Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Mrs. Everything

I loved reading about female and LGBTQ oppression in suburbia from the characters' point of view. Weiner portrays 1950s gender roles in a way that makes your heart break for the characters and illustrates how detrimental gender stereotypes can be.

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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emotional 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? Yes

3.75

Title: Mrs. Everything
Author: Jennifer Weiner
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3.75
Pub Date: June 11, 2019

T H R E E • W O R D S

Intimate • Layered • Realistic

📖 S Y N O P S I S
Mrs. Everything is a multigeneration story following sisters Jo and Bethie over the decades. Born in the 1950s, they lived the 'Dick & Jane' life with clearly defined roles within the family. Jo was the tomboy with a passion for making the world a more equitable place. Whereas, Bethie was the pretty one and dreamed of a traditional life. However, things don't turn out how either of them has imagined. A story filled with trauma and tragedies, love and loss, family and secrets.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I'd always thought Jennifer Weiner wrote "Chick Lit", but after reading That Summer in 2021 I came to understand there is much more depth to her writing, and this multigenerational exploration of sisterhood, motherhood, love and feminism certainly delivered a complexity beyond my expectations. I was engaged in Bethie and Jo's lives through childhood and college, however, for some reason I became less interested as the years progressed. Perhaps it's because Mrs. Everything could have easily been made 100 pages shorter. My other main issue was the ending. I didn't feel it justified the emotional depth and turmoil the characters endured throughout the book.

One thing in particular, I really liked was the exploration and realistic presentation of women's history over time. Additionally, one of the smaller aspects I thought really accentuated the message and themes of this book, was the title. Upon finishing, I couldn't help but nod my head at how fitting it was and is for women in general.

Jennifer Weiner packs a lot into Mrs. Everything and I certainly needed time to digest it afterwards. Although it deals with many tough topics, I am glad I picked it up as it was definitely worth my time.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of multigenerational sagas
• readers who enjoyed Firefly Lane
• bookclubs

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"She wished she’d spent more time teaching her girls that women should forgive themselves, showing them how to take care of themselves with kindness. The world was hard enough, would beat them up enough without them adding to the pain."

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dispenziere13's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Jennifer Weiners best book. This book is a beautiful coming of age story of two Jewish sisters from Detroit who’s lives take them in very different paths.

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shayb81's review

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5.0

“We lose ourselves, but we find our way back.”

This story follows sisters, Jo and Bethie, from their childhood in the 1950s through 2022. Chapters alternate between each sister and highlight so many milestones that women go through and also historical moments and culture from those time periods.

This book is especially relevant in today’s culture and the #metoo movement. This book realistically portrays the closed-mindedness of America’s past and the growth that has occurred in a generation. From not having a word for childhood molestation to high-level executives finally being stripped from their positions of power, this book covers the many abuses woman have faced while leaving a feeling of hope for the future. This book also covers some of the discriminations of gays and African Americans during this time period.

I was skeptical when I saw early reviews of Mrs. Everything that touted it as Jennifer Weiner’s best yet, but after reading it, I have to say that I agree.

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glammster's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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jularcido's review

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emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

booksinthemountains's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I received a reviewer copy of Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner from the publisher from Atria Books from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

CW: Homophobia. Racism. Rape. Abuse against Children. Eating Disorders. Anti-semitism.

What It’s About: A fiction story that spans decades following two sister. Jo, the older daughter, is a tomboy who has never pleased her mother and loves her father. Bethie is the girly-girl who dreams of being famous. There worlds are forever changed when their father dies. This book follows the girls through the remainder of their lives.

What I Loved: Look, this book had all my must-haves in a book: a generational story that covers a family dynamic. I really grew to love these characters and connect with the struggles that they faced. The thing that is so interesting is that the sisters tend to switch roles. In the beginning Jo is the troublemaker and as the book goes on this switches to Bethie's role. I loved the way the story continued on and the sacrifices made to have a secure life in the face of bigotry and gender roles is so upsetting. The role that trauma can have on a human soul. I loved this book so much. It was really compelling to follow women in the first generation where women could be who they wanted to be but also find the challenges that went along with that. This book reminded me quite a bit of The Last Romantics (one of my top books of last year)!

What I Didn't Like So Much: There were times when some of the character's decisions and behavior was sometimes hard to read when you disagree with it because you loved the characters and wanted them to do better.

Who Should Read This: People who love books about families. People who love books about sisters. People who love multi generational stories. People who loved The Last Romantics.

Quick Summary: A story about sister's growing up and growing into their true identities and passions!

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