The book is well written and interestingly told from several points of view.

The subject matter of teens and how they view their sexuality and social media is uncomfortable. The views of truth and morality added to my discomfort - mostly because we see this every day in the news.

I recommend the book.

All We Ever Wanted is Emily Giffin's newest release and it seems to be a departure from her more lighthearted previous books. This book delves into the world of sexting and the perils of being a teen and the parents of teens in this technology driven world. The families of Tom and Nina become involved in a scandal that rocks their town and involves their individual children. How strong will these parents have to be in order to help their children through this hurdle? Read and enjoy!

This was my very fist book by Emily Giffin that I ever read. She’s now on my author list of books to read. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC. It was such a wonderful book that I could not stop reading. I found myself wondering what would happen next. I did not want this book to end. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a fantastic read and she’s a fantastic Author. If you get the opportunity to read this book please do you won’t be sorry.

📚Arc Book Review 📖 All We Ever Wanted @emilygiffinauthor •
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I haven’t read an Emily Giffin book since Something Borrowed. I wasn’t disappointed with this book. The pace was fast and it I could not put it down. I finished the book in about 2 days. #AllWeEverWanted was such a poignant and relevant read.
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All We Ever Wanted follows the lives of Nina, Tom, and Lyla in the aftermath of a photograph that was taken at a party.
Nina has to question everything that is important in her life, Tom looks outward for help to understand everything while trying to raise Lyla by himself to do what’s right, and Lyla has to deal with figuring out while still trying to fit in and still be happy.
This book really tugged on my heartstrings because in this day an age things like this happen all the time. Trying to figure out how to be happy and to stay true to ones values and family. It showcases the difficulties of teenagers trying to fit in and be well loved even by people who’ve hurt them. And adults just trying to get by. It shows the privilege and racism at its worst and being a Mexican myself, the situation itself sadly seems common.
Definitely pick up this book when it’s available. Honestly so well written and cried my eyes out at the end. 📖
Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book. This was my honest review and I couldn’t be happier.

Emily Giffin has done it again. She has a knack for writing flawed and relatable characters who suck you right in from the first pages. Giffin is also known for writing about moral dilemmas with no black and white solutions., and her latest is no exception.
When Nina sees a picture her 18-year-old son has sent around to friends, she is forced to take a hard look at her marriage and her life choices. Told through the perspectives of Nina, Tom (father of the teen girl in the photo), and Lyla (Tom’s daughter), readers try to figure out what really happened, who is lying, and who is capable of redemption. In the era of #MeToo, the story is very relevant and thought-provoking. I would recommend for high school ages and adults.

All We Ever Wanted is a book about the interconnectedness of all people no matter their social or economic standing. Nina, a woman who appears to have it all, is suddenly confronted with the results of a horrible decision her son may have made one night at a party. Just as bad, Nina suddenly realizes her personal and family integrity may have to come before her personal desire to see her son succeed. She's starting to wonder if she's finally seeing her husband for what he really is and on the journey to discover her son's guilt or innocence, she also must confront her painful past. In this book, we learn that by following what is true and right in our heart, we can never go wrong.

Emily Giffin has done it again! She has written a book I just could not get enough of.

The characters start out seemingly predictable, but that quickly changes. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, I realized I didn't. The characters were well developed and I found myself rooting for all of them at the end. Giffin approached a current social media concerns, presenting multiple viewpoints and exposing everyone who could be hurt'; all while never sounding preachy or dating the story.

Very well written! Would recommend you read it. The story was written from three different points of views. Usually hard to follow when books are like this, but this one was effortless.

I have come to rely upon Emily Giffin as a great summer escape and was surprised by the meat and depth that I found in her latest novel, All We Ever Wanted. Hot off the trails of the #metoo movement, Giffin explores a fictional story of an inappropriate image that is passed around a prep school of a teen girl, passed out and scantily dressed, captioned with a racist caption below the image. At the center of the controversy is one of the most prominent families and their well-respected son who took the picture that could cost him his coveted college acceptance to Princeton. The case must be brought to trial at the school and there are more twists and turns than either of them could ever expect.

This book is EXCELLENT and I finished it in just a day. It would lend itself so well to a book club discussion as we grapple with social media and the sexualization of teen girls. Giffin crafts characters that are believable and layered. She also creates a smart and unexpected ending for this story that I think you will really appreciate.

