Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. Sadly, this was a did not finish book for me. From the description of a family who plays nice but has secrets, I thought I would enjoy it. But once I started reading it, every character is unlikable and that combined with the fact that the copy I got wasn’t edited well (many misspellings and missing words), made me put this book down. I might come back to it and will update my review if I do, but for now this is a did not finish for me.

I absolutely adore Marian Keyes. I read her first novel when I was 17, and here I am, at 42, still reading and loving her work. She has an amazing way of developing wonderful characters, and brilliant comedic timing. And of course, her stories are always relatable, hilarious, but also very true to life. In life there are good people and there are terrible people, but for the most part there are those in between, erring somewhere along the bad to good spectrum, and Marian Keyes does so well at creating these real people who could be you, or me, or anyone we know.

Grown Ups is a family saga that starts in the middle of a dinner party kind of out of nowhere, and then leads us backwards, untangling the intricate knots of the Casey family along the way, before ending up right back at the dinner party again. There are the three brothers, Johnny, Ed, and Liam, and their wives, Jessie, Cara, and Nell, as well as their children. While the novel kind of revolves around Jessie, who has put herself in a type of matriarchal position, corralling everyone into partaking in all-expenses paid family weekends away, we get to know all of the others well enough. And everyone seems to have something to hide, or something they are ashamed of, something they just can’t keep hidden forever.

I personally didn’t have much time for Jessie or Johnny. I am very much like Nell and it would have driven me insane to feel forced to attend over the top holidays away from my own life all of the time. But I did understand why Jessie was the way she was, and by the end she had grown on me. I loved Nell, and I also loved Ed and Cara. And even Ferdia, who grows up a lot through the narrative. But what I loved most of all was how the story just worked. I thoroughly enjoyed becoming an invisible part of the family through the glimpses that Keyes gives us, glimpses that become a puzzle that you slowly put together in your mind.

I had been holding out on this one for a few months, knowing that I was in for a treat, and I definitely wasn’t disappointed!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love Marian Keyes. Sort of conflicted on how to rate this book. I would probably give it 3.5 stars. I enjoyed it but not as much as the author's previous books. The Casey families are definitely not the Walshes. I was so confused at the beginning of the book at the dinner party. I had a hard time keeping track of who everyone was and how they were related. There were so many characters. Ed was definitely my favorite, followed by Nell. Cara married the best Casey brother. He was so sweet and truly loved his wife. Ferdia completely changed and was no longer a complete douche by the end of the book. He treated his mom and Johnny horrible. They provided everything for him. I loved how Jessie called all the children bunnies. It was so cute. Not sure how Jessie afforded all those vacations. She definitely spent more than they earned. Not sure how Jessie afforded all those vacations. She definitely spent more than they earned. Liam was the worst person throughout the whole book. I kept forgetting he was a forty year old man. He acted more like he was twenty. He was useless and a complete waste. He valued a free apartment more than being a father to his children. I felt bad for Nell. She pretty much jumped into a marriage with a man she barely knew. Everything she thought she knew about Liam wasn't even how he truly was. The whole Sammie and Robyn thing was disgusting. He was a grown man. I wish Johnny and Ed would have challenged him more on his actions.

I enjoyed the story, characters and writing style. I liked getting to know all the Caseys (some more than others.) The murder mystery birthday party was quite funny. The "hotel" rooms and the "yurt"were not what the guests were expecting. Jessie's diva ways definitely showed through. She should have appreciated the effort her husband made, not be mad that he didn't spend the thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars that she expected. The ending was a bit of a disappointment. I wanted to know what happened to everyone. I wouldn't mind reading more about the Caseys and find out what happened to everyone. The book could be about when all the bunnies are older.

