I finished this book in just a couple of sittings at the beach. It was actually a heavier topic than most of Giffin’s books. I felt like it was very realistic and now in terms of the issue and what happened. I do feel though that Giffin just touched the surface, and it could have gone a little deeper. I liked the way the book switched between Nina, Tom and Lyla. You got to see the story from each of their points of views and know what they were feeling. I didn’t really get attached to any of the characters the way I like to, but they were likeable enough. The ending sort of wrapped up a little too quickly for me, leaving me wanting something more from the book.

Bottom Line: I think Giffin fans will appreciate this book for its heavier subject matter. This was a quick and enjoyable read.

**I received a copy of All We Ever Wanted from Netgalley in exchange for me honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

Wow what a book that kept me on my toes with twists and turns I did not see coming. Nina, a rich housewife, soon finds herself questioning this life she now lives with her husband and son both of whom she learns she cannot trust. Her son Finch finds himself in the middle of a catastrophe and risks losing his place at Princeton. High five to Griffin on this work.

I love almost all of Emily Giffin’s book and this one is no different. I feel it was a turn from her normal tone in that it tackled some serious topics in a fairly realistic way. I am drawn to books that tell a story from multiple points of view and this one did not disappoint.

There are just a few points that stopped me from giving this book 5 stars. I don’t want to give away any plot points but I think some of Lila’s responses and reactions were spot on and some were a little too “mature” for her age. I also felt like some of Nina’s motherly instincts where a little off. While she seemed to have an accurate and realistic view of her son and his actions, I feel like most mothers would struggle a little more with their protective instincts in a situation like this.

All in all another great read by Emily Griffin!

I’d like to thank Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book to read. My review and opinions are completely my own and are not influenced by Netgalley or the publisher.

Wow! This book! It is by far my favorite Emily Giffin read of all time! The subject matter of this book is so relevant to today's world, that I feel this is a must read book for everyone. The events that unfold in this story will have you thinking ab9ut every decision and every story you tell. It was a great read that I highly recommend!

It's been a while since I tried an Emily Giffin book. I was gung-ho Emily Giffin for a long time, but they began to feel so formulaic and the infidelity stories just got old to me. So I was reluctant going into this book. But it looks SO GOOD that I had to give it a try. And my oh my am I glad that I did. Watching Nina blossom into who she was meant to be was everything a reader wanted it to be. Seeing the hoity-toity charity attending new-money wife open her eyes to the mistakes she had made was as painful as it was heartfelt for me as a reader. And oh, her emotional connection to Lyla. And Tom. Everything unfolded as I hoped, but more well-done that I even anticipated. The epilogue was perfection. Which is saying a lot because I despise epilogues.... But this was a true epilogue, the way they are meant to be.
Although as much as I am gushing, can I just say for a moment, that good lord, it is frustrating when the outrageous, clearly wrong character is a raging conservative. I'm sorry, but as a conservative, most "right-wingers" would be appalled at both his behavior and the behavior that he condoned.
That is all. Back to the gushing.

Hard to put this one down! Sometimes our children are not what we had hoped and are leading different lives than the ones presented to their parents. This book deals with some tough topics: privacy in the new world of social media and how families are affected, standing by your belief in what is right regardless of the negative ramifications, teenagers ('nuf said - always drama and turmoil). Griffin handles the intricate relationships in this book with empathy and compassion. The writing is beautiful and absorbing. The characters are believable. Great job Emily Griffin - I really liked it!

I DNF'd 'All We Ever Wanted' around 48%, I couldn't stay invested in the story or the characters and pushing myself to continue was putting me in a reading slump. The writing was good, I've liked a few of Giffin's other books but this wasn't one that I cared for. I read the last 2 chapters and decided that I was done. Thank you to the publisher for providing a digital ARC via Netgalley.

Title: All We Ever Wanted
Author: Emily Griffin
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5

Nina Browning is living the good life among Nashville’s elite. Her husband sold his tech business for millions, catapulting them into the moneyed class, and her son, Finch, just got accepted to Princeton. It’s a far cry from Nina’s middle-class other-side-of-the-tracks upbringing.

Tom Volpe is a single dad who works several jobs trying to raise his independent daughter, Lyla. Since her mom left, he’s been struggling to keep Lyla from following in her drinking and partying ways, so Lyla attends the elite Windsor Academy, her way out.

When questionable pictures of Lyla surface after a party, Tom refuses to let his daughter be victimized, and reports the incident to the principal. Soon the entire school is in an uproar, and Nina is faced with believing her beloved son—even when his story doesn’t always add up—or following her own instincts.

