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The Adults

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The Adults is a fun read that will keep you chuckling page after page. It is a good read during the holiday season especially if you can relate to blended families. This is my first book to read by Caroline Hulse and will definitely be reading more of her books.

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I’m writing these words on December 24, 2018, which is rather apropos because I’ve just finished up reading what amounts to being a Christmas novel — or a novel that’s set in the days leading up to Christmas in any event. Caroline Hulse’s The Adults is kind of a comedy thriller with a Christmas setting, as it involves a group of ex-lovers spending time with their families together at a holiday theme park somewhere in Britain. That’s the funny part. The thriller bit comes into play when one of these characters gets shot with an arrow (because this is the UK and all) and the novel becomes sort of a whodunnit and then, once you think you’ve figured that out, a whydunnit. Twisty and turny The Adults is.

However, the premise may have you saying “Bah Humbug!” Yes, even the ancillary characters in The Adults question the sanity of ex-lovers sharing a house at Christmastime. Who in their right mind would do this sort of thing, especially when there’s also a bit of a love triangle that emerges from the murk, which again may have readers questioning the set-up? You see, you have Matt and Alex happily carrying on, but Matt was once married to Claire, with whom they had a child: seven-year-old Scarlett. Claire is now in a relationship with Patrick, who is missing his own children this Christmas just to be with Matt, Alex, Claire and Scarlett in a Christmas village theme park. Complicating matters is that the woman Patrick had a crush on as a teenager has shown up in the lodge just next door to Patrick’s extended family. As you can imagine, nasty hijinx ensue — except that these hijinx and arguments and whatnot may or may not eventually lead to murder. (Or was the shooting just a harmless little accident?)

Oh, and further muddying things up is the fact that Scarlett has an overactive imagination and has a human-sized stuffed rabbit companion named Posey that talks to her. What this element is doing in a book like this is questionable — it’s already stuffed to the gills with people bickering and arguing and being everything but an adult, so I’m not sure where author Hulse was going with this particular bit of narrative arc. Is Posey just a stand-in for the fact that Scarlett is trying to make sense of the very adult world of divorce? Or is something else going on? It’s hard to say because Posey kind of just “appears” magically one day. Posey is based on a favourite toy that seems to have gotten lost somewhere, but this character is pretty much all surface and exists a bit as comedic relief more than anything else. Posey is a narrative device then — and a shaky one at that — and not much more.

To be honest, while the book is enjoyable in a kind of trashy way, it’s hard to really get into this novel — much less at Christmastime — when every character is at every other character’s throats. Basically, the plot of this novel could be summed up by humming the theme song to The Itchy and Scratchy Show from The Simpsons. (Doesn’t it go, “We fight. And fight. And fight and fight and fight. Fight, fight, fight. Fight, fight, fight?” Well, something like that I suppose.) Yes, that means that these characters are often not very likable, and, to fill up a thread-bare story to novel length, the characters get into arguments over the stupidest of things, such as jealousy over a karaoke duet that gets a little steamy. That’s when characters aren’t “overacting.” Alex, at one point, notes that she doesn’t drink alcohol, but then decides to have a glass of wine, and immediately starts going off the rails once she’s had barely a sip of the golden goblet. I can’t make up my mind as to whether or not this plot element is meant to be predictable in its treatment of alcohol as a potent potable or just unbelievable. Or both.

In any event, I found The Adults to be equal parts fun in a dumpster dive kind of way and utterly annoying. It’s completely unbelievable from the get-go (again, would you get together with both your partner and one of your exes for a Christmas holiday?). It also suffers from a resolution that tries to be a “happy ending” for everyone involved, even if little matters such as criminal culpability come into play. Basically, this book is meant to be read as though you don’t believe a single minute of it for it to have any sort of impact whatsoever. It’s a glitter ball of mess and mayhem, all set with the most family of family holidays as a backdrop. If you look up the definition of “unbelievable” in the dictionary, a little picture of the book cover will appear.

In the end, I don’t know how I feel about The Adults. It’s utterly silly. But it’s also like a very bad train-wreck that you can’t entirely look away from, either. I suppose if you know going into it to not take it very seriously and that it’s filled with over the top high relationship drama, then maybe you might enjoy it and get something out of it. It’s not particularly well crafted, but, on the other hand, if you have one of those families that do nothing but bicker at Christmas get-togethers, you might enjoy the never-ending and constant disagreements these characters have over things big and small. Yes, the ending is a bit too pat and there is a missed opportunity in this book for really black and dark comedy, but it is what it is. The Adults is just an enjoyable time filler. Props to you if you can read this book at Christmas and not have it drive you crazy with all of the background commotion going on. Me? I think I need to go and lie down after reading this novel. Remind me to never invite anyone I had a past relationship with to any sort of holiday gatherings again, this book included.

