Another delightful, heartfelt novel by Smith. I think she has a particular talent for writing fully fleshed out characters who have flaws, but who are still very easy to root for and admire. While I didn't take to it as wholeheartedly as I did to "Unsinkable Greta James," I found so much to love about the Endicott siblings.

A tender sibling reunion that is a heartfelt exploration of sibling bonds, long held secrets, and the beauty of reconnecting. Filled with emotional depth, the story peels back childhood trauma and adult regret.
Many thanks to Random House and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was so interesting! It’s told through multiple points of view, with each sibling getting a chance to share their story. The timeline shifts between past and present, which made everything feel layered and emotional. I loved how each perspective added something new, it really felt like a full family story.

character-driven read that explores family dynamics, grief, and growing up in such a real way.

I enjoyed it and glad I read it

Thank you NetGalley and Random House

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I loved this so much. I'm always a fan of stories about 4 siblings (as I am the oldest of 4) and this one was absolutely perfect. I loved all of these characters - Gemma, Connor, Roddy and Jude - as they were so well drawn and felt completely real to me. They were flawed but in such human, realistic ways, and I felt like I was right there with them as they worked on repairing their relationships with each other and confronting the truths about their childhood that they hadn't ever discussed before. This novel just felt like a hug, it was perfect for me.

Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E Smith
#generalfiction

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

This is a great family drama! Four adult siblings. A few timelines as well as a few secrets that need to come out. They've all been summoned by the one sister to a tiny town in the middle of North Dakota. The a snow storm hits. How will they manage to deal with it?

I just loved this book! Definitely recommend!

#netgalley
#randomhousepublishinggroup
#ballentinebooks

This is for sure going to be one of my favorite stories of the year. I grew up reading JES's YA romances. For me they were very similar to Emily Henry's romances. Some of them were stronger on the romance, but they all had deeper literary fiction-esque sub-plots. This was very different from all of the other things I've read by her. This was a literary fiction about a group of close siblings that stop speaking for 3 years, and are randomly all brought together for a weekend. This book does an amazing job at writing the complexities of familial & sibling relationships. The good, the bad, and all the gray in between.
I loved how well developed each of the siblings were, and how there stories all were so incredibly different from one another, while also being similar because of the strange upbringing they had. While I did have a epub ARC, I also listened to an audio I was able to get a loan on on Libby. While the writing is phenomenal, if I were an individual who only listened to the audio, I would be disappointed. The narrator was terrible!
Of course, I can't blame JEB for that, her book was really a great read. One of my favorites of 2025. Highly recommend!

For my friends who like stories about close-knit siblings.

FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY by Jennifer E. Smith

Thanks, @ballantinebooks, for the digital review copy via #NetGalley. (Available now)

“The four Endicott siblings—Gemma, Connor, Roddy, and Jude—were once inseparable, a bond created by the absence of their dazzling, mercurial mother, who would return for a few weeks each summer to whisk them off on sprawling road trips around the country.” Except something happened to their bond and they've been estranged for three years. A weekend in North Dakota helps everything come to light.

I enjoyed spending time with these complicated and fascinating characters, watching them work through their issues with each other and their respective significant others. This wasn't a heavy, over-the-top, dark, deep drama. It was realistic, compelling, and a heartfelt story about a family, about children that basically raised themselves and did a darn good job of it.

I don't think I've ever identified with a book as much as Fun for the Whole Family and with a character as much as I did with Gemma. As the oldest sibling in my own family who was forced to raise my younger siblings and went on to live a relatively peaceful and quieter life, I get it. While none of my family is famous, reading this book was like reading about my life. It was beautifully written and I never wanted it to end.

🎡❤️ Book Review: Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E. Smith ❤️🎡

Looking for a heartfelt, funny, and deeply moving story about family, grief, and new beginnings? Fun for the Whole Family is a beautiful reminder that sometimes the biggest adventures happen when you least expect them.

After a family tragedy, Jo’s life is anything but easy. But when she embarks on an unexpected road trip with her quirky family, she discovers that healing and hope can be found in the most unexpected places—and sometimes, family is the greatest adventure of all.

Tropes You’ll Love:
🚗 Road trip
💔 Grief and healing
👨‍👩‍👧 Family dynamics
😂 Heartwarming humor
✨ Emotional growth

Jennifer E. Smith’s warm and honest storytelling makes this a perfect read for anyone who believes in second chances and the messy, beautiful chaos of family.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#FunForTheWholeFamily #JenniferESmith #Bookstagram #RoadTripReads #FamilyFiction #EmotionalReads #FeelGoodBooks #BookReview #WomensFiction #HealingJourney

I must admit, this one started a bit slow for me. And for a while, I kept wondering where it was all headed and if I would end up liking it. Well, HOT DAMN! This book nearly broke me! This is a book about family, in all its imperfect glory. Families can be messy and complicated, such as the Endicotts.

After being estranged for years, the four Endicott siblings reunite in North Dakota upon the request of their famous sister Jude. While there and engaged in different family activities, we learn about their past, the accident that almost killed one of them and the reason for their estrangement.

I actually find the cover a bit deceiving, if I'm being honest. This story did not feel as lighthearted as the cover suggests. In fact, it had me boohoo crying late into the night. But I absolutely loved it! Having just spent the last week with my two brothers and their families, it definitely felt kind of special at the time. Familial bonds, secrets, forgiveness, reconciliation, love: I AM HERE FOR ALL OF IT!

