me any way, confusing and meandering. I liked the ending, and the characters for the most part.It just was long and convoluted for my tastes.

Bravo to Laurie Frankel who wrote a fun-loving novel about adoption, the definition of family, race and culture, and how we can all be better humans if we just love each other.

Frankel takes us into the life of India Allwood. We first meet India as a young woman living with her single mother through her life as a well known actress living in California who is known for her character on a hit tv series. India has done what to some people is unthinkable, she got pregnant and gave up her child for adoption when she was a teen. And guess what? She did it again.

As she decided later that she wanted kids, she adopted children, and they were a different race. The story takes a crazy turn when her fans take umbrage to comments she makes criticizing a film she did about adoption which she was meant to be promoting. These comments set off a giant media storm, which leads to a release of her private information, and a personal tsunami . The story follows the aftermath and how it galvanizes her children, all her children, to act on her behalf.

I don’t want to spoil all the ins and outs of the book, but essentially the book is a positive take on adoption and what family means to India. In her view she has always done the right thing and came from a place of love even if it was crushing to her at the time.

The writing is quick paced, easy to digest and makes for an enjoyable read. Characters are well drawn and likable. I could not put it down. I think that Frankel gave us a great many things to think about, and she succeeds in opening up my eyes to what a family can be.

Laurie Frankel has such a gift for crafting social issues into compelling novels. With her storytelling, she presents a perspective that is unique and yet totally accessible. In Family Family, adoption is the main topic, with the story told from different voices and shifting timelines.

India Allwood is a young woman with a strong sense of who she is and who she wants to be. She makes choices that are unusual but totally in character. Family Family has several strong female voices who all contribute to the novel. The book has an important message and told in a way that keeps the reader engaged from the very start all the way through to the Author’s Note.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Holt/Macmillian publishers for the opportunity to read this digital ARC.

Laurie Frankel seems to write as a form of wish fulfillment: she creates, on the page, the world she wants to see, the one she hopes for for herself and her family. This time she’s writing about adoption, something she knows intimately as an adoptive parent herself. I loved this and can't wait to talk about it with everyone I know—especially because this is a book that BEGS to be discussed!

I loved everything about this book. The imperfect characters were perfectly delightful and written with nuance and care. Frankel took the topic of adoption and presented its many beautiful facets, acknowledging the truth in the prevailing narrative, but gorgeously illustrating another set of truths. I wish I could read it again for the first time.

FAMILY FAMILY was downright delightful. Laurie Frankel is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. This is the third novel I've read of her's, and by far the best. It is surprising, witty, heartwarming, and has a propulsive plot. This is for sure going to be a massive hit next year.

This is a book about adoption. But it's not full of trauma, or sadness, or broken lives. Instead it's about love, purpose, and, most of all, making your own family. India Allwood, a famous actress, has had an interesting journey to get to where she is now - the single mother of two adopted kids. But when she makes a movie about adoption that is criticized by the community, her unexpected past is revealed in fun and delightful ways, and we learn more about why the movie is meaningful to her.

The book has a plot that I believe is best to dive into without knowing much about. I had such a fun time going on India's ride, and fell in love with her as a character, as well as her family. If adoption stories are important to you, this is a MUST READ. If you love a fantastic literary fiction book with a great cast of characters, most heartfelt and zany, than this is also a must read. I can't wait to see what else Frankel has to offer in the future.

3.85 Stars - Rounded Up to 4.

"Sometimes less is more, but not with family. With family, more is more."

Overall, I really enjoyed this heartwarming story about adoption and family. I read Laurie Frankel's book "This Is How It Always Is," and I was looking forward to the strong character development and simple yet thought-provoking writing style that hooked me in the last book I read of hers. I appreciate how Laurie Frankel humanizes hot-button issues in an impactful way. For the most part, she delivered. I thought India was a powerful character and I was instantly hooked by her story. Although I am not a mother and have little experience with adoption, the author's note put a lot of perspective on the story for me. However, I think that the "more is more" approach should not necessarily apply to the plot. While I was really into India's story, I thought that the 3rd person POV coupled with switching timelines made the overall plot disjointed at times and it was harder to get to know the characters in greater depth. I also thought that the book took me longer to get through than I would have liked - I think parts towards the end describing the longevity of the kids' travel could have been cut for length.

I think this book is definitely going to be talked about in 2024 and will be a strong contender for book club picks. I Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC, and I look forward to discussing this book with others!