This was an interesting look at four siblings. They had a mother who wanted to see every state so that led to an interesting upbringing. The novel is actually set in North Dakota as the siblings reunite for the first time in four years. Each one of them has drifted apart. Three of the siblings have had incredible success, one a popular soccer player, another an Oscar nominated actress, and another a best selling author. The fourth and oldest however is trying to get pregnant but not sure if that is what she really wants. She did not achieve the great success that the other siblings have but feels more like their mother. The book alternates from present day to each sibling's past.

The book had a lot of great parts to it. Each time a chapter flashed to the past, it takes place in a different state. This book was filled with lots of drama and family dynamics. I felt engaged with the characters and their different point of views. There were definitely parts of their family I could relate to yet I was entertained at the same time. Overall, I thought it was a great reminder of what is important in life. After reading this book, I do feel the need to call both of my brothers that I haven't talked to in a while. If you enjoy family drama novels you will really enjoy this book.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

An emotionally distant father who disappears into his work. A mother who abandons her children to chase her dream of being an actress. An elder daughter who at the age of twelve becomes the surrogate mother to her siblings. What could possibly go wrong?

We meet the “Extraordinary Endicotts” as adults when they gather in North Dakota in the middle of nowhere. Three have achieved extraordinary success – one an actress nominated for an Oscar; one an author of a successful novel; and one who is at the end of his career as a professional soccer player. One, the eldest daughter, is living an ordinary life and is ambivalently pursuing fertility treatments. All have significant issues with intimacy and trust in varying degrees.

The chapters alternate between the present and the past as the back story supports the revelation of three secrets and what led to the estrangement between the siblings. After a slow start, the story picks up momentum and delves deeply into the personalities and values of each character. The emotional tone of the novel is heavy with unresolved feelings of grief, anger, resentment, and guilt. It concludes with a sobering but hope-filled note revealing the growth in the maturity of the characters. In many ways, the message is one of redemption and the power of forgiveness when the light of truth is shone on past perceptions.

Overall, this is a noteworthy read for its character development and its sensitive exploration of family dynamics.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

This book follows 4 siblings as they meet up in North Dakota.

The author really brought to life each character. They each had their flaws and their strengths.
Each character had their own secrets also.

The main character that I really liked was Gemma. She wasn't a famous anything, but she was the rockstar of the family and the glue.

Even though each of the siblings had their secrets and reasons for the secrets, Jude's was the worst. It tore the siblings apart for a bit.

At the end I wept for the present and the estrangement that the siblings endured, yet I was happy that they were coming together.

Overall this is a heartfelt book that really showed the dynamics of trauma on a family, that every sibling has a life that might not be known to others, and how emotional families can be.

✨ Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E. Smith is an absolute gem that left me breathless. This novel dives deep into sibling bonds and the complexities of family dynamics, taking readers on an emotional journey filled with love, secrets, and self-discovery.

The Endicott siblings—Gemma, Connor, Roddy, and Jude—were once inseparable, shaped by their enigmatic mother’s fleeting presence. Fast forward to years of silence, and an unexpected text from Jude, now a successful actress, pulls them back together for a pivotal weekend in North Dakota. Each sibling faces their own crossroads: Gemma grappling with motherhood, Connor wrestling with writer’s block post-divorce, and Roddy on the brink of losing his partner for the sake of his fading soccer career.

As the weekend unfolds, layers of their shared past are peeled back, revealing Jude’s three life-altering secrets that could reshape their futures. This breathtaking, joy-filled novel is a testament to the enduring power of family and the importance of forgiveness.

Spoiler alert: I cried at the end! 😭 This book resonates long after the final page, reminding us of the intricate tapestry of love and connection.

🌟 Highly recommend to anyone who cherishes heartwarming stories about family!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an e-ARC, scheduled for release next Spring.

Growing up, the Endicott siblings knew that the only people they could count on was each other. Their workaholic father is largely absent from their lives, while their mother weaves in and out, choosing to chase her dreams of stardom instead. Their visits with her are limited to an annual road trip, taking place over a few weeks in the summer. It's during one of these trips that the unthinkable nearly happens, costing the four of them their relationship with their mother and eventually, each other. Decades later, three of the four are living out their mother's dream and the fourth, comfortably happy off-camera. As the saying goes, it's time to put the band back together. Jude, arguably the most well-known of the bunch as a result of her acting career, invites her siblings to a weekend-long trip to North Dakota to serve as a reunion of sorts. What's a get together if the host doesn't have a few secrets up her sleeve? Before the weekend is out, all her secrets will be laid bare, leaving everyone to decide how they want to move forward.

