Review: Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner

Then Came You
By Jennifer Weiner
Audiobook by Simon and Schuster Audio
Read by Jenni Barber, Aya Cash, AnnaLynne McCord, and Karen Ziemba
Audible.com

Synopsis:


In this novel by Jennifer Weiner four very different women find themselves involved in Princeton's Fertility clinic's surrogacy program in some capacity. Jules, a college student, is looking for a way to earn enough money to help her father battle a substance addiction. Annie, a young wife and mother of two wants to contribute to her household, so that her family doesn't have to struggle financially. India, newlywed to a powerful businessman who is much older than she, longs to have a child to complete their family. Bettina, India's step-daughter, will stop at nothing to prove that her father has made some kind of mistake, and that India can't possibly be anything other than a gold-digging impostor out to ruin her father.

Over a span of roughly two years these women will be forever impacted by the decisions they make, and the connections, however unlikely, they make with one another.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book. It isn't often that I listen to audiobooks, but I'm glad I've started. I have always enjoyed books with multiple points of view. I enjoy hearing the same story told from different perspectives. The fact that this recording actually used four different women to read really added something for me.

I loved the story line. Surrogacy has never been a controversial topic for me, but I began to see how it could be. For these women, the stereotypes and stigmas associated with it had a real effect on their day to day lives.

Annie was mu favorite character, a young mother left wondering if there had been more out there for her, wondering what it would be like to go to college. Her yearning for things that many of us take for granted really tugged at me.

I didn't like Bettina. She was spoiled and judgmental, but by the end of the novel she had grown up a lot. I could see how going through the awkward teen years without a mother could mold her into the bitter adult who doesn't trust anyone. In some ways she doesn't have the maturity that an adult her age should have because she grew up with everything she needed. She has a very narrow view of how things are, and I wonder if that ever really changes for her.

It was a new look at a topic I've never spent a lot of time thinking about. I really did enjoy it, and I would definitely recommend it.