Paperback: 304 pagesPublisher: Washington Square Press (June 2, 2015) | Amazon | Barnes and Noble — Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Washington Square Press (June 2, 2015) | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Summary

What would you do if you could literally rewrite your fate—on Facebook? This heartwarming and hilarious new novel from the authors of Your Perfect Life follows a woman who discovers she can change her life through online status updates.

Kate is a thirty-five-year-old woman who is obsessed with social media. So when her fiancé, Max, breaks things off at their rehearsal dinner—to be with Kate’s close friend and coworker, no less—she goes straight to Facebook to share it with the world. But something’s changed. Suddenly, Kate’s real life starts to mirror whatever she writes in her Facebook status. With all the power at her fingertips, and heartbroken and confused over why Max left her, Kate goes back in time to rewrite their history.

Kate’s two best friends, Jules and Liam, are the only ones who know the truth. In order to convince them she’s really time traveled, Kate offers to use her Facebook status to help improve their lives. But her attempts to help them don’t go exactly as planned, and every effort to get Max back seems to only backfire, causing Kate to wonder if it’s really possible to change her fate.

In The Status of All Things, Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke combine the humor and heart of Sarah Pekkanen and Jennifer Weiner while exploring the pitfalls of posting your entire life on the Internet. They raise the questions: What if you could create your picture-perfect life? Would you be happy? Would you still be you? For anyone who’s ever attempted—or failed—to be their perfect self online, this is a story of wisdom and wit that will leave you with new appreciation for the true status of your life.

Review

Note to self…two things I learned from The Status of All Things. One, never bring your boyfriend around your single girlfriend who you think is the ONE. Two, no matter how painful life can get, you can’t change yesterday, only tomorrow. We beat ourselves up with whatta coulda shoulda but, as much as I hate this cliché, it is what is. With that said, before I rave and send these ladies the most fabulous praise for this delicious book, I will just dive right into what I have to say.

First, let’s talk about Kate. Kate is the sort of gal many of you ladies can relate to. She is in her mid-thirties glued to her phone. She is constantly on Facebook measuring and comparing her life to the post status of the people on her time line. She’s got a great job, amazing friends and are just about to marry the man of her dreams but then here goes one of the moments that if I could reach in the book a slap someone, it would be right now. On the night before she is to get married, she gets some news that any woman doesn’t want to hear. Let me introduce you to Courtney.

Meet the single friend. They have been through a lot together. They are besties at work and have a pretty good friendship, so she thought. Well, when you start to notice subtle changes, pay attention because guess who shouldn’t have come to dinner. Of course you want your new guy to be cool with your friends but who lets their single girlfriend hang with their boyfriend? Um, not I because guess what can happen? They will have a fabulous time without you. Hence, the big red flag that was flying that Kate blindly saw. I guess love is blind with planning the wedding and all. So, this would be a great introduction to Max.

Oh, Max. Prince Charming, I think not. Yeah, he is gorgeous and has a lot going for him but who cares. Supposedly, he was the one but obviously not for her. So, the time has come for the big day. Everyone is excited and looking forward to everything but do you know what this guy does at the rehearsal dinner? Calls it off. Um, really? He had only three hundred something days to figure that out but he had to do it right then? Oh, it gets better. Not only does he call it off but says it’s to be with Courtney. Don’t worry, he gets his and some. Well deserved, awesome reaction in the book, by the way.

Well, this is when the book really gets interesting. All down in the dumps, not knowing which way is up or down, where else to go but to Facebook, right? Wrong! At least she has two great friends, Liam and Jules, that she has in her life that make this experience a little less painful to go through. Why is it when people go on Facebook, there is all this thought into posting a status update? Well, perhaps she should’ve went with her first post because what she finally decided to post falls under the umbrella to be careful what you wish for. I guess there is a genie on Facebook because she wished she could do the past month over and that’s exactly what she got. If you have the power to rewrite your life would you do? Sometimes, as much as we try to change things, maybe some things are meant to happen for a reason.

What happens after that was a fun trip that made this book completely awesome. The fact that this book is a duo combination and how brilliant and effortlessly the combination just produced such flawless dialogue and characters made the book so engaging. Loved that the characters weren’t perfect which made them more relatable and you could have that connected reader experience. The book will definitely grab you in the beginning and you will not want to put this down. It’s light, witty, has elements of fantasy taking the reader through a fun novel to jump start your summer.

Reviewed by Michelle Bowles