I have read a lot of favorable things about this book, but I rather struggled with it. The story is about India Allwood, a famous Broadway, screen and TV actress who places her first two children for adoption, the first when she was a senior in high school and the second when she was a senior in college. Later in life, she adopts 4 year old twins. Some of her life choices influence the way that the public sees her. and the paparazzi makes it more difficult.

I liked the book's focus on different kinds of families. I also liked the fact that although India gave up her children for adoption, she was still vehemently prochoice. The children in the story are interesting and in their own way, lovable.
I wasn't' crazy about the way in which the story dragged at time (in all, I think the book was too long), and I found the ending anticlimactic.

#netgalley

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audio!

I loved this book!! Laurie Frankel is such a great storyteller. The storyline was great and I enjoyed the characters. The narrator did great also!

I am always going to be excited for a new Laurie Frankel book — she writes about tough topics with (what seems like) ease, and creates characters that stay with me for a long time. Family Family tackles adoption, something she has experience with as an adoptive mom, and what “family” really means. I loved the focus on India, and the peeks into what other characters were thinking (but I will say that Jack’s commentary about his birth mother and the model minority myth struck me as out of place and a little …off). The book was imbued with so much love and the story kept me wanting to keep reading until I closed it with a happy sigh.

I have said this many times since I first read This is How it Always is, and I will say it again... Laurie Frankel is INSANELY UNDERRATED! Too many times I read literary fiction and don't enjoy it because it feels forced. I hate it when an author sacrifices humor or relatability in a novel in the name of making the story seem high brow. Frankel manages to write about heavy topics such as adoption, teen pregnancy, and LGBTQ issues with respect and candor, but also humor and relatability. It's February and I feel certain this will be my favorite book of 2024.

Dear Family Family,
Oh, my heart! I don't know how Frankel did it, but she managed to write about so many dark, deep and uncomfortable topics with such a perfect sense of lightness. I absolutely loved the family in this story, and sprawling and unconditional and quirky as could be! All of your different voices came together in such a great combination, sometimes a cacophony and sometimes in such beautiful harmony. As the family grew and grew, adding more layers to their complexity, I fell more in love with each of them. You approached the idea of cancel culture, adoption, abandonment, trauma and everything else packed inside your pages with charm, and easy, but still with depth and so much heart.

Not all adoption stories are tragedies. This was such a great read! It was full of witty, fun, and always emerging characters; the choices we make that are right for ourselves; and family - all the found family that we might not even think about.

I have been fascinated by adoption my whole life. As a child, I read any book about adoption I could find. Adopting a child was a bucket listen item for me… one that the chaos of three children has unfortunate struck from the list. All the to say, this book sounded like it was right up my alley.

It was a very sweet story. I love that Frankel had a positive experience, and wanted to be sure more of those positive stories were out there. The book was full of endearing characters, and it worked well on audio.

For me, personally, I tend to prefer more than just a sweet story. I like character development and getting to know the inner thoughts of those going through big life things. If you’re looking for a feel good story, then absolutely read this one.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley and Laurie Frankel for an ARC of this audiobook.

3.5 stars

This is my first audiobook through NetGalley. I enjoyed the narrator. The story was great too. I would recommend this book to other readers. Great book cover as well.

There is something so special about Laurie Frankel. I always love her characters, and she has a particular knack for writing fascinating, precocious children and crafting youth dialogue as well. Laurie also writes what she knows, and this story of adoption and family is close to her heart. Family Family highlights that adoptive families are not always painful and full of strife. Instead, they are complicated and nuanced like all families.

Laurie Frankel does it again! I have loved her two previous novels and, while it took me a bit to get hooked on this one, I loved it just the same; in fact, it may now be my favorite of her novels. An absolutely gorgeous, and beautifully written, story of found family and the ways in which family = in whichever form it may take - finds us, bonds us and, sometimes, breaks our hearts. While I do not have any personal experience with it, I can only imagine that this is a fantastic representation (based on the author's experience, as shared in the author's note) of adoptive families - both adoptive and biological parents, children, other individuals involved in the process - and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Highly recommend for fans of stories by authors like Ann Napolitano, Kevin Wilson, and Angie Kim.

Side note: the audio narration is fantastic!!

Wow! Laurie Fankel is such a beautiful storyteller. She has a way of bringing each of her characters to life vividly. You feel their emotions and are on the journey with them each step of the way. Though the back and forth between characters and timelines in this book felt a little chaotic, it matched the energy of the main character India well. Very enjoyable and thought provoking read. Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC of this book.

Another great family story by Laurie Frankel! This book wrapped me up in a feeling not unlike a cozy blanket.

This story follows India throughout and she’ makes for some interesting storytelling. There are parts of her adult life that are a bit slow, though help the character development of both India and her children.

The last third is very compelling and heartwarming and I didn’t see the end of the story coming. Great book that I thoroughly enjoyed.


Copy of the audiobook provided by NetGalley + Henry Holt & Co. but opinions are completely my own.

Writing: 5/5 Characters: 5+/5 Plot: 4/5

I loved absolutely everything about this audio book — the story, the writing, the characters, and last but definitely not least, the audio book reader.