Although I’ve appreciated Giffin’s books in the past, I have to say that this one is, by far, my favorite!

Whoa - Emily Giffin has become an author that I really enjoy reading. Her first few books left me wondering what the fuss was about (but let's face it - I'm not into reading about cheating). But all her recent books that I have read have me hooked and wondering what will happen next. I cannot turn the pages fast enough!

This story has me so very scared. In the world of social media being king, a picture taken of a passed out girl gets sent around a private school world - and it's one that I am so very afraid of given that I am raising a daughter. The story is told with 3 narrators: 1) Nina - the mom of the boy who took the picture and sent it around, 2) Tom - the father of the girl who had the picture taken of her and 3) Lyla - the girl in the picture. Giffin did very well with changing the viewpoint with each chapter, and making it distinct enough that you knew who was narrating at that time and could seamlessly jump to the next chapter with the different narrator without a problem.

I highly recommend this one for all Emily Giffin fans, and parents raising their kids in the social media age. I know for me, this opened my eyes to things I not only need to teach my daughter, but also my newborn son.

I heard about this book from the Modern Mrs. Darcy summer book club picks. It isn't slated to come out until the end of June. The description had me hooked: something terrible happens among the teens of a private high school in Nashville...how do the parents react? How do the teens react? How would you react?

The story focuses on an incident between Nina Browning's son, Finch, and Tom Vlope's daughter, Lyla. This incident forces the people in the story to sort through their views on what happened and who they will defend.

All We Ever Wanted was told in present tense/first-person narration. The perspective changed in each chapter. This made it easier to understand both sides and watch the characters evolve. Present tense created a sense of urgency. There were moments when I literally could not put it down. I just had to see what happened next and if my predictions were right. Everything in my life shut down until I finished reading.

The story was well crafted and included so many interesting perspectives. At one point, I set the book down and thought how intentional Giffen was in making sure a variety of viewpoints were represented (wealthy, economically disadvantaged, various races, gender, and political views). For a less experienced author, this might yield a cloying moral tale. But Giffen does this seamlessly. I never felt lectured or that she was forcing unrealistic characters into the novel to make a point. Instead, this subtle diversity supported a major theme: there is good and bad in everyone.

As a parent, this was both difficult and timely. I put myself on both sides and gained a new level of empathy for families facing similar situations. Nina, one of the main characters, is a mother dealing with a horrible situation. She's asking herself tough questions and trying to figure out how to move forward. I think I wanted to hate her, but I ended up liking her a lot. Motherhood is complicated and nuanced and Giffen captured that in Nina's character.

"I just can't believe it. What's happening now. The person my son has both slowly and suddenly become."

Giffen also explores how money changes these situations. While Nina notes, "Character has absolutely nothing to do with finances" the reader does have to consider the role money plays (either having it or not) in the way different characters react. Very, very thought-provoking...possibly great book club discussion material.

Even though I related to Nina, the other character's voices were well developed and realistic. I really wanted to hang out with some of them (Bonnie, I'm looking at you). The book was highly enjoyable and I found myself skipping netflix and twitter to read. For me, that's winning. Look for it on June 26, 2018.

I was so happy to have a new Emily Giffin book to read and this did not disappoint although it felt like a little bit of a departure from her usual books. This one did not have a romantic subplot which was fine with me. The main character is Nina-a successful, wealthy philanthropist mother whose teenaged child makes a very unfortunate decision at the beginning of the book. This choice makes Nina take a good look at her life thus far and ask a lot of questions of herself. Along the way, we are also introduced to Tom, a single dad and his daughter Lyla. All characters were well drawn and thoughtful. I think the book simplifies what wealth does to people a little bit but I enjoyed the story as a whole.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House-Ballantine for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Emily had my attention from the start. The way she writes draws you in to the story like you were there participating. That she tackled a current and relevant subject in a way that was tasteful and yet promoting awareness was an admirable feat.

First off, I love Emily Griffin since I read her Something Borrowed series. (yes, that movie but please remember the book is always better) Emily Griffin lives up to her reputation of being an amazing writer with this new novel.

In All We Wanted, Emily brings us a new novel that focuses on family and how outward appearances are different than what we see behind closed doors. We get a look at how family is the center of all things and how it can drive each person differently. We get a good inward look at the fact that sometimes teenagers really don't want to disappoint their families and how they can keep secrets to themselves and keep it all bottled up so to speak.

