An amazing read, although it did take me some time to complete. In Mrs. Everything we meet sisters Jo and Bethie. Jo is the boyish darling of her father, while Bethie is the girly favoured of their mother. We to follow Jo and Bethie throughout their tumultuous lives from 1950’s-2000’s which is filled with love, loss and acceptance. Many women may find themes throughout this novel relatable and true to everyday life. It was definitely an emotional read but I highly recommend Mrs. Everything as it is a wonderful experience. I truly enjoyed reading yet another novel by Jennifer Weiner.
I received an ARC of this novel through NetGalley for in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are that of my own.

With my busy schedule, I took a long time to read this book....and I'm so happy that I did. I was able to savour and think about the entire story as I went, instead of consuming it too quickly. Jo and Bethie live these incredible lives over many, many decades, and as the reader you have the opportunity to see the world through their eyes, be a part of their journey. I felt their pain as they suffered loss and trauma but also celebrated when life brought them happy moments. This heartfelt story of these two sisters is an excellent read. Jennifer Weiner did a fantastic job writing Mrs. Everything! I could easily see this book being brought to film one day. Well done.

Bethie and Jo are sisters who we follow throughout their lives, as they grow from young girls to teenagers to women trying to find their place in the world. They often struggle with determining what they want for themselves versus what is expected of them - from their parents, society and each other. I think this something that many of us can relate to. I enjoy stories that span lifetimes, watching characters come of age, get married and become mothers and grandmothers. I think many of us struggle with what we want, following our dreams and feeling that what we do is enough. I think we worry that we sacrifice our careers for our families or vice versa. This novel shows that this is something that we all deal with but in the end all that truly matters is our love for our families. I give this novel 4/5 stars.

Just finished this book this morning. I enjoyed reading and found there were certain parts where I just wanted to keep reading there were a few parts that made me uncomfortable that I wanted to pass through. Overall I enjoyed the book. I liked the story and seeing Jo and Bethie go through their lives and struggles. The book was enjoyable. I give it a 31/2 not quite a 4.

I originally wanted to read this book as part of it takes place in Detroit and I live nearby, and the premise sounded good. I have not read any of Jennifer Weiners books previous tot his one. This book explores the relationship between sisters, and women, starting in the 1950's when the world was changing, sometimes too fast for people to keep up.
Jo and Bethie are sisters with 2 different views of their world. this book explores their family dynamic and follows them from childhood in adulthood with very different ways of getting there
I truly enjoyed this book and will be recommending it to my book club next month. Looking forward to reading more from this author as well

Thank you so much to Jennifer Weiner an NetGalley for providing me with a digital arc of Mrs. Everything. I also received a physical copy recently when meeting Ms. Weiner in New York at BookExpo and I was incredibly excited to read this novel because she's one of my very favourite authors. The book lived up to the hype! It's just as lovely and honest and true as everything else Jen writes and I adored it!

Probably the most 'literary' of Jennifer Weiner's novels, Mrs Everything is a moving multi-generational family epic with a strong feminist perspective. The story follows the lives of two sisters -- Jo the serious tomboy activist and Bethie the kindhearted and pretty free spirit -- over the course of about five decades. The storytelling reminds me a bit of Kate Atkinson's A God in Ruins or John Boyne's The Heart's Invisible Furies. Similar to both those novels, Mrs Everything manages to feel intimate and deeply personal while still broad in scope at the same time. We grow up with Jo and Bethie. We see the major events and cultural shifts in 20th and 21st century America through their eyes. And we feel right alongside them as women, struggling to balance everything life and the world expect from us.

I love the relationship between the sisters. Despite their differences, they're fiercely loyal to each other, and even though they drift apart at various points in their lives, they still always have each other's backs. I especially love how protective Jo is of her younger sister, and I really enjoyed the scene where Jo helps Bethie confront their abusive uncle.

The chapters alternative between both sisters' perspectives, but the story seems to focus much more on Jo, and particularly how she grapples with her sexuality and societal attitudes towards lesbians at various points in her life. Jo is a wonderfully fleshed out and complex character. Seeing her story play out, with all of her fears and vulnerabilities and attempts at happiness, was very moving, and I loved how her story played out.

