I felt so lucky to be granted an ARC of this book, having just finished reading Animals. I love the way Emma Jane Unsworth writes, brutally honest and unflinching, often uncomfortable but always tonally spot on. Commenting on the pressures of social media, "grown up" relationships and mothers and daughters. Definitely recommend. Thanks NetGalley!

I'm sorry but this just wasn't for me. I tried, and tried but I just couldn't get into it. The synopsis made it sound really fun and interesting but when reading it seemed to to jump all over the place and I couldn't keep up as it didn't seem to have any reason to it.
I may try again in future but right now it's not for me.

When I first started reading this book I thought "is anyone really like this"? The main character, Jenny, is a really similar age to me, and I expected her to resonate more closely with me than she did. She's a social-medialite. Obsessed with the next Insta post and framing her life exactly as she wants others to see it. I just don't feel that either I, nor the people I know, are like this to such an extent. And therefore, I found it really hard to sympathise with her.

It is funny in places, like laugh out loud funny, and underneath there's a lovely story about friendship and finding yourself and reassessing your values. But to me, it was overwhelmed by this life that I just couldn't comprehend. Towards the end I felt slightly more engaged but it was a little bit of a slog for me.

This book is funny, I will give it that, it's funny and you can really cackle your way through. It's also witty but the kind of witty that is try-hard witty which gets annoying after a while. Whilst I didn't hate this book, half way through I realised the story wasn't going anywhere. There wasn't any growth any back-peddling, nothing! Which I can kind of see why because not everyone gets a moment of clarity but as a book it just made the whole plot stagnant and then boring.
The other thing is Jenny is an awful friend, like so awful and self obessessed and I really don't understand why her friend Kelly tip-toes around it instead of being like "YOU ARE BEING AWFUL." Jenny and her friend Nicole I felt were perfectly matched, it was funny reading about them together because they were both insane together, but her being shit to an actual friend who needs her for something responsible is annoying.
Her love story was also kind of annoying but it worked for her, I just really couldn't relate to the obvious dickhead who clearly didn't deserve 7 years worth of her life.
Overall the story isn't bad, it just doesn't go anywhere you just go round and round in the quirks of her mother, Jenny's social media obessession and her current life. Nothing new or interesting I'm sorry to say.

I was looking forward to reading this and I was not disappointed! Emma Jane Unsworth just hits the nail on the head every time. If you loved Animals, you'll love this!

Jenny epitomises everything that is wrong with social media and our society today. She works in the industry and is constantly on her phone - to the detriment of all the relationships around her. We meet Jenny at a point in her life where she has split from her boyfriend following an unsuccessful pregnancy and her fixation with her phone is driving her remaining friends away, despite them wanting to help her . Jenny is possibly the most annoying and frustrating main character I have ever encountered in a book - I wanted to reach into the pages and shake her. I think the leader for this book was that it was a comedy but I actually found it quite sad for Jenny - though it was all her own making. Not the great read I was expecting.

Wonderfully heartfelt and tragically true, this book deals with both love and loss, the unseen / unspoken parts of relationships and social media dependence.

The story within is so well told and is so eye opening, especially with regards to how easy it can be, to become too reliant on social media. Especially for those that feel the need to seek other people's approvals and are dealing with their own personal insecurities and self doubt.

It was really satisfying to be able to see how Jenny's relationships developed throughout the novel; with her friends, her Mum, her love interests... But most importantly, with herself.

Emma Jane Unsworth depicts a realistic, problematic and humorous picture of our contemporary disease and pressures of social media addiction, its pitfalls and repercussions through the life of 35 year old Jenny McLaine. On the surface, Jenny is living the perfect successful life. She is a columnist on a online magazine, owns her own home but delve a little deeper and her life is a car crash, unravelling at a rapid rate. Her manipulative photographer boyfriend, Art, has broken up with her and found a replacement girlfriend so very quickly, her job is going down the pan, and her best friend, single mother Kelly has had enough of her and her selfishness, and her offbeat psychic mother has come to stay. Jenny is anxious, insecure, lacking any form of self awareness, with a constant need for validation. Instead of paying attention to the issues and people close to her, she obsessively follows on social media those living perfect lives, like Suzy Brambles, which feeds her sense of failure as a woman. As Jenny surveys the wreckage of her life around, she knows things must change.

This is a comic, if heartbreaking, character driven read of a Jenny having to face up to the need to grow up. I found it an occasionally discomfiting read, and Jenny can be really irritating, but it is such a relevant read. It provides an insightful look at mother and daughter relationships, the damage that social media addiction can do and the perils of neglecting real life, and the people who matter. Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.

There were parts of this book I really enjoyed and parts where I nearly gave up.

Jenny is so self-absorbed that for the first half of the book I just didn't like her enough to care. The writing style is almost a modern social media influenced stream of consciousness in places and takes a while to get used to.

