Name: Grown Ups
Rating: 4.042553191489362 (47 reviews)
ISBN: 9780385695886

Marian Keyes

Grown Ups

sina (she/her) 

PRE-ORDER NOW: THE BRAND-NEW BOOK FROM MARIAN KEYES, THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE BREAK AND THE WOMAN WHO STOLE MY LIFE They're a glamorous family, the Caseys. Johnny Casey, his two brothers Ed and Liam, their beautiful, talented wives and all their kids spend a lot of time together - birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, weekends away. And they're a happy family. Johnny's wife, Jessie - who has the most money - insists on it. Under the surface, though, conditions are murkier. While some people clash, other people like each other far too much . . . Everything stays under control until Ed's wife Cara, gets concussion and can't keep her thoughts to herself. One careless remark at Johnny's birthday party, with the entire family present, starts Cara spilling out all their secrets. In the subsequent unravelling, every one of the adults finds themselves wondering if it's time - finally - to grow up? INCLUDED IN THE TIMES PREDICTIONS FOR THE BEST BOOKS OF 2020 'Sensitive, funny, wonderful, immensely touching' Nigella Lawson 'Happy making with glorious wit' Helen Lederer 'Funny & thoughtful & such brilliantly drawn characters I am genuinely bereft that my time with them is over' Hannah Beckerman 'It's SUCH a treat. I felt like I was reading the cleverest cream cake of words' Caitlin Moran 'Magnificently messy lives, brilliantly untangled. Funny, tender and completely absorbing!' Graham Norton 'Marian Keyes's gift for storytelling is utterly magnificent. I feel like I've met every single character in this book. Nobody nails chaotic families like Marian' Liz Nugent 'I loved every word of Grown Ups. I will be missing those gorgeous vibrant characters for many weeks to come' Liane Moriarty 'Tender, hilarious, important, with characters who feel as real as your own family by the time you're done' Beth O'Leary Praise for Marian Keyes: 'Mercilessly funny' The Times 'Clever, hilarious, poignant' Sunday Times 'Wildly funny, romantic and nearly impossible to put down' Daily Mail 'Guaranteed to make me laugh on the very first page' Liane Moriarty

Grown-Ups

Marian Keyes, what a fantastic author. This book was a rollercoster of emotions - characters I instantly loved and others I instantly had a bad feeling of. Everybody can relate to elements of the characters in this book. The chaotic family dynamics make you never want to put the book down. I really love how well Marian writes her books. Definitely a favourite.

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AT LAST, SOMETHING WORTH STAYING IN FOR . . . THE LATEST NO. 1 BESTSELLER FROM MARIAN KEYES 'Magnificently messy lives, brilliantly untangled. Funny, tender and completely absorbing!' GRAHAM NORTON 'SUCH a treat. Like reading the cleverest cream cake of words' CAITLIN MORAN ______ MEET JESSIE, CARA AND NELL. Married to brothers Johnny, Ed and Liam Casey. Three very different women tied to three very different men. Every family occasion is a party - until the day the secrets spill out. PLAYTIME IS OVER. BUT WHERE ARE THE GROWN-UPS? ______ 'Comic, convincing and true. Grown Ups has an almost Austenesque insight into character. Keyes knows how to make serious issues relatable - and get a few grownup laughs, too' GUARDIAN 'Hilarious, alternately heartwarming and heartbreaking. I loved everything about it' DAILY MAIL 'You may have written the best book of your career' CHRIS EVANS, VIRGIN RADIO 'Superb. Warm-hearted, wise and highly entertaining' OBSERVER 'Keyes at her best: capturing everyday voices with humour and empathy with writing that you'll devour in a weekend. Just pure and simple joy' STYLIST 'I loved every word. I will be missing those gorgeous vibrant characters for many weeks to come' LIANE MORIARTY, bestselling author of Big Little Lies 'Messy, tangled complex humans who reminded me that few of us ever really sort our lives out at all' JOJO MOYES, bestselling author of Me Before You 'Her best yet. Charming, funny and poignant, but also profound, heartbreaking' NINA STIBBE, bestselling author of Reasons to be Cheerful