Despite the narrative focus on Jo, it was really Bethie's story that hooked me, and Bethie whom I related to the most. I felt for her vulnerability and innocence, and her sometimes desperate attempts to gain control over mostly uncontrollable life circumstances. I absolutely hated Bethie's uncle, for taking advantage of her family's financial situation to sexually assault his niece, and I wish he'd had more of his just desserts than he received. Even though Bethie did grow up, move on and develop a fully robust life after the rape, I love how realistically Weiner depicted the lifelong consequences of such childhood trauma. Bethie developed eating disorders as a teen, and even when she started eating healthy amounts again, her self-image had been forever scarred, and her trauma remained an insidious presence in her mind. I found this to feel uncomfortably realistic, and I felt very strongly for Bethie throughout her life story.

The story does get a bit heavy after a while. Lots of bad things happen to Jo and Bethie, and while things never get quite as bad as in Hayna Yanagihara's A Little Life, things do feel a bit bleak at times.

Overall, Mrs Everything is a good book, especially for readers who want to lose themselves in the complex ups and downs that occur throughout a lifetime. I personally prefer Weiner's smaller scale stories (In Her Shoes remains my all-time fave), but I generally prefer more lighthearted books these days. This is a good story, and I enjoyed seeing Jo and Bethie as they grew up.

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Thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for an e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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This review will go live on my blog on July 31, 8 am ET.

I just loved this book but then again I love everything Jennifer writes. Kept me hooked right till the end! Highly recommend

4.5 stars

This book. It's the kind of novel that just reminds me why I love to read.

I had never read a Jennifer Weiner book before - but when Mrs. Everything came up for offer on Netgalley, I decided to give it a try.

I am so happy that I did. This isn't a light, quick summer read. This is an engrossing, all-consuming, coming of age novel. A book about two very different women, sisters, who not only lead very different lives, but remind us that just because we live under the same roof; we experience things very differently.

Jo and Bethie Kaufman are each so nuanced that you can't help but love reading about both of their journeys through life.

Jo is the older sister, tomboy, light of her father's eye, disappointment to her mother. She always knows that she different, but growing up in the 1950s, she can't allow herself to be who she really wants to be. Instead, she settles down, gets married and raises children. the spunk she showed as a child and teenager is sucked from her and leaves her a shell of who she was.

Bethie is the natural beauty, good daughter, the one her mother prefers. From the beginning, you might think that Bethie is the less interesting of the sisters, but as she is dealt with tragedy and picks herself back up, as she evolves and grows, you realize that you could have been her. Rather than sit back and allow fate to decide her life, Bethie becomes the more ambitious one. Her story takes up from preppy daughter, to hippie, to self-made woman. From a more self-centered person to one who is there for her sister and nieces.

This book spoke to me. I don't know how else to describe it without giving the plot away, but we follow these characters over several decades, we experience their loss and their triumphs. We see how they struggle to find themselves, but also to stay connected. This is the story about how we are each dealt a hand - and what we do with those cards. It is also a book that reminds us it is never to late to make a change.

If you enjoyed Summer Sisters by Judy Blume, I think you will enjoy this one too. If you are looking for something to sink your teeth into, and make an emotional investment into such well developed, strong characters, READ THIS BOOK.

Highly recommended.

Thank you Netgalley, Simon & Schuster Canada and Atria Books for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Great book about women, family, love. Jo and Bethie brings us between years. Their lives from living together, college, wedding, children, heartbreak and finally, redemption and forgiveness. Beautiful from the beginning to the end.

This book is an impressively written multi-generational story.
This is a complex story following two sisters, Jo and Bethie from the 1950s and ends in the 2000s. This book showcases the complexity of life and relationships. Essentially, life is hard. We see Jo and Bethie grow, find themselves, lose themselves, develop relationships, build a life, etc.
Weiner, in this book, discusses sexuality, race, relationships, sexual assault, trauma, etc. There are a lot of heavy topics being explored in this book. This is the first book that I’ve read of Jennifer Weiner. It was a well written and definitely took me on an emotional roller coaster. Looking forward to reading more Jennifer Weiner’s books!

Mrs. Everything is a story of two sisters over the course of their entire lives from childhood, and covers their Every Thing. From the loss of their father, teen romances, college experiences, and adulthood we see two very different sisters live out their lives - with all the drama that comes with it.

