It's been quite a while since I read and enjoyed my first Jennifer Weiner book Good in Bed. Weiner has definitely carved out her own space in the "chick-lit" genre that she is probably for many readers, a go-to when they're in need of a book focused primarily on women's issues laced with a little bit of humor. All Fall DownWeiner's latest follows that same formula that has made her so popular and loved by many.
Allison Weiss seemingly lives the life anyone would want. A lovely home, a handsome husband, and a beautiful daughter. The only problem with this life is that said lovely home is way out of her price range, that handsome husband is very distant, and her beautiful daughter is very "sensitive". As if these problems weren't enough, she's trying to balance home-life, work, an ailing parent, and her addiction to prescription meds without falling off the rails. All her efforts to contain her addiction result in failure.
Allison is so sure that she doesn't have a problem. She's not anAddict. Not the woman who is an author of a very successful blog. Not the woman who doesn't "look" like an addict. Certainly she couldn't be an addict because she lives in a "Mcmansion" in Haverford. How could she possibly be an addict when she hadn't hit rock bottom yet?
Through much of All Fall Down, I could not let go of how much tension, and worry I had for Allison. Allison is a woman that many mother's can relate to. She's trying to make sure he family stays afloat. She begins only using to make it through the difficult times. To escape her daughter's tantrums or to forget her husband hasn't touched her in months. But her spiral downhill kept me on edge as one pill turns into ten per day.
I don't think there's one negative thing I could say about All Fall Down. I simply could not put it down. If I had to choose one thing to dislike, it would have to be how snarky, or above it all, Allison could be at times. But then again, denial is a beautiful thing, not just the river.
Overall, Weiner does what she does best in All Fall Down. She writes about a very real subject, addiction, but doesn't make it completely heartbreaking. All Fall Down proves that addiction can happen to anyone but with the help and support of family, falling off the rails completely will not be an option. ****
Copy provided by Simon & Schuster via Netgalley
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