I appreciated this being a novel about learning that sometimes we do need to be a bit selfish and put ourselves first before everyone else.

Camille has spent most of her life trying to please others and putting everyone and their wants and feelings above her own. Now, after loosing her beloved pet, and considering a divorce from her husband of 12 years due to opposite views on having children, she founds herself going back to Brooklyn, to care after her mother who seems to be struggling with dementia.

The novel follows Camille and her interactions with her husband Josh, her tight knit family, and Ben, her childhood friend and what-could-have-been from 16 years ago.

I appreciated the character development and growth within these pages, as well as the accurate depiction of a dealing with dementia within the family.

The book cover and the title itself has caught my attention in all honesty. Just like the previous books I’ve read in this kind of genre, I’d like to know how the main character will handle of what’s going on in her life. It’s a story that you will be rooting for the main character’s happiness until the end. I stick with the book to make sure that she receives what she truly deserves. Although there are a few chapters of her POV, I find myself connected to the sentiments of an aging mother. Sally’s POV affects me most which it has made me teary-eyed.

Special thanks to @netgalley and to the publisher, Lake Union Publishing for providing me an e-ARC in exchange of an honest feedback.

I received this book for free for review purposes from the publishers and NetGalley. I am so so shocked I have never read a book by Camille Pagan especially since she write chick-lit, which we know I LOVE. This book was no exception. From start to finish I was immediately engaged with this book. One of my favorite aspects of the novel is that it occurs in Downtown Brooklyn on Smith Street where I work. Double bonus points for mentioning Bar Tabac, a real bistro on Smith Street. The characters were very relatable, and all had their own quirks and idiosyncrasies. Dealing with memory loss as an individual and as a caretaker is a very difficult subject to write about, and Pagan did an amazing job retaining empathy and truth to both subjects. I cannot wait to read more of her novels in the future. This one was a winner.

This was a lovely read and I read it in one sitting, it showed the bonds between different family members and that sometimes defiance can break through anything ..

I think it’s important to know that romance is a huge subplot of this book!!
Personally, this book didn’t really do it for me. As much as I wanted to I couldn’t like it because of the amount of tropes it had that I’ve never really found myself enjoying.
I cannot really share which tropes, otherwise that’d be spoiling major parts of the book, but just know that I am not a hater of books and rarely give books less than three stars.
The main character really annoyed me and I always try to give my MC’s the benefit of the doubt. She was just too wishy washy with what she wanted and her reasons for doing the things she did weren’t all reasonable.
Still, I found myself sympathizing for her because of how terrible her family treated her. I wish she could’ve confronted them without being made the bad guy because that wasn’t fair at all. She never truly got justice for all of the help she gave them and instead was criticized for the times she took for herself.
This is an interesting book and I think a lot of people will be able to resonate with either the mom or the main character, since this is sort of a dual pov between the two of them.

Everything Must Go by Camille Pagan was a quick, fun read. It centers around the Francis family, specifically a mom and her three daughters. The main focus of the story is Laine Francis, the middle daughter. After growing up in Brooklyn, Laine lives in Michigan with her husband. All Laine wants now is a child, but her husband seems less than willing. Her mother's mental stability deteriorating, Laine visits NYC to see what is truly going on. Determined to stay for a short visit, Laine soon realizes that her life is not what she wants. Her sisters pressure her to move back to Brooklyn, her marriage is crumbling and a person from Laine's past reappearing muddle her decision-making abilities. After a trip back to Michigan to regroup, Laine realizes that she needs to take charge of her life and stop trying to please everyone else.

The story was fairly predictable, but the novel is well-written. Pagan's view on how one's childhood can influence one's decisions as an adult can lead to some interesting discussions. Laine's personal evolution may resonate with many, particularly those who are at a turning point in their lives, relationships and careers. I did find that the story was a bit trite, with a predictable ending. Character development is what saved the story for me.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #LakeUnionPublishing for an ARC.
#CamillePagan #EverythingMustGo
#EverythingMustGo

Everything Must Go Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Everything must go is about a woman working through a divorce and family relationships as her mother’s dementia becomes more widely known. The acknowledgment section mentioned that the author went through a similar experience and I could definitely see this coming through with how connected that aspect of the book was.

Lainey had strong character development throughout the book and I wanted the nearby characters to as well. Some of these relationships just abruptly changed without explanation. Lainey confronts her mother about her manipulation over the years, but not her sisters who are still manipulating her in the present. However there’s an immediate 180 when she tells them what she wants and they’re all the sudden supportive. This made me not love the development as a whole since I didn’t feel it was believable.

Thanks to @netgalley for this ARC of Everything Must Go.

With the heart wrenching opening of grieving a beloved pet then divorce, dementia and familial discord, this could have been a real miss for me. However, I ate it up and devoured it in hours. The easy flow of the accessible voices of both Laine and Sally made the rollercoaster of emotions easy to relate to throughout. Using the split POV was clever, as it eases the Laine “voice”, which some may have found whiney and indecisive, plus it gave great context to what else was going on outside her perspective. I really enjoyed the delicate exploration of family dynamics, especially between the sisters, and the insightful way Pagan has handed the impact of often an offhand comment on shaping someone’s life. Such a satisfying read.

Did not finish, dnf. I did not connect with the writing or plot and decided to not read this one. Thank you, publisher and NetGalley for the early copy!