This novel threw me into emotional turmoil and made me ugly cry, so I did end up liking it a lot. I thought the writing was pretty good, especially once we got to the blow-outs. Gemma was my favorite character -- hello, eldest daughters of the world. I can't say I cared about all the siblings; Connor's subplot was just SO boring. Jude's third secret was easy to predict, so it would have been nice if there was a different epilogue just to surprise us somewhere.

Honestly, this needs to be optioned as a movie. I laughed, I cried and I longed to have siblings. I saw some people were upset by the "F Bomb" but as a subscriber to that being my favorite word, I felt like it added realism to the story honestly.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and Jennifer E. Smith for this ARC copy of Fun for the Whole Family. This book made me laugh, cry (A LOT!), gasp in shock, and made me so grateful for my siblings.

There's nothing in life quite like the love of siblings and this book explores all the ways siblings love and drive each other crazy. After not talking for three years, Jude summons the family to North Dakota for a reunion. Each sibling comes but they all bring their own grudges and baggage.

Told in two timelines (the present and the past) you begin to understand the rift between the Endicott siblings and why they need to hash things out to become a stronger family. This book also has multiple POVs from each sibling; Gemma, Connor, Jude, and Roddy.

I loved all the characters in this book and could relate to each sibling when it was told from their POV. You can begin to understand how birth order affected their lives and how their absent parents affected their mindsets in different ways.

Fun for the Whole Family is a family drama novel with a little suspense, wondering what exactly happened to cause such a rift between the siblings and what secrets Jude is hiding. You'll realize that every family has its grudges and resentments. All we need to do is to listen to our siblings and see their POV to help create stronger bonds.

Warning: You will cry but it'll be worth it!

I grew up as one of four siblings, so this book was right up my alley! Fun for the Whole Family tells the story of four adult siblings reuniting one weekend in North Dakota after a period of estrangement after the death of their father. The story is told from each sibling's perspective and jumps back in time to their childhoods. It's really a story of a family and all its ups and downs, successes and traumas, and how each person experienced their unusual upbringing with their flighty, part time mother. It's full of heart, and I just really enjoyed the whole thing. I liked this book better than the author's last book, The Unsinkable Greta James, and I look forward to seeing what Jennifer E. Smith writes next!

A good family drama will make you appreciate your family. “Fun for the Whole Family” is definitely not all fun - I laughed, cried (a lot), and felt deeply for each sibling and their own experience of being in the Endicott family, from birth order to selfishness to parental expectations and averageness, Smith covers a lot of ground (but not too much).

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House for this advanced copy in exchange for a review!

As a longtime fan of Jennifer E Smith, I was so excited about the description of this! I loved each character, their flaws, and their true devotion for each other as siblings who continue to show up even when it’s hard. I love a family history exploration, and this didn’t disappoint. Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read an ARC!

This book is lovely and it wrecked me in the end. I fell asleep last night with swollen eyes and a tear stained face. I have enjoyed most of the Jennifer E. Smith books I have read and was so excited to see a new one coming out. This did not disappoint and I if you are a Jennifer E. Smith fan you should definitely add it to your TBR list. Siblings who mean a lot to each other, making up after a long time disagreement, a bit of romance, good relationships with nieces/nephews, heartbreaking parental relationships, and sickness are all part of this story. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. Can't wait until April 2025 when this one comes out.

What an unexpected wow of a read!
Really affecting.
Such depth of character and story.
Wished the title to either have been "No Endicott Left Behind" or "The Extraordinary Endicotts" to better represent the book and its themes.

With thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/Ballantine for this e-ARC!

If you like complicated sibling relationships, Fun for The Whole Family is for you.

4 siblings, an absent mother, lots of road trips, family secrets.

A mom, who picked a hopeless dream over her own children. A dad who was there in person but didn't care for parenting the said children.

Now the children are all adults. Connor is a award winning author, who told his own less than ideal childhood story and won literary recognition thanks to it but caused a rift between himself and his siblings because he never asked for permission to tell "their" story. Roddy is a celebrated soccer player, at the end of his career, trying to hang on to it a little longer at the expense of his relationship with his partner Winston. Jude is a famous Hollywood actress with her own secrets. And lastly, the eldest, Gemma, the ordinary one, with an ordinary job, trying to have a baby but not so sure if she wants to be a mother due to her own past.

