"Fun for the Whole Family" is equal parts funny, heartwarming, thought-provoking, and emotional. As a fan of "The Unsinkable Greta James," I looked forward to reading Jennifer E. Smith's next standalone novel.

When the four estranged Endicott siblings find themselves stranded in Colorado during a snowstorm after years apart, they're forced to confront secrets and unresolved past traumas. Their weekend opens up their hearts and old wounds, giving the siblings a chance to heal together.

Smith's prose has an ease to it, making it a delight to read. She does a terrific job making the Endicott's family dynamic realistic and nuanced. Anyone with siblings will find parts of this novel to be relatable. Smith does a great job of making each sibling unique while giving them enough flaws to make them realistic and likable. This novel was character-driven, and the characters were portrayed with authenticity and poignancy.

Smith hits all the right notes regarding the novel's tone. Some parts made me laugh out loud while others made me tear up. This book struck the right balance between humor and drama. I also loved Smith's road trip framing device as a backdrop to weave the past and present storylines. This framing device added a touch of nostalgia that served the story well. It was a refreshingly clever way to organize the story.

This book is perfect for readers who love well-written character-driven family dramas!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

Don’t be fooled by the carefree cover art or the fact that the title has the word ‘fun’ in it. Although it has plenty of humor and lighter moments, this book is a thoughtful and sober examination of dysfunctional adult siblings Gemma, Connor, and twins Roddy and Jude Endicott and the trials and triumphs of being family.

Raised by a dad that was all but checked out and having only annual road trips to different states with narcissistic mom Frankie, who put her elusive dreams for acting stardom above raising her children, these four bonded as their own little family unit with oldest sibling Gemma being the de facto mom to her siblings.

When author Connor wrote an award-winning book that was a thinly veiled exploration of he and his siblings experiences growing up, including a traumatic event involving their mother, their little unit fell apart with each sibling drifting off to their separate lives.

Now Oscar-nominated actress Jude has reached out to her siblings out of the blue after three years of mutual avoidance asking them all to meet for a new state adventure in the most obscure and unlikely of places: Portree, North Dakota!

What’s this trip really about? That’s the emotional journey of this book, and it IS emotional. All of them are dealing with different major life events: Gemma struggling with whether she wants to be a mom after raising her siblings, Connor navigating his kids’ lives post-divorce and trying to write another book after the fallout of his last one, aging soccer star Roddy putting his hopes for one last season above his fiance Winston, Jude on the cusp of potential Oscar stardom, yet carrying so many secrets, and all of them afraid they’ll be just like mom Frankie with those they love. It’s messy in the way that only family can be, but it’s also rewarding for the same reason.

Everyone has a chip on their shoulder and at times that makes this an uncomfortable read, yet it’s so human and relatable that it resonates whether you’ve experienced those exact things or not. I deeply connected with the sibling struggles! I did feel that the drama got drawn out just a little too long, with the “I’ve got a secret (or three or four)” getting a little tiresome, as well as the number of things that went wrong, but ultimately the siblings’ dedication and support of one another won me over. Be prepared for all the big feels!

★★★ ½ (rounded to 4)

Wow this book took me by surprise! As someone who comes from a big family this storyline was deeply relatable— I love a sibling dynamic focused book. I thought the pacing was perfect and found myself sobbing at the end. This would make for a wonderful adaptation! I feel like fans of the show Parenthood or Gilmore Girls would love this read— speaking of- Lauren Graham narrates the audiobook and does a fantastic job! I highly highly recommend this read! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC :)

Thank you to @netgalley for the advance copy. #funforthewholefamily by Jennifer E. Smith. This book is about four siblings who are now adults. They have been summoned to North Dakota by the youngest sister after an estrangement for the last four years.
The story weaves between past road trips they took each summer with their mother to see all fifty states, and current day and how they are doing now and how they will navigate being around each other after that long estrangement.
The premise was great, but it was a miss for me. There is hint of a revelation, and I felt that I was just reading to find out if my prediction was true-it was.

This is a very solid family drama book. Don't let the cover fool you into thinking this is light and fluffy, because it is anything but. It is about siblings who were at least emotionally abandoned by both parents and physically abandoned by their mother. Things happened to blow the family apart, but the youngest sister has now called them all together after three years. They all go to a cabin in Montana and are forced to face the things that pulled them apart. Of course, they are all facing their own issues in their separate lives. This trip could either pull them all together or be the final blow to the unity of the siblings.

I thought this was a fantastic book. Secrets come out slowly and you learn exactly what is going on piece by piece. The ending left me in tears. It was incredibly touching. I would love to read more by this author.

Thanks to Random House Publishing/Ballantine and NetGalley for the ebook. All thougts are my own.

I LOVED THIS. Sibling/ family drama when done right is so good and this was done right! I was completely engaged the entire book, keeping up with the drama and the emotional toll. Absolutely fantastic book.

Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E Smith is an absolute masterpiece! I smiled, laughed, cried, and sobbed my way through this book in the best way possible. Told from the POVs of the four estranged Endicott siblings, Gemma, Connor, Rodney, and Jude, the story jumps between the present day reunion in North Dakota and past summer road trips around the USA to unravel the moments that molded, broke, and pieced this family together. 🗺📍 Simply superb! If you were a fan of the show "This is Us," you will thoroughly enjoy this read. I will be thinking about this book for weeks and months to come, no doubt! 😭

Thank you @netgalley for this ARC.

