I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy of All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffen. It has been quite a few years (maybe 10 years) since I've read any of Emily Giffin's books. I was very pleasantly surprised and pleased to see how mature her writing has become over the last decade. I enjoyed her earlier works (the Darcy and Rachel stories) but found a great deal of depth in All We Ever Wanted, with a very serious storyline to match. Nina is married to Tom and they are an elite, moneyed Nashville couple. Their 17 year old son, Finch, has just been admitted to Princeton. All is well, apparently, until Finch is accused of taking and sharing photos of a local "wrong side of the tracks" girl, Lyla, at a party. Lyla's father Tom is a carpenter and single parent to Lyla. Things spiral downward for the lives of all involved with the word is spread about the photo and other behaviors that Finch has been exhibiting unnoticed. Without revealing too many spoilers or plot points, I will say that All We Ever Wanted is a compulsive, truly suspenseful read well worth the reader's time. Emily Giffin is on the right track if she continues to write stories such as this one.

As always I enjoy Emily Giffin's books. Her writing style is easy to read, her characters are realistic and I am interested in the story she is telling. This story really touches on current events that are happening in high schools all over America and I thought she did a good job of giving us different perspectives.

I felt the ending was a little contrived but also recognized that the topic is not an easy one to bring to resolution. Certainly worth the read!!

4 Stars: I’ve always enjoyed reading Emily Giffin’s books…some more than others. Still, I’ve liked them well enough to know that I wanted to read them before even knowing what they were about. That was the case with All We Ever Wanted, and thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine, I was able to get my hands on an advanced readers copy and it did not disappoint! Although the story is told from three different perspectives, it mainly focuses on Nina Browning, a wife and mother in a very well off area of Nashville. Nina has spent most of her married life focusing on fundraisers, galas, balls, and other ways to “give back” some of the wealth she and her husband came into from selling off his company at a big profit. With her son graduating from a private high school and having been accepted into Princeton, it seems that Nina has what many would think is the perfect life. But when there is a scandal involving her son and some of the other kids from his high school, things start to get very complicated, putting her in positions where she is forced to question her son, question her husband, and without a doubt, question her so-called “perfect” life. Definitely one to read, especially for all the Moms out there!

Giffin explores an interesting issue of where one small “mistake” can rock an entire community. This is a great read that could be the catalyst of any discussion with your teenager about the dangers of technology.

I recivied a copy of this book from Netgalley in Exchance for my honest review

All We Ever Wanted combines some hot elements of pop and political culture into a mini-thriller. Throughout the book, every time you think you know the story or what’s next, there is a curve ball. This book reminds me a lot of Something Borrowed in that everyone hands are a little messy as we are all humans and this story focuses on mother, f ather and daughter ( not all from the same family) trying to figure out how to clean it up.

I feel like some of the characters were more crafted than others, but the story is unfolds perfectly letting us get more and more glimpeses of who and what is going on

I will say the ending was not my cup of tea, but that is probably because I wanted to know MORE and didn’t want the charchters or plot to end.

This book reminded me a lot of one of my other favorite books by Ms. Giffin, because I love the way she can portray the gray spots of life. Its so easy to say wrong, I would never ect, but I think she shows that even when we do say this, life has a way of showing us another side.

Another great book!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. What can I say, but Emily Giffin’s novels and writing style have always been tops for me. So when I saw that, she had a new novel out I just couldn’t help but get excited and want to read it. Thankfully, NetGalley supplied with with an advanced copy. I literally read this in one weekend’s time and couldn’t put it down.

From the moment I began to read about Nina Browning and her seemingly charmed life for those looking from the outside in, I knew I needed to read more. See Nina married into one of the most elite and finest families in Nashville, having married Kirk Browning. But Nina came from humble and definitely not rich, elite beginnings herself. Yet, over the years she has been living the rich girl’s life with her well-to-do husband and perfectly, charming son. But then, one evening it all comes crashing down.

See her husband is anything but perfect as money does have a way bringing out the worst instead of the best in many. Plus, her son (Finch) having grown up in this world where money is no object and is used to get you want ever you want, including getting out of all sorts of trouble.

The story begins with Finch getting into Princeton and appears that he is the golden boy. But the golden boy takes a pretty incriminating photo of Lyla Volpe. See the pretty, rich boy is entitled and knows it. His story is definitely mired with a father, who believes in throwing money at it. And his mother, who is a good person at the heart of it. But somewhere along the lines almost has forgotten who she once was. Yet with this latest scandal, something has awoken who Nina once was. Plus, her newfound friendship with Lyla’s father, Tom seems to be part of the reason why Nina finds the strength to stand up for what she believes in.

At the heart of, this novel allows us, the readers, to learn exactly what did happen in all the many twists and turns along the way.

