I thoroughly enjoyed this book through its emotional roller-coaster ride where four siblings are brought back together after spending three years apart. The title adds to the location and adventure within the boon while also reminding readers of road trips and vacations spent with their own families as well as the quarrels that come along with these trips. The interspersed chapters focused on the past and present were a nice added touch that helped keep the plot moving while also keeping the reader in the know. While I did not expect the text to be this emotional, I loved every second of this book and was sad to see it end.

Jennifer E. Smith has not disappointed me with her books, and while this is not a YA - her normal genre - it has kept the trend alive. I enjoyed it from the very first page, and I had no trouble keeping characters separate and following the flow from past to present and POV to POV. I also delayed reading it, because I really, really didn't want it to end. I've had so few books that have been a really solid and enjoyable read - a 5 star rating if you will - that when I find one, I tend to delay reaching the finish line to drag it out. Which is really funny, because I also want to find out the ending. Jude's surprises were not unexpected, but that didn't matter to me because I liked the story that got us to her big reveal.

Each character is well developed. The four siblings come across as distinct people and their celebrity status isn't really the focus of who they are. Sure, it's part of them and got them to this place, as is their abandonment as children, but it's not their entire being. Even though Annie, the various partners, and the two kids have less page time, they also emerge as characters and are highly likeable.

For me, this was a definite hit. If you have read Smith, I'm pretty sure you'll like this one. But it's not really focused on young adults or romance, so if you are picking it up for that, you'll probably be disappointed. Oh, and I bawled for the epilogue. My kids were worried about me because I don't normally cry over anything.

A multiple POV family drama surrounding 4 siblings by @jenniferesmith
Gemma, the oldest, who took care of her younger siblings,
Roddy, the professional soccer player, his twin
Jude, an Oscar nominated actress, and
Connor, an author and divorced father of two.

Chapters are time jumps from the past to current time. In our current timeline, the siblings no longer speak after the death of their father three years ago. Each gets a text out of the blue from Jude, who asks them to meet for the weekend in North Dakota, of all places.

Jude has just been nominated for an academy award and is dating a hot new actor, Spencer. Roddy is engaged to his boyfriend Winston, and their Valentines Day wedding is upset by him getting the call from a team that wants him to join their roster at the end of his career. Gemma and her husband Mateo contemplate starting a family. And Connor only gets to see his kids, Rosie and Hugh, once a month.

As the story unfolds we learn how extraordinary the family is, what secrets they have buried and how they have come to terms with their childhoods. Their mother, Frankie, while a very seemingly minor character in the book, overall made a huge impact on them. Frankie is a non character with all the influence.

I found the story to be engaging and thoughtful. Good character development. If you like family drama and the relationship between large groups of may be the book for you.

Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse Ballantine for the ARC. Book to be published April 15, 2025.

#netgalley #bookreviews #booksbooksbooks #bookstagram #booktok #funforthewholefamily

I love a good family drama, and this one did not disappoint! I liked the flashback chapters and how the author told the current chapters from different characters’ points of view. I would’ve liked a little more of Gemma’s story, but overall I felt like I got to know the siblings and I was rooting for them the whole time!

Such a deceiving title. This book is good, but I wouldn’t describe it as fun in any sense of the word. This book was heavy. The story is following 4 previously close adult siblings who had a falling out years prior over some unresolved childhood trauma. Fun, right? In an effort to reconnect and confess some secrets, Jude convinces her two brothers and sister to join her in BFE North Dakota. The family used to take road trips with their mom when they were kids and Jude is trying to recapture some of that. A major snowstorm and stress of their own secrets causes blow ups and break downs. This story was interesting in that you are trying to guess the secrets. Once everything comes to light though, it’s a little meh. The epilogue was fantastic and really brought emotion that was needed throughout the story. I shouldn’t have read on my lunch break because I was crying during the epilogue. This is a 3.5 stars rounded to 4 for me.

Thank you Random House Publishing - Ballantine for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Every family is complicated. This book tells the riveting story of the Endicott family.

Each of the 4 children bring so much heart and brazen honesty to their characters. I could feel their happiness. I could feel their pain. I could feel their conflictedness. The author, clearly, wrote from a place of great depth.

It's always humbling to read a story and to be able to relate so deeply to parts of it. I haven't felt that from a book in a while. This one will stick with me.

I highly recommend this book!!!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is an adult novel of four siblings and their unbreakable bond. Told in lots of flashbacks, we learn of the things that have forged them and tried to pull them apart. A distant father, a mother who came back once a year to take them on road trips, and the pressures of their own careers and life choices. They meet up in North Dakota, each carrying their own roller coaster of emotions – wanting to be close again but still angry over things that have happened in the past. As secrets are revealed, will it bring them closer, or push them farther apart?
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this DRC.
#FunfortheWholeFamily #NetGalley

Fun must be used ironic here because this family had plenty of heartbreaking moments. Perfect book for those who want to feel something! There was really great character development and if you're family is even the least bit dysfunctional, you might find yourself relating to certain situations in this book.