Definitely recommend the book. The Caseys are a CRAZY family. Something is always happening. I look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Penguin Random House Canada through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I heard many good things about the new Marian Keyes book and expected to enjoy it as much as usual, but I’m afraid I didn’t, even skimmed one particularly boring section so I could get to the end.
Usually the author’s own bubbly personality shines thorough in the book. Bit even the one dealing with unaccepted widowhood or domestic abuse did not seem so stodgy and peopled with such unlikeable people. Gone are the warm gatherings at “Mammy’s” to be replaced with family squabbles and an overpowering clutch of obnoxious children and teenagers who are really not that interesting.
Three sons have wives, one is addicted to her business and seems to act and expect others not to have feelings if they conflict with hers. Another has eating issues, and whilst pity-able still remains unlikeable and finally the youngest wife who is too much of a child to have been allowed to marry.
Their husbands range from quite nice to egotistical idiots and throw in far too many teenagers and it just doesn’t take off.
I get it the emphasis is on none of us actually feeling grown up and still thinking others have things all worked out, but it doesn’t provide much entertainment whilst making the point.

I do laud the work to show the plight of refugees and the unfair treatment by, in this case the Irish, government, but didn’t get any of the usual lift from the book

Grown Ups by Marian Keyes is a contemporary general fiction/ romance/ drama hilarious, entertaining, and sometimes frustrating reading experience.
The story is about 3 happily married brothers John Casey, Ed Casey, and Liam Casey if you look at the surface. But as you start going deeper, you realize that the saying is true " Appearances can be deceiving". While each character looks like they have their life sorted, one small mishap creates a domino effect that shatters the rose-tinted glass.

What did I love about this book?
The characters! The characters are the charm of this read. They are so beautifully developed over the course of the book. The uniqueness of each character is what kept me going on this book. From the eldest to the youngest, each has its own quirks and intricacies and it was a joy each time a new facet was revealed about one of the characters.
The plot of this book is hilarious to say in short. While the first few pages reveal the idea behind this book, its the events and the circumstances that lead to it are what keeps you going on till the end.
It was my first time reading a Marian Keyes and I like her unique style. I am generally more into action/thriller/ mystery/sci-fi and kind of stay away from contemporary or family-centered reads unless they fall under the above-mentioned genres. The depth and complexities to each character kept me switching sides , rooting for one character then another as the events unfolded. At the end of this novel, it was the core idea of this book that pacified me. It was the fact that yes! Grown-ups do not have everything figured out in life. You can’t expect people to change most of the time and you have to be ready to accept that and move on. There are always two sides to a story and its better to know both before judging someone. Lastly, no one is perfect and you have to learn to accept people and yourself for the imperfections.

What did I not like about this book?
The frustrating pace of the book. At times, an episode was so long-winded that I would have to sit back and think about what had initiated this scenario. I felt at times some of the chain of events could have been shortened as it felt the novel was meandering.

Overall, it was a fun, entertaining read though a bit long.

Thank you #Netgalley and #DoubledayCanada for providing this ARC!

Readometer rating : ***

I was really looking forward to reading this book but unfortunately wasn't able to. First, the family tree in the beginning was unreadable. Second, any time there was a word with two ff's next to each other, they were missing. This made it annoying and frustrating to try to read. I'll happily wait till it comes out.

Meet the Casey Family, the celebrate every event together. However, one throwaway remark at the dinner table throughs the whole family scenario into chaos.

I normally sink into a Marion Keyes book and don’t look up until I reach the end but unfortunately I struggled a little with this one. The premise of big family gatherings is fabulous, but I couldn’t keep track of all the Caseys and their antics. Also, it took me a while to catch on to the different timelines.

However, as this is Ms Keyes, she still managed to make me laugh out loud.

Thanks to Netgalley for my arc.

A story of three brothers and their dysfunctional families. This is a long and convoluted book with a huge cast of characters. It still doesn't have the wit or comedic writing of her earlier books. I also felt it could have been shorter as there was a lot of unnecessary detail.

Grown Ups centers around the Casey brothers Johnny, Ed and Liam, the wives and their children. The book begins at the end of the story. At Johnny’s birthday dinner, Ed’s wife Cara is suffering with a concussion and inadvertently spills several secrets that threaten to tear the family apart. The narrative then moves backwards six months and we start to learn about each character and how the secrets Cara reveals at the dinner came about.

