The Most Fun We Ever Had

No character development. Jonah’s character and David towards the end were the only redeeming pieces but otherwise it was 600+ pages of nonsense.

Hated the repulsive pornographic verbiage early in the book and then the repulsive language shortly thereafter

I’d say 3.5 stars rounded up due to the depth of the characters and the writing. This is Claire Lombardo’s first novel and it is reminiscent of This Is Us but with more than a PG-13 rating (I could have done with less sex scenes). The parents in this family saga have a wonderful marriage. The four adult girls all have issues and need counseling at the very least. I could tell the author is a former Social Worker from how she writes these characters. They are all very believable. Where this novel fell down for me was that it started to drag. I think she needed to edit it down more.

I have come to like this author and the way she is able to create these familiar worlds of her characters. This is a well written story about familial love, resentment, anger. I found the parents relationship a little too unreal and loving, but that may have been the point. Everything looks perfect on the outside.

Really enjoyed the story, but it would’ve benefited from an editor cutting about 100 pages.