Jojo Moyes is a must-buy author for me and her new novel ‘We All Live Here’ does not disappoint. It focuses on Lila who feels her life is overwhelming and chaotic as a single mum still reeling from her ex-husband’s departure to live with another woman (who she sees regularly at the school gates) and her mum’s death. She lives in a house in bad need of repair with her two daughters, her stepdad and their dog whilst she tries to write her next book. Nothing seems to be going right when three more men come into her life - one is an estranged relative, one is a hot dad from the school gates and the other is a gardener her stepdad has hired. The story follows their impact on her life with excerpts from her daughter Celie’s POV. I would say that there are very few surprises in the plot - it develops along the lines of what the reader expects - but it is full of genuine emotion and warmth and I was very moved by the conclusion.

I've been a fan of Jojo Moyes for some time so was looking forward to reading her latest novel.
Lila is dealing with grief for her Mum and her failed marriage, with her stepdad Bill and the pressure of delivering chapters from her new book.
We see Lila navigating new and old relationships.
An enjoyable book but for me it felt a bit too long.

Lila feels her world crumbling around her, she dreads going on the school run as she is faced with the beautiful woman her husband left her for. Her world started to fall apart when her mother died, her step father has started spending more time at her house, helping to look after the children. Lila notices that more and more of his stuff is appearing in the house. The arrival of a strange, loud American puzzles the children, they are even more surprised that he turns out to be Lila's father who has never been mentioned before. We follow Lila's chaotic attempts to make her family and life work. Jojo Moyes slowly reeled me into Lila's chaotic world making me hope for a happy resolution.

I really enjoyed this one, Jojo Moyes never disappoints. The story of Lila and the chaos of her dysfunctional family whilst she tries to move on with life after her husband has divorced her for a younger woman. It was funny and heartwarming, really enjoyable, relatable and easy to read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

A return to the more traditional rom-com for Ms Moyes, which unfortunately brings far too much of the familiar with it. Lila is a "Motherland" character – an author who dared to spout journalese about her perfect marriage that was published a fortnight before he left her for a "Bendy Young Mistress" up the road. Her scenes at the school gates are far too recognisable. At home she has her grieving father, and two teenaged daughters who show life's slapstick, ironies, sentiments and talk of cat poo in a way that we'd love, if "Outnumbered" was never a thing. The fact I never watch narrative TV and can still sum this elevator pitch up in two programmes is a bit rum.

Still, I can defend this book, as well. Maybe I took against this because everyone has a strangely high-falutin' name. Maybe I disliked Lila when she proved that one kvetch was about the brand of her non-rival's coffee table(!), and her disgust at no longer getting way more than the expected child allowance from her ex didn't help either. And don't get me wrong, this is inherently quippy, in a good way ("Don't look at me in that tone of voice", etc), and the particular set of wringers our lead is put through is certainly unique to this situation. It definitely makes for an unusual example of one of those 'found families'.

But come on. The fall-out from the print-out is obviously coming, and takes well over a hundred pages to do so. And, actually, how useful is a "wow, woman finds herself desired as a MILF despite everything" narrative in breaking the stereotype of, well, women of a MILF age?

A final observation about the world as shown on these pages is that more people seem to want to know Lila than bother reading her books. I'd not be surprised in all fairness if some of Ms Moyes' chums go through the motions as regards this title – they and I know she can do so much better. Three stars – we don't get the second star on the right.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free advance copy in return for an impartial review. First things first. I really loved this book, loved the characters, even the dislikable ones, loved the storyline too. So much so that I stayed up most of the night to finish it! The only thing that prevents it from being a 5 star book is that I am not sure the timeline in the story works properly. Celie is supposed to be Y11 and the book starts at the beginning of the school year - I am pretty sure we know this because of when the costumes are asked for. The teacher tells Lila they don’t do a nativity but they will be doing an end of year production so they have longer to prepare. The play actually takes place some time the following year, it’s not completely clear when, but I guess it should be July or something. So far so ok, but…

Marja was pregnant at the beginning of the story and her baby was born some time later - but the timings seem to mean she must have been pregnant for over a year! But there is only one Christmas mentioned in the story and no summer break?

Given Celie is in year 11 and talks to Gene about potentially switching schools, there is either an error later in the book (at animation class it talks about a year 13 being a year above) or she’s actually in year 12 by then but either way her GCSEs are not mentioned in the story at all. As someone who has parented two children through GCSEs I just find this completely unbelievable because believe me exams take over the whole house so completely there is just no way they would go by unspoken about by anyone during the course of the book, particularly with the other stuff Celie was going through! Ms Moyes says in her acknowledgements that this is her least thoroughly researched book, a slightly strange admission I thought.

Overall though, suspend disbelief on the timeline, buy into the characters and you have a great story with some fab redemption arcs. I’ve read only one Jojo Moyes book before, this would definitely encourage me to try more.

