The good news is that this is a super quick read. This was the first of Aubert’s work that I’ve read. While aspects were enjoyable, I would have liked it much more if at least one likable character was included.

I found this at times a little too relatable having siblings myself, it was funny, sad but to be honest a little standstill-ish at times. I felt like the plot wasn't actually moving along at all and I was just reading to read. I also found the sisters to be unlikable and grating at times even. Saying that it's a really interesting look at family dynamics and the ins and outs of those difficult relationships, it's a short read so I would recommend if you enjoy those themes.

I didn’t care for this book. Most of the characters seemed miserable. The main character, Ida, was just terrible. She’s 40 and acts like she’s 15. She is aggressive toward her pregnant sister and tells her things her brother in law told her in confidence and puts the move on him. She is vile. The ending is just flat.

A story that will resonate with anyone who has reached a certain age and wondered whether life was passing them by.

Ida is a 40yo, single woman with a good, professional job. She's used to being a support for her younger sister who has been struggling to fall pregnant, but just recently she's been dwelling on her own fertility. To leave her options open, she's made the big decision to freeze some eggs. It's a really big deal and she's excited to share her news with Marthe when they meet at the family's holiday cabin to celebrate their mother's 65th birthday. But when she arrives at the cabin it's like she loses her veneer of adulthood. Gazumped by Marthe's own news, Ida allows the petty jealousies of sibling rivalry to take hold and is soon acting more like an adolescent.

A quick read, I thought this was an ok story and am sure it will find an English-language readership as admiring as its original Norwegian one. Whenever I have a quibble with any translated work, I wonder how much of it is down to the author and how much to the translator. Something that bothered me a lot about this book, particularly in the first half, was the length of some sentences. One that took my breath away - not in a good way - crossed over 3 pages on my Kindle. I'm inclined to give the author the benefit of the doubt, and assume it's something that worked well in Norwegian and perhaps should not have been slavishly translated.

A quick breezy read about family ties through the lens of a woman tackling being single in her 40s. It's written in a straightforward yet beautiful manner. Never have I simultaneously related and NOT related to a main character. (3.5 stars rounded up)

Ida is 40 and floundering. Her Tinder dates are disasters and she's now seriously considering freezing her eggs. She travels to her family's cabin in the countryside in Norway for her mother's birthday and the cracks start showing. When her sister Marthe announces some wonderful news, Ida starts to spiral more and acts reckless with some serious consquences

Despite being a shorter book, so much is explored. None of the adults in this story are very likeable people (except maybe the mother's new husband, who can see right through Ida but keeps his mouth shut for an easy life!). Ida is so jealous of her sister. She's always tried to be her mother's rock growing up, the older of the two sisters, to be perfect especially when her parents split up. She carries this into adulthood and she seethes when she sees Marthe breezing through life, making things about her and robbing Ida of attention and love. She's infantile at times, trying to make Marthe's stepdaughter to prefer her over Marthe and getting wound up over the fact Marthe has redecorated the cabin. It's almost funny at times to see how childish her thoughts are. That said, you can't help but feel for Ida, she's incredibly lonely and unable to communicate how she feels. As the oldest of all my siblings, I know it's really easy for childhood roles to carry over in adulthood and how these can add pressure in either keeping these roles up or trying to break them. The setting in the fjords in Norwary was really refreshing, I wanted to be lying on a boat in the fjord with the sun on my face.

An enjoyable summer novella with some unenjoyable people. If you prefer your summer reads to be full of family drama and dynamics over romance or thrillers, then this bite sized one is for you!

Novella about Ida going to stay at her family's cabin and the difficult family dynamics and her relationship with her sister, brother-in-law, and sister's stepdaughter. It was okay, but in the end, it didn't really seem to go anywhere. 2.5 stars rounded to 2.

Talk about an unhappy family! Set over the course of a weekend at a vacation cabin in Norway, this is very the story of Ida, who feels that her sister Marthe has always been the favored one. Marthe has a husband Kristoffe, a stepdaughter, and now she's pregnant after struggling with Crohn's and infertility. Their mother isn't especially kind to either one of them. She's got a partner, Stein, who is clear eyed about all of them. I felt for Marthe, not Ida,. It's a quick read and a different take on the family holiday novel. Thanks to netgalley for the Arc.

Pitched as 'venomous, bitchy and brilliant.' - I couldn't resist this.

Wickedly smart and dryly witty, this brilliant story reaches into the petty, bitter parts deep inside all of us and delves into the complicated dynamics that can grow in families even when you're all grown up. Anyone who's not quite sure where they're meant to be going, how they get there or what on earth they're doing with their life needs to read this.