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I found all of the characters in this book unlikable. I expected the adults in this book be behave badly but it was a bit over the top. They didn't seem to recognize their own childlike behavior. I would not recommend this book.

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Thanks to Netgalley for my copy.

This book is billed as "The most hilarious debut you will read this year" It isn't, it is however a fun read with some unlikeable characters but also a funny little girl with a an imaginary rabbit as a friend. The interaction between these two was cheeky and adorable.

The parents of Scarlett are divorced but amazingly decide to spend Christmas away together with their respective new partners. What could go wrong? Well as it turns out nearly everything, jealousy and recriminations added with alcohol is never going to turn out well. This was a good read but not what the publishers are trying to bill it as. I will definitely read more by this author.

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This was an amusing book with a few laugh out loud sections. It starts with a call to emergency services to report that someone has been shot, then goes to where it all started, a Christmas getaway to the Happy Forest Holiday Park. The guests are seven year old Scarlett and her imaginary rabbit, her dad and his girlfriend and her mother and her boyfriend. They spend a long weekend there and tensions start to run high quite quickly. The archery scene towards the end is hilarious. A nice Christmas read.

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The Adults is a delightful, multi-perspective view of the fallout from a Christmas holiday shared by a divorced couple and their new spouses a.k.a. people who shouldn't  be in the same room together for longer than the ten minutes it takes to drop off the child they share custody of and coordinate the pick-up times, but which someone planned to last for five days. Five days in cramped quarters at the Happy Forest resort, where the divorced couple once vacationed during happier times. Is it just me or can everyone else see the carnage coming a mile away?
All the characters gets to tell their story in this one so we read from Matt, the happy-go-lucky recreational drug user who used to be married to Claire, the yin to his yang, a super-organized lawyer who makes parenting look easy, until we read from her perspective when she confesses her reasons for choosing Patrick. Patrick is Claire's new boyfriend who she may have met even before her marriage ended and was drawn to his baldness because it meant he wouldn't be as hair-obsessed as her husband, except even if Pat had hair, he might have shaved it to be more aerodynamic as he trains for the Ironman. In fact, Patrick is obsessed with fitness and competing with everyone for everything. So why doesn't Claire know that if even Alex can see? Is it because people don't notice when Alex is around?  In fact, everyone seems to forget about Alex until they suddenly remember  and then overcompensate to accommodate for her. Alex is the scientist dating Matt, not for any other reason than that she'd had a series of other dates that hadn't gone well and she wants this relationship so bad that she's prepared to overlook the fact that Matt's still in love with his ex. Matt buys her the same gift he would buy Claire, and calls Alex by his ex-wife's name. Nobody thinks about Alex, except Scarlett, and her imaginary rabbit named Posey, who are both convinced that Alex is a murderer, a fact they later prove. And that's all before Christmas Day.
The book starts with a 911 call after the "accident" that happens in the Happy Forest, and we are introduced to some of the characters from their response to the incident, then we are treated to the set-up to see how things actually go down. The short chapters interspersed with police interviews keeps the narrative moving, and we get to read from other characters as they are introduced, keeping the focus on the action in this fast paced novel.
I would recommend this one to fans of Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies and to just about anyone dreading their own holiday plans and needing a reminder that things could, in fact, be worse. Happy Reading!
I read an electronic Advanced Reader Copy of The Adults courtesy of Netgalley but this did not influence my opinion and enjoyment of the novel. I really enjoyed the suspense Hulse built in this one and spent several wonderful hours chuckling to myself and rolling my eyes at her terrible but adorable characters as I devoured this 300+ page book like it was a novella.

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I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review. I thought this would be a good choice as a holiday read because it was described as a story with dark humor. Dark is right! There was little to no humor in this book for me. The story is about a divorced couple who chose to go on holiday with their daughter and their new significant others in tow. I did not like one character in this book. The divorced husband Matt was a lazy liar. His partner Alex was a paranoid mess. The ex-wife Claire was a "Miss Perfect" and her partner Patrick was an insecure gym rat. Even the child was annoying!

There is one humorous scene with Alex when she has a little too much to drink and starts speaking the truth about everyone. This managed to save the book for me.

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Well, I didn’t hate it, but didn’t really like it either - hence the 2 ⭐️ rating.

The description of this book sounded like something that would be really fun to read for the holidays. A divorced couple bringing their new significant others on a vacation all together so they could spend Christmas with their daughter. You know things will go wrong. And how about the book being described as “the most hilarious debut you will read this year?” What doesn’t sound awesome about that?! That sentence alone should have been my first clue that it would be just the opposite.

