Briefly, "Rise and Shine" feels like a thoroughly disappointing, shallow shadow of the brilliance that is "Every Last One."

As always, Quindlen's prose is impeccable. The amount of privilege and the glossy veneer on a myriad of issues (which then greatly inhibits a realistic, in-depth look) made the book difficult for me to swallow and digest. The sloppiness of the pacing also surprised me. I found the characters barely compelling, and many of their struggles either unrelatable or inauthentically portrayed. This is definitely a Quindlen novel that can be skipped.