I am always hesitant to recommend books to people without knowing what they LOVE and things they are sensitive to. I would say this is a great book to open dialog about many adult things. I wouldn't recommend it to any kids or young adults, there is detailed sexual abuse, sexual scenes, and language. However, the overall story of love, acceptance, and being yourself is worthwhile and much needed in today's world. So.... there you are. Take it how you will.

The author mentions in the introduction to the book that she wanted to write a story based on her moms life - married with children, eventually divorced and marries a woman. This book takes place in that time and era - and it even covers the neighborhood she was raised in, the college she went to, and she even read the magazines of the time just to get every detail right. It is a perfect take on culture at the time.

This was an amazing story following the lives of two sisters - very different sisters - and how their lives which seem to be heading in one direction, each go other ways based on the circumstances of the times. We see life through the 50s and 60s, and all the way into the 2000s. You get to know these girls and women, feel their joy and pain, relate so much to their journey, even as a women today - the progress we’ve made but also the same issues these women faced decades before. It’s so deeply relatable and I really enjoyed this story, even more than I was expecting. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC through Netgalley.

I really enjoyed it! But it makes you think about our lives!

I am a big Jennifer Weiner fan. Her books are not always the same, which is wonderful. Mrs. Everything is very ambitious but lives up to the hype. It really deals with the challenges of being a woman. How do you explain our lives? How do you deal with the choices and challenges during the various decades/phases of our lives? Mothers and daughters, why are they sometimes so difficult to understand? I highly recommend this book.

I read a time-constrained advanced readers e-book via Netgalley. There was no obligation.

Review pending Amazon.com approval.

Growing up in the '50s, Jo and Bethie are living in a phot perfect family where the traditional roles are forced upon them. Fighting against traumas, tragedies, and a world who just isn't ready for them, Joe and Bethie fight to belong in the world without sacrificing too much of themselves in the process.
This is not a feel good, everyone ends up happy kind of novel. It shows a realness that I really enjoyed. Highly recommended for everyone, especially women to read.

*I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review~

I tried so hard to like this book. I tried even harder to read it - I just could not get through it. Thank you for the opportunity but I could not finish this review and provide a positive review. I am sure there are many people who will love and adore this book, sadly I am not one of them.

This is my first book by this author. I have a couple on my TBR, but didn't read any yet. So when I saw this new one, I knew I had to read it. And I'm glad I did. It made me think of The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne, the way you live through the eyes of a person who is "not normal", according to the majority of people. You learn with them how they learn to live with their differences, and how, when time advance, what they are becomes tolerated, then accepted. It's a sad reality, but I'm so happy for them that they became stronger at the end.

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for the complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was such a beautiful story about the lives of two sisters. This story is so relateable for so many different women because it covers so many topics that women deal with every single day. I was totally emotional while reading this book. I think this book was beautifully written and I would highly suggest reading this book.

Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner is an ambitious family saga centred on two sisters, Jo and Bethie Kaufman, and spanning decades of their lives. Like most of Ms Weiner's novels, I found this to be a nostalgic comfort read that took me back to the books of Judy Blume that I had devoured and adored during my formative years. There is something so familiar and almost tangible in this author's beautifully conveyed stories, and many of the sisters' struggles and frustrations will be extremely relatable to any woman of a certain age.

The sisters' coming of age is set against the turbulent times of racial tensions, Vietnam, and women's rights, and Jo and Bethie find themselves almost falling into their lives as the years roll on. But, as Ms Weiner has sharply observed, despite the path not always being as straightforward as we are led to believe it will be, we somehow manage to eventually fall into ourselves. Recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Canada, and Atria Books for this ARC.

It's taken me a while to write this review because the book made a huge impression on me. I'd read a couple of Weiner's books, previously. She's very good at writing about dysfunctional relationships in a caring but amusing manner. This book...This book was written with more caring and less amusement. This family, these characters, went beyond dysfunction all the way to toxic. And yet, one could relate to even some of the more toxic characters, especially given time and place.

One wanted to rail at them for the choices they were making, while understanding why they were making these choices. It's hard being different, an outsider. And it's probably even harder accepting that a loved one is a misfit. One can almost forgive the mother for her inability to accept her daughter's unique qualities, given what she'd experienced, herself.

In case I haven't made it clear, I loved this book and highly recommend it, but be aware that it's intense.