All of the characters were unlikeable and the story was boring to me. I really wanted to laugh out loud! I didn’t even giggle. Although Scarlett was a bratty kid, I liked her (and Posey - her 5 foot tall imaginary rabbit friend). Mainly because I love reading kids’ POV in books.

A lot of people enjoyed the dark humor. I guess it just wasn’t for me.

I still have lots of December to end the year on a positive note!

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House and Caroline Hulse for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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Perfect holiday read - a "holiday gone wrong" of family dynamics, paired with the perfect amount of background and depth to give you empathy for even the most unsympathetic of characters.

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I guess I wasn’t the right audience for this book because for me this was not even remotely amusing, nor was it “razor-sharp”. I couldn’t spend any more time with these silly people and skimming didn’t help so I finally abandoned the book. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

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Matt finally tells his girlfriend, Alex, that there is a plan for the two of them, his daughter, Scarlett, and his ex-wife and her boyfriend to spend the Christmas holiday together. Alex discovers that the arrangements were made some time ago and she cannot refuse to go or she will look like the bad guy.

Claire, her boyfriend, Patrick and Scarlett seem pleased to be spending the holiday together with Alex and Matt. Everyone decides to be adult about the whole thing for Scarlett’s sake. This is the first Christmas in a number of years that she will be with both of her parents. Scarlett and her imaginary friend, Posey, have already decided that they do not like Alex.

A series of complications ensue that would be spoilers to outline here. Suffice to say that by the end of the weekend the only person acting close to adult is Scarlett.

The dialogue is often comical but sometimes sad. The characters are rich and well developed. Each has serious flaws but their assets are so well written that in the end you will love them all. Details are so vivid that you can actually see the sign at Happy Forrest holiday park, Patrick’s too short shorts and other descriptions.

I absolutely loved this book. I cannot say enough about it. Caroline Hulse is now on my list of favorite authors.


I received an eBook ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affects my opinion or ratings of this book.

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***3.5 Stars***

If ever you needed an example of a bad idea, you've got one in spades within the funny, sometimes cringe-inducing, tale of four "adults" who've decided to spend the Christmas holiday together.

Matt and Claire are the divorced parents of Scarlett (age 7). Scarlett hasn't adjusted to life without the full-time presence of both her mother and father. Understanding this, Matt and Claire agree to spend the holiday at a cabin in the woods ...with their new significant others.

What could possibly go wrong, right?

From the start we learn one of the four adults has been "shot". We aren't sure by whom, or for what reason, but we know the situation is dire and someone could die; it's off to the races from there as we're taken on the ride that is the way this weekend came together, how the new couples came to be a thing, and learn some of the ways insecurity can make one crazy if left to fester and breed within the confines of a too small cabin.

"Posey', Scarlett's imaginary friend was every bit the character and made the situation between the grown-ups even more interesting as they tried to decide if Posey's presence was a boon or a bust for the weekend's intent.

Where things bogged down for me was the length of the book. At times I felt a situation, here and there, could've ended sooner; it was also a sort of annoying to have some of the witness accounts interjected at random intervals: while I understood the story was being told in light of an "investigation", it made for a disjointed experience. Particularly when the "Happy Forest" brochure tidbits were thrown in at random.

Overall, a funny holiday read with a good message about honesty, love, and being realistic about what makes you happy.

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This was an absolute pleasure to read. What a genius idea to take family dysfunction on a vacation to a glamping campsite. This is the perfect novel for anyone craving a holiday book with heart.

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“The Adults” by Caroline Hulse centers around a Christmas vacation that no one will ever forget. A joyful sign welcomed guests to “The Happy Forest Holiday Park! Where relaxation is a force of nature.” The plan was for a nice quiet holiday vacation with extended family, all reasonable adults. What could possibly go wrong? Readers find out quickly that a lot can go wrong when the novel opens with the transcript of a call to emergency services.

Operator: “Emergency, which service?
Woman: We need an ambulance at the Happy Forest Holiday Park… We need an ambulance. He’s been shot. It was an accident.”

This is not just any ordinary Christmas vacation; it is a holiday with one young child Scarlett Cutler, her now divorced parents Matt Cutler and Claire Petersen, their new partners Patrick Asher and Alex Mount, and Scarlett’s imaginary friend, Posey, the rabbit. Why would this group ever think they could spend a holiday together without tension and trauma? From very beginning, anticipation and dread hangs on every page.

