Member Reviews

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I really like this author she write great family stories. Have to admin that this was not one of her better ones, all the same old thing really.

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Marian Keyes is exceptionally good at creating rounded and realistic characters and this book was no exception.

I enjoyed the format of the story- we started with a major incident then jumped backwards and worked our way forwards again. This enabled us to reassess and re-evaluate everything we thought we knew!

I did several u-turns in from my initial impressions of the characters, but I loved the relationship between them all.

This is a perfect book to read over long winter nights. It’s nice and lengthy so you really get involved in the story. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

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She’s done it again!!! Marian Keyes never fails to deliver.
The writing style is purely character lead- which is done beautifully. It is well balanced with the combination of sadness and love/happiness.
I never tired of Marians books.
Keep them coming!!
Thank you to both NetGalley and Penguin UK/Michael Joseph for my eARC in exchange for my honest unbiased review

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Trying to review this book without spoilers is hard for me, because I just want to talk about everything! The novel starts at a dinner party and an incident occurs. Sounds simple right? But there's so many characters, you've no idea what's going on and then suddenly, you're six months before. It sounds insane, but it is so worth the read.

Every single chapter you learn more about each individual family member, you learn exactly what's been happening, you see what exactly has been going on in the background and you really get to work out exactly who is who.

Suddenly, I was so gripped by this book that I was texting my friend updates of how many months / weeks / days before the incident I was because I needed to know exactly what the trigger was, and what changed in the moments leading to it.

I was not disappointed. When we finally got to the incident again, I was already seeing all of the characters in a different light as to how I had originally painted them. Luckily, the incident is explained again, so you get to see exactly who has said what, which brings a whole new element to the story and these characters that you've really been getting to know.

The story does continue after this point, the journey is a roller coaster and one that I both (a) wanted to speed up, so I could find out what happened next and also (b) never wanted to end. I truly loved this book. It covers a whole range of things and ideals, including; family life, love, loss, disorders, power struggles, romance, comedy, pure shock, laugh out loud moments and some really lovely morals. All round a wonderful read and definitely something I will be recommending.

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This is a book of heft, quite literally speaking - it’s 656 pages, so it’s not necessarily a quick read and it deals with some hefty topic material like love and age, death, divorce, grief, eating disorders and self belief. Pretty much the whole gambit of being a ‘grown up’ in our messy, mixed up, modern world. This is not typical Marian, it is not wall to wall funny, although there are some slapstick moments that are just fab.
This is, if you will, a more ‘grown up’ version of Marion Keyes, probing and sensitive but uncompromising in her storytelling skills.

Grown ups introduces us to the Casey clan, Johnny, Ed and Liam et al., some of whom you will like, some you won’t and some you’ll grow to love. I’m hoping for a follow up with Cara and her hotel occupants. But for now, thank-you Ms Keyes, Grown ups is a real achievement - highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Another accomplished novel by Marian Keyes. A long and complicated storyline that delves into the difficulties of an extended family and their relationships. The characters are well written and easy to engage with and the story is told with good humour. An enjoyable read.

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A thoroughly enjoyable read. Covering many modern dilemmas that afflict families today.
I come from a small family so it is sometimes hard to imagine what so many family members would be like – great fun and/or claustrophobic.
I didn’t want the stories about this extended family to finish.
A very good read.

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I have read and loved most of Marian Keyes' earlier books and was not disappointed with this one. Loved this story, I felt as though I really got to know the characters.
Marian's characters are all so authentic and individual and I can ‘see’ them all, she manages to draw the reader into their lives. The character creation was definitely one of the best features of the book. Marian brilliantly crafted each member of the family, with all their quirks and differences.
Grown Ups is not fast moving or action packed but I couldn’t put it down. A compelling heart warming easy read book which I recommend to fans old and new.

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Another book by the fabulous Marian Keyes, I was beyond excited to read it and it didn't disappoint.

As usual Marian deals with some hard hitting serious subjects with humor and compassion.

The cast of characters was large and difficult to follow at first but having finished the book I now think that was part of the structure, it leads you into meeting all the characters and getting to know them, then circles back to when we first encountered them so now we know their motivations for that very first scene. Some other reviewers have said they couldn't get into the book but my advice is stick with it, after a while I couldn't put it down.

I think the Walsh family books will always be my favorite Marian Keyes books but this is page turner that I definitely recommend.

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Having read all of Marion Keyes previous books, absolutely loving the Walsh family, I was slightly scared to begin reading Grown Ups. Would it be as good? Would I be disappointed? I really needn't have worried. Once again Marion Keyes has written a fabulous Irish family saga. It is a big read. There is a big cast of characters but once you work out who is who, who should maybe belong to who and what their part is in the story, it makes for a great read.
The story begins with revelations and secrets spilled at Johnny's 50th birthday party. We are then transported back 6 months and the story begins. As we move forward through the following months the author deals with many sensitive issues, death, grief, bulimia, betrayals, divorce and financial worries but it is not depressing as it also contains lots of Marion's trademark Irish humour. I loved most of the characters- flaws, warts and all - and found myself rooting for their happy endings.
I really enjoyed reading Grown Ups and look forward to more, perhaps a spin off or two?
Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and of course Marion Keyes for an advanced copy.

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A long but very enjoyable read. With so many characters it took a few chapters until I got to know them all, how a seemingly perfect family starts to deconstruct.

