Good Evening All,

As per usual, I have a second book review in close succession to my previous. I seem to be in a routine where I finish two books near enough at the same time. Not that that matters at all! Before jumping into my review, thank you to Random House UK and Emily Giffin for this copy of All We Ever Wanted in return for an honest review.

Two families in Nashville have a lot in common but are different in many ways. The Brownings are amongst the richest in Nashville after Kirk Browning sold his company and made them a fortune. Their son Finch has never known a different lifestyle but his mother Nina wasn’t raised with such wealth and questions if she has lost sight of what is really important in life. On the opposite side of town, Tom Volpe is a single father, raising his daughter Lyla in the best way he knows how. However, through all of the struggle, they have managed to get a scholarship for Lyla to attend a prestigious private school; and so the families are aligned. A photograph taken at a drunken teenage party spreads through Windsor school and soon shakes the worlds of Finch, Lyla and others and both families are forced to question their values, morals and who they are.

This my second Emily Giffin book this year and I have always liked her previous books. I have to say, I liked this book, but I didn’t LOVE it. I’ll admit, this may be a timing issue and not so much the book itself. Whilst reading I couldn’t stop thinking about the Netflix series Thirteen Reasons Why and how the story seemed similar in many ways. So naturally, I was constantly comparing the two and unfortunately, Thirteen Reasons Why crossed my path first!

Lyla’s character confused me a little bit as I never quite knew where I stood with her. She seemed like a typical teenage girl throughout most of the book and then she took quite a sudden turn towards the end. So much so, I didn’t quite recognise the character I was reading about.

Nina and Tom were lovely characters with good hearts. I was routing for something more from these characters and their relationship, however I fully realise that that would have totally distracted from the main thread of the story.

I don’t mean for this to sound like such a negative review. I did enjoy the book and found it to be quite easy going and easy to read. However, given the subject matter, I feel like it could have been taken a step further and tugged harder on the heart strings. If you haven’t watched Thirteen Reasons Why and have no idea what it’s about, I’d definitely say give this book a try and you may feel very differently about it.

😍😍😍😫😫