Thank You netgalley for this arc, all opinion s are my own and mine only.
Gun for the whole family is about a disfuncinal family of siblings that follow tradition of see all the states. I don't know that it is FUN but at times heartbreaking. I lived the characters and their development and the I really story. I would recommend.

Heartbreaking and sweet novel about family, forgiveness, and love.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/216522634

I loved this book about the Endicott family. A great ensemble cast, compelling storylines, and a tearjerking ending.

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

The Extraordinary Endicott Family has a motto: No Endicott Left Behind--even though that is what their mother, Frankie, did most of the year when the children were young, except for a yearly road trip. After the death of their parents, Jude Endicott pulls her adult siblings together for a reconciliation weekend stay at a cabin in North Dakota. Jude is a successful actor who has received her first Oscar nomination; Roddy, Jude's twin, is a professional soccer player at the end of his career; Connor has won a National Book Award for a personal novel he has written about his family; Gemma is the caretaker of the group who is awaiting IVF results to see if she will have her own child. The novel is composed of then and now chapters outlining the events of their youth and their current disagreements about what really happened. Fun for the Whole Family is a funny, yet sad novel about families and adult children. Highly recommended for discussion groups.

It is a great story about family, relationships, forgiveness, and growth. Four siblings recount their past, growing up with absent parents and having to parents themselves. Going back and forth between past and present, these siblings have lost touch. You get to have POVs from each sibling, allowing you to decide whether you can relate to that sibling. There was humor, love, and sadness, but the siblings could bring themselves back together to forgive one another. I think this story will be a hit once it is realized, and I would read another one of Jennifer Smiths' books! Thank you, NetGalley, for the e-ARC!

This was such an incredibly profound read for me. The family dynamics and how the siblings navigate life were all beautifully written. The humor was great and as the reader I was feeling the same sadness and hope that the characters were.

This is a beautiful story of four estranged siblings who find their way back to each other. We take a deep dive into who each sibling is individually as well as their dynamics together. I normally don't like novels where there are flashbacks but the author does an excellent job of drawing parallels from the past to the present. Every chapter means something and not a word is wasted in telling this dynamic story.

I loved the family dynamics in this story. It was incredibly well written and heartfelt. The format was unique and entertaining. Great read.

This story grabbed my heart right from the start. Four siblings, two girls and two boys, that includes one set of girl/boy twins, Jude and Roddy, pretty much raised themselves with the love and attention bestowed upon them by the oldest sister, Gemma. Their dad wasn’t around much, and their mother left and only shows up once a year to take the four siblings on a road trip, marking off on a map all the different states they have been to. The four Endicott kids are very close since most of the time they only had each other.
This remarkable heartfelt story went back and forth between decades, when the siblings were growing up, to the present day. Despite how close they were growing up, now years have gone by without any communication. Connor, the oldest boy, grew up and first taught high school English, but his dream was to become a writer. He wrote a best-seller, however, although the names were changed and mostly the situations were changed, his three siblings were angry with him since they all recognized themselves. All of the siblings were successful in their careers, which included a professional soccer player and a movie star.
This is a story of perseverance, forgiveness and love, that encompasses decades. There are serious issues to deal with, a few secrets are revealed, however through it all, they remain family.
I enjoyed this heartwarming story very much; however, I would have been happy if the use of the F word had not appeared so often, or even at all.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All comments and opinions are my own.

this book was great! it made me laugh and it made me cry. this family felt so real and each sibling was a truly unique and well-thought-out character. a constant back in forth between the past and the present in books is usually too much for me but it worked perfectly here. learning how different each endicott sibling is and the experiences that shaped each of them made it so much more compelling. just a fantastic depiction of family, love and forgiveness.

I am so glad that I got this ARC from Netgalley. I enjoyed it from start to finish. It is the story of the four estranged Endicott siblings. The author skillfully weaves their backstory and troubled present. Interesting, Smith, made me love each character. I usually balk at novels with too many people, but Smith proves to me that this can be done with clarity.

Much of the action takes place in North Dakota, with all its discomforts., GRRRR. The family is marooned in a cabin where they are forced to deal with years of crises. It is the invisible character of their absent mother who is the thread that pulls them together, in many ways.

I loved the adults, but I must complement Smith on her perfect portrayal of the 2 youngest Endicotts. I feel like she got them pitch perfect! They just added to my delight!

The plot is well divided into the distinct sibling stories. Thankfully, there is a very satisfying closure, which made this novel perfect.

I highly recommend this novel. Honestly, I think this will be a 2025 bestseller! Again, thank you Netgalley for a wonderful read.

Drama and family relationships explored in an entertaining way! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I was invested from the beginning of this book. The story was written well.