
Member Reviews

I was excited to receive an ARC from Netgalley of Marian Keyes new book. As other early reviewers mention, I wish it had been edited a bit more before receiving it. It was missing letters in words and some sentences had no spacing making it difficult to stay in the story.
Grown Ups is about the Casey clan in Ireland. A Modern Family type mix of families living in Dublin and spending a ton of time together. I enjoyed all the characters, except for Liam. Seeing the growth and change for most of them was believable. I do wish there had been more depth to Liam and more closure with his relationship with his daughters. However at over 600 pages this book didn't need more stories. It did seem as though some things were repeated just from another character's perspective and that could help shorten this book Overall though it was a good read about a family full of drama.

From the outside the Caseys look like the perfect extended family. They're extremely close and loving with amazing, successful lives. It's all an illusion that they're struggling to maintain, but a few minutes of brutal honesty brings it all tumbling down. This book was excellent. The characters were real and endearingly flawed. With one or two exceptions I was rooting for them all to have their happily ever after. Sometimes the thing you fear the most is what you need to be truly happy.

Grown Ups with a bang of family drama that hooks you in and makes you feel as if you simply must find out what happened to each of these characters and how the situation unfolded.
The characters in “Grown UPS” are all very... human. They are flawed. They can be self-centered, insecure, controlling, rash, and sometimes lash out at others. I wanted to throttle more than one of them on more than one occasion. Some characters that I thought I’d love, I ended up being not so fond of... but that’s what makes Marian Keyes’ s characters REAL.
The novel tends to jump around in some places, as if a paragraph or two had been misplaced, a tidbit about a set of characters placed in the midst of other dialog. It made it take longer for me to read that I believe it would have otherwise. Overall, an enjoyable read!

I have never read any of Marian's previous books but was aware that she was a very popular author and I had heard good things about her books so was looking forward to this one. But I just could not seem to get into it. I could not care for the characters and found them annoying, and there were far too many of them. Or perhaps it was the constant changing of time periods throughout the book. In the end I had to give up on this. I am so disappointed. I am sorry to say I had to give up on it in the end.

I literally can't believe I picked up and read a book of 656 pages in two days, but even more shocking is the fact that I didn't want it to end. "Grown Ups" is a funny, witty and unforgettable family drama that left me genuinely attached to the characters.
In this novel, we meet a very normal (aka messy and imperfect) Irish family, the Caseys:
- Johnny and Jessie - rich and married with five kids: Dilly, TJ, Bridey, Saoirse and Ferdia, the two oldest from Jessie's previous marriage to Johnny's deceased best friend
- Ed and Cara - struggling with money and married with two kids: Tom and Vinnie
- Liam and Nell -struggling for shambles of a career and newly married with a large age gap; Liam's two children from his previous marriage live in America
- Ferdia - twenty-one year old son of Johnny and Jessie struggling with university and relationships.
The opening scene depicts Johnny's fiftieth birthday party when due to a concussion, Cara is suddenly unable to tell a lie, which results in letting some ugly cats out of a bag. The story then goes back to six month earlier and the individual stories begin to unfold.
Marian Keyes has a wonderful gift for tackling complex problems such as overspending, desire, eating disorders, infidelity, poor parenting and refugee rights in a wise and compassionate way.
However, the sheer number of family members and side characters makes it difficult to keep track of who is who, especially at the beginning. On top of that, each character is faced with their own issues. It takes quite some determination to commit so such a sizable novel when you don't know if you're going to love it; that's why I believe this book should have been split into two parts. That being said, I really did love the story and will likely be picking up other books by Marian Keyes.
*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ooph.
This is so hard to rate!
I am a longtime fan of Marian Keyes and love her works.
Grown Ups for me just missed the mark.
The beginning was kind of awesome starting near the end when everything falls apart and then goes back and works up to what kicked it all off. The problem was that once it went back in time it was a VERY slow build and way too many characters (TWO named Dilly). It took me until at least midway to sort out how they were all related and tied in with one another and I honestly still don't know how many kids Jess has.
I put it down and went to another book, which is something I rarely do, and went back to it after a Harry Potter binge.
FINALLY it picked up steam in the final third and I enjoyed the end.
Overall it's an interesting story but wayyyyy too many characters complicated the story and I feel it could have been edited tighter. This doesn't reflect the rating but the e-book had an error in formatting that made it very difficult to read as well.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I'm not sure if I was just unlucky but many letters were missing from each word, so I found it difficult to read but I perseveered!
I absolutely love Marianne Keyes and have read all of her books, unfortunately although I still love her I don't think this book was as good as some of her others. (But to be fair,I have never written a book so it must be so difficult to live up to expectations when you are such a good writer!)
I think the issue with this story is that there are too many characters, the timeline seems to jump around and I think she tried to address too many issues (eating disorders, veganism, ageism, environmental and asylum seekers) and I think it was just too much. Saying that as I got near the end I started to figure out who's husband was who's and enjoyed the end of the book.
If you haven't read Marianne Keyes before you may enjoy this, but if you don't, I beg you to read one of her earlier books which are hilarious.

