No one does family dynamics as well as Marian Keyes – and this was a proper epic family saga. I was fully immersed in the Casey family, by the end of the book I felt like they were my own. It was long but that just added to it for me. I read it over the Christmas holidays and it was the perfect book to curl up on the sofa for hours with my own family. It deals with some pretty serious issues: mental health, addiction and grief (among others) but it was in no way a downer, if anything I felt uplifted by it and Marian's witty style. I really hope this isn't the last we see of the Casey family!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of an Irish family with Jessie taking the role of matriarch providing the rest of the family with financial and some emotional support. Jessie loves to take all the family away for holidays, weekend breaks, etc in a very extravagant style. The family consists of three brothers, Johnny, Ed and Liam and their wives, Jessie, Cara and Nell. Also featuring in the story are the awful parents of the men and also an ex-wife, ex parents in law and also a number of children. Because of the large number of characters, it takes quite a while to work out who is who. All the characters are very individual and they don’t all get on all of the time. The book starts at one of the many social events planned by Jessie where Cara, after suffering concussion, spills the beans about how she feels about the rest of the family, causing major upheaval in all of their lives. This book is like a saga and doesn’t really have a very strong story line but is more like a series of events which take place over a period of time. It is a very long read and ideally is better read over a short period of time to be able to follow the plot. On the whole I did enjoy it. The book was well written as you would expect from Marian Keyes and there are some very humorous parts to it and also some quite sad parts too. It also deals with a number of topical issues well but it did take quite a while to work out who was who with three couples and a number of children featuring. I found I enjoyed it more as I got towards the end, so you could say it was a bit of a slow burn.
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Overall I thought that this one was ok but it didn’t really blow me away. This is the first book by this author that I’ve read and I’ve heard mixed review. I liked the characterisation but overall i found that it dragged in certain parts and it wasn’t really for me.

Grown Ups is a story about the complex relationships between families and extended families, how resentments can fester, and how everything is not always as it seems on the surface. The Casey family are no different, and when Cara bumps her head and gets concussion, she can’t help but tell the truth. The prologue starts in the present day, where we see the three Casey brothers – Johnny, Ed, and Liam - celebrating Johnny’s birthday with their wives and children. The family often get together socially, and even go on holiday together, but when a comment by Cara (Ed’s wife) throws a spanner in the works, the story then flashes back to how these events were not so idyllic as Jessie (Johnny’s wife) likes to think.

Whilst the premise and the prologue both drew me in, the first part of the book seemed ‘expositiony’; chapters seemed fragmented with no real point to them. To be honest I found it a bit boring and found myself skim-reading certain parts. I adore Marian Keyes so was absolutely gutted that I wasn’t completely won over. However, I always read a book to thirty-per-cent and if I don’t like it by then I ditch it, so decided to plough on. By thirty-per-cent, even though the storyline wasn’t that great, there were quite a few laugh-out-loud moments, the characters were well drawn out and I was starting to care about them, so decided to carry on reading. As some of you may know, I only review literature I love (hence the name Literature Love) so I decided to try and finish the book but that I probably wouldn’t be posting a review. However, when I got to about fifty-per-cent, things started to pick up: there was more conflict and the story was starting to relate to the premise. From this point onwards, there was no more skim-reading and I’d reached that point where I didn’t want to do anything else but snuggle up on the sofa and read.

The author deals with some emotionally complex issues such as grief, bulimia, and low self-esteem; and these parts are both heart-breaking and thought-provoking. Although I won’t be giving this the full five-stars because of its slow start, I still really enjoyed the last half of the book and think it deserves a place on Literature Love’s book-review page.

Despite being a Marian Keyes fan, I struggled to get into this book. I felt there were too many characters to connect with which made the plot hard for me to follow

Wow, just wow - this book was one of my favourite reads of 2019. It was meant to be read at the start of 2020 because I had other books to read and review first - however once I had read the opening chapters, I couldn't put this down.

