I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was great. It was a very long book, over 19 hours! I’ve always found the Kennedy family fascinating so this was interesting to me. It reads almost like a tabloid at times but held my attention throughout. I was thoroughly entertained and enjoyed learning more about this family.

This was not my favorite book about Jackie Kennedy. The author portrayed her as weak and insecure. It focused on the scandals of JFK’s infidelity, making it read like a gossip magazine. The author made assumptions that most of Jackie’s life decisions were centered around her wanting to do the opposite of what her mother wanted, making Jackie seem spiteful. I felt the author was putting a lot of her own thoughts & negative feelings into the biography instead of keeping it factual. Of all the things I’ve read about Jackie Kennedy, this book gives a very different interpretation of her character.

If you haven’t been introduced to Jackie Kennedy by reading other biographies, I would not recommend starting with this book. If you have read about her before, read this to get a different perspective from another author’s interpretation.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for the advanced release copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Audiobook releases on Jan 16, 2024.

This was a really interesting read! I’ve always found the Kennedys very interesting and I loved learning about Jackie's time during the Kennedy years. I learned so much that I didn’t already know and my heart breaks for everything that woman went through. I knew JFK was unfaithful but I did not realize it was to that level. I was shocked about the amount of risks he took concerning his sex life. While he wasn’t perfect, this book made me respect RFK more and I feel as though he was a very good brother in law to Jackie.

I do feel that for being a book about Jackie there was a lot of focus on JFK as well but I also understand how closely they are woven together. There were also a lot of things that I think the author interpreted for herself such as some of the reasons Jack married Jackie. I plan on reading more books about the Kennedys to see how they compare.

This book shows that it wasn’t really camelot for Jackie.

This was a 4.75 stars for me.

A comprehensive and informative biography on Jackie Kennedy. Mainly centers around her marriage with JFK. I was unaware of the extent of his infidelity. Although this book does mention Jackie’s attempts at overcoming her low self esteem and her behind the scenes arrangements for JFK’s political affairs I wish it focused more solely on Jackie.

The role of First Lady was forever changed by Jackie. While, this book did made me sad for her in regards to her marriage, it also helped me understand her marriage a lot better.

3.5 Stars

Informative biography. The extent of JFK's infidelity was surprisingly worse than I had realized. However, I had hoped the focus would have been more on Jackie.

***Thank you to NetGalley, Barbara Learming, and Tantor Audio for graciously sending me the audiobook to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.***

So I wasn't sure what I was getting when I started this book but in the end I wound up with mixed feelings about it. Where this book was informative and well researched it was a definitely different portrayal of both Jack and Jackie Kennedy from what has been portrayed by books written by Clint Hill and others who had close encounters with the Kennedy's especially Hill who was a secret service agent who protected Jackie and became a close confidant of her. I also felt that there were many instances of conjecture on the writer's part in that she was stating Jackie's most inner feelings and thoughts as if she was a close personal friend. Also where I thought that this book would be more about Jackie it wasn't really. It was just a different portrayal of the Kennedy presidency as well as the indiscretions of Jack. Where this book was informative I it still left me feeling indifferent.

I have read many books about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, as well as books by several of JFK‘s mistresses. Still, this one put into perspective how morally bankrupt and outright cruel Kennedy was to his wife, flouting his affairs without any concern for her feelings. I’m shocked at the fact he had time to be present in between all of his ménage à trois. I have always thought of Mrs. Kennedy as being very strong and I’m sure it was challenging for her in those years to put on a brave face and have to ignore what her husband was doing publicly. I have zero respect for him and I’m not surprised at, the political choices he made during his presidency and his lack of focus on politics with his other "activities.". It was definitely not Camelot!

The prostitutes, women, and drugs - I have no clue how she turned the other cheek particularly while she was caring for her children, pregnant, and trying to support JFK.

I was touched by Mrs. Kennedy’s relationship with her father-in-law even though he has done the same thing to his wife Rose.

I appreciated that the author brought in Harold Macmillan and his similar situation to try and show the reader why Mrs. Kennedy stayed with her husband despite him being dreadful. I also liked that the focal point of the book was Jaqueline as Mrs. Kennedy and not so much the before and after she was that person.

I highly recommend this title if you are a history buff and enjoy a well-researched but not boring account of Mrs. Kennedy during her time with JFK.