Camille pagan writes the every woman. I love this story and the hopefulness it brings even in times of distress

In Camille Pagán’s latest women’s fiction novel, Everything Must Go, we meet Laine Francis and her tight-knit family while they struggle with some life changing decisions for themselves and also their beloved mother, Sally. Laine, while grieving the loss of her very loved dog and companion, Belle, starts to examine her marriage and realizes it's no longer what she wants for her future. Her hopes of becoming a mother have been on the backburner for years due to her husband Josh, and she realizes her time is running out. Shortly after Hadley, Laine’s older sister, calls with an urgent sos as she fears their mother Sally has Dementia. Laine leaves her flabbergasted husband in Michigan, and returns to their family home in Brooklyn.

As we get to know Laine, we quickly see half of her heart truly never belonged to Josh. A few doors down from her childhood home lived Ben. Laine and Ben became fast friends starting the day his family moved into the neighborhood when they were just kids. They become inseparable until a fight in college suddenly destroys and ends their friendship. Now they are both back in Brooklyn and end up running into each other as fate would have it. While Laine struggles with letting Ben back into her life, if she really wants to get divorced, and what the heck her and sisters are to do about their mom, a lovely story unfolds about second chances, sacrifices, loyalty and be true to yourself.

I really enjoyed this book! It’s told from both Laine’s and Sally’s perspective. I thought that really helped to understand why her mother acted the way she did currently and while all the sisters were growing up. The characters were well developed and I saw a lot of myself and family in them. I really appreciated the growth in Laine’s character. As a person with people pleasing tendencies as well, it was nice to see her stand up for herself and make her own decisions even if they might not be liked. This was my first time reading one of Camille’s books and I’m looking forward to checking out some of her previously released ones. Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Review is posted on Goodreads and will be posted on Instagram closer to the pub date. See links below.

I really got into this one and felt emotionally vested in the story and her choices. Her back and forth frustrated me, but it was very realistic that way, so it didn’t ruin the story but enhanced it for me. Full review on goodreads.

3.25 Stars

Laine is a 38 year old professional organizer who has desired to have children for awhile now - the only problem, her husband isn't on board. Lanie is thrown a curveball when she receives a phone call from her sister who is worried about her aging mom having dementia. When Lanie returns to New York, where she grew up, she runs into her best friend, Ben. This book follows Lanie as she navigates her ending relationship with her husband, dealing with her mom no longer being able to live independently and her reunion with Ben.

I really enjoyed watching Laine grow throughout this book. As a fellow people pleaser, I loved watching Laine grow her voice and learn to speak up for herself. I also loved the relationship that Laine had with her sisters, they had a strong family bond and all rallied to help their mom with her struggle with dementia. I also felt like Pagan's handling of dementia was well done and appreciated Sally's (the mom) POV in the story.

What I struggled with was parts of the book didn't feel believable. Lanie seemingly woke up one day and wanted a divorce from her husband and the process of going through this was very clean and too easy. They didn't fight, there was very little (if any) messy to the divorce and I can't imagine, after 15 years of marriage, it would be this easy.
There was also a lot of repetition in the book - we heard numerous times about Laine and her desire to have kids and it got to be a bit much.

Thanks so much to Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

I received this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Laine has just lost her dog, Belle of 14 years. She realised her husband Josh is never going to bite the bullet and have children with her so she asks for a divorce and hopes to become a Mother alone. She then goes to visit her Mother who may have early dementia and her two sisters and their children. Her sister Hadley has warned her that an old friend, Ben is back in town and Laine doesn’t want to bump into him.

The story is written from Laine’s perspective as well as her Mothers. It is an honest account of both sides of the decision of who should be the caregiver.

I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t typically all romance but had a serious element too. There were quite a few words I had to look up (which were then labelled as American slang). Other wise it was easy to read and follow.

Everything must go is about family, about how parents and children fulfill the same ropes towards each other as loves come full circle.

The title refers to how certain illnesses cause us to loose everything we had be it emotions, memories or our very own physical selves and how everything eventually goes away for one or the other reason.

First time trying this author and definitely want to read more of her book.
This was a fun quick read, and was beautifully balanced

Laine Francis believes there’s a place for everything―and New York, where her family lives, isn’t her place. But no sooner does the professional organizer’s marriage begin to unravel than her sisters drop another bomb on her: their mother, Sally, may have dementia, and they need Laine to come home.

Thank you NetGalley and Camille Pagan. The cover is what pulled me in but the loss, love and secrets kept me turning the pages. The characters were very thoughtful and the author made some moves I don't think I saw coming but no spoilers. The story of finding ones self is often difficult and that is what Everything Must Go did for Lainey the main character. Definitely one to add to your Spring TBR list!

i really tried to read this book but unfortunately it didn't work out. the summary was what led me to request this book but the execution was just not appealing to me, in other words i was bored while reading it and even though i liked laine and ben's interactions and dynamic they just weren't enough to make up for how laine and josh's relationship and laine's family were written.

This book gave me all the warmth and fuzziness, while also making me emotional. Laine's growth was very palpable and I really liked seeing her journey all the way to the end.

There is good flow to this book. Laine’s Mom seems to be having some memory issues and was seen walking around in her pajamas. Laine’s sister is busy with her ever growing family, so she takes the lead and runs into her childhood friend, Ben.