Reviews - Family Family | The StoryGraph

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1.58k reviews for:

Family Family

Laurie Frankel

4.13 AVERAGE

saftaboys's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

rachelsuzanne's review

4.0

I liked this book and I like the is author. Such an interesting story with some fun surprises. I didn’t love the ending.

cheapsublilo's review

2.0

Adoption from the aspect of those who give them up and the kids who were given up. Too many character POV changes that made it kind of confusing (as an audiobook).

zedohee's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 11%

fuck this bitch disappointed me so badly ughhh. i was loving the writing but she had to go get stupid and white woman it up. hate it when they do that fr lol

flimsy premise—as if anyone would give a shit about a b-lister’s mid movie flopping other than some very dedicated stans lmao like sure maybe some adoption groups would make some noise, but to say it would go viral to the point of messing w her career is silly and out of touch. the press cycle moves way faster than that now & we’re definitely living in an ‘all press is good press’ era.

still, i didn’t mind the silliness there because the story was convincing enough. until the second baby. because girl WHAT? talk about contrived and dumb. & i definitely didn’t care for how the author halfheartedly presented abortion as an option for like a sentence, before dedicating chapters to exulting the miracles of ‘giving someone the ultimate gift aka a baby’ 🤢. id already been iffy on the way she was framing certain thing but by then the pro-life vibes were stanking up the joint. just so transparent and inane especially right now. even women who want kids and want to be pregnant don’t have perfect pregnancies and such tidy thoughts about adoption (twice??) but here, a 16/20 year old was all in, with zero issues during the pregnancy and little to no serious concerns about giving up her kid(s) whatsoever? nah wrong answer. maybe a teenager would genuinely believe that dumb shit but the idea that a 20 year old almost graduate would never seriously consider abortion was narratively & emotionally dishonest. & definitely makes the author’s note fall flat because i don’t buy the author’s pro choice claims for a second. not when she’s gleefully spouting this harmful miracle of life bullshit.

also frankel (an adoptive mom herself) says she wrote this to combat all the sad adoption stories out there but in what world are adoption and adoption stories not praised one of the most ‘selfless’ and ‘beautiful’ things in the world?? like is this her first day on earth maybe? but pair that shallow angle (the handling of race here was pathetic & i doubt she cared to look into negative, nuanced experiences of interracial adoptees) with the delusional idea she seems to have of pregnancy being about as disruptive to a woman’s body as heartburn, i don’t think ole girl lives in reality. & that kind of looniness is kinda fun sometimes but definitely not here.

also this as extremely overwritten. i did like the writing style and rhythm of most of the dialogue, but 10/16 year-olds don’t talk like that. the kids were precarious in that irritating disney channel way and it was grating as fuck. as was some of the storytelling in general. just super self indulgent to the point of ham fisted cheesiness. felt like the editors maybe quit halfway through because this could’ve easily been 200 pages less.

anyway. i think this book is probably the author working through her own guilt and issues around adoption. and that’s her right but yikes. makes for a painful and slightly foolish read.

if i rated dnfs this would be half a star.

Content Warnings

abitofsparkle's review

4.5

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

kamattis's review against another edition

3.75

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

scarylady1955's review

5.0

Laurie Frankel takes real world issues, spins them, makes you laugh and understand what they are really about. This book is no different! Thanks, Laurie!