I was really grateful to get a review copy of this because I’m a big Marian Keyes fan so was really excited to read this and I wasn’t disappointed. I was completely hooked on by the Casey family and their many partners and children. It’s a long book but I gobbled it up over a couple of days. Luckily I started it over Christmas so had time to read it in long sittings. It’s a cliche but I couldn’t put it down and finished it in one massive reading session that lasted long into the night.

I enjoyed how involved I got with the characters and loved the tackling of difficult and important topics in a sensitive and realistic way. The characters are wonderfully well rounded and completely believable as “real” people.

It’s possibly slightly less humorous than other Marian Keyes books, but I didn’t miss that particularly because I was so gripped by the characters.

It could, perhaps, have been slightly shorter. I’m not exactly sure what I would have cut, but I did feel there were probably a few sections that we could have done without that would have made everything feel just slightly sharper. These are minor quibbles, though. I’m giving this 4 stars, but I’d say it’s really a 4.5.

Thanks so much again to the author and publisher for this free copy. This is a lovely book and I really enjoyed it.

DNF at 24%.

The story is about the three Casey brothers, their wives and assorted children. The families spend a lot of time together (Easter etc) but there are tensions simmering under the surface, second marriages, truculent teenagers, step-siblings, fears of inadequacy, etc.

Johnnie and Jessie Casey own their own business but seem to be running into monetary difficulties which Jessie is resolutely ignoring while she pays for the entire family to spend the holidays together at a swanky hotel.

Cara is married to Johnnie's brother Ed. She's Jessie and Johnnie's accountant and desperately tried to rein in their spending. She's also crippled by her own lack of self-esteem and an unhealthy relationship with food.

The third brother is Liam, this is his second marriage and he won't allow his (younger) second wife Nell to interact with the children from his first marriage. Nell is unconventional and has drawn the attention of some of her teenager nephews.

Unfortunately I just couldn't seem to distinguish one family from the other or get their relationships straight - frankly writing this I am surprised there are only three couples because it felt like a lot more. I tried with this book I really did, I have loved Marian Keyes since I read the Walsh family series (before it was called the Walsh family) back in the late-1990s and I really enjoyed The Break when I received an ARC but I just couldn't get to grips with this at all.

So after my second or third attempt (and twenty-five chapters) I gave up.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Meet the Caseys. There’s a lot of them and it took me a little while to get to grips with who was who and their relationships to each other. Once I got into it I genuinely didn't want to put this down. The book opens at a family party and due to a knock on the head one of the characters let’s slip some shocking facts about the others which causes all sorts of trouble. We then skip back 6 months and each of the characters lives, loves, insecurities, faults and flaws, hopes and dreams are examined. This family saga deals with some serious issues. It will make you laugh, and cry and it’s a testament to the author's excellent writing that you feel very invested in the characters. I’m totally bereft now. These people have become my friends and I don’t want to leave them.

Marian Keyes is really the master of her genre. Even though this kind of book is not usually the type of genre I enjoy, I knew Marian Keyes wouldn’t let me down! And she didn’t.
The characters are human, loveable, flawed and most importantly, learning all the time. This is a story about real love, real life, learning who you are and what’s important to you.
Really special.

I love a book where you really hear the characters voices. Marian Keyes delivers this again with #GrownUps, and didn’t disappoint me. The children and adults alike in the family at the centre of the story are well developed and exposed, warts and all.
Likeable, funny and touching, the book will appeal to readers of all ages.
It was an absolute treat to get to read and review this book. Thank you to the publishers, author, and #NetGalley.

Marian Keyes is one of my favourite authors, and I love all her books, this one included. It was a really compelling character study about a loving but flawed family who were not always honest with themselves, and others, and what the consequences of this was.

The most touching storyline in this book was the eating disorder storyline, because this is such a prominent issue, but we only see it portrayed in young girls, rather than a close look at how dieting culture and the behaviour it encourages can slip into something more dangerous.

This book is brill, but it is a little bit too long. There were passages and storylines that I felt could have been dropped or cut to make for a more concise tighter story. I love Marian;s dialogue and characters, but had it been another author, I would have stopped reading about 1/3rd of the way through because, although i love character building. I wasn't super clear on what the point/conflict of the story was.

I have never read any Marian Keyes before so was unsure as to what to expect from this story.

Grown Ups centres around the Casey family, three bothers, their wives and children and numerous family gatherings.

At the beginning of the book some home truths are shared at a dinner party for Johnny Casey by Cara, wife of his brother Ed. The book then flashes back months and tells the tales leading up to that day.

