All Fall Down

De: Jennifer Weiner

Narrado por: Tracee Chimo

Allison Weiss has a great job…a handsome husband…an adorable daughter…and a secret.

Allison Weiss is a typical working mother, trying to balance a business, aging parents, a demanding daughter, and a marriage. But when the website she develops takes off, she finds herself challenged to the point of being completely overwhelmed. Her husband’s becoming distant, her daughter’s acting spoiled, her father is dealing with early Alzheimer’s, and her mother’s barely dealing at all.

As she struggles to hold her home and work life together, and meet all of the needs of the people around her, Allison finds that the painkillers she was prescribed for a back injury help her deal with more than just physical discomfort - they help her feel calm and get her through her increasingly hectic days. Sure, she worries a bit that the bottles seem to empty a bit faster each week, but it’s not like she’s some Hollywood starlet partying all night, or a homeless person who’s lost everything. It’s not as if she has an actual problem.

However, when Allison’s use gets to the point that she can no longer control - or hide - it, she ends up in a world she never thought she’d experience outside of a movie theater: rehab. Amid the teenage heroin addicts, the alcoholic grandmothers, the barely-trained "recovery coaches", and the counselors who seem to believe that one mode of recovery fits all, Allison struggles to get her life back on track, even as she’s convincing herself that she’s not as bad off as the women around her.

With a sparkling comedic touch and tender, true-to-life characterizations, All Fall Down is a tale of empowerment and redemption and Jennifer Weiner’s richest, most absorbing and timely story yet.

©2014 Jennifer Weiner (P)2014 Simon & Schuster Audio

Great listen!

I really liked this book because I could relate to the things she endured as a working mother with an extremely sensitive child. I felt validated by her authentic description of the stress you have every single day. I would recommend the book to anyone who's ever had a child and was married to someone who didn't think they needed to help you.

I gobbled this book up. Addicted?

The authors writing was authentic and funny sarcastic and engaging. I caed about the characters right away becasue they were real. The score of this book is based on it's genre. This may not be a literary masterpiece. It is easily digestable and enjoyable look at a very serious subjst. Taking on topics that are taboo, our dirty little secrets, and presenting them in a way that opens up dialog and raises questions and attention to a serious topic is difficult to do without turning people off. This was the perfect mix of fun and whimsy and informative. I am so excited to find a new author (to me) and see the potential to read severla other works. My only disappointment is that the narrator doesn't have more to listen to. She was absolutley perfect, she lent some changes in her voice for the differing characters but didn't get so caught up in that, to have it become cheesy ( a common mistake). She was flawless. And in truth I went in search of her other works first before I look for more under the author. A lot of people can wirte but a bad narrator can mess the whole Audible process up. Thank you both for a very enjoyable listen. Literally, I did not put it down. I listened from start to finish!

Rang True

This is my 2nd listen - the 1st being in 2014. I remembered that the book moved me, so for some unconscious reason, still can’t name it, I listened again. Maybe it’s because I too love oxy. Whatever the reason, I loved the book even more this time, except that bratty spoiled little girl! But thru the writing I understood why Allison parented her the way she did, and the narrator nailed her annoying sassy voice. This book makes me feel & think, and maybe even understand myself (I think I’d also be a major Karen in rehab- at least initially).

The beginning leads one to expect a bit more

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I did listen to the entire book as I have long been a fan of Jennifer Weiner. The reader was very good. That said, I felt that the last 1/3 of the book became just a tad predictable and not so interesting. The major issues of sexism, class divisiveness, etc. bode well, but then something happened. I also felt the husband was not portrayed as fully as he could have been. He wasn't developed enough as a character - or, perhaps this was the point.

Would you recommend All Fall Down to your friends? Why or why not?

I do not have any friends that would read this book as they tend to not read what the media continues to call "chick lit." While I do not agree with this labeling, I do understand their point. In Ms. Weiner's earlier books, the sharp humor and fast pace was very different from this book. I kept wanting a bit more and more descriptive prose.

Which character – as performed by Tracee Chimo – was your favorite?

I think the daughter, actually.

Any additional comments?

I was unhappy that I felt let down. I was sad that I felt compelled to read to the end because I had such high hopes for this book. I don't know what happened, but somehow the core got tangled. The overly long descriptions of the rehab place became tedious and repetitive.

Great Story

Very good story, and as a mom, I felt I could relate with the main character very well.

The journey of Addiction

I love Jennifer Weiner's writing!
In this book she tells the story of a successful woman's fall into prescription drug addiction, the unexpected effects on her family and her life, discovery and her denial through recovery.
Unexpected story.

Real life for some... How use becomes addiction.

As a recovering alcoholic, the story rang true to how use becomes addiction before you even realize you have lost control and it is too late to stop on your own.

ALL FALL DOWN could be any of us

ALL FALL DOWN is about a mom who thinks she can do it all, with a very annoying, spoiled rotten daughter, a husband is who completely self-absorbed, and family secrets.
Put this all together and you have the perfect storm.

I am amused by readers who did not like the more serious tone that this book takes.
Weiner still writes with her witty, sometimes smart-ass style. But the topic is
life and death and important to bring to the surface. Maybe those readers who
can't read the book find it hits too close to home.

all fall down

could not stand the little girl and i ordinarily like kids, but not her. Super plot. It could happen to any of us.

Quiet and scarystory about an ordinary housewife

Any additional comments?

I am glad that I listened to this book before checking the rating since I usually only listened to books with rating 4.2 or higher. All what I can say about this book is that it sounds very realistic, not dramatic, but that’s actually the scary part. It seems that it can actually happen to ordinary people.

The first half of this book is kind of depressing, especially for the first quarter. For all those little details of the life, I can feel for her. Every family may have their own pain points that something you cannot easily escape from. For Allison, it’s her needing little girl, a husband who doesn’t help (isn’t that common?), a husband who may have an affair, a mother who cannot handle the sick father and then the demanding work. During this mess, she finds out a little pill that can help her, and one pill becomes more, and then all things are falling down… During the listening, I could feel her pain, and that made me kind of depressed. However, it’s so real that it kept me engaged during the whole listening.

Once I read the news about a drunken woman who drove 4 kids including hers and her sister’s to the freeway, at the wrong direction, and had the kids killed together with the old couple who drove their car crashing into hers. After the accident, her husband was so surprised that he never found out that she was heavily drinking… after the story, I learned that many housewives actually are secretly drinking, probably to help them go through the day to day chores and get along with distant husbands, and other issues.

In the book, Jennifer wrote so well about the details of the thoughts of the main character, her struggle, her fear and her falling down. She made me nervous listening to Allison’s rehab and possible relapse. I wonder how Jennifer got all those vivid details, and I wish the best for Allison and her family. In the story, Allison’s husband runs away from the family with marathons. Running long distance actually can help to cope with depressing situations, but just don’t let running eat away too much family time. Be well, everybody.