The Sunday Times No 1 Bestseller 2020

A sweet story based on the human condition that emphasized how even as “grown ups” we fuck up and don’t know what we’re doing at times. This book unfortunately dragged for me, however did reward me with a lovely ending

Kaitlyn Wendler

More of a hate read than anything. It tried too hard to be relatable and took feminism back a good 20 years.  So many unnecessary filler chapters that made the book unbearably long. Was unmemorable but a very easy read

Maria Davis 

A brand-new book from the #1 bestselling author of The Break and The Woman Who Stole My Life. They're a glamorous family, the Caseys. Johnny Casey, his two brothers Ed and Liam, their beautiful, talented wives and all their kids spend a lot of time together--birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, weekends away. And they're a happy family. Johnny's wife, Jessie--who has the most money--insists on it. Under the surface, though, conditions are murkier. While some people clash, other people like each other far too much . . . Still, everything manages to stay under control--that is, until Ed's wife, Cara, gets a concussion and can't keep her thoughts or opinions to herself. One careless remark at Johnny's birthday party, with the entire family present, and Cara starts spilling all their secrets. As everything unravels, each of the adults finds themselves wondering if it's--finally--the time to grow up.

Fraser Simons

A really well done family drama that interrogates the ways in which adults get stuck in patterns established at youth. Even when they do deviate from it, they’re unaware of it and can’t seem to break free. A byproduct is a malaise that permeates most every character—but change, though painful, comes calling eventually. When it does, it showcases the adaptability and resilience of people thought broken. 

I liked this a lot but I really like these ‘dysfunctional’ dramas centering a family full of secrets, stagnant, but pushed into frenetic change. The perspective switches often. The characterization feels well done. It’s funny and sad—actually landing the funny bits, a hard thing to do. Everyone is exposed for who they are and there is no capital V villain, though there are absolute assholes. 

No one is spared. All very good.

Yulande Lindsay

She did it again, Marian Keyes. Took my heart and squeezed it so hard I could hardly breathe. I don't know she does it, but everytime, every single time she gets me to invest so deeply in the story in the characters that I end up fretting over each and every one. Excellent. Excellent. Loved every word.

Swati Raisinghani

Grown Ups by Marian Keyes is a contemporary general fiction/ romance/ drama hilarious, entertaining, and sometimes frustrating reading experience. 
The story is about 3 happily married brothers John Casey, Ed Casey, and Liam Casey if you look at the surface. But as you start going deeper, you realize that the saying is true " Appearances can be deceiving". While each character looks like they have their life sorted, one small mishap creates a domino effect that shatters the rose-tinted glass.

What did I love about this book? 
The characters! The characters are the charm of this read. They are so beautifully developed over the course of the book. The uniqueness of each character is what kept me going on this book. From the eldest to the youngest, each has its own quirks and intricacies and it was a joy each time a new facet was revealed about one of the characters.
The plot of this book is hilarious to say in short. While the first few pages reveal the idea behind this book, its the events and the circumstances that lead to it are what keeps you going on till the end. 
It was my first time reading a Marian Keyes and I like her unique style. I prefer action/thriller/ mystery/sci-fi and kind of stay away from contemporary or family-centered reads unless they fall under the above-mentioned genres. The depth and complexities to each character kept me switching sides, rooting for one character then another as the events unfolded. At the end of this novel, it was the core idea of this book that pacified me. It was the fact that yes! Grown-ups do not have everything figured out in life. You can’t expect people to change most of the time and you have to be ready to accept that and move on. There are always two sides to a story and its better to know both before judging someone. Lastly, no one is perfect and you have to learn to accept people and yourself for the imperfections.

What did I not like about this book?
The frustrating pace of the book. At times, an episode was so long-winded that I would have to sit back and think about what had initiated this scenario. I felt at times some of the chain of events could have been shortened as it felt the novel was meandering.
Overall, it was a fun, entertaining read though a bit long.

Thank you #Netgalley and #DoubledayCanada for providing this ARC!