Each character has their own issues and internal struggles and they are documented through this 650+ page book. I enjoyed the stories and descriptions of the inevitable ups and downs of family life despite not really liking many of the characters but I think it could have been shorter with a few less characters to strengthen the story.

This is a difficult review to write as I’m normally such a fan of the author, but, gosh this one is hard work!
There are just too many characters and I found it so difficult to remember who was who. Then. the usual humour seemed lacking and so I’m afraid, overall, it was for me a 2* ‘ok’ read.

I’m so sorry to be typing this, particularly as I know Marián Keyes has had a difficult year, but, I must be honest, this one is for diehard fans only. I know there’ll be those who enjoy it and I wish it every success, but, not one for me.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

I was really daunted by the length of this but decided to challenge myself by requesting this whopper on NetGalley. It is 656 pages long. So I decided to tackle it logically and read 20% each day for five days. This set me at a steady pace, and I got through it quite easily and quickly.
I did wonder, to begin with, though, whether I would persevere with it at all. There are a lot of characters to get to know, and a lot of them have very Irish names that are a bit of a tongue and mind twister. I did feel as if I were stumbling over the names every time I read them, and that didn’t really get any better the further in I was. Every time I picked it up the next day, I’d have to remind myself who they all were, this was quite frustrating as I found it hard to get back into the story every time after a break.
There are a lot of Irish phrases and colloquiums that I didn’t fully understand. At the beginning of the book, I did feel as if I were missing out on an inside joke. This did get a bit better as time went on, once you got used to the style of writing and the characters.
The story itself was quite immersing, the book blurb is a little bit misleading as you get a prologue of the ending of the book, and then it takes almost 80% to get back there for it to be about Cara’s bump to the head and all the truths coming out.
The first 80% is everything that happens in the months prior to the big fall out. We follow Nell and Liam’s new marriage; we see Cara and Ed dealing with a secret Cara has been keeping and we also have Johnny and Jessie the patriarchs of the family, but do they have cracks as well?
They have a myriad of kids between them (it was their names I struggled with), and they are all juggling the strains of life too.
I liked Cara and Ed best. I could really resonate with the struggles that Cara was going through. Not wanting to go out with friends as it either means coming off diet or having to try and find something to wear that hides all your sins. I thought this was all very well written and had a lot of truth ringing out from the storyline.
Considering the length, it was a relatively easy read (despite the number of people and the Irish idioms). I’ve not read any of Marian Keyes’ books before but know that she is a well-renowned author, so this was the perfect chance to give one of her books a try. This was a solid four stars, not a perfect book but enjoyable enough read that made me still pick it up over the Christmas season when I should have been doing other things!

I chose this book as I’ve never read Marian Keyes before and have heard really good things about her work. The story in Grownups revolves around three brothers: Jonny, Ed and Liam Casey, their wives and some of their children. I was instantly hooked from the teaser at the beginning with the family all together and Cara (Ed’s wife) starts to spill the beans on family secrets, with a recent concussion as her excuse while the rest of the grownups try to stop her. Then the story backtracks to six months before and goes into a lot of detail about the three marriages and the family dynamics. At times, I was impatient to get back to what I knew was coming, but it was easy to keep going as life and marriage is always more complicated than it appears to others. Especially since the whole family spends holidays and birthdays together, usually at the behest of Jessie, who has the most money (but her own troubles). The crux is how vulnerable the three couples are despite outward appearances, and the how cleverly the complicated telling is interspersed with real humour. Cara and Ed’s story is both heartbreaking and uplifting; Liam and Nell are complicated and yet simple and Jessie and Jonny need to come clean with each other! Keyes’ humour is best when it’s gentle – my only criticism is when I think she tries too hard for typical Irish humour. Cara’s story will stay with me for a long while. I will certainly be reading her earlier works.

I have read a number of books by Marianne Keyes and enjoyed all of them. Unfortunately I do not feel the same about Grown Ups. It lacks the humour that I am used to and I found it confusing with so many characters. Not one for me, I am sorry to say.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Michael Joseph and Marian Keyes for my arc of Grown Ups in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: The Casey family have it all. Jessie and Johnny have 5 wonderful children, a successful business and the perfect lifestyle, Jessie loves nothing more than treating the rest of the family to luxury breaks and holidays and getting together for meals and parties. Johnny's brother Ed loves his smart wife Cara with her drive and ambition and youngest brother Liam has the perfect life with his gorgeous young wife Nell. But when Cara gets concussion and can't keep her mouth shut, some home truths start spilling which split the family apart.

