Are We There Yet?

By: Kathleen West

Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer

Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's Summary

"A breezy yet affecting read filled with struggle and hope." (People)

A Good Day LA Pick

Among fake Instagram pages, long-buried family secrets, and the horrors of middle school, one suburban mom searches to find herself.

Alice Sullivan feels like she’s finally found her groove in middle age, but it only takes one moment for her perfectly curated life to unravel. On the same day she learns her daughter is struggling in second grade, a call from her son’s school accusing him of bullying throws Alice into a tailspin.  

When it comes to light that the incident is part of a new behavior pattern for her son, one complete with fake social media profiles with a lot of questionable content, Alice’s social standing is quickly eroded to one of “those moms” who can’t control her kids. Soon she’s facing the very judgement she was all too happy to dole out when she thought no one was looking (or when she thought her house wasn’t made of glass).

Then her mother unloads a family secret she’s kept for more than thirty years, and Alice’s entire perception of herself is shattered.  

As her son’s new reputation polarizes her friendships and her family buzzes with the ramification of her mother’s choices, Alice realizes that she’s been too focused on measuring her success and happiness by everyone else's standards. Now, with all her shortcomings laid bare, she’ll have to figure out to whom to turn for help and decide who she really wants to be.

©2019 Kathleen West (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

“Filled with witty charm, humor and family secrets.” (Woman's World)

"Fans of Liane Moriarty of Big Little Lies fame will love Are We There Yet?, a heartfelt and thought-provoking drama about the trials and tribulations of modern suburban motherhood." (Working Mother) 

"Kathleen West's latest novel, Are We There Yet?, tackles the struggles of parenting with unflinching honesty.... Alice's picture-perfect life seems to disappear overnight, leaving her with no choice but to embrace the mess." (PopSugar) 

Excellent narration, unlikable characters

I could listen to Therese Plummer read the phone book to me, so I figured I'd give this author a try. If you enjoy books about self-centered characters with few redeeming qualities, this is the book for you.

Typical family with tween drama

Cute read, nothing spectacular. Set in suburban Minneapolis, we follow the lives of several moms and their 7th graders as they navigate friendship, middle school, and normal family drama.

So much fun

ARE WE THERE YET? starts off with unlike, self-centered, middle class suburban moms who sounded very much like women I’ve known and disliked throughout my life. Quickly, the cracks in their privileged façades and those of their middle schoolers rise to the surfaces, as do the insecurities behind their often-bitchy exteriors.

The further I got into ARE WE THERE YET?, the more I wanted to keep listening to the audiobook, even after bedtime. The Audible narration had Desperate Housewives feel to it, not taking itself too seriously or trying to teach a lesson, only to entertain. Sometimes we all need a fun book that doesn’t have a Big Message. I need to read more Kathleen West.

Meh

A novel about parenting middle school students, the choices they make, and how they affect the parents (more specifically the mothers)

Oh for the love of...books!

Please, don't bother wasting a credit. I can take it no more. I had to abandon. The book is all about middle-schoolers behaving badly. It's so boring and so unoriginal. Just such a drag.

A good tale. Great narrator!

I really enjoyed this book. The moms were very believable, I could relate to some of the angst and have been in a community like the one described here.

Really not for me...

I purchased this audiobook because Therese Plummer is the narrator, and I only made it through the book because I enjoyed the narration. I read that this was a book about mothers trying to make it through the difficult 7th grade year, but figured there would be other dimensions to them, but I was wrong. The focus was about these mothers viewing their own success through their children’s success and perfection, their problems as their own failures, and it did not focus on other relationships, other than their communications with the school and other parents. These women have husbands, but they do not seem to play a central part of their lives. What’s more - one of THEIR mothers (Evelyn) is a therapist, who seems completely oblivious to the reactions and feelings of her child and sees no problem with her approach when a new family member is introduced. I wanted to like this one, just found the adult characters annoying.

So relatable!

I feel like I could be any of these well-described characters, comically struggling to parent so “correctly.” West eloquently portrays these different mothers all attempting to navigate parenting young teens. The novel is smart, funny, and 100% relatable! Both a thought-provoking and fully entertaining read. I tried to savor it slowly, but couldn’t let go... I finished it in just a few days!