ISBN-13: 9781451617788
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication date: 6/17/2014
Format: Audio
My Rating: 5 Stars
Allison Weiss has a great job…a handsome husband…an adorable daughter…and a secret.
Allison Weiss is a typical working mother, trying to balance a business, aging parents, a demanding daughter, and a marriage.
But when the website she develops takes off, she finds herself challenged to the point of being completely overwhelmed. Her husband’s becoming distant, her daughter’s acting spoiled, her father is dealing with early Alzheimer’s, and her mother’s barely dealing at all.
As she struggles to hold her home and work life together, and meet all of the needs of the people around her, Allison finds that the painkillers she was prescribed for a back injury help her deal with more than just physical discomfort—they help her feel calm and get her through her increasingly hectic days. Sure, she worries a bit that the bottles seem to empty a bit faster each week, but it’s not like she’s some Hollywood starlet partying all night, or a homeless person who’s lost everything. It’s not as if she has an actual problem.
My Review
Having read ALL of Jennifer Weiner’s books, (she never ceases to amaze me). The Queen of chick-lit, drama, relationships, sex, dating, trends, and marriage—any issue involving a woman—pulling out "all the stops" with her humor, wit, even cynical at times—for "in your face" truths. When she speaks, women listen.
ALL FALL DOWN, is a grown up novel, advancing past the days of dating and guys—now her character, Allison is facing the real truths of life—marriage, motherhood, career and addiction. How could a woman with it all, need drugs in order to exist, survive, and cope? How does the character, Allison get to this place where she is online ordering illegal drugs, and furthermore can she stop? More importantly, how will she maintain her life without the comfort of her pills?
In a world where so many women feel the need to be perfect; finding it difficult to balance it all, personal and business—there comes stress of maintaining. This book will hit home to women readers— ALL FALL DOWN reminds me of several of my favorite quotes and a book I read recently "Better than Perfect" by Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo.
“Perfectionism becomes a badge of honor with you playing the part of the suffering hero” –David D. BurnsThe most valuable thing you can make is a mistake. You can’t learn anything from being perfect.” –Adam Osborne
Allison has a stressful job as blogger for a women’s website, a demanding daughter, and a loving husband, who enjoys have lunch with another woman, pretentious friends, a weak mother with whom she cannot connect with, and a father with Alzheimer’s. Not quite so perfect!
Jennifer takes readers on a journey through one woman’s struggle with addiction, and during this time she connects with other women who find themselves in the same situation, with different circumstances. They may be different; however, they all arrive at this point out of a desperate need.As she goes through rehabilitation, she realizes her mom is not the person she thought she was—a parallel as the two have more in common than they may know.
Both are hiding behind their fears to be perfect, walls which surround them, a pretense, as this is what they know—never show your weaknesses or let anyone know the real you. However while maintaining their secrets, false pretenses, what crutches do they use to hold them up? Something or someone has to fall.
Loved this book, and my only negative was the audiobook, as the narrator had a very annoying voice and when you pre-order a book, you do not get to sample the audio or performer. I was tempted to give a lesser rating due to this; however, the story was so powerful, I had to judge the book without the influence of the narrator. I would recommend reading the book in other formats.
Definitely movie worthy! A must read for all women of any age—buckle up for the ride of your life. On this ride, you may learn something about yourself. One of Weiner's deepest and hard hitting books to date, of empowerment, self-discovery and redemption.
Cannot wait for her next book, The F Word: My Life in Stories, coming April 14, 2015! Weiner definitely knows how to entertain and one of the funniest writers out there today! Fans of Jodi Picoult, Amy Hatvany, Sarah Pekkanen, and Emily Giffin are assured to love ALL FALL DOWN!