I must admit that I didn't enjoy this as much as I usually enjoy Marian's books. It was decent enough for me to give it 3* but it was hugely lengthy at over 600 pages and could have done with a bit more editing. As with all Marian's books there were secrets and lies, unexpected twists and turns and the book was enjoyable enough to keep me thinking about it and wanting to get to the end. It was also lacking in Marian's usual humour making it feel sad and depressing in places. Some of it felt very predictable and I really do think that had it lost about 200 of those pages it would have been improved for it.

It's like sitting down to read a book with a favourite friend when you read a Marian Keyes novel because her voice is so prominent and chatty and it's like she's in the room with you. Another blockbuster read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

A new Marian Keyes book is always a treat, and feels as if an acquaintance has opened their front door and welcomed you in to meet their family and then gossips about them in a corner! Contemporary issues were dealt with sensitively (refugees, bulimia, sexual harassment), but I did find the number of children a bit confusing at times!
Thank you to netgalley and Michael Joseph for an advance copy of this book

Grown Ups follow the Casey family, consisting of three brothers, their spouses and their children. From the get go you are plunged into drama as one of the wives, Cara, reveals some deep dark secrets about the family after a hit to the head leaves her feeling a bit too honest. The story then jumps to the start and we see all of the highs and lows unfold.

Marian Keyes does what she does best, she juggles a handful of different characters, giving them their own personality and shows the trials and tribulations that are normally deeply hidden under a facade of "the happy successful family".

Although the characters are plentiful, Keyes never fails to bring emotion to them individually and to the story, you'll be laughing and crying throughout.

As a Marian Keyes fan I was not disappointed, this was a brilliant novel.

Thank you to Penguin and Michael Joseph for the copy of the book to review.

Irish family saga with 21st century issues - entertaining enough.

I asked for this novel for my wife who has read other Marian Keyes novels and enjoyed them . However, as this is a review copy, it only seemed right for me to read it. It deals with an extended modern Irish family centering around three brothers, their wives and children/stepchildren. Taking place over several months and with a plethora of flashbacks, we learn about their relationships and problems, culminating in a deus ex machine which brings all their secrets to the fore with dire consequences. The characters are well-established and the story moves along at a good steady pace although the book is long and one of the plot devices didn’t work for me. Enjoyable enough but perhaps I, a retired man, am not the target readership here. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A compelling and enjoyable story told in a way that hasn’t been explored in quite this way before. MK always takes regular people having regular problems and tells the story in such a new way. I missed her trademark humour here and I wish there was one less family, preferably Rory’s as I don’t think they added enough to the story to further complicate the plot and fewer kids for sure - there were a lot of kids to keep track of and most of them didn’t really add to the plot either. The second half of the book was stronger, but also rushed.

All in all, it was a good read and as always, I look forward to more from her!

Books about family are always a favourite of mine, and this new read from Marian Keyes was fully family fuelled!
A story about the fortunes of three men, the Casey brothers, Johnny, Ed and Liam, and their respective wives, Jessie, Cara and Nell.

A surprise knock to the head causes Cara to blurt out a whole host of truths at the dinner table one night, in front of the whole family. Truths that have huge consequences.

t starts in the present, then delves backwards, accessing the views of a whole host of characters involved in the story, leading back to the very first scene, allowing us an insight into what happened, to cause the conversation that starts the book.

There are many issues touched upon within the book, from fidelity to eating disorders, trust to control.

I enjoyed the way that each jump back, then forwards, strengthened my knowledge of each character. It isn't always easy to follow books with multiple points of view, yet I was left with fully formed characters in my mind at the end of the book.

Another page-turner!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Marian Keyes was my absolute favourite for years, the total queen of her genre and always both heartbreaking and hilarious but somewhere around the mid 2000s i felt she lost her way. Obviously she was ageing and maturing as an author but for me, the humour and spark of her work just disappeared. The last couple of novels I wasn't even able to finish so I did approach this latest novel, Grownups, with some trepidation. Its a somewhat convoluted tale of the relationships of three brothers and their extended families, taking in relationship breakdown, bereavement, and addiction. It's definitely overlong and once again low on the humour factor. It has a much more Irish middle class vibe than the earlier novels and some of the 'irishisms'felt fake and a little grating - Jessie continually referring to everyone as 'bunnies' for example, started to almost give me a nervous twitch about halfway through. The plot kind of meanders from family event to family event and could benefit from some editing. Nevertheless the novel did feel quite moving at times. Marian Keyes can do something with female characters - Jessie in particular I found to be intriguingly complex and relatable, quite an untypical but also vivid character. Cara was also at times relatable and her story of addiction and denial was moving. Overall i felt this novel to be a mixed bag which i did moderately enjoy but i would not consider a return to form for Marian Keyes.

A fantastic family saga from Marian that I would recommend to any fans. A lot of us have grown up with her books and this is another great read. Fully recommend