FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY by Jennifer E. Smith is an engaging story about four siblings who were once close—a united front against mostly-absent parents—but who have let three years go by with barely any contact. Can a weekend in North Dakota in the dead of winter heal the rift? The siblings’ stories are riveting—poignant and raw—and secrets that are revealed can either bring them back together, or cause them to stay apart for good. I was completely invested in all of their lives, past, present and future in this beautiful novel of love, family, healing, and connection.

The. Four Endicott children spend one week each year with their estranged mother on a fun trip to different states. Gemma, the eldest, has virtually raised her siblings in the absence of her mother, and a father who is gone for work. Connor, the oldest brother, has become a famous author. His bestselling book is a thinly disguised story about their family, which has hurt them deeply. Roddy, is a professional soccer player, who is a poster boy for gay athletes. His twin, Jude, is a famous actress nominated for an academy award.
After a three year estrangement, Jude mysteriously summons them to North Dakota for a weekend reunion. As the siblings learn about long held secrets which have affected their lives, they also learn about the power of forgiveness, and familial ties that will bind them forever.

I love the way Smith crafts her stories. In this case, she has us moving back and forth in time to different family vacation moments/pivotal episodes that have a bearing on the in between modern day scenes. Four close-knit siblings all the way through childhood, now all adults, but have been separated for 3 years and not communicating with one another. Until ....one of the youngest summons them all to meet her for the weekend. In adulthood, three out of the four have become quite famous, which adds an interesting layer for the reader, and some complications for the family. The characters are well drawn, fully formed. They storyline is compelling. The shared childhood trauma is portrayed realistically, and the love for one another runs deep. (Would've been 5 stars, but one sibling storyline was just a tad too melodramatic for me.) Mostly upbeat, but sensitive readers check for trigger warnings.

I love a family drama and the story of the Endicott siblings did not disappoint. After three years apart, sisters Gemma and Jude and brothers Roddy and Connor reunite on a spur-of-the-moment trip to North Dakota, where old hurts are rehashed and family secrets revealed. The siblings are finally able to reconnect and move forward instead of reliving the past. All of the characters were fully developed and had their own backstories and challenges to face in the present. This book was more emotional than I thought it would be, but I really connected with it, and cried through the epilogue.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Random House/Ballentine Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Family secrets, sibling comradery, and roadtrips through the U.S. is the perfect concoction for this moving novel.

Fall in love with Gemma, Connor, Jude, and Ronny with me! Each character is such a delightful entity. Their shared history makes for some heavier subject matter, but is explored in such a tender way. Abandonment and a traumatic fire set the stage for some great character development. The Exceptional Endicotts face the reality of their trauma and grief through reconnection. I loved interwoven timeline. The pacing is really special here. Even the additional characters are so great!

Grab tissues and be ready to feel all the things!

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for this ARC!

one thing about me is i’m going to read any and all books about sibling relationships and dynamics. fun for the whole family definitely did not disappoint.

though each sibling is extraordinary in their own way, the strain and love between our four main characters was ordinary in a way that was so real and so raw.

highly recommend picking this up if you are a human being (especially one with siblings).

thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this story, it was engaging and thoughtful. It was a little hard to follow at times with all of the different POV and alternating timelines. Overall an enjoyable read.

What a gem of a book. I loved it. The four Endicott siblings—Gemma, Connor, Roddy, and Jude once inseparable haven't spoken for three years. I loved each character so much, and was rooting for them the entire time. It's warm, funny, and bittersweet. Two big thumbs up.

Thank you for the advanced reader copy Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books & Netgalley.

I love family sagas like this. At times, I was a little annoyed with the millenialism but for the most part it was great. It was quickly paced without being a thriller.

What I thought would turn out to be a happy-go-lucky book about a large family turned into something much deeper; a story of love, truth, and heartbreak. There are 4 Endicott siblings who turned out to be completely different.
Gemma- trying to find her place as a mother,
Connor- a novelist and recently divorced dad of 2.
Roddy- a semi-retired soccer star.
Jude- a Hollywood starlet.

The once close family drifted apart until years later Jude brings them back together again. The whole family has been summoned to North Dakota. Why? Only Jude knows.

As the family reconnects and secrets unravel, you'll be taken on the journey of a lifetime. Fun for the Whole Family kept me guessing, and is a book I will not forget.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read, "Fun for the Whole Family", by Jennifer E. Smith. To say I loved this book would be an understatement. This is a book that kept a lump in my throat and broke my heart at the end. This reading experience will stay with me forever.

This was an excellent book! I do love a slightly dysfunctional, comedic book about four siblings who haven't seen or talked to each other in three. years, and sporadically before that. They all gather in a cabin in random North Dakota for a weekend of mishaps, healing, and new beginnings. I did love all the siblings and their families / friends as side characters, especially the hilarious niece and nephew. The ending made me tear up, which I think is always a good sign that I liked something a lot. Highly recommend!

Jennifer Smith has achieved a fast, fun, and moving family drama that I could see being a big title this summer. A famous Hollywood star named Jude invites her estranged siblings for a weekend trip to North Dakota. There, they reconnect and unearth some family ghosts. Told in alternating timelines, it explores how sibling relationships can fizzle away but ultimately find their way back. It's not particularly deep or earth-shattering, but will certainly scratch an itch for a reader who wants something quick and entertaining.

Jennifer Smith’s latest novel took me by surprise and I loved it. The plot kept building with each chapter. I found it hard to put it down. This is a story about family. About interpersonal relationships between siblings who persevered through their challenging childhood.

This novel will make you re-evaluate what’s important in life. The cast of characters were very well developed and nuanced. I found this to be endearing, heartbreaking and exactly what I needed to read at the moment.