This book was challenging for me. The formatting of the ARC was way off and I found that the missing letters in so many words really threw me off.
Aside from that, I did not connect with the characters in this story. The author threw so many quirky characters at the reader in the first chapter of the book and I found myself having to keep track of each of them and their unique story lines.
I also did not love the setting of this story as I felt removed from its cultural and dialect specifics.
#NetGalley #GrownUps

A story with complex characters with many flaws.
All families have their issues. Each character had their own unique traits.
Ferdia was my favourite. He had the most character development.

A novel about a sprawling family in Ireland and it's various generation, this novel was a do not finish for me. The plot centers on the Casey brothers and their wives. Johnny and Jessie run a successful business, Ed and Cara are the middle-class hard-working family members, and Liam and Nell, recently married after his painful divorce. The plot is mostly told through the three wives perspectives, with Nell the outsider observing the family dynamics from afar.
Each of these women also have their own demons, with Jessie a serious shopaholic, Cara has binge-eating disorder, and Nell in a marriage that her husband only seems somewhat invested in. These are all real issues that people deal with, but hearing about one women's jealousy and sadness over the way her sister-in-law looks -- or a woman over-buying as a way to gain a high in her demanding life -- are well-worn tropes that felt clichéd. The could be a way to include that part of the characters' lives in a new and nuanced way, but this book does not do it. I didn't want to keep reading about how much Cara hates her body and stress-eats chocolate, or how Nell's husband won't grow-up and be a parent to his children, so I stopped reading. It's possible the book improves and the women gain more dimension, but I couldn't keep reading to find out.

Impossible not to love Marian - she's a national treasure. She handles dramas deftly yet wears her heart on her sleeve. Another great read from her.

I am a big fan of Marian Keyes but had read quite a few mixed reviews about this book. Yes, it is quite lengthy but I was so disappointed when it finished. Enjoyed every minute of this book!
There are three Casey men, Johnny who is married to Jessie with 3 daughters and 2 step children from when Jessie was married to his best friend Rory. Then there is Ed who is married to Cara, and has two boys. They appear to have the perfect marriage but not all is at it appears. Then there is Liam who is married to his second wife Nell. They are a beautiful couple who appear to be cool and living the life.
The story starts out with a concussed Cara who uncharacteristically tells the family the unfiltered truth at a dinner party. We than go back a few months and the lead up to this dinner is told.
The story is laugh out loud funny in most places but has its fair share of heartache too.
I have already recommended this book to a few people and I am sure that they will not be disappointed.
Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the opportunity to review this fabulous book.

I want to start my review by saying that I have read all of Marian Keyes books and have never been disappointed. When I started this book, I was confused. There were a lot of characters and relationships to keep straight and I worried that I wouldn't follow.
I was pleasantly surprised that almost as soon as I worried I would dislike the book and be unable to follow along, it immediately clicked with me. Once again, Keyes has kept me engaged and wondering what would happen next! She tackles difficult issues with humor.
The story was both entertaining and relatable. 5 Stars!
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was fantastic. I felt like I really knew the characters, and connected with them immediately. They were so well-developed. It was great to read about the different characters and the relationships the family all had with each other. I devoured this book, and can't wait to read it again to see if I pick up on anything else. What a delight that the characters were messy, conflicted, and full of pain and personality in their own times. Would definitely recommend.

Too many errors in the advanced digital edition. It was too distracting to be readable. I gave up. I hope it was good
I received a free e-galley from netgalley.com.

