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.

I really love this author. This is the story of a trio of brothers, but it centers more around their wives. They seem like a big happy family, but their lives are starting to implode. My favorite character is Jessie who is insecure and thinks that by buying lavish vacations and fancy dinners that she can also buy their affection. At the same time, she's very driven and successful at her business. All of this author's books are emotionally complex with a lot of characters. This fits well with her brand. I got exactly what I was expecting from a Marian Keyes novel and I enjoyed it very much.

I cannot recall if I ever read any of Ms. Keyes' books before, but the story line caught my attention.This one examines the inner workings of a mildly dysfunctional family, going behind the scenes to reveal what makes each person react the way they do.I have to confess I was becoming initially frustrated at the beginning of the book because I felt bombarded with all the characters being thrown at me. It became easier as the book went on, but at intervals I had to stop and recollect who was who, and also added to the angst was the question of each child's age and the precociousness of their interactions.Some characters were just plain disagreeable ,detestable and selfish , while others were so insecure and lacking of self-esteem that they would literally buy others' emotions.The characters Ed and Saoirse were overshadowed and didn't add much to the story while Jessie emerged as the central character that the rest of the family just circled around. Ferdia showed the most growth and I couldn't help rooting for him to find love.The book shone a light on the inner thoughts and compulsions of someone with an addiction and its effect on loved ones.So to sum up,I liked this book overall but found the many characters and the changing timelines were a little overdone.I would definitely read and recommend more of this author's books.

I was very interested to read Marian Keyes' latest instalment as I'm a huge fan of hers. She has such a wonderful way with words and this didn't disappoint. She writes exactly as things are, no stone left unturned, teeth bared, honesty is the best policy. Jessie, Johnny's wife is a big earner and so insists on funding their many family get togethers. Reality and subsequently humour hits when Cara suffers a head injury and unwittingly reveals facts, truths, pieces of wisdom and snippits of memories about their family's actions, events and past misdemeanours. IT's funny, light hearted and entertaining as Marian Keyes so often writes so well. My only criticism might be that it is a tad too long but other than that I found it to be a great read.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin and Doubleday for this e-copy in return for my honest review. I started reading Marian Keyes in my teens and am always hugely excited when she releases a new book. While I enjoyed this one, I found the story unnecessarily convoluted. I would however recommend the book as it's still worth a read.

Grown Ups by Marian Keyes marks the return of an author who will most certainly stir feelings of nostalgia in many readers. For many, Ms Keyes' novels were not to be missed for a certain period of our lives. Seeing a new novel by this most beloved author immediately took me back to my days with the Walsh family, and all of the humour, warmth, and connection that is attached to my total immersion into the trials and tribulations of the large Irish family. In Grown Ups, sadly, I was not quite as fully invested in the characters, despite the fact that they were, for the most part, fully drawn. Perhaps I was also slightly put off by the sheer volume of pages. While I did enjoy getting to know the Casey family, I felt that there were simply too many characters to keep tabs on, and the whole thing, much like any exposure to a large family, felt simply too overwhelming.

Marian Keyes has been a shining light in my reading life for many years, and will continue to be. Her writing will always feel a little like coming home.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I love Marian Keyes! This book was not one of my favourites of hers but I still really enjoyed it. I love how Marian can take a whole bunch of random characters and still find a way to weave a great story amongst them. I did enjoy some of the family member's stories more than others but I'm sure for someone else it's the opposite. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!

This book is lengthy, but i really enjoyed the story lines of all of the characters. This was my first read by Marian Keyes and will not be my last. Love when i find a new-to-me author!

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

My ARC had the family tree completely scrambled, but presumably this will be fixed before publication. It also had every instance of 'ff' entirely deleted, which served to highlight how very very frequently the author uses the word 'stuff'.

Anyway, I enjoyed this for the most part, although it was longer than I felt it needed to be. I was glad the prologue was repeated once we had worked our way back to it in the 'present day' of the novel, as it was by then a very long time ago. At one point the focus on Cara's problems got so depressing that I put the book down for a while, but otherwise it kept me reading, although I did wonder at the number of extravagant holidays and celebrations Jessie organized for entire family - how much was her business making? Who has this much time to devote to extended family? Who wants to? (Maybe only families in novels.)