It is a long book, with lots of great characters from the Casey family, which goes backwards and forwards in time and it definitely isn't a light and fluffy read, covering topics such as eating disorders, death of a spouse, teenage angst. However I found myself struggling to put this down, I was so eager to know what was going to happen next.

The main female characters, Jessie, Cara and Nell faced numerous challenges and I would like to thank Marian Keyes for such wonderful storytelling. I will be recommending this book to friends and family.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for my digital review copy - my thoughts are my own.

Unfortunately, although I usually love Marian Keyes, I felt this one wasn't for me. The plot jumped around too much and there were too many characters for me to keep track of.

I was up until the early hours, gripped to finish this delightful story. As usual in Marian’s books, the characters had become quite dear to me and I needed to know what happened to them all.
The story starts off near the end with a disastrous meal where family secrets are poured out. Cleverly then it goes back in time to show the reader how it gets to this point. The book has a lot of characters in it, but basically focuses on three brothers (Johnny, Ed & Liam) and their families & it took me a while to work out who was who and even longer before their individual character traits became clear enough to establish them.
I really enjoyed meeting these families and their diverse lifestyles and ended up wanting to solve their problems for them.
The story covers a lot of social issues within its development, covered in an easy to read, but thought provoking way. No plot spoilers here but I loved it! It left me still with one or two plots to think about and try to resolve in my own head, but also a real feeling of enjoyment. A great family saga, thoroughly recommend.

A sweet story about the 3 Casey brothers, their wives, children and parents. What happens when one of the family falls and bumps their heads and gets concussion, and the result is like giving them a truth serum. Way too much comes out at a family dinner party. The story starts with the dinner party, goes back in time to see how they got there, and then moves forward in time to see how it ends. A lovely story but not my favourite of hers. I didn't feel like I couldn't put it down.

I wanted to love this book a whole lot more than I actually did. I have always been a fan of this author, I feel like I get lost in her books, however this story had to many characters, jumping from one to another throughout. I felt I didn’t get time to like any particular character because there were so many of them and just as you started to learn something new about one the next chapter just to another. This will never deter me from picking up another one of this authors books because they are normally fantastic

Found this book really depressing. It was not a light hearted read and not what I would expect a Marian Keyes novel to be.

Where to begin? I struggled with this book. The description had me intrigued. The author hugely influenced my decision to request it. Marian Keyes is renowned for her brilliant writing, but unfortunately Grown Ups didn’t hit the mark for me.

I felt confused reading this. I love reading and like to slip into a book and forget all the usual daily dramas and demands. However, this book was so difficult to ‘slip into’ that I couldn’t engage with any characters or storylines. I think the number of characters is the main reason.

This wasn’t my favourite book by this author, but this will not put me off reading any of her other work.

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Whilst it took a while to connect the dots and figure out who was who, who was related to who etc, when I'd cracked it I really enjoyed this book.

Marian Keyes is one of my go to authors, this book doesn't disappoint!

4 stars.

I've read many Marian Keys' books and enjoyed most of them, so was looking forward to her latest offering. Unfortunately, The Grownups is probably my least favourite one. Whilst the book is very long, with a multitude of quite interesting characters, there's not much happening and it's a rather tedious read. There aren't any laugh out moments that we came to expect from this author's work, which perhaps could have made up for the slow plot.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

This story runs the whole gamut of an Irish extended familys' lives. Their gains and losses, hope and fears, loves and separations, life and death. A totally absorbing story and so real I felt part of the action. Once again Marion Keyes has excelled in her story telling.

Grown Ups is classic Keyes, serving up an irresistible blend of family dynamics and social issues alongside plenty of wisdom and humour.

The novel is a bit of a slow burn at the beginning but once it warms up, it's a delicious page-turner. The main characters - all members of the extended Casey family - are beautifully multi-layered with hidden traits; not one is a stereotype or cliche.

I especially liked Jessie and Johnny who illustrate how "having it all" can mask a myriad of insecurities and micro-depressions. And also that, even as we approach fifty, we're still trying to sort our shit out.