I enjoyed this read about Nina, who on the outside looks like a wealthy wife with nothing to do but charity work, living off her husband’s money and content with the choices she made. But Nina isn’t content, and when she realizes what happened to Lyla, she does what she knows is right, bucking the system and society both, as well as her husband. This was a great read, and it delves into some of the questions surrounding social media use and taking advantage of girls with it.

Emily Griffin is a former lawyer turned best-selling author. Her newest novel is All We Ever Wanted.

(Galley provided by Random House/Ballantine Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Nina Browning, her husband and son are living a good life. The Nashville residents are excited because their son, a great student, has been accepted at Princeton.
Tom Volpe has been raising his daughter, Lyla on his own for several years. Lyla, a smart girl, has a scholarship at Windsor Academy, a prestigious private school that is giving Lyla opportunities she wouldn’t have had otherwise. And sometimes that’s a bad thing.
A party full of underage drinking, photographs taken and posted during the party and several lives are instantly changed.
Can Nina’s son survive the scandal and still attend Princeton? Should he? And can Lyla put one foot in front of the other and move forward through the controversy swirling around her at school?
This book offers a look at a situation that is probably happening even more than any of us suspect.

All We Ever Wanted is a very book of the moment. With the MeToo movement and social media’s effect on how we live our lives, All We Ever Wanted gives us the story of Layla who is at a party when photos of her were taken in compromising positions without her consent. What comes next is how she and the guy who is accused of taking the photos Finch react to what happened and how their parents see things differently than the teens do. Layla goes to rich private school with kids who have everything they could ever want. She doesn’t live that lifestyle, her single dad is doing his best and wanted her to have the best advantage in life so he was thrilled when she got a scholarship but he soon questions if putting her there has done more harm than good.

Nina and her husband live a great life and their son Finch never wants for anything but once they sell their company they have more money than they could imagine and soon Nina starts to wonder if it has changed them. She sees how her husband has changed and is scared if they have given Finch too much. He is spoiled and thinks he is untouchable so when she finds out he is accused of taking pictures of a girl without her consent she is scared she failed as a mom and more worried that her husband and Finch think it isn’t a big deal. Nina knows all too well that this is a big deal and realizes that while she has tried to suppress her past it's about to come to the surface.

I found this novel very on point. I found Nina very compassionate and while she loves her son she wants him to be punished for what he has done. She knows all too well that what he did is a huge deal even when he thinks it’s not. I found the reaction from Finch and Layla were real, teens today have no idea how their actions on social media are very important and that once something is out there it cant be taken back. This made me so mad at times, especially how Layla kept defending Finch because her crush on him made her believe he wouldn’t do that to her. I just wanted to shake this girl silly and scream about what he was doing!
I like how the parents Nina and Tom had a bond from the start. They understood one another and while nothing happened between them there was always something there, and that was so enduring to me. The respect between them was so magical that you wanted them together. All in all, this was one of my favorite Emily Giffin books, after The One & Only. I enjoyed the message and it speaks to what is happening in the world today. It shows us to take our social media habits more seriously and to realize what we do have consequences. This is one novel that is a must in today's society.

Emily Giffin’s novels always provide a sweet escape of a read, and although I thoroughly enjoy them I often think of them as fluff. Not so with All We Ever Wanted. Sure, it’s a highly-readable escape, but I packs a serious punch. This would be a great read for a book club, as there are so many different angles to consider.

Nina Browning lives among Nashville’s wealthy in a tony suburb. Her son attends a prestigious (and expensive) private school. The Brownings have been able to give their son the best of everything, but events transpire that make Nina question whether their life of privilege has made Finch a better person, or a worse one.

Blue-collar single dad Tom Volpe is working hard to raise his daughter, Lyla. Intelligent and driven, she was accepted on scholarship to an exclusive private school populated by the children of Nashville’s elite. Lyla’s teenage rebellions worry her father and lead to a devastating situation where Lyla is a victim.

When revealing photos of Lyla begin to circulate, sent from Finch’s phone, Nina is devastated. Even worse, her husband is determined to do (and pay) anything to brush the situation under the rug so as not to derail her son’s future.

All We Ever Wanted is rich with deep and tricky issues: social media, teenage rebellion, wealth and privilege, and entitlement. I can see having interesting conversation and debate with reading friends on all these things.

If you’re looking for your next book club read, pick this one up. It’s not as light and frothy as Giffin’s previous books, but I think that’s a good thing. You won’t be disappointed.