A ‘just OK’ read, Grown Ups took such a very long time to get into. In the beginning I struggled with the hoards of characters, finding it difficult to sort out who was who and how they all related to each other. I was confused for the first 150 or so pages (NEVER a good start) and found it near impossible to connect to any of the characters. As I read on, it got a little better. Having worked out the family dynamics I could settle into the story.
For me, it was the wives’ stories that held the most interest with the husbands feeling like secondary characters….and none of them very nice. I guess being a woman I related more easily to the women’s struggles. And if I’m honest I just wanted to smack the men. The three brothers, Liam, Ed and Johnny, really needed a big wake up.
Such a long book (656 pages), it still felt really hodge podge as it jumped from one person or idea to another, often cutting off the previous thought without finishing it and leaving me with a sense of missing something potentially important.
That said, there were some good bits…. enough drama to keep you reading, a little romance and a realistic portrayal of some mental and physical health issues.
In a sentence: If you're a Marian Keyes fan you'll probably really enjoy her latest offering, Grown Ups, but it wasn't really for me.

I love Marian Keyes and was so happy to receive a copy of Grown Ups from NetGalley. If you love Marian Keyes, you will love this book. This book follows three brothers Johnny, Ed and Liam. Their wives Jessie, Cara and Nell as well as all their children. This story starts at the end and then rewinds several months to explain how everyone ended up at the end. Each family has their own issues ranging from infidelity to bulimia. I liked how the three families were so connected to each other as a large extended family. I finished this book quickly because I genuinely wanted to know what happened to all of the characters. The only issue I had was with the uncorrected copy I read. The letter F was missing from most words and all numbers relating to AM or PM were missing. It was weird, but once I figured out it was F that was missing, I was fine. The time was a little more confusing, but it was fine. Read this book!

I really enjoyed this family saga. I like how Marian Keyes started in the present and then went back in time and made its way back to the present to set the scene! It follows the inner lives of 3 brothers and their wives/families. Each character is very different and don't always get along but that's family! It took me a little while to get into the book, there are 6 adults to follow and their children so keeping track of their names and who they were married to took some thought. I wish I had a hard copy to make it easier to flip back but I don't do that with a kindle. All of the relationships are dynamic and some even heartbreaking in their own ways so it kept me wanting to read more! You feel for the characters and sometimes despise some! I really enjoyed reading the latest Marian Keyes book, I even learned some Irish terms and name pronunciations along the way--don't be afraid to look up the pronunciations.
Thank you Net Galley!!

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
I've been a fan of Marian Keys since I lived in Ireland 10+ years ago and read all of her books at the library. I struggled with this book and I think part of it was due to the galley ebook -- the letter F was missing for most of the book and it was really distracting and hard to read along with awkward formatting and other editing problems.
I found it hard to get to know who the characters were and to keep track of them and it was a bit slow in the beginning. so I just wasn't as invested.
I did love the Irish slang and it did make me miss some of my favorite things - plus loved that Kopparberg cider was mentioned as I fell in love with stuff when I studied abroad!

A 4.5 star read for me!
I love Marian Keyes books and am very appreciative of Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada Doubleday for providing the opportunity to read Grown Ups in exchange for an honest review.
The Casey brothers (Johnny, Ed and Liam) and their spouses and children are at the heart of Grown Ups. We’re thrown immediately, and in great detail, into their lives as the book begins. The focus seems to be more on the spouses: Jessie (Johnny’s wife and founder of a specialty grocery chain) and her problems with spending money; Cara (Ed’s wife and her challenges with body image and eating disorders); and Nell, the much younger wife of Liam who’s a set designer, and a newlywed, but not necessarily a happy one.
There are also a number of other likable and interesting characters and Keyes has such a talent with being able to really bring characters, situations and storylines to life. While the book primarily focuses on the adults, some of the younger children were well done and I would have liked to see more of them.
The book tackles some difficult subjects and handles them realistically (at least in my opinion). Cara’s challenges with body image and eating disorders spiral down through the course of the book. We also meet a woman from Syria and her daughter who are refugees and it was interesting to learn the Irish rules that impact their lives and ability to resettle in their new country. The Caseys’ parents, while not a big part of the book, are a very self-absorbed couple and make for some sad sections.
Interspersed with the family drama (most of which was interesting) and the tough subjects, are humorous moments. I especially loved one of the kid’s descriptions of menopause at Jessie’s 50th birthday party: “It happens to ladies of mum’s age. They dry up and act weird with their loved ones.”
The book takes place over the course of six months and a lot happens during this time period. It’s a long book, but an interesting, well-written one.