We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes is a heartfelt exploration of family, love, and second chances, but it left me wanting more. The story follows Lila Kennedy, whose chaotic life—complete with a crumbling marriage, rebellious daughters, and the sudden reappearance of her estranged father—should have been both poignant and uplifting. While Moyes’ signature warmth and humor shine through at times, the relentless pile-up of Lila’s challenges felt overwhelming rather than engaging. Instead of rooting for her, I often found myself stressed by her missteps and bad luck. While some readers may find solace in its portrayal of messy, relatable lives, I was hoping for a bit more balance between the chaos and resolution. For me, it was a book that had its moments but ultimately didn’t fully deliver on its promise.

Just brilliant, heartwarming lovely read. Loved all the different dynamics with step dad, real dad, ex husband, school mums and a few eligible men. I did not want this to end
Pure joy
Thank you

A very good read. Some ace characters . Lila had to juggle an x , her real father , her step father, a very awkward school pick up every day , Being a famous author. Lots of twists. Told mainly through Lila but sometimes her teenage daughter and her younger mum. I really enjoyed it. Brought back memories of the school run. Read it . Another hit from Joyo Moyes .

Absolutely brilliant book!
I am a big fan of this author and love the writing style!
I cant wait to read more!

This book was….okay for me. I had some trouble engaging in the beginning I just felt like I wanted to skip pages and I probably could’ve and wouldn’t have missed anything important. It does well showing the dysfunctional side of family relationships and how they affect many different generations. I like that it shows change, becoming your own and getting your life back together even tho I felt like Lila wasn’t a likeable character at times, there was bits where I felt frustrated with her lol. She does redeem herself toward the end but I think throughout the book it just wasn’t it for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the Arc.

Another cracking novel from JoJo Moyes, up with her best.
A middle aged woman, two fathers, two children, two boyfriends and a dog. A mix made in domestic hell! Nobody writes domestic chaos better than JoJo Moyes. An absolute must read.

What a joy! I didn’t know how much I needed a new Jojo Moyes book until this arrived. Beautifully written with characters you believe in and root for all through their stories. Cheered right to the end.

I have previously read and loved many Jojo Moyes novels so was excited to get an early copy of this one. It's a fairly middle of the road read about a woman who is a writer for a living but isn't sure she can support her children and stay in her home when her husband leaves them for a younger woman. Her father then comes to stay with her and there's some mild family drama. It's a fairly easy read but definitely not one of her best.

Fun and bittersweet adventures and misadventures of a middle aged woman and her unusual family arrangements. Fantastic characters and lots of truths.

What an absolutely amazing book that had me enthralled from the first page.
Lila is midway through her life and quite frankly her life has hit breaking point. Her husband has left her and she is struggling to bring up her two daughters while juggling her writing job, two fathers and her old house. The characters were all fantastic and so well written and I just felt like I was part of this wonderful dysfunctional group of people and I didn’t want the story to end.
Lila was a brilliant character and I loved the humour in the story , intertwined with romance and just general everyday life. The ending was excellent and had me in tears.
Thanks to NetGalley, Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House and Jojo Moyes for an advance copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Lila has her two dads come to stay when her marriage ends. She has to learn to rebuild herself. I loved this book. Poignant and moving, this book made me laugh and cry. This is the best book I have read all year and is now one of my favourites. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

Another great read by JoJo Moyes.

The main character we meet is Lila......mother of 2 girls and a dog. She is trying to pull her life together after her husband's shock departure with another woman.
Through into the mix and aging stepdad who has moved in with them after the death of her mum...the real dad who has been acting in America while missing in action from her life.....not to mention her publisher who is looking for the next best selling novel to be produced by Lila.

A brilliant story of blended families, overcoming the many challenges of life and trying to keep hold of you are in the midst of it all.

Definitely a book that a lot of people can identify with.

I was in a bit of a reading slump, picking books up and putting them down after a few pages. You can always rely on Jojo Moyes though! Three paragraphs into We All Live Here and I was hooked!

It’s a bad time for Lila Kennedy, recently separated from ther cheating husband and grieving the loss of her beloved mother she is struggling to cope with her two daughters and life in general. Throw in a well meaning but fairly nutrionally rigid step father, a noisy dog, money woes and the reappearance of her biological dad after many years and it's more than a bit chaotic!

Great cast of characters here from Truant the noisy dog to Gene, her film actor father they all add colour, humour and drama to the story. Throw in a bit of will they won’t they romance too and you have the perfect recipe for a great piece of literary escapism.

Did I predict the outcome of most of the story threads? Yes. Did that make it any less entertaining? Absolutely not!

Thanks to Michael Joseph and Netgalley for the chance to read an early copy

I didn’t think I would ever say this as I’ve loved so many of her previous books, but this is definitely her best yet.
It is a truly beautiful read and it’s very rare that I form such an emotional attachment to a book. It’s vulnerable, touching, relatable and memorable. It’s more than worthy of 5 stars and I’ll be recommending it to all.