Everything Here is under Control

This book was so good! The characters were so well rounded, you felt like you actually knew them! The plot was so good you didn't want the book to end!

O.M.G. I loved the beautifully written book. I was sucked in , and only put it down to get more coffee. It is one you better find to finish. Beautifully written and fully connected.

Filled with the complexities of motherhood, trauma, friendship, and womanhood, I was totally swept into this beautifully written novel. There is nothing like finding a new author to love and follow along with and I can’t wait to see what Emily Adrian writes next.

A very powerful and moving testimony to the complexity of female friendships and motherhood. Beautiful and devastating.

4 stars / This review will be posted at BookwormishMe.com on 14 July 2020 .


Best friends. Inseparable. One boy. Both attracted to said boy. Only one ends up moving to New York and living with him. Carrie is left behind. Carrie who had a baby at 18 and has managed to become a sought after tattoo artist with a beautiful, but strongwilled almost-teenage girl. Amanda. Amanda gave up her hopes and dreams and moved into a dorm room with the boy. Living vicariously through his college years. Amanda, who now at 31 has had his baby.

Everything she ever wanted, right?

Until Amanda flees New York City one day with baby Jack and lands on Carrie’s doorstep. Carrie. Best friend. Somewhat estranged for a while now. Carrie is the only one whom Amanda thinks can help her get through this postpartum nightmare she is living. The boy, Gabe, was left behind in New York City. No idea where Amanda actually is, other than knowing she fled home to Ohio. The question is, will she ever return?

Fantastic story about three people who have been intertwined for years, but have never come to terms with some issues in their relationship. I absolutely loved Carrie. Tough. Determined. Resilient. For me, Amanda came off as rather whiny and difficult, even though I’ve been where she is. Gabe was kind of an enigma. Or maybe that’s just his carefree way of living. No matter, the story is one that links together people and brings a few surprises along the way.

Gotta say, I wish this story would go on. I want to know where all five of these people land in a few years. This is a good one!

This book was lovely, well- written and clever. It was a fierce look at womanhood, motherhood, trauma, and friendship.I enjoyed seeing the change in the characters as they aged.

As a mother, any book about the complexities and emotions of motherhood is interesting to me - Emily Adrian handled this topic beautiful. It was heartfelt, beautiful, and I couldn't put it down. This author is one to watch!

This was a highly readable book. There are a lot of complicated, yet dear relationships throughout the story of two best friends who are trying to balance their relationship with partners and their children. Much of the book takes place in the fictional town of Deerling, Ohio. As an Ohio girl, a lot of the stereotypes rang pretty true without being "preachy". I would recommend this book to family and friends. This was her adult debut after writing two young adult books which I will seek to read.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Beautifully written story about motherhood, friendship and family dynamics. Everything Here is Under Control tells the story of Amanda, a new mother who has a fight with her partner and decides to jump in the car. She shows up at the home of her childhood best friend, Carrie, who she has barely seen or talked to in over 10 years. Their lives were so different that last summer after high school. Carrie had a baby and Amanda moved to New York with her partner. The birth of her son compels Amanda to face the reasons she left Carrie behind and the trauma of childbirth makes her want to repair the damaged friendship. The story is raw, complex and relatable.

The writing style of this is a little different than I am used to but I also feel that it was beautiful. The story feels as if it’s written inside the head of Amanda. I felt like I was listening to her inner dialogue. I fell in love with Amanda’s character because she was relatable in the beginning. As a mother myself, the experiences Amanda had took me right back to those first few months as a new mom myself. The death stares to my partner as they snoozed at 3am. The constant worry that something bad was going to happen. The constant fear you are doing something wrong. Covered in baby spit up, no shower and lounging in sweats while completely exhausted due to sleep deprivation. I think many new mothers can relate. I didn’t really see the main plot twist that happens about halfway through the book but I feel like each character and the experiences they had were beautifully woven together. I don’t want to say much more because I don’t want to spoil the story for anyone but I highly recommend this book. I would also love to see the same story but written from Carrie’s point of view.

http://ramblinhamlin.com/everything-here-is-under-control-review/

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

~Quick Statistics~
Overall: 5/5 Stars
Plot: 5/5 Stars
Setting: 5/5 Stars
Characters: 4/5 Stars
Writing: 5/5 Stars
Memorability: 5/5 Stars

~Quick Review~
I was very skeptical of Everything Here is Under Control at first, but as I read more of the novel I became more and more involved in the story. The novel is a great look into the struggles of motherhood that some might overlook. Overall, the novel is great and I really enjoyed it.

