Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
Right there with her. About a woman with a pills addiction. I have an addiction too. Only mine is delicious yarn and potato chips.
wonderful
This book was great. It was hard to put down. I"ve been in her husbands shoes and know they story all too well.
This book was great. It was hard to put down. I"ve been in her husbands shoes and know they story all too well.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you like Jennifer Weiner, you'll like this book.
The exposition of this book started to feel a little drawn out and clunky.... and then I got sucked in, and couldn't put it down.
challenging
reflective
All Fall Down is the first book I have read by Jennifer Weiner, I know some of her previous books have been light enough with plenty of humour but this is very different. The cover may give the impression that this is chick-lit but I think the dark background combined with the title has a slightly sinister feel. I can’t say I really enjoyed it as the subject matter was serious but it was good to get such an eye opener into the world of addiction. I’m really on the fence with this one, parts were really good and then other sections seemed to drag but I still think it’s well worth a read if you want something slightly different from your usual chick lit.
Allison is a woman who is teetering on the edge and as the title suggests everything is all about to fall down. She has everything she could possibly want in her life - loving husband, beautiful young daughter, nice house and a job as a blogger for a women’s website. So what could make her turn to prescription pills as a means of making it through each week - hour by hour day by day? Chapter by chapter, we slowly start to realise that everything is not perfect for Allison, she feels under constant strain and pressure to keep her ‘perfect’ world just that way.
Allison is now the main breadwinner as her husband Dan does not get as much work as he used to. Along with that her father is suffering from Alzheimer’s and her mother is unable to cope leaving Allison in a tricky situation. Then we have her daughter Ellie who at first glance appears like any normal little girl but she hates noise, likes everything to be a certain way and throws tantrums if she doesn’t get what she wants. I couldn’t make up my mind about Ellie, was she supposed to have Aspergers or was she just a naughty spoilt child? This was never really explained fully and I felt if I knew why Ellie behaved in the way she did I would have understood her much more and had a bit more sympathy for the way in which she acted.
Allison has so much going on her life that her intake of pills increases dramatically throughout the first half of the book. To be honest it was quite scary reading her story and the lengths she would go to in order to get her next fix. Soon Allison’s life is spiralling out of control and it all comes to a head outside her daughter’s school and before she knows it she is in rehab. Although as she claims she does not have an addiction. If the first half of this book was quite drawn out I found the second half really picked up the pace as we saw how Allison’s dealt with being in rehab and I wanted to know how the story was going to pan out.
I know this was Allison’s story as to how how she fell into and then dealt with addiction but I really felt we never get to know her husband Dave or for that matter her best friend Janet. It would have been nice to have read maybe one or two chapters from their point of view to see what they made of the whole experience. Yes they both tried to help Allison when she eventually reached rock bottom but for the most part they were periphery characters that could have been developed a whole lot more.
Jennifer Weiner had the guts to tackle the subject of addiction which has not often been dealt with in women’s fiction. Ok, so it didn’t fully pay off as some parts were weaker than others but I still think All Fall Down is worth a read. It certainly reinforces that addiction is never the answer no matter how hard life may seem there is always someone there to help. I won’t give up on Jennifer Weiner yet, I think I might try something else from her in the future.
Allison is a woman who is teetering on the edge and as the title suggests everything is all about to fall down. She has everything she could possibly want in her life - loving husband, beautiful young daughter, nice house and a job as a blogger for a women’s website. So what could make her turn to prescription pills as a means of making it through each week - hour by hour day by day? Chapter by chapter, we slowly start to realise that everything is not perfect for Allison, she feels under constant strain and pressure to keep her ‘perfect’ world just that way.
Allison is now the main breadwinner as her husband Dan does not get as much work as he used to. Along with that her father is suffering from Alzheimer’s and her mother is unable to cope leaving Allison in a tricky situation. Then we have her daughter Ellie who at first glance appears like any normal little girl but she hates noise, likes everything to be a certain way and throws tantrums if she doesn’t get what she wants. I couldn’t make up my mind about Ellie, was she supposed to have Aspergers or was she just a naughty spoilt child? This was never really explained fully and I felt if I knew why Ellie behaved in the way she did I would have understood her much more and had a bit more sympathy for the way in which she acted.
Allison has so much going on her life that her intake of pills increases dramatically throughout the first half of the book. To be honest it was quite scary reading her story and the lengths she would go to in order to get her next fix. Soon Allison’s life is spiralling out of control and it all comes to a head outside her daughter’s school and before she knows it she is in rehab. Although as she claims she does not have an addiction. If the first half of this book was quite drawn out I found the second half really picked up the pace as we saw how Allison’s dealt with being in rehab and I wanted to know how the story was going to pan out.
I know this was Allison’s story as to how how she fell into and then dealt with addiction but I really felt we never get to know her husband Dave or for that matter her best friend Janet. It would have been nice to have read maybe one or two chapters from their point of view to see what they made of the whole experience. Yes they both tried to help Allison when she eventually reached rock bottom but for the most part they were periphery characters that could have been developed a whole lot more.
Jennifer Weiner had the guts to tackle the subject of addiction which has not often been dealt with in women’s fiction. Ok, so it didn’t fully pay off as some parts were weaker than others but I still think All Fall Down is worth a read. It certainly reinforces that addiction is never the answer no matter how hard life may seem there is always someone there to help. I won’t give up on Jennifer Weiner yet, I think I might try something else from her in the future.
An interesting novel for sure. A departure from Weiner's normal chick-lit fare. Some serious addiction issues are dealt with. Things are tied up a bit too nicely, keeping this book from getting a 4-star rating from me.
