Book Review // The Most Fun We Ever Had

**Thank you to Double Day Books for this gifted copy!

Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis:
"When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that's to come. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are each in a state of unrest: Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator-turned-stay-at-home-mom, battles anxiety and self-doubt when the darkest part of her past resurfaces; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant with a baby she's not sure she wants by a man she's not sure she loves; and Grace, the dawdling youngest daughter, begins living a lie that no one in her family even suspects. Above it all, the daughters share the lingering fear that they will never find a love quite like their parents'. 

As the novel moves through the tumultuous year following the arrival of Jonah Bendt--given up by one of the daughters in a closed adoption fifteen years before--we are shown the rich and varied tapestry of the Sorensons' past: years marred by adolescence, infidelity, and resentment, but also the transcendent moments of joy that make everything else worthwhile." Amazon.com

Review:

You know when you read a book, and you feel like you’re just a fly on the wall, watching everything happen around you and you’re observing it all and making judgments about everything and everyone? And you’re on the verge of blowing up because you just wanna say something and tell someone that they’re the absolute worst and most hated character in the book? Ahem, Violet. That was kind of how I felt about reading TMFWEH (get used to that acronym because I’m obsessed).

There are so many layers to this book, and I really hope you decide to pick it up! It’s hefty (over 500 pages), but reads very quickly. Claire Lombardo is smart and clever. She has developed these characters with so much personality and realness that you KNOW them by the end and are absolutely heartbroken to finish that last page. Everyone in the Sorenson family has faced difficult decisions that have impacted not only their own life, but trickled down to every member of the family. 

I appreciated the devotion Marilyn and David had for each other. Marriage is hard, and I loved how real their marriage played out in this book. 

Wendy was the most cringe-worthy, but most vulnerable character. Some of her actions made me bat crazy, but I also welcomed her willingness to speak up to certain family members. 

Violet was absolute poison the entire book. Every chapter made me so angry! I could not sympathize with her one bit. She never got better for me. 

Liza kind of dug her own grave at times, but showed promise to rebuild the relationships around her. I loved how David came to her rescue at the end. 

Grace, the forgotten daughter. Not only did Grace feel that she was the left-out child, Lombardo wrote Grace with as little presence in the book so you really did feel that absence.

Last but definitely not least, Jonah. Sweet, sweet, Jonah. The boy who truly made this novel. I wasn’t expecting to love Jonah this much when I first started TMFWEH, but my heart was bursting by the end.

If family drama makes you prone to break out in hives and reaching for your bottle of anti-anxiety meds, THIS IS NOT YOUR BOOK. 

*I had to dock 1/2 star because of language and sex. But the language bothered me more than the sex. It felt unnecessary.