All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner

I have only read 2 books by Jennifer Weiner, but I have always heard great things about her and her novels. I truly enjoyed both of these books, so I want to share my thoughts about them! I am not surprised she is a New York Times Bestselling Author. I chose to mainly discuss the first book in depth, since I have much more to say about it. The book titles: All Fall Down & Who Do You Love. Next up on my list for this author is: Goodnight Nobody.


All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner

 

Being a pharmacist for over 11 years in Los Angeles, this book really hit close to home and touched me. It is about a mother who gets addicted to a popular "painkiller", Percocet (Acetaminophen plus Oxycodone), a highly controlled narcotic. This is one of those pain killers that is locked up in the pharmacy cabinet due to it's dangerously high potential for abuse & addiction. This drug is also very dangerous because many people that take it, do not realize that it is combined with Tylenol(Acetaminophen), which can affect the liver in high doses as well. In fact, most people that are inflicted with a lethal overdose may actually die due to the high dose of Tylenol. Also, many people that take narcotics are concurrently consuming alcohol, another substance that has a large negative impact on the liver. So, as you can see from a health perspective, this is why so many people are affected by addiction. It is a huge, under-estimated issue that has been on-going for many years, despite all the stringent laws in place by the DEA.

Not to give too much away, but this book basically tells the story of a mother dealing with marriage and career issues, raising a young child, and dealing with drug addiction. Despite the depth of the topic, the author still maintains her sense of humor throughout the book. Although this is not based on a true story and may have some moments of exaggeration, I must say most of it can be very true. I see a lot of patients struggling with this same problem, but what I don't see is their "background story" and what led them to this point. In this book, the main character is constantly trying to battle her addiction, while keeping it a secret from her close friends and husband. This also adds extra strain to her marriage. She finds all sorts of creative, yet illegal ways to obtain her medication. This is not the "typical" addict one would imagine (based on unfortunate stereotyping), which makes the story even more interesting. This book also taught me that any type of person is capable of becoming an addict, regardless of what you may imagine. With all that said, it is a very interesting topic to read about and the author does a great job keeping her story funny and as lighthearted as possible. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it!




Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner

This was a very fun, "chick-lit" type love story. I read it in maybe 3 days as it was very fast-paced. I got really into the story and fell more in love with the male character, Andy. There were actually a few times I got really irritated with the female character, Rachel, and you will see you why- if you read it.
It is basically a love story that starts when these 2 characters meet in a hospital waiting room when they are children. Both characters come from completely different backgrounds and upbringings, and meet later in life by coincidence. They try hard to work on maintaining a long distance relationship.....with many struggles and emotional scenarios throughout the book....I can't say too much more about without ruining the story...I loved it and wanted more at the end!!!