When Charlotte wins the “Become a Jetsetters” contest, she takes her adult children (Lee, Cord, and Regan) on a European cruise. All four of them have baggage - and I don’t mean carry on luggage. And to be honest, I didn’t like any of them. None of them. I hate-listened to this. I just kept thinking it would get better, and it didn’t. If I were you, I’d pass on this - I can think of five better vacation books off the top of my head and SO many other books about family dramas.

I love Ward’s novels, which are among my favorites. The Jetsetters tells the story of a dysfunctional family, scarred, through no fault of their own. A Mediterranean cruise vacation sets the stage for the Perkins’ struggle to reconnect, accept, and truly know one another. At once, heartbreaking, funny, and hopeful, this is a family you will fall in love with. Highly recommended.

I actually liked this book - but I feel that the synopsis is entirely misleading and not representative of the book itself. This is a deeply troubling book in terms of content - graphically depicted suicide, suicidal ideation, alcoholism, loss of pregnancy, domestic violence, etc. I felt as though this book did readers a disservice by not offering a content warning page before chapter 1 or any other form of warning. 

All in all, I enjoyed the structure/premise of the book and once I started I finished it quite quickly. The characters felt a bit one dimensional at points, ie defined by their defects, but I love a flawed character so I didn’t mind this as much. Overall, it was good, not great and it was worth the $11 I paid for a hardcover copy.

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this! This was such a fun, enjoyable book. I had a really great time escaping the real world while reading this.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Charlotte Perkins, a 72 year old widow, enters a contest to win a Mediterranean cruise. Not believing she will actually win, she is surprised to hear when she does. She convinces her three adult children, Lee, Cord, and Reagan to join her. The estranged family will be spending 10 days on a ship, and Charlotte is determined to have them bond. They are all also going through an emotional time, and are going to try their hardest not to reveal long held secrets, resentments, and regrets. What could go wrong?

I really loved the premise of the book, I was so curious what was going to happen, and if they would get off the ship getting along. This book is a lot heavier than the cheerful cover, and I am not sure I would describe it as a "beach read." The book did hold my attention, but I found the characters to not be likable, and the story was un-relatable to me. It was a good read, just go in knowing it's not a very cheerful read.

I tried and I tried and I tried again to read this book but for some reason I just could not get into this novel.
The writing is awkward, stilted and dramatic and the plot is dry?
Look, I love family drama and secrets. I know all about it. This...could have been so much better.
Familial strife when done well is GOOD, when it's not it's...disappointing.
This was disappointing.
Thanks much to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Great read! The author draws you in with detail that makes you want to read on. It did fall a bit flat in the middle.

Ah, family drama! I felt like this book had a lot of potential. I kept reading thinking that I was just sitting on the edge until it ultimately felt like the story didn’t actually go anywhere. I appreciated the author’s inclusion of tougher subjects, like suicide and alcoholism. Overall, it fell a little flat for me.

The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward was not what I expected.  I expected a fun family novel with some dysfunction thrown in. The writing was clunky and hard to get into. The characters were not likable and were distracting from the story. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

I had high expectations for this one going in. I love a good “family drama” with multiple POV’s. I think what brought this down for me was the character Charlotte. I feel the author wanted the reader to feel sympathy for her but I just couldn’t. She annoyed me and seemed to be stuck in a make believe world that this painter loved her and that her children didn’t love her. And her constantly talking about sex was just eye rolling. Perhaps I’m dwelling too much on that and should move forward. I liked the other characters but wish the backstories were delved into a bit more for the children. Anyway, 3 star read for me, thank you for the opportunity to review!

This one was an entertaining read, that dives into a dysfunctional family's adventure abroad, delivering each member's story in an engaging way. Whilst ensuring the thread of the storyline is intertwined, but easily followed.
This one would be perfect to read on a deckchair by the pool, or whilst sunning yourself on the beach, without the need to draw yourself a family tree or focus too much, definitely an easy read.

I received an ARC after this book had already been published so it slipped to the bottom of my "to read" list. After finally getting around to it, I enjoyed the HHI and Savannah references as my parents live there. The European cruise with a dysfunctional family felt a bit over done - nothing unique in the story. It was fine, but I expected more considering the hype this book had gotten!

I could not finish this one.  It was too depressing right from the start.  Thank you to Netgalley for this free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

The Jetsetters was perfect for summertime reading.  After way too much family time while everyone is stuck at home, it was nice to escape into another family's drama.  Travel might be off the table for the moment, but reading about it is never off the table!

Ballantine Books and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Jetsetters. I voluntarily chose to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

As she gets on in years, all that Charlotte Perkins dreams of is reuniting her estranged children. Entering a contest to become a jetsetter, the grand prize being a trip to international ports of call, Charlotte hopes to win and bring Lee, Cord, and Regan on a trip of a lifetime. Will exotic locations help the dysfunctional bunch or break them further apart?

The Jetsetters is a quick read, but is so completely unbelievable that it is almost laughable. The idea of winning an all expense paid trip for four by mail, without any media blitz in this day and age, is totally unrealistic. I never quite got the feeling for the setting, not on the ship or on land. At the end of the day, the book was just about a family that does not know how to talk to each other. There is nothing special about this idea, nor did I feel any connection with the characters. For these reasons, I would not recommend The Jetsetters to other readers.

Charlotte is a 71 year old widow who's lonely and decides to enter a contest for an all expenses paid european cruise and wins. She talks her grown children into going with her and what follows is some occasional laughs, some fun european travel destinations and a whole lot of family drama as all of the family seem to have secrets. While the author managed to tackle serious subjects like alcoholism and suicide, I found that there really weren't any characters I was emotionally invested in. The setting was great but the pace felt off at times. I think I was expecting more of a humorous family drama at sea but all in all it was a decent summer read

I had high hopes for The Jetsetters, as a Reese Witherspoon book club pick - she's never steered me wrong and has opened my eyes to new authors and new stories I never would have selected otherwise. However, I really had a difficult time relating to any of the main characters, which made it difficult to form a connection with them. A surprise revelation mid-book about a loved one’s death and an unexpected reveal at the end of the cruise did keep me interested in this book enough to finish it. Thanks to #Netgalley for granting my wish to read #TheJetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward.

Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to read/review this book due to other commitments.  I will certainly update this review if/when I have the chance to read the book.  Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

This book was a Reese Witherspoon collection. It is about a dysfunctional family "forced" to unite together for 10 days on a cruise. It was a good read. I highly recommend this book if you liked "The Nest" or other books about adult families and the secrets and issues that caused friction between family members.