I’m excited to read her previous books.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Jennifer E. Smith’s "Fun for the Whole Family" is a heartfelt novel about four estranged siblings reconnecting after years apart. Each of them is at a turning point in life, dealing with personal struggles that make their reunion both complicated and necessary. Their childhood was shaped by their mother’s unpredictable nature, and as adults, they are still untangling what that meant for them.

The story moves between past and present, showing how their shared experiences shaped them in different ways. Smith captures the complexities of sibling relationships with warmth and honesty, making the tensions and love between them feel real. The novel explores themes of forgiveness, identity, and the way family history lingers in unexpected ways. It is a moving, character-driven story that reminds us how family, no matter how fractured, always remains a part of who we are.

This was a surprising delight of a book. Four siblings, Gemma, Jude, Roddy, and Connor, haven't spoken in years. Jude is an Oscar nominated actress, Roddy a professional soccer player, Connor an award-winning writer, and Gemma, the oldest one who took care of them over the years.
They live all across the country living their own lives. Until Jude sends a text out of the blue asking each of them to join her in North Dakota. They had a challenging childhood with their parents. Their mother would show up every summer and take them on a vacation to different places around the country and they dutifully marked off their adventures on a map. But then a terrifying incident split them apart from their mother, and later, apart from each other. This reunion is designed to bring them back together as a family and acknowledge the secrets of the past.

Interspersed with the present day storyline were chapters of their travels with their mother over the years. As someone who loves to travel, I enjoyed those snippets in the book. But the main storyline kept me intrigued. Each character had sufficient development and attention in the story while the author still built tension within their relationships because of the secrets being kept.

If you are looking for a good family story with strong character development, multiple points of view, multiple timelines, then this book is for you. It's full of emotion, tension, secrets, yet at the heart of it all, love.

Thank you to Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read and review.

United States Publication: April 8, 2025

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this advanced reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.

The Extraordinary Endicott siblings—Gemma, Connor, Roddy, and Jude—grew up bound together by an emotionally and physically absent father and a mother who only showed up in their lives for three weeks out of each year to road trip with them around the USA in a quest to visit all 50 states. But one summer, a near-death accident put a stop to their summer road trips with their Mom, and that was the last time any of them ever saw or talked to her. Fast forward to the present day, and it's been three years since the Endicott siblings saw each other or even spoke to one another. What happened to this tight-knit group of siblings to fracture the bond they have always had? When each of the siblings gets an invite/plea to join the others for a weekend of, hopefully, reconciliation from Jude - they all agree, recognizing too much time has passed, and if any more time passes, the regrets will only cause a deeper fissure. Jude has a meticulously planned itinerary, but North Dakota has a mind of its own, and a snowstorm derails Jude's plans. Well, almost all of her plans. Before reconciliation can happen, Jude has a few last secrets to tell her siblings, hoping these secrets won't end the Extraordinary Endicotts.

Smith switches back and forth between past and present to tell the story of the Endicott siblings. As the book progresses, we discover what happened all those years ago that ended the summer road trips and their relationship with their mom. We also learn what fractured them three years from the present day in the book and how each sibling is processing the attempt at present-day reconciliation. The quest to visit all 50 states started strong but ended up underdeveloped. I would have liked more about that part of the Endicott story. The one *complaint* I have isn't new or specific to this title. Family units comprised of brilliant, uber-talented people with success coming out of their ears. Can we just get a story about a family of ordinary people who have an extraordinary way of connecting with each other? I enjoyed this title; it was my first experience with this author, and I'm open to trying her other titles.

** spoiler alert ** I was incredibly excited to read this book and mostly did enjoy it! That being said, what I think was supposed to be a plot twist I saw coming a mile away and the ending was a huge bummer. I am someone who is usually okay with sad endings, but I actually didn’t feel like this one added very much to the plot or the emotional experience of the book. It felt like it was there just for shock value, in the last ten pages. I would still probably recommend this book to a friend, but with pretty big disclaimers.

Thank you Random House- Ballantine and Net Galley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 ☆

Fun for the Whole Family is a book deeply rooted in family, forgiveness, old wounds, and healing. Four estranged siblings in vastly different situations come together when Jude summons them to North Dakota. A dual timeline gives glimpses into the past to shed light on the present and this boils over to make an emotional reunion.

I overall enjoyed the book. There was a depth to each character and a realness that leaps from the page. The heavier topics in the book were handled with grace, but trying to reach the climax of this book was slow journey. There were times I felt it dragged a bit or I was a bit disconnected. I’ve read numerous sibling based stories, and a lot of them have started to blend together a bit. This is still a very well crafted book. So whether it’s just this book met me at a time too close to another sibling saga story I’ve read or I just didn’t emotionally connect as deeply as I was anticipating, I still believe in the right hands this book will be deeply loved and cherished.

ARC REVIEW
Fun for the Whole Family
By Jennifer E Smith

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5 rounded to 4/5

Publishing date: 4/8/2025

This turned out to be much different than I anticipated! I went into this with different expectations based off the cover, and didn't really read the summary. Turns out, I really enjoyed it and I think a lot of people will.

The book is based on 4 estranged siblings who haven't spoken in years following their mother's death. They come together in the middle of nowhere, North Dakota. To reconcile? To point blame? Drop some heavy news? You will have to read and find out 😉 But the book does bounce back and forth between the present and past year's so the reader can learn why the family is the way they are with their current dynamics.

It wasn't too heavy overall, but does touch on some heavier topics. It was slow for me to get going, but about mid way it really picked up. The ending was beautiful and that's what bumped my rating to a 3.5 rounded to 4.

Very thankful for @netgalley and @ballantinebooks for the early read opportunity!
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