Emily Giffen has delivered her finest book yet. All We Ever Wanted may be a work of fiction, but it includes very current issues: infedility, entitlement, snobbery, illicit teen photos, gossip, courage, and redemption. The story is a moving puzzle, all the pieces line up briefly, then become jumbled until another picture emerges. Giffin writes so well, she absolutely is convincing with her character depictions. All you will want to do is read this one.

This is an absolutely fantastic, well worth your time, energy, emotion book. The characters are so well written and developed: Nina’s strength and determination; Tom’s utter belief in defending his daughter; Kirk’s absolute entitlement and elitism; Lyla’s fortitude and teen emotions; Finch’s mirroring his father’s attitude. The story is true to life for many teens: peer pressure, media nonchalance, and today’s gossip is forgotten tomorrow. In this case, the deed is too harmful for parents to brush off and therein lies the story: trust betrayed, covered up sins, glossing over by teens. It is hard stuff for a parent to swallow, easy for some teens.
This is a tough topic within a thoroughly great book.

I've read some of Emily Griffin's books and this one is definitely different than the romantic comedy approach she usually takes. It was well-written but I wish the characters had more depth to them. They seemed pretty superficial and I never felt like I really grew to care about what happened to them. Even still, the topic definitely was timely and made me think about how a decision can impact so many people.

Was grateful to receive a copy of this book. Relatable characters. Emily Giffin books are always a pleasure.

Emik Griffin's story hooks you in and holds you there. The evil of social media and who's tale to believe. This was one page-turner I could not put down until the truth was revealed!

This is the first book by Emily Giffin that I've read. It was an easy, fast paced read and I enjoyed multiple POVs. I was disappointed that the ending took an easy way out and left with a lot of loose ends.

I received this copy from NetGalley in an exchange for a honest review.

I really enjoyed this novel and how it portrayed the same event though the eyes of each member of the families affected. Reminded me of the old time movies and novels where good triumphs over evil.

I have to say I was disappointed in this book. I have read all of Emily Giffin's book and this didn't even seem like it was written by her. The characters weren't likeable and had no morals at all. Some of the characters seemed random and unnecessary. I also felt like there were a lot of loose ends and things that weren't explained. The subject matter is very sensitive and it felt wrong to be reading in graphic detail about the sexual activity of teenagers. The storyline seemed more suited for adult characters. I'm sad to give a bad review, but this is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to review this book!

All We Ever Wanted looks at a very controversial topic but doesn't really get deep into consequences and aftermath.
When her rich, bratty senior son posts a lewd picture of a female classmate and makes a racist joke, Nina's perfect life shatters. Trying to navigate her son, the poor girl in question, her husband and the school, Nina truly begins to see she didn't get all she ever wanted.
The book spends very little time dealing with true consequences of teenage behavior and cyberbullying. The book crescendos to the most interesting part, the part where real lives are change and then just ends. Everything is tied up happy with a bow. In fact, in the time of #metoo, Giffin's novel comes off crass, insipid and not very pro-women.
But even despite that, All We Ever Wanted is one of Giffin's weakest books. I wasn't really upset or surprised by her husband and his behavior. It blows my mind that the character didn't see any of this before. To make that worse, Nina never goes back to piece his behavior instead ready to divorce seemingly instantly with a new rebound guy on her mind. I really didn't feel for any of the characters. Even though I had empathy for the teenage girl, I never connected with her or the two adults whose point of view we get.
If you're a fan, go ahead and read it. I love to make sure I've read every book by the authors I like. But if you are new to the author, skip this one and go to one of her others.

I read an advanced reader's copy of this novel thanks to netgalley. I enjoyed all the different perspectives and the storyline, BUT it ended too abruptly. The epilogue was all well and good, but it shouldn't have been used to tell the resolution to the conflict.

Emily Griffin does it again - connects with what is really going on in today’s world so controlled by social media. This is a perfect read for parents and their teenagers, opening discussion to what a parent should do and the consequences of our actions.

I chose this book thinking it would be a light read (obviously not reading the preview!). While it was certainly not that, it was really engaging and even suspenseful! Great read. I always enjoy books by Giffin, and this was no exception.

Emily Giffin has always been one of my favorite authors. Something Borrowed and Something Blue have always been my favorite! I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. I thought it was going to be something about a woman who leaves her rich husband and rich life and starts over...blah blah blah. I was surprised to see it take the turn it did.
While I enjoyed it, there were something things I wish the author could have expanded on. I would have loved to have known more about Lyla. I wanted to know what would make her trust Finch after everything? She didn't seems like just another stupid girl to be honest, but she turned out to be pretty dumb at one point. I also wish she expanded Polly's character as well. There were some things that didn't make sense from Polly either and I would have loved to have expanded on her character as well.
At the end of the day, this was a story about the kids and I wish it would have focused a tad more on the kids. Still, all in all, a good read.