I always love reading anything by Emily Giffin. She is one of my favorite authors and her books are always must-reads. I’m always left still thinking of the characters after I finish. This book definitely stuck with me, also. I found myself looking at those around me, wondering if they really had the feelings that some of the characters did in this book. Giffin made me think about how class and race lines really are divided, how some take so much for granted. Some parts were upsetting to know that people really act a certain way and feel like it’s okay to get away with their behavior. Giffin handled some sensitive material with grace and in such a wonderful way. I greatly enjoyed this book so much. It was an engrossing, entertaining read. I would say this is one of my favorites by her, if not the best.

This book explores a lot of different issues including class divisions, racism, immigrants, sexual exploitation and the different attitudes towards boys and girls. The story is extremely well written and pulls the reader in immediately. I couldn’t put it down. Multiple view points are used to tell the story and while I completely understand why this was necessary I think it actually took away from the story a little. There were so many issues at play here and none of them were explored in enough depth because we kept jumping around to different people. That being said I really liked all of the characters, especially Nina. I did feel like she had turned a blind eye to the what all that wealth and privilege had done to her family and let it slide to far. One of the things it really made me think about was parenting. The book centers largely around two teenagers and how their parents react to the photo. I had to pause a couple times to consider what I would do. I gave the story 3.5 stars simply because of the lack of really getting into certain issues. Otherwise I really liked it!

I loved the dynamics of this book. It looked to be a she said, he said and rich vs poor. However, it turned into so much more. It definitely made you think about character, morals, values, and just what it means to be a decent human being. I encourage everyone to read this, you just might learn something about yourself.

I received this book as an advanced ebook from NetGalley. Thank you for the book. This book and its characters are so relevant to today. With kids and social media, taking pictures of everything. You never know who has posted a picture or video of stupid acts. This story also speaks of those better off and how they may use money or persuasion to get their way. Sadly this happens everywhere.
The book was a fast read, kept me engaged.

I didn’t know if I was an Emily Griffin fan, but after reading those book I definitely want to be! It was a quick fun read, driven off a premise any mother can relate to: am I raising a child with a strong moral compass, and if not, what will/can I do to right his wrongs? Nina is a very strong female character that is easy to identify with, I was rooting for her from start to finish!

The cover blurb reads "riveting" but I found this story depressing. Unhappy, nouveau-riche Nina discovers that her high-school senior has distributed incriminating semi-nude photos of a younger student from the wrong side of the tracks-- and her son not only refuses to take the blame, he's supported by his dad. Her own teenage trauma comes to the surface as she reaches out to the girl's father and then to the young victim. Typical mean-girl behavior on the part of students and parents adds fuel to the fire. At times you're not sure who's the bad guy, but you always know the motive. While the book did contain some surprises, the ending was predictable.

I've only read one of Emily Giffin's books, "Love the One You're With," and found it to be a quick fluff read. I was expecting something similar with "All We Ever Wanted" but was surprised by the depth of the content. Emily Giffin takes on sexual assault and bullying, something that unfortunately happens way too much. This book especially hit home for me because there was a similar incident in the town I work in. This book is told from several perspectives; Tom the single dad working hard to raise his daughter, Lyla a girl who is trying to fit in at a prestigious private school and Nina a well off woman who is questioning aspects of her life and family. I enjoyed having the different perspectives from each of these characters. They are dealing with the same issue but from different perspectives. Emily Giffin did a wonderful job of portraying how each one is processing and handling the situation differently. It was especially intriguing to see Lyla's perspective while she tries to push aside the photo scandal, minimize it and then comes to realize how serious it is.

I also enjoyed the multifaceted aspects of this book. It is about much more than a sexually explicit picture going around school. It is also about the privilege of the rich, a single father's struggle, a girls attempt to fit in and a woman's attempt to figure out her life. I thought this book was very well written and is a story that needs to be heard. This book didn't glorify anything and instead seemed very true to how situations such as these play out in real life. I found this book to be a powerful and emotional journey. I highly recommend it, especially to parents of teenagers or school teachers. This book deals with a timely topic.

Beautifully written story. This is my first title by Emily, and it won't be my last. I can't wait to share with friends about this amazing story that's relevant with our time.

This was such a good book. Nina is married to a man who sold his tech company for a lot of money. They are living the life, so she thinks. He’s successful, she’s involved in philanthropic projects, and their son has just been accepted into Princeton.

Then her perfect son makes a bad decision which victimizes a scholarship student at his tony private school. The word, and the photo, get around fast and Nina’s world stars to fall apart.

The father of the girl, Lyla, is a carpenter. His wife is an alcoholic who left him to raise their daughter alone. His whole life revolves around her and when he sees what has happened, he wants someone to pay.

This book is well written, as all of Emily Giffin’s books are. The storyline sucked me right in and I couldn’t put it down!