Book Review: Are We There Yet? | Kathleen West

Do you ever feel like everyone else has it more together than you? Are We There Yet tells the story of a group of mothers caught up in the never ending pursuit of balance between work, motherhood, marriage, and friendship. I laughed, I empathized, and ultimately I loved seeing the journey of these flawed but relatable women.

About the Book

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.

Reflection

I really loved Kathleen West’s last book so I was excited to read Are We There Yet! Similar to her previous novel, West takes a sharp, witty, and ultimately thought-provoking look at the so-called “perfect” mothers and the way a “scandal” can ostracize the parent and the child from their community. One thing that differed in this book was the central mother (there are alternating narrators, but I’d consider Alice to be the main character of the book) started out already feeling very rootable. Alice’s biggest flaw is that she tries to do everything and realizes she has missed some of the small but important things her kids need.

But when an incident between her son, another child, and her best friend’s daughter escalates, Alice soon finds herself on the outs. Suddenly she is a parent of one of the “bad kids” and she feels shame and loneliness as she tries to navigate out of the situation. Alice quickly learns what its like to be on the other side of the judgment she used to place on other parents.

Meanwhile, Alice’s complicated but content relationship with her mother is rocked when her mother tells Alice a secret she has been keeping from her throughout Alice’s entire life. While Alice’s husband is traveling for a big work case, and Alice’s boss is increasingly pushing her out at work due to Alice’s unpredictable schedule with her children, Alice finds herself wondering how her life could have possibly gone so far off track.

There are characters in this book that I never felt fully redeemed themselves, characters in this book who I loved from page one, and characters who grew on me as I read their stories. This is a book full of all the messy imperfect parts of life, and what happens when you realize that the path you are on isn’t the one you thought you wanted, but it might be the one you needed.

Funny, heart-warming, and cathartic—don’t skip this book!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for my copy. Opinions are my own.