I adored The Unsinkable Greta James, so when I found out Jennifer E. Smith had a new book out, I was beyond excited—and she absolutely delivered. Honestly, I might love this one even more.

This book wrecked me in the best way. It’s about family—the complicated, broken, beautiful kind. Gemma, Roddy, Jude, and Connor come together after years of silence, and what starts as a reunion quickly becomes something much deeper. A reckoning. A journey through memory, forgiveness, and the ties that never really break, even when we try.

It’s a road trip. It’s a forced proximity story. It’s laughter and long-buried tension and emotional landmines. But at the center of all that is love—messy, painful, stubborn love. I cried so many times reading this. Not because it was all sad, but because it was so real—raw, tender, and deeply human.

Five stars. No hesitation. This one stays with you.

For fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, this book was badly titled but really wonderful. I'm sure the publishers debated calling it the "Exceptional Endicotts" and it would make more sense if they had. The family drama is relatable, the characters are endearing, and the story leads to all the emotions (even if the "secrets" are not so hard to figure out). I really enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend it for a summer read and for book clubs!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC #sponsored

I love a good family drama and this one did not disappoint! I really enjoyed the multiple POVs and alternating timelines. The story line felt very relatable. The characters were so well developed and unique. This was such a lovely, family drama that I highly recommend.

FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

From what I’ve read so far, I really like the dual timeline storytelling. I like the multiple POVs and the mystery surrounding each one.

I had to put the book down for the time being. I originally wanted to read it because it tackles the difficult topic of estrangement. Unfortunately, it’s hitting a little too close to home in some regards right now but I hope to pick it back up again in the future.

I have been a fan of Jennifer E. Smith for some time, and I adored this new addition to her collection. Fun for the Whole Family is a story of family, connection, and the cost of secrets. It's one that's made for bookclubs and beaches.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

This book had me sobbing and choking on my tears. Really loved these characters, this family. It’s a sad story that periodically lets you come up for air. Call it “slow-burn” or “character-driven,” it lulled for me a bit in the middle. But, oh, those final chapters. My heart hurts.

So I have to admit, the reason I got this book at all (I think I was offered a widget?), is because the town I live in is Endicott, New York! It made me laugh and I obviously accepted, and enjoyed the read immensely. I really like that each sibling got to tell different events from their own perspectives, and we got to see each person as a whole, rather than having the same outside view of them all. I also liked how well written and engaging the story was overall, but I'm knocking it down to four stars because the cover does not match the vibe of the story. Don't go into it expecting sweetness and light, but if you want depth and love, go for it!

Just delightful. She is the queen of complicated family dynamics told with love and humor. Didn’t want it to end.

Whew did this one get me in my feels - in the best of ways.

Fun for the Whole Family is the story of the Exceptional Edicott siblings- Gemma, the oldest who took on the role of matriarch when their mother left them at a young age; Connor - a writer whose success came from his novel about their family; Jude- an actress who was just nominated for an Oscar; and her twin brother Roddy, a professional soccer player whose coming out only elevated his status. Growing up they would go on roadtrips around the country with their mother. They were inseparable - until they weren't.

When we meet them they haven't spoken in 3 years - and each are at their own crossroads. Jude summits them individually, and out of the blue, to a tiny town in North Dakota. An epic snowstorm forces them to have the conversations they hae been avoiding for years and to dig into some deep truths they have long buried.

The story is told from the perspectives of all four Endicotts with flashbacks of their various roadtrips sprinkled throughout to give us more context. It is a beautifully written story of family, love and remembering you can come home again. It reminds us that life and family are messy but beautiful, complicated and nuanced but transcendent.

It wasn't until I finished that I realized author Jennifer E. Smith wrote one of my favorite books from last year - The Unsinkable Greta James. But it makes so much sense, as both novels are beautiful explorations of the bonds of family. I couldn't put this one down. Big thanks to my friends at NetGalley and Ballantine for the ARC - this one just came out on Tuesday, so add it to your TBRS immediately !

The cover and title gave me a very different impression than how this book actually felt. But that aside, I enjoyed this complex family drama and all the siblings' journeys.

Enjoyed reading this book. Nice format with different points of view and locations. Being from North Dakota I was really interested in how this book portrayed ND. Some issues with it but really enjoyed the story and hope to read more books by Jennifer E. Smith. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to ready this book.

What can I say, I'm a sucker for a good family drama. Was it as good as This Is Where I Leave You or Malibu Rising or Hello, Beautiful? The jury is still out, but this book follows in the same vein. Smith does a good job weaving the stories of the 4 siblings together and making you care about each of them. A little predictable, but I cared more about the characters than the "who dun it".

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this ARC!

This was a fantastic book. A family of siblings that hadn't experienced the love of parents the way you or I might have. The nurturing and the protection was provided by the eldest sister, Gemma. They had been close until things both spoken and unspoken destroyed their close relationship. Contact dwindled down to occasional texts until they receive a message from Jude, their youngest sister. She wants them to drop everything and come to North Dakota. Everything was paid for, it was time to talk to each other. As the siblings gathertogether, bringing their mates and children with them, we learn what happened to break them up. Told in the current time line and the past with multiple points of view this narrative is easy to follow. The story grabbed me and did not let me go. Happy, sad, and beautiful. I am grateful to have been able to read a complementary digital ARC provided by NetGalley and Ballantine. This review is my own words and thoughts and not coerced in any way.