This book follows India Allwood along two intersecting timelines: from precocious and unintentionally pregnant teen to TV super star and the weeks following a media storm raining down on India following her truthful comments about her recent movie’s position on adoption. You see, India has quite a personal relationship with adoption, having placed her baby with a family she specifically selected. On the other hand, the movie she stars in (and most of the way she sees adoption portrayed in the media) focuses only on the negatives: trauma, regret, and pain. When she admits in an interview that she doesn’t think the movie got it right — that adoption can (and usually is) a very good experience for all involved, it seems like everyone on the planet has nasty things to say about her. When her ten-year old twins see what she is going through, they decide that finding Rebecca — the baby 16-year old India delivered and placed — is the answer to all of their problems…

This book is incredibly well-written and covers all sorts of issues pertaining to families, relationships, aspirations, values, and, well, life with balanced and exceptionally articulate interactions, reflections, introspection and dialog. I cannot stress enough how happy I am with high quality dialog like the kind I found in these pages. As an aside, I found it interesting that I really did not take to 16-year old India. I found her to be a pain in the butt. But she grew on me as she grew on herself, figuring more things out, always striving to understand her own motivations and make good decisions, until by the time she was current day India I was ready to be her best friend.

I’m trying hard not to give away the many surprises that pop out along the way — suffice it to say that the pacing is excellent, the revelations are eye-opening and well-integrated in the plot, and I liked every single character in the book (and there are many). While covering adoption from many angles, the author (through the voice of India) is also very clearly pro-choice, with a great scene between India and some right-to-lifers camped out on her driveway seeking a mascot for their cause. The author also shows strong support for non-traditional family units — but again, I don’t want to give anything away… Lastly, some very in depth and illuminating commentary on the life of an actor!

Highly recommended.

"This Is How It Always Is" by Laurie Frankel is one of my favourite books! I was super excited to hear about her new novel "Family Family".
This story focuses on adoption depicted from different types of families. Told in multiple timelines and POV's, it is easy to follow.
This book is about love, parenting and more specifically adoptive family relationships.
Told in a positive light I was captivated by this heartfelt story on what makes a family.
Wonderful narration by Patti Murin.
The audiobook includes an author's note read by the author and a conversation between the author and Audie Award-winning narrator Patti Murin.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

What constitutes a family? What is the wholeness of the family unit? This book explores that idea regarding adoption, parents, adoptive parents and biological parents and all of their roles in the family. This is handled in a really great way. Laurie Frankel does a great job of getting in deep to the emotional aspect of individual lives, her characters become real on the pages.

Family is number one in my life with God right along the side. There is so much to learn from and grow within our own families. No family is perfect, ever, and that is exactly the point of life and the family unit. There is so much to learn from one another. Being a daughter, sister, parent, etc has allowed me to grow and develop in ways that are hard but also rewarding.

I enjoyed this story of these adopted children, a mother who placed her child for adoption and the daily struggles within.

Thank you at MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC of this book.

It took me a bit to get into this audiobook, but once I got into the groove, I couldn’t put it down. It was such a great book with so many layers. I really enjoyed it and have already recommended it to friends.

Patti Murin is the narrator of the audiobook and does a wonderful job with many different characters voices. She has a great voice and is very engaging. I have listened to her narrate several books, and she always does a wonderful job. Bravo!

India Allwood is a famous actress with two children. She finds herself in the midst of a scandal when she speaks out against a movie that she stars in. The movie, about adoption, is full of regrets. India knows that all stories of adoption are not full of pain and regret. She speaks out to a publicist and all of a sudden finds herself possibly jobless and confronting a lot of people from her past.

This novel is really good. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Laurie Frankel is such a gifted writer. Her characters are so real and beautiful and I want to highlight the wisdom they say. Family Family is a story of relationships and all the different ways people can be a family.It's also about choices and forgiveness. The first few chapters were a little confusing with the split timeframe, but once I got into it I could not put it down.

Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of Family Family by Laurie Frankel.

I've come to the conclusion that I'm just not a very good person, which is why this book kind of drove me crazy.

I love the idea of "chosen family" especially when your given family isn't always great, but this was a really messy version of that, which I found to be so sugary and unbelievable that it gave me cavities and a headache from all the times I rolled my eyes.

It's a compelling story, the characters are great, nuanced, all the things. But the story itself was just so over idealized that I couldn't get behind it. Plus, I thought that India, the main character was SO intentionally thoughtless with her actions that she became borderline pathological and unforgiveable to me.

I did like a lot about this book, it's FAR from boring or bland, but the premise made me nuts.

I am absolutely obsessed with Family Family by Laurie Frankel. It is a smart, multi-perspective family drama that focuses on a multiple generations of people interlinked by adoption. It's perspective on adoption was fresh and much-needed, and I loved the changing timelines in the book. I've never read anything by Laurie Frankel, but I'm going to remedy that because I loved this book.

The twists and turns in this one…still on the fence as to whether they worked for me.

I did love the concept of “family, family.” Everyone has it: those members of your family that come into your life through irregular ties or situations. They *are* family and they make your unit that much stronger. The family in this novel is tied together through adoption and it is clear that that connection is very dear to the author.

More than anything, I struggled to believe how little friction there was in this book. BUT that exact element is the catalyst for this book: every adoption story and the family it creates is different and deserves respect.

Love Patti Murin as a narrator!

Thanks Macmillan Audio and Henry Holt Books for the ALC!