Ida visits her family lakeside cabin in Norway to celebrate her mother's birthday. She is very unhappy in her life, and is forced to holiday with her sister at a time when she is least able to cope. Her unhappiness leads her to sabotage her sister's family dynamic, and revert to childhood sibling behaviours. A tense read, packing a lot of story in a short novel.

I really enjoyed GROWN UPS by Marie Aubert, translated from Norwegian to English.

This character-driven novel is a heartfelt, quick read about sisters Ida and Marthe as they navigate motherhood and family drama, sisterhood and heartache. Aubert’s writing is dynamic and interesting, and I will look for more of her work in the future after thoroughly enjoying GROWN UPS.

Thank you the NetGalley for the ARC I received in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a little weird one!
I read this as a story about resentment and family dynamics. Ida is 40 and wants children, meanwhile her sister has both those things and Ida has the complicated feelings of hating her for something but knowing that’s not fair. It takes a turn when Ida starts flirting with her husband and trying to get her daughter to like her better.
I liked the complexities of adulthood the book explores, confronting childhood relationships as adults, the feeling of want and the haunting feeling of life passing you by.

I liked aspects of this book, but the writing just didn’t compel me, unfortunately! There were times where I felt the plot was at a standstill and I was just reading to get through it so I could review it and get it off my netgalley shelf.

I enjoyed the writing style a good bit but had trouble keeping up with the story. I found this more of a family drama than suspense read. I’ll look for the author’s next book to consider. Thx, NetGalley!

Thankfully this book was relatively short because otherwise I don’t think I could have got to the end. I kept going in hope that the characters would elicit some sympathy or show some sort of positive progression but I was sorely let down.

The main character of Ida could only be described as a demon. She lacked any redeemable qualities despite insisting that she was the “good” one out of her and her sister, Marthe. Ida showed no genuine kindness or affection to any of her family members. On the outside she may have seemed good with her step-niece Olea, but her inner monologue exposed her true indifferent feelings. She behaved even worse with Marthe. Triggered by her jealously, Ida took constant jabs at her, let her take the blame for her own mistakes and even worse, shamelessly flirted with and kissed her husband. This was characteristic of Ida as she proudly expressed to, and almost relished in, feeling no remorse from sleeping with married men.

I understand the emotional pain that she was dealing with would be taxing – feeling like you’d never get the opportunity to be a mother – but I still couldn’t find it in me to root for her. She desperately wanted to be a mum but not because she wanted to raise and care for a child, but simply to remedy her loneliness.

The only thing I enjoyed about this book was watching Ida get her comeuppance. However, I still would’ve wanted to see a massive showdown between Ida and Marthe

Overall, the unsympathetic and irredeemable main character made this a truly unpleasant reading experience – one which I’m glad is over.

Grown Ups •::• Marie Aubert •::• ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ida is a forty-year-old architect, single and starting to panic. She's navigating Tinder and contemplating freezing her eggs, but forces these worries to the back of her mind as she sets off to the family cabin for her mother's sixty-fifth birthday.

But family ties old and new begin to wear thin, out in the idyllic Norwegian countryside. Ida is fighting with her sister Marthe, flirting with Marthe's husband and winning the favour of Marthe's stepdaughter. Some supposedly wonderful news from her sister sets tensions simmering even further, building to an almighty clash between Ida and her sister, her mother, her whole family.

This is a short book, a quick read for most! The Author is Norwegian and this has been translated into English by Rosie Hedger.

It was quirky, funny and also, so cringeworthy in its truthfulness. Family dynamics are an interesting thing aren’t they? No two families are the same…

It’s told from Ida’s point of view. I think the author does well to allow us to sympathise with Ida and how she’s feeling, but I really do wonder if it was told from another point of view, just how sympathetic I’d have felt.

I can’t say I particularly liked any of the characters, but perhaps this was intentional. I think the end winds up just showing how families leave their business unresolved to be honest, which may be why if feels as though there should have been more to it.

Thank you to @netgalley and @pushkin for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I’ve read all of this author’s books but I think maybe I’ve spaced them too far apart. I was really looking forward to the British relatable humor but the story just fell short.

This book is an easy read and it flows along, but the characters are unlikable and a bit of a bore. I don’t always mind unlikeable if there is some humor or interest but alas there is none. I was drawn to this book expecting some humor albeit dark and hidden, but I could find none.

I would this book quite odd, random and because it was so short, I really struggled to connect with the characters. I did get quite frustrated and angry at the main character, Ida, a few times in this which made her very unlikeable to me. It’s definitely a quick read, but unfortunately, just wasn’t for me.

Although this novel is short (I finished it in one sitting!), it is impactful. The characters are not particularly likeable, but their family dynamics are relatable. The author did a great job of portraying a complex relationship between two sisters while exploring themes of jealousy, expectation, and loneliness. Thank you to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.