After not seeing each other for 3 years and no communication except for occasional polite text exchanges, the siblings get together after an out-of-the-blue invitation from Jude. The reunion in a cabin in Montana turns into a locked-room drama when they get snowed in. They have nothing else to do but to talk and hash out the past, get everything left unsaid off their chests. Emotions run high. There are uncomfortable conversations, some tears and lots of love and healing in this story. The POV changes pretty often with short breaks of stories from their road trips. Smith creates 4 complicated characters. You get to hear each siblings side of the story, what their past means to them, how their circumstances affected them as a person.

Gemma is the woman after my own heart. Smith played with the oldest daughter dynamic so well. I saw so much of myself in her.

This book had me at North Dakota. I really enjoyed the story, the characters, and how it all came together. Thank you for the opportunity to read it early!

Fun for the Whole Family is the story of a family reunion, set in a snow storm in North Dakota. Jude has orchestrated the weekend and has successfully convinced her estranged siblings to meet her there so she can divulge some old and new secrets. We learn as the book progresses about their mom, Frankie, and about the history of Frankie's driving them through as many states as possible with the mission of ultimately driving through all fifty. As the story progresses, we learn that each of the siblings is currently experiencing suffering in their own unique way.

My first impression of this book was the cover, which suggests a fun and humor-filled story. So, I was surprised that the book was more about sadness and family drama. There are a lot of family reunion stories out there that are a little similar to this one, in which adult family members share difficult past memories and come to terms with their current lives in light of those past events. This book was enjoyable to read and I found the ending to be satisfying.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Fun for the Whole Family.

I love some family drama and this novel delivered. Four adult siblings reconnect and I felt all the emotions reading their stories. You knew you were waiting for secrets to be revealed and I was anxious to see what came next. Would definitely recommend to those who love reading about complicated family dynamics.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Sibling relationships seem to be having their moment in literary fiction at the moment - with Blue Sisters, Intermezzo, and now Fun for the Whole Family joining the roster. I think readers who enjoyed those books, as well as Taylor Jenkin Reid's Malibu Rising would have fun reading this as well.

This is a book about a somewhat extraordinary family who reunite for a weekend, after a falling out that took place some years ago. Extraordinary in that they were raised in an unconventional way, travelled most states in the US, and went on to become highly succesful and famous - an author, a soccer player, an oscar nominee, and a marketing analyst.
I like who the book keeps switching timelines, from the past to the present, and the way we get to see perspectives of each of the characters.

However, I think my experience differs from a lot of other readers in that I did not find myself emotionally swept away by this book. I had a hard time connecting with the characters, and seeing them as people rather than fictional entities. They felt flat, and I although so much was said, I still felt like many relationships were not fleshed out well enough. It felt like we got close to some of the tensions between child and parent, and one sibling to the other, but in a way that felt more "tell" than "show". Resolutions when they did happen felt fast and abrupt, without much depth or conversation. The secrets felt predictable, so there wasn't much in the story to really keep me going.

Heather Dixon wrote a great bench read. We have the three sisters, Alex, Sam and Jess. They return home when their mom calls Jess and tells her that Dad had passed away. The sisters are lost without him and return home to be with mom. Alex is looking for some items in the shed when she comes upon a bundle of letters. She is wondering who the letters were from so she starts reading and discover they are love letters unsigned to their Dad. Thus begins the summer of lies and secrets. Can the sisters survive the summer and remain true to each other and themselves. Read this story and find the answers.

The tale of the four Endicott siblings was one that I adored. A fun family story with excellent character development and a good tempo. Although I didn't feel like I had a complete picture of Connor or whether he overcame writer's block at the end, I still adored all of their relationship problems and their intense love for one another, even when they had to part ways. Typical family problems, despite the unbreakable bonds between family members. Overall, it was a fun read, though I thought the ending came a little too quickly.

Fun for the Whole Family is a story about the Endicott siblings and their unorthodox childhood that included many road trips with their mother while they were growing up. They were always traveling somewhere new and looking to check all of the US states off their list. We meet with siblings when they are adults and are all semi-estranged and keeping secrets from each other. It's a book that will break your heart and give you hope all at the same time. This would be such a great film adaptation.
Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an awesome review.