~Other Information~
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Page Count: 272 pages
Release Date: July 28, 2020

There is some politics involving the election of 2016 in the novel, so be aware that the characters might not hold the same political views as you.

~Quick Synopsis~
After a fight with her boyfriend, Amanda decides to take her newborn son, Jack, and pay her old friend, Carrie, a visit. Once she arrives unannounced, she feels a mixture of emotion toward her old and new self, and how her life is right now. She is forced to relive her childhood and friendship with Carrie, events she is not proud of, and events that she is proud of. Between balancing motherhood and her ever-receding childhood, Amanda feels overwhelmed and in need of help from the only person she knows can help her, Carrie.

~Characters~
The main characters of Everything Here is Under Control are all such strong characters. I found myself in love with Amanda, Carrie, Jack, Nina, and Gabe and their various struggles.

At first, Amanda came off to me as self-absorbed and immature, especially when she complains about her newborn, Jack, needing attention from her and his father. Granted, her character growth in the novel made me like her a lot more, but I still found Amanda very snobby and selfish. Even Amanda’s mother points out that Amanda seemed to expect the baby to conform to her needs and life, instead of the other way around. However, Amanda eventually learns to grow up and see that not everything is about her and that she should be grateful for Jack.

Carrie, Amanda’s best friend, had a child with Gabe at the age of eighteen. This ends up leading to many of Amanda’s issues during the novel. Amanda feels that since Gabe had a child with Carrie first, that he loves Carrie more (which isn’t the case), which just makes Amanda and Carrie’s friendship strained for the first half of the novel. Anyways, let me say that Carrie is amazing and probably my favorite character from Everything Here is Under Control. She is so strong and independent, she shows the true power of single moms and how difficult it is to be one. I genuinely love this character.

Nina is Carrie and Gabe’s daughter, now thirteen years old and very politically active for her age. Throughout the novel, Nina is seen putting “Hillary for President” (The story takes place during the 2016 election, but more on that later) signs around her hometown, which eventually gets her home vandalized, yet she still takes pride in her political views. Also, Nina decides to take a picture of a funeral procession displaying the Confederate flag so as to raise awareness around her town of the problems and racism the flag represents. (Good for her!)

The character development in the novel is amazing and made it such an awesome read!

~Writing and Setting~
Everything Here is Under Control has a unique writing style that I really enjoyed. Also, as mentioned before, Emily Adrian brings up issues such as the Confederate Flag being used despite representing racism and a dark time in America’s history, which I commend her for.

The novel takes place in Deerling, Ohio during 2016 (hence the election). The setting actually plays a huge role in the story, inducing Nina’s secrecy in placing “Hillary for President” signs around her hometown, which generally supports Trump in the election. As I said before, her enthusiasm for politics ends up with her house being vandalized by her friend’s sister’s boyfriend, the jerk. Anyways, I loved how the setting actually impacted something in the story, unlike other novels where the setting is just a place, time, etc.

~Plot~
Everything Here is Under Control is very well-paced, I never found myself bored or longing for the chapter to end, instead I was so excited to get to keep reading! I felt that the entire novel showed me an insight into motherhood and how it’s not all fairies and rainbows, but there are actual struggles to being a good parent. As I am not a parent myself, I wasn’t at any point in the novel connecting to the characters on a level of parenthood, but I can see how much of an actual job that being a parent truly is.

Anyways, I really enjoyed the ups and downs of this novel and the character’s fights and apologies, it was so, so good.

~Overall Review~
Everything Here is Under Control was a great novel and I really enjoyed it. It’s characters, plot, setting, just everything is perfect and I really recommend that you read this (even if you aren’t a parent, haha).

The author has a way with words, that is all I can say about this one! Amanda is at a critical point in her life, where she is a new mother that is at the breaking point. Leaving her partner behind, she goes to her old friend, Carrie, that she hasn't spoken to in years. Amanda feels that she needs to revisit her past and understand the relationships there in order to move forward. The author captured the feelings of two people that were close reuniting, but not knowing each other anymore. A lot of women have friendships that they revisit at some point in life, especially now where it is so easy to track down former friends on social media. I really enjoyed the journey of these women.

