carolynlowe 's review for:

All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner

3.0

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I read through this book within 24 hours...and I'm not entirely sure why. I liked the story well enough, it wasn't terribly challenging, but I didn't really care for any of the characters. Allison, the main character, is an upper middle class mommy-blogger living in the burbs with her very sensory-sensitive child and her slowly distant husband. She struggles to deal with her father's worsening alzheimers and finding him a place to live once it becomes clear that her aging mother can't handle him on her own. Allison uses pain medications to smooth the struggles- a pill before visiting with her father, a pill before visiting her daughter's school, a pill to help her sleep. It quickly becomes an issue. Now, I liked the premise of the story but I realized after finishing that I really never cared what happened to the characters. Allison is very selfish and keeps thinking her 20 pill a day habit doesn't mean she needs help. Once in rehab, she looks down on the others in the treatment facility with her, which is very annoying. Her husband is a creep- training for marathons in his free hours, which literally seems like he's trying to run away. I liked the story line but felt the characters needed some work.