Readometer rating : ***

Grown Ups by Marian Keyes is a contemporary general fiction/ romance/ drama hilarious, entertaining, and sometimes frustrating reading experience. 
The story is about 3 happily married brothers John Casey, Ed Casey, and Liam Casey if you look at the surface. But as you start going deeper, you realize that the saying is true " Appearances can be deceiving". While each character looks like they have their life sorted, one small mishap creates a domino effect that shatters the rose-tinted glass.

What did I love about this book? 
The characters! The characters are the charm of this read. They are so beautifully developed over the course of the book. The uniqueness of each character is what kept me going on this book. From the eldest to the youngest, each has its own quirks and intricacies and it was a joy each time a new facet was revealed about one of the characters.
The plot of this book is hilarious to say in short. While the first few pages reveal the idea behind this book, its the events and the circumstances that lead to it are what keeps you going on till the end. 
It was my first time reading a Marian Keyes and I like her unique style. I am generally more into action/thriller/ mystery/sci-fi and kind of stay away from contemporary or family-centered reads unless they fall under the above-mentioned genres. The depth and complexities to each character kept me switching sides , rooting for one character then another as the events unfolded. At the end of this novel, it was the core idea of this book that pacified me. It was the fact that yes! Grown-ups do not have everything figured out in life. You can’t expect people to change most of the time and you have to be ready to accept that and move on. There are always two sides to a story and its better to know both before judging someone. Lastly, no one is perfect and you have to learn to accept people and yourself for the imperfections.

What did I not like about this book?
The frustrating pace of the book. At times, an episode was so long-winded that I would have to sit back and think about what had initiated this scenario. I felt at times some of the chain of events could have been shortened as it felt the novel was meandering.

Overall, it was a fun, entertaining read though a bit long.

Thank you #Netgalley and #DoubledayCanada for providing this ARC!

Readometer rating : ***

Sarah Ryan

Jo Buchanan

Messy and complicated and wonderfully fun to read! This book was such a different road than I expected to go on while reading. It was so intriguing and I recommend this to all. This was such a perfect light hearted read after reading horror so much lately. Who can't relate to a such a dysfunctional family?

MARIAN. KEYES

Tabea Lüth

Got sucked into this dense plot like into a fever dream between Christmas and New Year's. In my opinion, even though the author consistently developed the plot for more than 600 pages, the end seems a bit hastily and too neatly strung together. Also in some parts the actions and the dialogue show the characters' motivations already pretty clearly, yet the author describes them at length again.   

But all in all a great read, especially love the Irish expressions. Makes me want to rewatch Derry Girls.

Grace Emilia Machon

I listen to this book because I wanted something easy and breezy, and after working in a bookshop where we probably where not pro keys I was like cool this will be exactly it. 

And now it’s 2.35 in the morning and I woke my partner up because I was sobbing I can say this was not it. 
It was so engaging, incredibly narrated, heartfelt and heartbreakingly human, brimming with the best and worst of people on micro levels, political and generational. 

 If Sally Rooney knows what it’s like to be a modern female Irish writer it’s because she learnt from Marian Keyes.

I love Marian Keyes and I was really enjoying this book but, as with a few of her books it can be quite triggering for people with eating disorders, although the topic is dealt with sensitively. 


Joanna Rosenwink 

I have loved Marian’s writing since I read my first of her books, Sushi for Beginners almost 20 years ago. I have never discovered another writer who can deal so sensitively with difficult subject matter and make me laugh out loud and cry as I identify so strongly with her characters. Her books might at first glance seem lighthearted, but once you get into them you discover that at their heart is a serious issue, such as addiction, grief or mental health. 

Grown Ups is written in the same vein. Initially a tale of the relationships between three brothers and their families, we soon learn that there is far more going on than we might at first realise. Lives which on the surface might seem perfect have their own challenges which can put so much strain on a relationship that it can be at risk of collapsing.

Marian also manages to insert pertinent political issues into her books in such a way as seems natural while still shedding light on current issues which need to be addressed. 

The characters are completely believable and you find yourself warming to them despite their flaws (apart from a couple whom you’ll love to hate!). I always finish a Marian Keyes book wishing I could meet the characters and be friends with them, they feel so really to me.

I thoroughly recommend this book and felt bereft when I’d finished reading it.

Grown Ups

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