The ending was a bit off for me. Ed behaved in a manner that seemed totally out of character from his behaviour in the rest of the book. Johnny turned out to have been carrying on a friendship the reader had not been privy to, and that felt like an odd concealment. By the end I was skimming a little as I had had enough.

really enjoyed this book, I love Marian Keys books have never been disappointed. Her story telling is awesome, you feel like you know all the characters and you want more you just don’t want to leave their company. A really great book .

I love Marian Keyes and was excited to read Grown Ups. Unfortunately, this copy had way too many typos and distracted from the story. I also didn’t feel any of the characters were likable and DNF at 25%.

This typical Marian Keyes story story about a dysfunctional family told with flashbacks and dark, witty writing. It was a little tough to keep track of everyone but once I got it, I really enjoyed the story.

I will be honest and say I had a hard time finishing this book. There were too many characters and too many flashbacks (especially in the beginning) for the story to really take hold and draw me in. The beginning of the novel had strategically placed flashbacks to provide the reader with information but they were not believable and came across as forced information. It wasn't until near the end when I really started to care about how everything was going to fall into place. I can't even say I was satisfied with the ending.

When you look at the structure of the novel, there wasn't really a central climax or even rising action. There were constant little fights between the characters, mostly between spouses, but not really any main plot to grasp onto as a reader. Reading this novel was like having a bird's eye view of three different couples going through the motions of life and martial problems. Yes, the characters were likeable, especially Nell. However, there were times when family friends and the children's friends all completely lost or uninterested me because there were too many names thrown around. I kept wondering where the story was going and if there was going to be a point to all the madness.

I appreciate the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this novel and generally I am a light critic. However, I feel "Grown Ups" was missing something major, a main plot element, and without it, the reader cannot be drawn into the story. As readers, we want to envision a part of ourselves when reading a book, but more importantly, we also want to escape reality, even if for just a few moments. By giving us martial problems without some element of thrill or excitement, a story just ends up being a retelling of everyday occurrences.

I would still recommend this book, but it was not my favourite. I am left feeling as though the story could be better, and be fixed into a really amazing novel.

Thank-you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada / Doubleday Canada for the opportunity to read and review this upcoming novel by Marian Keyes.

Marian Keyes is one of those authors I will always remember because her books were foundational in my love of reading as a young adult. When I saw Grown Ups on NetGalley, I couldn’t request it fast enough. Her Walsh Family Series, especially Watermelon and Anybody Out There will always remain extra memorable for me.

Keyes always succeeds in sharing complex family dynamics in a light-hearted yet engrossing manner. Grown Ups is no different and shares the daily ups and downs of three brothers and their wives and families. There is a great mix of humor and intrigue (a big family secret gets revealed!) mixed with plenty of hijinx.

I did find that it was tricky at first to keep track of all the characters because there are many!! I connected more with some of them than others but all in all this was a super endearing and humorous read. I am so happy to have Marian Keyes writing back in my life and I look forward to what she shares next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada/Doubleday Canada for sharing an advanced copy with me in exchange for an honest review.

Loved it!

I immersed myself in this one completely. The characters were great - most were likeable and all seemed real to me by the end of the book. I was really rooting for Jessie, Cara and Nell and felt very angry on their behalf about the treatment they receive at the hands of some of the other characters!

There is so much humour here - I loved the dialogue in particular.

It's not a page-turner in the sense that exciting things happen - it's more like spending time with friends and hearing all the gossip, and wanting to know what's going on with everyone. It wasn't too long for me - I was hooked right from the start and enjoyed it throughout.

Some reviewers have said that they felt there were too many characters and this led to confusion, but I didn't find this to be the case at all. Each character, for me, was very distinctive and therefore easy to keep track of.

Only two slight niggles - lots of problems with the formatting and 'ff' and 'ffl' were missing throughout the proof copy, but I got used to this after a while. Maybe I wouldn't have persevered, though, if I hadn't been enjoying it quite so much.

The other niggle is the ending - I was left feeling a bit unsatisfied, especially with Nell's story.

But those are very minor negatives - a definite 5/5 for me.

The large Irish family, the Caseys, are a quirky interesting group. Cara begins at a family dinner when, because of a concussion, begins telling family members truths that they don’t necessarily want to hear. A cute premise, but it goes downhill from there.

This is promoted as a romantic comedy involving a large Irish family. I found it to be tedious, the book is ridiculously long, too many characters, and the plot line with its time jumping confusing. The dialogue which conveyed Irish accents and terms was irritating. It was an uncorrected proof, advanced copy. I was given a complimentary ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.