Book Review: All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner

Reviewer: Samantha

I received a copy of this book in an exchange for an honest review.

Summary:

Allison Weiss got her happy ending—a handsome husband, adorable daughter, a job she loves, and the big house in the suburbs. But while waiting in the pediatrician’s office, she opens a magazine to a quiz about addiction and starts to wonder…Is a Percocet at the end of the day really different from a glass of wine? Is it such a bad thing to pop a Vicodin after a brutal Jump & Pump class…or if your husband ignores you?

The pills help her manage the realities of her good-looking life: that her husband is distant, that her daughter is acting out, that her father’s Alzheimer’s is worsening and her mother is barely managing to cope. She tells herself that they let her make it through her days…but what if her increasing drug use, a habit that’s becoming expensive and hard to hide, is turning into her biggest problem of all?

With a sparkling comedic touch and a cast of unforgettable characters, this remarkable story of a woman’s slide into addiction and struggle to find her way back up again is Jennifer Weiner’s most masterful work yet.

Review:

I always enjoy Jennifer Weiner books. I think they’re thought-provoking and emotional and fun to read novels. But this – this one was different. Yes, it was thought-provoking and emotional and fun to read, but on a different level. I’d been hearing talk that this was a new path for Weiner, I can definitely see that. We get to go deep with this book, as we follow Allison succumb to pain killer addiction. We watch her life slowly unravel – her marriage coming apart at the seams, her parents relying more on her, and her struggles with motherhood – until it all falls apart. Hard to put down, this book engaging me from the beginning and didn’t let me go. I loved the title, the cover, and this by far my favorite Jennifer Weiner book. You don’t want to miss this book this summer. I highly recommend.

5 stars