We see marriage and how it can change us through the years, i.e. financial struggles vs not and how when bad things happen in a family such as a crisis it effects each person differently. 

This story shows us how in the real world things do shape and change us. That sometimes even though we don't want to admit it, race, class, and privilege does tend to play a part in peoples lives. It is ugly and wrong but true.

This book gets told in alternating points of view. it really helps us see inside the heads of each person and their differences and what drives them. The writing was fantastic and had me hooked from page one! Now, i'm just an even bigger fan of Emily Griffin!!
5/5 stars

This is classic Emily Griffin. Descriptive background on characters, engaging plot that unfolds without giving away the ending.

Set in Nashville, which as a Nashville Native I loved, Giffin tells the story of the elite families of Belle Meade. A husband who is old money & new money, marries a girl from a small town. The two have a son who is bred to be a snobby prep school kid with everything given to him. Things come to ahead at a party in which said son does something questionable with a girl who happens to be at the prep school on scholarship.

All We Ever Wanted is told from multiple perspectives, but never difficult to follow. The differing perspectives allow for a unique view at the story and keeps the reader on his/her toes trying to unwrap the story along with the characters.

Amazing writing. Emily Giffin does it again!

Emily Griffin’s newest novel All We Ever Wanted was an thought provoking, page turner. Parents dealing with teenagers and social media issues, was an interesting read. I loved it.

I have read all of Emily Giffen's books and All We Ever Wanted is slightly different than the rest, but still a good read. This is a family drama concerning a picture shared on social media and its repercussions. The story is told with three voices, Nina, whose son is alleged to have posted the picture; Lyla, the subject of the posted picture and Tom, Lyla's father. The truth of what really happened is read between the lines of these characters. It is realistic, thought-provoking book with a lot of social relevance in today's world of #metoo.

This book is why I will read anything Emily Giffin writes . Characters so real you swear you know them and stories that feel so true .

This novel just brought to the surface so many feelings of frustration, and they are well-founded. Nina is in an impossible situation, Tom is trying to hard to do the right thing, Lyla is so confused about what she should do because society has created such tunnel vision on her social stance, Finch (Nina's son) has become someone his own mother can't recognize, and Kirk (Nina's husband) is just about as big of a douchebag as one can be.

This novel hit me so hard because I just finished reading What Happened that Night about a young woman sexually assaulted where no blame was ever founded. Even upon report to the police, she is questioned because she was intoxicated. Really - is that a license for sexual assault - drinking? I can accept that as a woman I do bear responsibility for my behavior and choices, but it sure doesn't mean I deserve to be violated. If that's the rule, a lot more men would find themselves victims. Anyway - point being in this novel, the assault happens in college, which is why the high school incident in All We Ever Wanted hit me so hard. If young men aren't held accountable for their actions with regards to young women when parents are still somewhat in control - college rape is WHAT HAPPENS! It's a progression in abuse.

Finch has made horrible choices that Nina never thought her son could make, and when Lyla is the victim of the choices, Lyla is the FIRST (not the only) to be "found out" due to her photograph in a compromising situation being circulated. Her father Tom, doing his best as a single dad, pursues punishment. I loved the way Giffin created all the characters as so real and raw. Nina struggling to handle her son's indiscretion, and her jackass husband's attempt to "cover things up" for his son insisting he's a "good kid," he just made "one mistake." For. The. Love. Tom's frustration with "the system" and attempting to infiltrate and shut-down the massive money gap that buys innocence whether it's there or not. These two parents, Tom and Nina, of very different children, expose the true struggle of parenting not only in a digital age, but an age where the battle-of-the-sexes rages furiously.

Giffin's novel is strikingly provocative covering difficult topics: child pornography (face it - any picture circulated of a person under the age of 18 that is sexually explicit is child pornography), socio-economic status and the way the rich buy the world whether it's right or wrong, divorce, crumbling family structure, and racial bias.


This novel prompted a strong dialogue between my son and me and it was an opportunity to discuss with him why things like aren't okay or funny or just a joke as many of the novel characters attempt to use as defense for their actions. This behavior is wrong, disrespectful, and cruel.

This novel is a must read for me and honestly I would say read this and then read What Happened that Night directly after and see if you find the same correlation I did.

If you are looking for a quick, fascinating easy read, this book is for you! From the moment the book begins, the characters entice you and you root for them. It is the gripping story of a teenage girl and boy, about doing what is right and living your best authentic life.