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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
Excellent story and well told. I love Weiner's stories of real life problems.
The story of a 30-something woman - juggling home, motherhood, work, ailing parents, and a distant husband - with a growing addiction to pain killers.
A serious subject told in a light-hearted, and at times, humorous way.
A serious subject told in a light-hearted, and at times, humorous way.
I used to really really love Jennifer Weiner's books. I thought that In Her Shoes was wonderful (and thought the movie version did not do the book version justice) and that Good in Bed was awesome and heartbreaking at the same time. Then I don't know what happened. I read Goodnight Nobody and just could not get into it at all. I really gave up after Certain Girls was published since I felt it ruined how perfect I found Good In Bed. I read a couple of her newest works samples on my Kindle and just could not get into it at all. So with that I decided that unless I heard from someone that her book was fantastic I was going to pass.
I saw that a couple of people that I follow here and there read and liked this book so I picked this up from my local library. Told in three parts it is told from the first person point of view of Allison Weiss and her fall into drug addiction.
Synopsis:
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?
I think the main problem is with a book like this you as a reader end up getting so frustrated with the character of Allison. You know from the very beginning she has a drug addiction so her denying it and trying to excuse it while running to take another pill whenever she is upset makes you want to kick the character in her shins. when she eventually is forced to go to rehab it becomes harder still to like her since she sees herself above everyone else and thinks that there is no way that she belongs there and since nothing horrible happened to make her into a drug addict she really can't be.
However, I felt for Allison and find myself sympathizing with her when you see how overwhelmed she has become by her life and her husband's inability to talk to her and that the answers lie in her pill bottles.
I really did like the writing and thought that for the first time in a while I had a Weiner character really speaking to me. I adored the character of Cannie from Good in Bed and the characters of Rose and Maggie Feller from In Her Shoes.
The only reason why I gave this book 4.5 stars was that the ending was a bit ham fisted and it felt as if we missed a few scenes because all of a sudden we were transported to a day with Allison and her daughter and then we have her telling us what occurred. I am guessing it was almost a year later but you really can't tell. Also the scenes at the rehab center were a bit weird I thought. I don't know if Weiner was trying to say something about rehabs not being great or something but the place that the character of Allison was sent to sounded awful and it was written to somewhat justify Allison's feelings of wanting to leave the place.
I saw that a couple of people that I follow here and there read and liked this book so I picked this up from my local library. Told in three parts it is told from the first person point of view of Allison Weiss and her fall into drug addiction.
Synopsis:
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?
I think the main problem is with a book like this you as a reader end up getting so frustrated with the character of Allison. You know from the very beginning she has a drug addiction so her denying it and trying to excuse it while running to take another pill whenever she is upset makes you want to kick the character in her shins. when she eventually is forced to go to rehab it becomes harder still to like her since she sees herself above everyone else and thinks that there is no way that she belongs there and since nothing horrible happened to make her into a drug addict she really can't be.
However, I felt for Allison and find myself sympathizing with her when you see how overwhelmed she has become by her life and her husband's inability to talk to her and that the answers lie in her pill bottles.
I really did like the writing and thought that for the first time in a while I had a Weiner character really speaking to me. I adored the character of Cannie from Good in Bed and the characters of Rose and Maggie Feller from In Her Shoes.
The only reason why I gave this book 4.5 stars was that the ending was a bit ham fisted and it felt as if we missed a few scenes because all of a sudden we were transported to a day with Allison and her daughter and then we have her telling us what occurred. I am guessing it was almost a year later but you really can't tell. Also the scenes at the rehab center were a bit weird I thought. I don't know if Weiner was trying to say something about rehabs not being great or something but the place that the character of Allison was sent to sounded awful and it was written to somewhat justify Allison's feelings of wanting to leave the place.
Could have done without the blatant stereotyping. The book also jumped around time frames from one paragraph to the next. Made it hard to follow along at times.
Reading inside the mind of an addict is itself addicting. This book was very inspiring and very honest. Great characters and story.
Another great book by Jennifer. I enjoyed this one much more then her last.
Busy moms (and dads): It took me a long time to come around to this book. I spent a lot of time disliking the main character, her actions and attitude. Ultimately, I decided that, despite not liking the main character (much), the insight and themes addressed by this book make it worth the read. (3 stars on The Mom Who Runs, for "it's okay" rating on GR.)
Let’s start with the characters: For me, the main character, Allison, was unlikable out of the gate. I say this because I am fortunate to have been through and come out stronger from significant life challenges without leaning on a crutch or falling into addiction, which does run in my family. Not everyone is wired like me, I get it. Allison also lacked a certain element of personal strength and generally seemed to have a pretty big lack of coping skills for what I perceive as mundane life-stuff. No major life tragedies, no significant hardships, just a doc who handed her a taste of narcotics after a minor injury that left her hooked on the buzz and constantly finding excuses for more left a bad taste in my mouth. Perhaps that’s part of the slippery slope to which I cannot relate. That addiction takes ahold of you whether or not you’re not in crisis, makes your everyday better and then you can’t seem to get through even mundane daily challenges without it. The supporting characters were only minimally less unlikable, with a daughter who did read as particularly bratty, a mother who was even more spineless and enabling, and a husband who had basically checked out.