Whilst there is a lot I liked about this book, there are so many characters that it took me a while to connect with them and really get in to the narrative, but once I did I found myself really caring what happened to the Casey family. Especially Nell and Ferdia. The kids were hilarious and I loved that aspect of the book, the children were more grown up than the adults at times!

In typical Marian Keyes style the writing is brilliant and funny but although Grown Ups is a lighthearted read, there are serious themes such as bulimia, period poverty and the plight of asylum seekers in Ireland.

Not my favourite Marian Keyes book but still really enjoyable.

I was actually a little confused when I started reading this book. I have read many marian keyes novels and I am a huge fan, but this one was suprisingly complicated for me in the beggining, there were too many characters and i could never remember who was who After a while, it all fell in place and could enjoy the stroy but I have to say it was a little hard to get into.

Grown Ups is quintessential Marian Keyes with a robust family, messy family dynamics, and enough twists to keep you refilling your wine well into the night.

One of the things I truly adore about Keyes iS that the characters are humanly flawed and real. There is something so real about each member of the family, including their unique voice, that the story feels more observational than allegorical.

Beyond the depth of character, Keyes doesn’t do ‘bows’ - things don’t always work out in a fairytale way that some would expect.
While she does give each arc closure, it is messy and painful, the same way real life is.

Keyes is always an enjoyable read, and this does not disappoint.

I find it really hard to rate this book because there are still a number of hickups that made it uncommonly hard to immerse into the story completely.
Any of these following combinations of letters resultet in parts of the word missing: fi, ff, fl,fe.
Locations of events switched from Munich to Frankfurt.
Some characters are introduced in great detail, then their story was cut short like a lost thread.
This being an early-accesss e-book in return for an honest review, I hope these will be resolved in the final version.
All that said: Ms. Key manages another tale of haunting beauty travelling layered landscapes both of the British Isles and the human soul.
The story is a winding one with a certain bitter-sweetness and, thankfully, ditching a cliché conclusion in favor of a more realistic ending that left me wishing for a part two.
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole of it, would have wished for more depth still in some cases and, with one couple, suspected there was another book that had already told their story but that hint wasn't made clear and there was no further information to be had.

What can I say, as a massive fan of Marian Keyes for over 30 years, I just loved this book, again another masterpiece for Ms Keyes, if you only read one book this year, then read this. Thanks for the. Arc...

Long-time Marian Keyes fan. I really enjoyed this book, too. The framing device keeps the low-grade suspense going. At first, I thought the book had too many characters to keep track of but eventually we learn enough about each to really understand and anticipate them. Recommended!

Fantastic Marian Keyes' book! At first, I thought I was missing something- another previous book maybe? It felt like I should know all the characters sitting around the dining table. But the gifted author gives you a sneak peak, then takes you through what happens before hand in the months leading up to that dinner. Then we brings it full circle. I enjoyed reading about the characters. (Which doesn't mean I like all the characters. Some are just wrong! But it allows us to see why they did what they did.) Overall, another great book!

This is a book to savour and enjoy each chapter of like a delicious meal. The story starts at the end before taking us back a period of some months and bringing us into the lives of this colourful, complex family. Secrets and lies will be exposed before any ‘growing up’ happens. We meet a somewhat glitzy family but beneath the shiny surface there are flaws and chasms . The matriarch is Jessie, a successful business woman, kind, loving, and a big spender! Keeping her family close and providing little luxuries for them is just a part of who she is. All of the characters have their own story to tell and I felt I got to know them on their journey .I lost myself in the pages of this book and in the lives of this family! Read it and love it.

I have never read this author before so was unsure what I was going to find, I found it to be a good read after a slow start but was enjoyable

I am a long time fan of the author's books. I have read all of them and greatly enjoyed every single one.. Unfortunately with the missing ‘f’’ s in the ARC I just couldn’t make it through. I am hoping the publisher reissues the ARC so I can actually finish it this time!

I love Marian Keyes books and her whole shopaholic series, but this wasn’t good. Waaaaay too long. I did the joy the family dynamics and I enjoyed the style of writing.

Great read! Looking forward to reading more by this author! Highly recommend this book and author to all!