Road trips are fun for the whole family, right? The four Endicott siblings (who used to be inseparable) have been on many road trips with their mother as she flitted in and out of their lives. But they have drifted away from each other as they grapple with their own issues: Connor is struggling novelist and divorced father of 2, Gemma is the oldest who mostly raised her siblings and is unsure if motherhood is for her, Roddy might have reached his peak as a soccer star but also putting his future marriage in jeopardy and Roddy’s twin, Jude, who is a famous movie superstar who nobody has seen in years.

So, when Jude invites them all on a trip to a remote town in North Dakota, the siblings are intrigued and gather together after years, reliving memories, both good and bad and finding the bond they once had has not disappeared, despite the distance.

This is a beautiful heartwarming story of four siblings who have a bond that not even tine, distance or life’s obstacles can break. They just don’t realize it… until Jude brings together for one more road trip to complete their travels to all 50 states…

I enjoyed this little story that takes place during a short trip in North Dakota but also takes us back to their past and their many road trips with a flighty mother. This is heartwarming with a touch of sadness and plenty of love.

Thank you @ballantinebooks @netgalley for a #gifted advanced digital copy of this novel.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy of this novel.

I really enjoyed this! Well written, entertaining and very engrossing, Fun For the Whole Family is about the Endicotts - Gemma, Connor and twins Roddy and Jude, grew up without parents, A mom who was aspiring actress left her family to pursue her dreams, and a father who worked all the time, Gemma raised her siblings basically on her own. Their mom swooped in to take them on trips during the summer until it ended one summer with a car fire that almost killed Jude.

3 of the 4 siblings became famous, with Gemma choosing a less public life. The novel goes back and forth through time to describe the kids upbringing, a fracture/fight 3 years ago, and the present, where they get together in North Dakota. I don't want to give anything else away but this book was great and I would recommend it to anyone.

Overall, I enjoyed reading it. The time jumps were distracting and confusing at first, but they made sense for this novel and I adjusted.

The foreshadowing was pretty heavy; it was apparent early on that Jude was facing an illness. I was a little confused by her squeamishness at chopping vegetables … I assume a metaphor for surgery?

Characters were decently well drawn. I thought a lot about the Philip Larkin line (your parents, they F you up) when reading this. I read on a family vacation with my 4 kids — how serendipitous. It raised some interesting ideas about pursuing passions at what cost, what does it mean to be extraordinary (and at what cost).

At times, it felt a little cheesy or pat.

Books with a good family or sibling dynamic are auto buys for me! I love family drama dynamics, I can't help it. It was a very well written character driven novel that felt like I was watching a family show (i.e. Parenthood). Felt nostalgic in the best way. I loved how it felt like I knew each sibling by the end, and even from the beginning it felt like I had a good sense of "who" they were. Only reason this was not 5 stars for me (but it was close!) was because I felt like some of the reveals were underwhelming.

This book was so sentimental and sweet. The Extrodinary Endicott siblings and their amazing USA roadtrips will have you laughing, have your jaw dropping, and will 100% have you in tears. This book feels like the epitome of “I wonder if they think of me”. At least that’s what I connected with the most of this book. The parts where the siblings were not in constant communication but would continue to silently support each other was such a sweet addition. This book really wowed me and was a great read. If you love books about family and traveling, you have to pick this book up.

Both serious and light-hearted at the same time, this was an entertaining and often humorous story of a dysfunctional family trying to get through life and find the grace to forgive various transgressions (some big, some small) that they've committed against each other over the years. Despite their pasts, its clear they love each other deeply and have each other's backs no matter what. The story centers around a surprise reunion for the four siblings, where they get to know each other again and hash out their childhood. The characters are all likeable and extremely relatable, and I found myself rooting for all of them! Highly recommend for a great, family-themed read.

3.5 rounded up. This was a family drama about four siblings who come together after having not spoken for a few years. There were some siblings lives/stories that I felt more drawn to than others. Overall, I enjoyed this one but felt that the middle really dragged on and I wasn’t overly attached to any of the characters. I recommend if you’re looking for an emotional, slow burn drama. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

The four Endicott children spent summers on cross-country road trips with their absent mom, whose goal was to visit all fifty states. Now after some years estranged, Jude summons her siblings to North Dakota in February where they will have to face some hard truths, share some secrets, and forgive each other.

This book was funny and heartfelt and heart-wrenching and hopeful and endearing. I adored how this book was told from the four siblings' POV in present day and flashbacks through their childhoods and the fifty states that they visited or lived in.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group | Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. #FunfortheWholeFamily #NetGalley

I'm a sucker for a good family drama and Fun for the Whole Family delivered on all counts - dysfunction abound!

Thank you to Ballantine books and to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Fun for the Whole Family tells the touching story of 4 formerly close knit siblings now in their late 30s/early 40s who reunite for a surprise weekend in North Dakota after several years of not speaking to one another. Smith does such an amazing job of explaining the drama and the family dynamics through each of the siblings eyes and the ways in which this original family (including their deceased parents) have shaped their entire lives.

I loved, loved, loved this book! I was captivated by each of the 4 siblings stories and trials and the author does an amazing job of switching between perspectives and switching between current day and flashbacks. The story is touching and heartbreaking but also heartwarming at the same time while never feeling too bogged down in grief or tragedy. This is such a tender portrayal of the ways in which your parents and family shape your life well beyond your entrance into adulthood. I can’t wait to read anything and everything else this author writes.