The plot and storylines of the book marched out well. Allison spent the bulk of the book in a clear downward spiral, facilitated by her deep denial. That there was a family secret and history of addiction came as no surprise to me, and worked with the overall flow of the story. The marital issues present throughout most of the book did not seem completely genuine. It read more as if there had to be something going on in the marriage to further drive her addiction, but with multiple characters already not particularly sympathetic, the husband could not also be too unlikable.
At the end of the book, Allison makes it in and out of rehab and eventually comes to admit her disease and the damage caused by her addiction. There is some persistent unrealistic behavior, throughout that detracted from the story for me. For example: By law, even in 2014, you could not call a prescription to a pharmacy for any narcotic stronger than Vicodin (which is most narcotics). Only the original prescription will be accepted. Allison was also supposedly taking some extremely high doses of medications after a relatively short period of time. Possible? Yes. Probable? No.
The writing flowed easily enough, but at four hundred pages, maybe could have been shortened for a tighter story. Ms. Weiner is a talented women’s fiction writer with a knack for keeping the story moving and readers engaged. I was curious and invested enough to finish the book, hoping for some development and growth by the main character. For that, I was rewarded. It may not be a prize-winning novel, and had the feel of “outsider-looking-in on addiction, wanting to tackle a hot topic,” but ultimately think it was worth the read. There are probably books that are more on-the-money in the details department, but All Fall Down is a good first step towards understanding the complexities of addiction, particularly that of prescription pills, rehab and recovery.
Let’s start with the characters: For me, the main character, Allison, was unlikable out of the gate. I say this because I am fortunate to have been through and come out stronger from significant life challenges without leaning on a crutch or falling into addiction, which does run in my family. Not everyone is wired like me, I get it. Allison also lacked a certain element of personal strength and generally seemed to have a pretty big lack of coping skills for what I perceive as mundane life-stuff. No major life tragedies, no significant hardships, just a doc who handed her a taste of narcotics after a minor injury that left her hooked on the buzz and constantly finding excuses for more left a bad taste in my mouth. Perhaps that’s part of the slippery slope to which I cannot relate. That addiction takes ahold of you whether or not you’re not in crisis, makes your everyday better and then you can’t seem to get through even mundane daily challenges without it. The supporting characters were only minimally less unlikable, with a daughter who did read as particularly bratty, a mother who was even more spineless and enabling, and a husband who had basically checked out.
The plot and storylines of the book marched out well. Allison spent the bulk of the book in a clear downward spiral, facilitated by her deep denial. That there was a family secret and history of addiction came as no surprise to me, and worked with the overall flow of the story. The marital issues present throughout most of the book did not seem completely genuine. It read more as if there had to be something going on in the marriage to further drive her addiction, but with multiple characters already not particularly sympathetic, the husband could not also be too unlikable.
At the end of the book, Allison makes it in and out of rehab and eventually comes to admit her disease and the damage caused by her addiction. There is some persistent unrealistic behavior, throughout that detracted from the story for me. For example: By law, even in 2014, you could not call a prescription to a pharmacy for any narcotic stronger than Vicodin (which is most narcotics). Only the original prescription will be accepted. Allison was also supposedly taking some extremely high doses of medications after a relatively short period of time. Possible? Yes. Probable? No.
The writing flowed easily enough, but at four hundred pages, maybe could have been shortened for a tighter story. Ms. Weiner is a talented women’s fiction writer with a knack for keeping the story moving and readers engaged. I was curious and invested enough to finish the book, hoping for some development and growth by the main character. For that, I was rewarded. It may not be a prize-winning novel, and had the feel of “outsider-looking-in on addiction, wanting to tackle a hot topic,” but ultimately think it was worth the read. There are probably books that are more on-the-money in the details department, but All Fall Down is a good first step towards understanding the complexities of addiction, particularly that of prescription pills, rehab and recovery.
I love the way Jennifer Weiner writes. Time and time again I pick up one of her books, and have a hard time putting it down until I am finished. All Fall Down was no exception.
She writes about addiction in a way that I could understand and empathize with. Having never experienced addiction, nor been close to anyone who struggled with it, it's had to understand how people can go from seeming to have it all together to an addict. Allison's story is one I can relate to. Someone who seems to have it all together, hasn't suffered any significant trauma or abuse, and still finds herself addicted to pain killers. It really brought an understand of this disease home to me in a way that I hadn't experienced before.
She writes about addiction in a way that I could understand and empathize with. Having never experienced addiction, nor been close to anyone who struggled with it, it's had to understand how people can go from seeming to have it all together to an addict. Allison's story is one I can relate to. Someone who seems to have it all together, hasn't suffered any significant trauma or abuse, and still finds herself addicted to pain killers. It really brought an understand of this disease home to me in a way that I hadn't experienced before.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.
It is easy to relate to the main character in this novel. She is trying to juggle all aspects of her life, being a mother, wife, daughter and trying to be successful at her job. This is not an easy task, and she ends up turning to prescription medication in order to get through.
Jennifer Weiner did a great job describing the life of a drug addict and her way to recovery.
This is the first novel I have read by Jennifer Weiner, and I am looking forward to reading more.
It is easy to relate to the main character in this novel. She is trying to juggle all aspects of her life, being a mother, wife, daughter and trying to be successful at her job. This is not an easy task, and she ends up turning to prescription medication in order to get through.
Jennifer Weiner did a great job describing the life of a drug addict and her way to recovery.
This is the first novel I have read by Jennifer Weiner, and I am looking forward to reading more.