As the book progressed and the different threads of Jenny's story came together I did empathise more with her.

Her relationship with photographer ex-boyfriend feeds Jenny's insecurities and her obsession with social media, while taken to an extreme, is realistic and both amusing and horrifying.

By the end of the book I was enjoying the characters and their relationship. Post-intervention Jenny is still flawed and insecure but she has completely reevaluate her life and is far less pretentious and superficial.

I think this a 3.5/5 for me overall. Jenny is definitely a lit more "adult" by the end of the book.

Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I liked it. It’s exactly the sort of book I love to eat up in a night. I felt for and hated Jenny at the same time. Then really felt for her when everything ultimately falls apart. She’s 35, so there’s another thing I could relate to, even though our lives are a bit different.

They’re the sort of characters I love, complex, full and weirdly wordy.

Not much happens, and when it does, it’s a convenient fit. Again, didn’t care that her friend who’s had enough of her saves the day. Or that her mother poses for her ex. I just liked it so much.

*I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

A book I had to really persevere with, and after a couple of false starts got there but can't say I enjoyed it. The beginning is totally tedious stuck on the buying of a croissant but there are a few laughs and gems in the latter half of the book. The main character is totally obsessed with her phone to the detriment of her whole life so much so I felt like shaking her as she wastes so much time on social media that real life is passing her by. She is very self absorbed and comes across as very immature for her age where the number of likes on a posting on Instagram is her be all and end all. The writing style, even away from the texts and internet posts, just didn't flow for me I'm afraid with lots of short sentences, it seemed abrupt in style.

Not for me but may appeal to a younger reader so a possible 3 star maybe for this group. .

Loved this book. The author sure can write a quirky character and is bang on with her portrayal of how people can obsess with social media and paint a completely inaccurate picture of their real life.

Well formed and interesting characters and a contemporary plot and story world make this an enjoyable and entertaining read.

Thank you to Emma Jane Unsworth, Harper Collins and NetGalley for the ARC of ADULTS.
I really wanted to love this novel, but it's just not for me. The constant introspection and textspeak became really annoying. Is this really how people communicate with each other? And she's supposed to be thirty-six but I think she comes across as very juvenile. Okay, this books isn't for me, but it will be for lots of others. I know it will be a fabulous success

A smart, funny exploration of the evils of social media for those of us who didn't grow up with it - and so much more besides. I found the book insightful and was told off by my child for laughing too loudly whilst reading it. I loved the cultural references from Jenny's past, the characters (who each resemble someone we all know) and the sheer honesty of the protagonist. I related to much of this and it kinda startled me. "Adults" is a wake up call and a battle cry. Emma Jane Unsworth is the voice of a new wave of women's fiction, acknowledging that we can all be a bit hapless and hopeless but we are also nuanced and complex characters underneath.

Oh dear, just not for me this one I'm afraid. How many pages were filled with the word "pastry" at the beginning?
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity. Sorry for the negative words. x

I tried to get into this book - twice - but just couldn't. The blurb hooked me, and it sounded like the sharp, realistic and witty read I'd been looking for (especially as the main character is, like myself, mid-thirties). I could not relate at all to this novel. Instead I found it a bit pretentious.. I really, really wanted to like Adults as for once it's nice to have a slightly older protagonist, so I was a little disappointed.

However, I am not a social media addict, and find that all-consuming obsession with Instagram tiresome, so to be fair I'm probably not the target audience for this book. Jenny was way too obsessed with her phone and 'likes' that it just became grating. Maybe I'll give this book another try in future and alter my rating accordingly, but for now, I just can't get into this one.

Many many thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC.

Sadly for me I just found I couldn’t get into this at all. I even left it then returned to it. It just didn’t gel for me. I found the writing style a bit hap hazard.
I really wanted to love this book as it has received so much hype.
Thank you to both NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review

I'm sorry, but I just couldn't get into this book!! I think if I were younger maybe I would have, but unfortunately, some of the time I had no idea what was going on!! To be fair, there were a few funny bits but I'm afraid it's not for me!! But thank you for the opportunity to give it a go!!

A Hilario warm wonderful read.A book everyone can relate to the struggle to become an adult find our place in the world.I will be recommending to all my friends those who are now truly adults and those who will relate to the struggle,#netgalley#harpercollinsuk.

Brutally honest, hilarious and insightful, Adults tells a story of a thirty-five year old Jenny who is obsessed with social media. Jenny is bright and funny but not coping well with the break-up with her boyfriend who seems to have found a replacement for Jenny in no time.

If you are in a mood for something witty to make you laugh, this might be the right book. That is not to say Adults have no serious moments. It makes accurate observations of today's obsessions of young generations with presenting glamorous lifestyle on social media even if the reality is far from perfect.

Many thanks to HarperCollins UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.