Reviews

All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner

khornstein1's review against another edition

4.0

OK, Confession Time: A nice new Jennifer Weiner book is one of my guilty pleasures. She's a decent writer; I give her one point off as I can't say this book offers much to the ongoing literary canon...BUT Weiner always manages very convincingly to get into her characters' heads and All Fall Down's Allison is no exception. The portrayal of an addict (doesn't matter really that she's a "nice" addict who does Oxy and lives in the suburbs) I thought was spot on--she brilliantly captures what it's like to lie not only to others, but most importantly, to yourself...I found myself liking Allison but then I was like, "what did you just say? Thats bulls****!!"

And her portrayal of rehab is very OITNB, but again with the added bonus of Allison's twisted thinking...we see what's going on, and then we see how Allison sees it. So interesting. Great beach book.

that_one_emily11's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

leahwonstomesek's review against another edition

2.0

First half amazing second half horrible garbage.

tayloormc's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

williamz4lyf's review against another edition

5.0

This is one beautiful book about a woman's struggle with drug addiction. I must have cried for this character. She was well written, and her struggle was very painful to read. I consider this a well done work. Very good read.

sksrenninger's review against another edition

3.0

I usually love Jennifer Weiner, but this one was just sad and stressful. I don't know how true-to-life it was, but I certainly felt the main character's anxiety.

blimowery's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

2.5

Very middle of the road. The storyline was good. It was interesting reading the character's descent into addiction without realizing it. Other than that, I'll probably completely forget everything else about this book except it's a book about addiction. I already can't remember the main character's name (if you hadn't noticed lol) and I feel like not a single character was fully formed. Even MC's redemption felt very lackluster. 

megangraff's review against another edition

2.0

I confused Jennifer Weiner and Jennifer Egan. Oops. I finished it but it was pretty shallow.

lnbrittain's review against another edition

5.0

Loved it.

jackiehorne's review against another edition

3.0

Weiner covers pretty well-trod ground in this story of a privileged Jewish woman who avoids confronting her dissatisfaction with her life after motherhood and a move to the suburbs, as well as her struggles to "do it all," by taking increasingly large numbers of prescription painkillers. Allison's difficult daughter, distant mother, job-disappointed husband, and father struggling with Alzheimer's make her turn to drugs plausible, and give us a reason to sympathize with her, despite her occasional whininess and snarky/mean comments about others. She doesn't have much of a distinct personality, beyond the whininess and snarkiness, though, which makes her story not as engaging as it might have been.

The part I enjoyed most was Weiner's depiction of life in rehab; both the dehumanization of the rehabbers, and the humor Allison musters to deal with the institution itself, seems quite similar to Cannie's response to dealing with the weight loss industry in GOOD IN BED. Lord, how I wish we'd actually gotten to see the SOUNDS OF REHAB talent show...