I didn't laugh out loud as much as I did with Marian Keyes' early books (which always had me in one, long, constant, flat-mate-annoying LOL) but then maybe life just isn't quite as funny as it was in our twenties.

Grown Ups was the last book I read of 2019 and the decade and it was the perfect book to get me through the bit between Christmas and New Year; snuggled on the sofa, nursing a cold, chuckling gently with the occasional tear. I'm sure it will delight Marian Keyes' fans in 2020.

This was Marian Keyes back to her best with an interesting storyline and well written characters.
This book follows the ins and outs of the dysfunctional Casey family. From the outside they may seem a normal large loving family, but on the inside there’s health problems, infidelity and some serious trust issues.
Loved this book and it’s many twist and turns. Thanks for letting me read and review!

Vintage Keyes. It is a long book but I enjoyed it very much. I felt as though I was watching a soap with my favourite characters, getting involved in their hopes, fears and problems. Keyes always touches on difficult subjects but lightens things with humour and grown ups follows the pattern. It is the book equivalent of comfort eating and all the better for it.

Grown Ups Marian Keyes a serendipitous five-star read. This is exactly what we have come to expect from Marian Keyes, light-hearted but with enough heart that you cannot put it down characters that will make you feel like you are one of them. You will be there with them as they live the story. It is a long story, but if you like the author and are in the mood for a long read then you can’t go wrong with this one. I love how Marian Keyes writes dysfunctional families that everyone can relate too, it takes a while to get to grips with so many and such complex characters but once you do it unravels into a compelling and brutally honest story.

Sometimes serendipity strikes and you find yourself reading the right book at the right time, this was a case in point, after some dark reads this lighthearted and amusing Irish family drama was the perfect antidote that I needed. Marian Keyes immersed me into the life and times of the Casey Family, three brothers, their assorted marriages, children and families. The good looking Johnny is the second husband of the powerhouse of energy that is Jessie, with two children from her previous marriage, and three with Johnny. She is the big family earner with her exotic grocery business, and she funds the family get togethers that are at the heart of this novel, family is the most important thing that matters to her. Easy going Ed is married to his beloved Cara, who works at the Ardglass Hotel business, handling difficult customers with ease, they have two children. The smarmy, less than truthful and sleazy Liam has just got married to the free spirited, humanitarian and compassionate Nell with her pink hair, working as a theatre set designer. Liam has two children from his previous marriage to Paige.

The book opens with Johnny's birthday dinner where the whole family is in attendance, Cara is suffering from a recent head injury and concussion, as a result out of her mouth pour out unfiltered truths and secrets that rock the entire family, leaving them aghast and broken. The narrative then goes back six months to arrive at the present. The past includes family get togethers for Easter at an upmarket hotel, the fraught wedding anniversary celebrations of the Casey brothers dreadful parents, Canice and Rose, Jessie's birthday, the humiliation and laughter that ensues at a murder mystery weekend, poorly catered for by the hotel that organises it, a Tuscany family holiday and attendance at a festival. We learn of Jessie's low self esteem and blindness when it comes to preparing for the future of her business, Ferdia's coming of age, Nell living to rue her decision to get married far too quickly without really knowing Liam, the schism with Jessie's dead husband's family, and Cara's body issues and eating disorders that she is determined to hide from everyone.

This is not going to be a read for everyone, for a start this is a long book that may try the patience of some readers. However, if you are in the right frame of mind and mood, then it is likely that Marian Keyes will work her usual magic and lure you easily into the drama, intrigue and joys of the Casey family. Like most families, they are not perfect, they are dysfunctional, but they are human and flawed. There are ill thought out decisions and all that goes with adults negotiating their lives with the the mistakes that get made, the feelings and issues that drive their actions and behaviour, all in all it is everything that comprises the realities of life. An engrossing, entertaining and fun read that touches on grief, loss, addictions, love, secrets and deception. Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.