Author: Matthew Norman
Series: None
Publication Date: June 15, 2021
Publisher: Ballatine Books
Pages: 288
Obtained: publisher via NetGalley
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Friendship Goals
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab
Summary: At just thirty-five, reclusive billionaire Robbie Malcolm is a renowned financial prognosticator, a celebrated philanthropist, and a mathematical genius. Also, he’s dying, which is a fact he’s carefully concealing from the world. As he takes stock, Robbie realizes that his wealth means nothing if he can’t help the people who matter most. So he invites his oldest friends—Blair, Cat, and Wade—to their beloved Fenwick Island on the coast of Delaware to share his secret and to reveal plans for each of them that he believes will change their lives forever. However, Robbie isn’t the only one with secrets. The bonds the friends formed as teenagers still exist, but adulthood has brought a whole new set of complications, like unrequited loves, marriages on the brink, and so much unfulfilled potential. Robbie’s plans may look good on paper, but are they any match for the utter disaster that is real life? As everything comes to light over a wild weekend full of surprises, Robbie learns there are still some things money can’t buy, and a group of friends who thought their best years were behind them realize just how much they have to look forward to. ~amazon.com
Review: I have loved Matthew Norman's humor and writing since I read his debut Domestic Violets and with each book he's cemented as a writer I never want to miss. In his latest, All Together Now he presents us with some pretty flawed characters but their friendship is the one thing that keeps them all going even if it's been a while they've all been together. So when Robbie finds out some pretty devastating news, he rents out a house on their old stomping ground, Fenwick Island. Blair, Cat and Wade all join him on the island where he breaks the news to them. Each of them handle the news as well as they could have but this is on top of what each of them is going through.
Robbie has all of these fantastic plans for the 4 of them but as you can understand best laid plans go awray. Cat is pretty much drunk the first day, Wade is wallowing and Blair is about to embark on something she'll regret. That is until Robbie gives them envelopes for each of them containing truths they might not want to confront.
The weekend is spent reveling in those truths and trying to grapple with the fact that their best friend is going to die. Now the book is definitely sad but it's also full of humor and hope. There were quite a bit of time where I would laugh out loud. In fact Wade is so awkward you can't help but chuckle as he tries to figure out dating and reading cues. Blair is struggling with being a mom and being a woman who still wants the attention of her husband.
I shouldn't be surprised because Mr. Norman is a talented author but the way he writes the women in his novels is refreshing and honest. They weren't stereotypes or cardboard cutouts.
I'm not a Beatles fan but I understand the infatuation with them on a cerebal level and it is evident that Mr. Norman knows his Beatles history.
In the end this story is about friendship and being there for each other when it really matters.
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