The chapters are written from alternating points of view to guide readers through events and to help shed light on how all these sensible adults got to that prologue. They all wanted Scarlett to have a memorable Christmas vacation, and in that, they certainly were successful. Their relationships with each other were certainly memorable as well, but those times were filled with insecurity, lies, and manipulation rather than holiday cheer.
Fundamental inconsistencies, prevailing insecurities, mounting tension, and underlying conflict indicate the thunderstorm of events that are on the way. Even when there seems to be some semblance of civility among these adults, readers are reminded of the “incident” by chapters with transcripts of interviews by park employees and other quests who observed the growing strain and the aftermath of the “event.”
“The Adults” works because of the diverse and realistic characters; readers get to know them very well. They are all likeable, familiar, and sympathetic despite their disturbed routines and unnecessary drama. In fact, every reader knows of someone like these people among their own families and acquaintances. However, behind all that familiar normal behavior, readers know there is still the shooting. Readers frantically turn pages because although “the event” has occurred, the details and specific participants are only disclosed a little piece at a time throughout the narrative.
“The Adults” is compelling and entertaining book. I finished it shaking my head and asking, “How could people think this would be an appropriate vacation?” I of course knew the answer because I knew all these characters. I received a copy of “The Adults” from Caroline Hulse, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley. This is certainly not a run-of-the-mill “Christmas Book,” and I found it a painfully wonderful book. It reminds me that my own holiday vacations are not as bad as I thought.

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The Adults
By
Caroline Hulse

What it's all about...

So...in this book we have a totally thoroughly dysfunctional family. They have all come together to try to provide daughter Scarlett with a happy merry festive Christmas. The problems are that the weekend is actually almost five days long and they are all staying together at a cottage in this happy festive holiday place...until an arrow sort of derails them all.

Why I wanted to read it...

I wanted to read this book because I love the kind of dry tongue in cheek humor that almost every character displays. Patrick and Caroline...Caroline is Scarlett’s mother...Patrick is her health obsessed partner. Matt and Alex...Matt is Scarlett’s father...Alex is his partner. Alex is obsessed with getting Matt to tell the truth about his relationship with his former wife. Then there is Posey...Scarlett’s invisible bunny. Scarlett treasures him until they watch Watership Down together. This book is funny!

What made me truly enjoy this book...

The sarcasm and the humor and everyone’s insecurities make this book memorable.

Why you should read it, too...

Readers who love tongue in cheek humor filled books like this should thoroughly enjoy this one. I did!

I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley and Amazon. It was my choice to read it and review it.

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Thank you Random House for a copy of The Adults in exchange for an honest review.

A fun book with a very interesting premise. What could go wrong when vacationing with your ex-parter and their new partners? Matt and Claire want to give their daughter a joint Christmas celebration so they each invite their current partner with them on a 5 day vacation at the Happy Forest. Not surprisingly, tensions build and truths are discovered!
A fun idea about a horrible idea for a vacation and what trouble that might brew up! I could not imagine why anybody would think it would have worked and I love it. The characters were all very randomly different and working on their own balance with the other members and their history. It was a lot to take in but it never felt like work. Really perfect to read in the holiday season when you need something lighter. It helps that at least your holiday won’t be as bad as theirs was!!!!

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A humorous family drama. I enjoyed the context and writing style. I look forward to more from this author.

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This was mixed family disaster at its finest!  While the book is about exes and their new partners (and child) getting together on a vacation so the mom and dad can both be with the daughter for Chistmas, and they go to a "christmas wonderland park" I wouldn't necessarily classify this as a Christmas book.  So if you are looking for Halmark movie in print form, this is not the book for you.  I did think it was the perfect beginning of Christmas season book, to ease you into the full blown Christmas magic books.

The Adults is aslo being marketed as a super hillarious book.  While I definatly laughed out loud at many parts, it wasn't a comedy book.  The author is Brittish, so there's that element of dry Brittish humor throughout the whole book (I love that!!)

So while super sappy Christmas book it is not, I still would recommend trying to squeeze this book in this holiday season.  It's lighthearted, not very deep so you can read it in bits and pieces.....or sit down and read it in two sittings like I did!

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for sending me a free eBook to review.

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I thought this was a really solid, funny family drama about two couples (an ex-wife and ex-husband with their new significant others and the daughter they share custody of) who vacation together over the holidays and craziness ensues. This was a fast, fun read and I enjoyed getting to know the characters and learn about their histories with each other. I thought the book really picked up and excelled once the brits dropped their polite public personas and really started ripping into each other. That's when the real drama starts. Unfortunately, you have to get 75% thru the book before the fun really begins. Still, worth the read if you like family drama and are looking for a holiday read.

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I had so much fun reading this little novel! I really enjoyed the characters, who were unique with interesting quirks and personalities, wrapped up in a Christmas story unlike any I had ever read before. I loved the idea of this novel, a pair of exes trying to gather together with their partners for the sake of their child at Christmas. A recipe for disaster. This one was great for readers who like to laugh during the holidays!

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