Amanda and Carrie were BFFs until they weren't. Carrie stayed behind in their small Ohio town with her daughter Nina, now a teen, while Amanda took off for NY. Now, though, Amanda is a new mom who is at sea - things aren't what she thought they would be. SO, of course, she takes off with her son Jack, leaves her partner Gabe, and heads for Carrie. This is the story of how they reconcile with one another and themselves. There are some issues left on the table here, among them Amanda's obvious mental health concerns, but read this as a book about friendship. Think of it as a second chance BFF and focus on the women (although I liked Nina). Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A good read for fans of literary fiction.

3.5 out of 5 👯‍♀️Female friendship tale

'Everything Here is Under Control' tells a story of two BFFs who's lost track of each other's lives somewhere along their way to adulthood. Carrie's got pregnant and gotten birth to a daughter while still in high school. Amanda has been helping her for the first years but right after graduation she left their small Ohio town and moved to NYC with her boyfriend. Several years later, overwhelmed with being a new mother herself, Amanda ran away from her baby father right to Carrie's house.

Reading about the struggles of a new mother reminded me of the first months (weeks? years!?) of my kid. A perfectly written description of her loneliness and postpartum depression made me feel it all. It was especially interesting from her - a responsible adult perspective while compared to Carrie's teenage pregnancy and how she has coped with it.
Another aspect of the book was their friendship and their screwed up relationship that got more complicated when the story unravels. I loved their rough, sister-like bound, and their slow reconciliation.

Overall, I liked this book and appreciate all the characters and their weird ways to handle life. Although I wish to I've seen more mental health advice. Amanda's mental state wasn't acknowledged at all. And while she tried to ask a question if motherhood is always so dark and scary for everyone, the only answer the book offers was that friendship and love would help with that. That's a quite dismissive approach to depression.
If you ever feel like Amanda, please, ask for health. It means not everything is under control.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher Blackstone Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and feelings are my own.

"Sometimes love means making yourself scarce. I know that now."

Carrie and Amanda were two inseparable friends until Carrie got pregnant at eighteen and Amanda decided to escape the claustrophobic town with a boy. Little to no communication happened between the once close friends. That is until thirteen years later Amanda became a mother. Overwhelmed and at odds with her partner, Amanda takes a break after an argument and the first person she thinks of is Carrie. She leaves New York and drives to Carrie's house in Deerling, Ohio, with her baby. What happens next is an exploration of motherhood, both old and new, and a reconnaissance of teen angst.

I loved Adrian's sense of reality and adored her sense of humour. I really liked how she weaved her very intimate story of two women with the small-town politics and the larger US politics of the 2016 elections. The unapologetic honesty about motherhood is a key winner in this book.

My concerns though are that there was a bit too much reminiscing through time jumps, a bit too much telling that perhaps led to too much angst. And that big reveal in the middle of the book, I'm not sure it added up. But I went with it anyway, to the end. And I enjoyed it.

This is such an interesting look into motherhood from two very different angles and it also explored friendships that we lose over time even though we know someone is always there for us. It was written in a way that was easy to comprehend and flowed nicely.

I loved this book. I plan on selling it in my store and having my book club read it. I can't wait to read her other books.

An exploration into motherhood and the friendships between female friends - the second book I’ve read from a similar ilk this year, after Expectation by Anna Hope.

The story felt raw and incredibly perceptive. I don’t think the author chose to hold back any of the graphic details of childbirth and the aftermath (i’m always shocked to hear real accounts of how the American health system works). I liked the relationship between the adults and the children - it was such a complicated yet relatable relationship between Nina and Carrie. Gabe felt a bit generic as a character, ticking a lot of the stereotype boxes, but I think this is done on purpose as it helps the reader hone in on the other relationship. An interesting twist halfway through the book though starts to change your opinions on Gabe, both for better and for worse.

Story wise, it’s very simple. The setting was something I could completely picture - relatable in both the past and present day stories being told. There was a small conversation between Gabe and Amanda via text/messages near the end of the book which nearly killed me in the audiobook with the back and forth with the screen names. Perhaps when the narrator reads audiobook versions of screen messages they should put on different voices rather than reading the screen names - it might help make it sound less repetitive.

I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook version of this whilst I was pottering around cooking, tidying the house or out on my lunchtime walks, and would dip into reading the Kindle version of it alongside the audiobook just before bed. A great story about relationships. Thank you again to NetGalley and Emily Adrian for granting me early access to this book.