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I love Marian Keyes’s Novels and this one was no exception. Maybe not one I might read time and time again but a very good read. An enthralling tale of the Casey brothers and their wives along with many children. It took time to work out how they all linked together and who was whose bunnies! However once we had got that sorted it was a great read

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Totally up to Marian Keyes usual standard and an enthralling family saga. It was a little over long and confusing with so many different characters and time scales to start but persevere, keep reading and it will be worth it.. There are some very funny scenarios within the book, the murder mystery weekend at a dubious hotel and the totally airy fairy festival in particular. There's some delightful input from the younger characters of the Casey/Kinsella tribe that the story is centred around. Wonderful characters with some to love, others to hate but many just add to the joy of the plot, particularly, as mentioned, the children. A few serious issues interspersed which arise unexpectedly but important overall.

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Thank you to Penguin UK and the author Marian Keyes for this advanced readers copy in return for an honest review.
Description 🔖
The Casey family is made up of many characters with some big personalities. They're one of those families that spend a lot of time together and make a big deal of every occasion; often in an extravagant manner.
There are a mixed bag of feelings amongst the Casey family, with some members unable to stand each other and others closer than they probably should be. The dynamics all change when Cara suffers a concussion and triggers an outpouring of all of the family secrets.
General Thoughts 🤔
I like me some Marian Keyes. I feel like every time I read one of her books, I'm on holiday, so it was a change for me to enjoy this book cuddled up on the sofa at home; and this was the perfect book for just doing that.
Every family has its dramas and it's secrets and I think we all delight in getting all up in the cobwebs of other people's families. That's how this book made me feel. I felt like a fly on a wall in every household of the Casey family and it was brilliant. 
Characters 👫👭👬
The Caseys are a large bunch so there are a LOT of characters to keep track of. With each character having their own private ongoing dramas there are a lot of moving parts. I struggled at first to know who was married to who, which kid belonged to which adult, but I soon knew them all very well.
My favourite character was probably Nell. She seemed to be the most level headed of them all and by far the coolest.
My least favourite character has to be a popular choice...Liam. What an arse. I love it when authors can make me dislike a character so much. It only proves to me that they're an author worth reading.
Writing Style ✍🏽
Marian Keyes most definitely has her signature writing style and this book doesn't disappoint. It's full of understated humour, heart wrenching emotion and most of all; relatable. I think her strong point in this particular book is most definitely character building. I felt like I was a really good friend of the Casey family, the characters felt so real to me.
I really enjoyed the way that the story started with an event, before going back in time and unravelling everything back to the starting point. I was confused in the beginning but it was a nice "aaaahhhhh" feeling as everything started to become clear.
Conclusion & Scoring 🎖
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Would I recommend it? Yes. Will I be recommending it? Yes. I was almost disappointed when everything was out in the open in the story, I didn't want it to finish. It's an awesome story, about awesome characters, told through awesome writing.

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Loved this book. Great characters, easy read, uplifting, funny, romantic and charming. A really nice story that is the perfect escapist read.

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I found this a bit hard to follow at the start but loved it once I got into it. Well written & amazing characters. It deserves a sequel.

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This book.

As I said on Twitter

I eked it out so much that, frankly, I deserve a PhD in eking.

Marian never disappoints, but this kept me rapt from the first page to the last. A superb cast of characters and a brilliant storyline (plus the best cover illustration). Can't recommend highly enough

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The 3 Casey brothers have never quite lived up to their fathers expectations, and are still trying to make him proud of them, whatever it takes. Johnny, the eldest is married to Jessie, a business woman who is driven to do better at everything. They are the ones with money, which they spend at a frightening rate, but mainly on the family and their business. Jessie had a hard childhood, so is using her money to give her extended family the best of everything. Ed is married to Cara who has self esteem problems. And Liam is newly married to the younger Nell, a free spirit. As with every family what you see on the outside is never what they are really like. Throw in lots of children too, and it’s not long before the cracks appear.

This is my first Marian Keys book. It’s well written, as I expected, and a nice family study. The characters are well developed and written, but I didn’t warm to them very much, other than Nell. I enjoyed this book, and will look out her work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

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Grown Ups, Marian Keyes

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Women's fiction, General fiction (adult)

Sigh.....women's fiction – just why? Why alienate potential readers, men read and write romance too.

Well. Marion Keyes, an author whose work I usually love. I went onto this expecting to be engrossed in a family saga. Well, family saga it is but there were so many characters, that it got confusing, I had to keep flipping back well into the story to see who was who and how they fitted in.
Its a well written story once you have it clear who is who and how they relate to the others but.... a huge failing for me was that the more I read the less I liked the characters. I did like Nell til further in when I just was rolling my eyes at her behaviour, and the more I read the less I liked everyone else. I guess Jessie, the one I probably liked least to begin became the only one I really liked. I felt she was trying, even if too hard and her actions were OTT, at least she meant well, whereas the rest seemed to display some horrible self centred traits. Sadly for me that made the story a fail – I can see its a five star perfect read for others, and that's how it goes with stories, some you love and some...you just don't. I'll be back when the next MK book is out, I'm sure this is just a glitch for me with her work.

Stars: Two, I really struggled with this, well written but ultimately I just didn't care about the characters enough to enjoy the story.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers

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Grown Ups
Author:Marian Keyes
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Publication Date 6/2/2020

I love Marian Keyes novels and have read them all. This was a sparkling family tale, at times hilarious and at others a sad, but realistic, reflection on modern times and problems. I loved the characters and their relationships. An Interwoven plot strand on the plight of refugees and their place in Ireland was extremely interesting and powerful . I hope the Casey family appear again in future novels.
Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for providing me with this advance digital copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

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