Well. I feel cheated - both during the time it took to read the book, which, admittedly was less than a day, but especially after finishing it. Let me try and explain why. As a reviewer, I try never to read reviews until after I wrote mine, and maybe not even then. In the case of We All Love the Beautiful Girls, I didn't read a single review. What I did read was the effusive quotes on the back cover of the hardcover book. There were seven quotes. Effusive. Made me wonder why I let the ARC of this book sit on my shelves for several months. Oh, I read a lot. Every day However, there is only so much time.

Well, I picked up the book - along with a reviewer friend - for review this weekend. I was really excited after reading the quotes from other authors and a couple of publications. To say the last, the quotes and the hype in no way measured up to my take on the book.

Let me start with a summary and then I will write up my actual review thoughts.

It is a very, very bad time for Mia and Michael Slate. While they are reeling from the lost of Michael's company and their life savings, they discover that after their seventeen-year-old son went to a party, while high, he fell and passed out in the snow. This was a devastating event that toppled the already crumbling lives of their family. Sadly, more than the Slate family were affected by what happened to their son Finn.

Michael and Mia led a fairly charmed life. They both had exceptional jobs, had been married 19 years and had a relatively happy family. Things changed overnight. They lost everything, nearly lost Finn due to his trauma, and their family fell apart. Michael lost his company when his best friend Peter cheated him out of everything due to embezzlement. What Finn lost during that snowstorm was very tragic. He lost his hand, but truly, he lost himself. To complicate matters, Peter's daughter Frankie, at 23, is in love with Finn, but there is a young man Eli in love with her. Then Michael's wife Mia lost it all when she wondered about the stability of her marriage.

The overwhelming sense of drama after losing their livelihood quickly took second place and Finn's loss of his hand left Mia trying to keep things together, while Michael completely lost his way. Michael spent about 98% of the time during this book feeling sorry for himself. Yes, Mia did as well, but for different reasons. While Michael spent his time away from Mia and Finn, Mia used this time to play around with a fantasy. Giving in to said fantasy would no doubt completely erode any chance the family had of recovering.

When I read a book, admittedly I like to latch on to at least one character, preferably several. In this book, I was not afforded the opportunity. There is Michael, Mia, Finn and Frankie. NONE of them were likable. They were all broken and I could only hope through the pages of this book that at least one of them would be redeemed. Had that been the case, then my rating would have climbed up just a bit.

So, think. Imagine. You are on a train barreling downhill with no breaks. On the wrong track! Yep, that is what this book was. As I rapidly approached the epilogue I was so very hopeful that something, even one thing, would turn around. It never did.

Despite my overwhelming negative feelings towards this read, I will say that Joanne Proulx is a good storyteller, her writing was cohesive and I was initially drawn to the characters, especially Finn. What he dealt with I couldn't imagine my own children suffering through.

Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion. ( )

We All Love The Beautiful Girls
By
Joanne Prouix

What it's all about...

Finn is found by his father at a friend’s house...nearly dead in the snow. The resulting injuries are devastating as well as life changing.

Why I wanted to read it...

Complicated flawed characters have an immediate appeal for me. Finn and family are a mess. This mess only gets worse before it becomes reasonably livable.

What made me truly enjoy this book...

Although this wasn’t a book filled with puppies and kittens...it was one that made me think about the way a deeply flawed family has to learn to exist after a tragedy.

Why you should read it, too...

Readers who have an appeal for dysfunctional characters...should enjoy this deeply dark book.

I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley and Amazon. It was my choice to read it and review it. ( )

An excellent debut novel that once I opened up the book I read it straight through! A story about what ifs...which you won't know until the end and they are
heart breaking to read. A very happy family that considers themselves lucky to have so much; a wonderful marriage, a perfect son, jobs they love and
great friends. Well, as you can guess, it can only go downhill from there. I don't want to give anything away, but this author has done a great job on her
first novel. Definitely someone to watch! ( )

A frigid January night, temperature below -30c, and a teenage boy, Finn, at a party, frustrated in love, unaccustomed to drink and pot, a fumbling encounter and then easeful near-death passed out in the snow outside. At home, Finn’s parents, Mia and Michael, are just then learning of the duplicity of Michael’s business partner, Peter, how he has defrauded them of over a million dollars while managing to cut Michael out of the business altogether. Yeah! And that’s just how this story begins. The year ahead is equally eventful. And nothing that seemed solid will ever be solid again.

Joanne Proulx’ writing is tremendous, at once evocative and haunting, while also being punchy and alive. She puts you on edge and leaves you there. And even though it feels as though a disaster is right around the corner (as if the opening wasn’t disaster enough) you find you don’t expect it when it comes. Filled with beautiful set-pieces and enough twists to constantly shift your sympathies. Very impressive. I’ll definitely be looking for more from Proulx.

Highly recommended. ( )

This is a story about what happens to a family when they are hit with unexpected, major challenges. Early on, the only child in the family (Finn) has a serious accident. We also learn that the father's business partner...and best friend...has cheated him out of all his money. We watch how these incidents play out as life goes on: first love for Finn, search for new employment, changes in lifestyle...how the marriage is affected. Very well written with great characters. The ending was both poignant and hopeful. I will be looking for more by this new-to-me Canadian author. ( )