A review by bethreadsandnaps
Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E. Smith

4.5

 

4.5 ⭐️

FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY by Jennifer E. Smith

As an only child, sibling stories can be hit or miss for me. I felt that Jennifer E. Smith crafted an excellent sibling story where these four siblings (Jude, Gemma, Connor and Roddy) had fallen out of touch but are suddenly reunited by Jude, the famous actress, in North Dakota of all places. It felt like an authentic adult sibling relationship.

The reader learns about each sibling and what each is grappling with personally and how each plays a part in the sibling dynamic. Their chaotic mother had tied them together, and will they be able to pick up the pieces in their lives? 

➕ I thought each sibling was well-crafted. Each came through as a unique individual with strengths and weaknesses and their own journey.

➕ This novel is extremely well-paced.

➖ I don’t like the cover of this book…or the terrible title. The publisher did this author dirty. 

➖ There is some inplausibility here that such a terrible mother would produce a bestselling novelist, a professional soccer player, and a famous actress. Right? Gemma is the only one who wasn’t #1 in her field, and that had to suck to describe her three siblings to someone else.

➖ It was a lot of perspective/time switching. Usually I don’t mind it, and I see the purpose in this novel to do it, it just brought down the novel a little bit for me because it was so often. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an unbiased review. 

It publishes April 8, 2025.