i have always been a fan of Marian Keyes and was very excited to review this book!
this is large book about an Irish family that the kids are behaving but the adults...aren't acting like grown ups. it follows the 3 Casey brothers and their wives and ex-wives.
like all normal families there are plenty of secrets that you keep hidden until they come out at the most inappropriate time..for example at a family dinner like in the book. we learn more about the secrets and how they have shaped the family dynamics.
great book that deals with a lot of real life issues that are in a typical family
i was given this ARC by netgalley and publisher for honest review and opinion

EXCERPT: When Rory died, Jessie's one consolation was that she'd never again have to live through something as bad. Her Dad's passing was painful. Her mother's was worse. The wound of having been cut out of the Kinsella inner circle had taken a while to heal. Giving up on having a sixth child had, for a patch, been oddly unbearable. But nothing had ever come close to the visceral punch of Rory ceasing to exist.

Over the years, whenever a big drama had blown up, her second or third thought was, I've already survived the worst thing that could happen.

It had made her feel safe. Almost lucky. But this - tonight - was as bad as Rory, that same light-headed combination of disbelief and stone-cold certainty: something terrible had happened. She didn't want it to be true, but everything had already changed forever. Once more, the jigsaw of her life had been thrown up in the air and she had no idea where the pieces would land.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: 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.

MY THOUGHTS: I loved this mad book about this absolutely mad family. But it took me a little while to get there. About 20% of the book, in fact.

There is an absolutely wonderful cast of characters and paradoxically, they are one of the problems. Because there are a lot of them, and I struggled to keep them straight, who was married to whom, and where all the children belonged. Now, to be absolutely fair, there is a family tree, but because I have a digital ARC of Grown Ups, in which the formatting is less than wonderful, I couldn't make sense of it. But eventually I managed to get all the relationships straight in my mind.

Another thing that I adored about Grown Ups is the absolute Irishness of it. And there's another problem. It would be incredibly helpful to have a glossary of Irish terms, and a bit of a guide to pronunciation. Now, I live in New Zealand, so I am going to throw Ngaruawahia at you, and see how you get on with pronouncing that. My Australian husband, who has lived in New Zealand for fifteen years, still can't get his mouth around it! And I have similar problems with some of the Irish words, and particularly with the name Saoirse. I would be grateful if someone could enlighten me. But please don't leave them out Ms Keyes. They are an integral part of the character of this book.

But putting all that aside, this is a brilliant read. The writing is excellent (thanks for restoring my faith in you Ms Keyes), well paced, the plot absorbing and entertaining. I laughed and cried, and laughed and cried, and did both some more.

It is the characters that really drive this novel. Jessie, slowly bankrupting herself and husband Johnny with her largesse, frightened that if she doesn't pay for everything, the 'spensie' stuff, no one will love her. Cara, reservations manager at an exclusive hotel, married to Johnny's younger brother Ed, who hides a dangerous secret. Finally there is Nell, artistic and enviably comfortable in her own humanitarian and environmentalist skin, married to the youngest brother, Liam. Then there is a dead husband, the numerous children, an ex-wife (Liam's), parents, parents-in-law, ex-parents-in-law, cousins, friends, partners, business associates, Karl Brennan - who defies description, workmates, a barman named Gilbert and, no, on reflection, I don't think there was a milkman.

The book begins with Johnny's birthday dinner, and Cara's cataclysmic revelations. It then goes back six months and we learn of all the things leading up to the eruption.

There is love and lust, secrets and deceit, grief and loss, envy and just about any emotion you care to name. In summary, a novel about people living up to others expectations of them and, in doing so, losing sight of themselves and what is truly important.

❤❤❤❤.4

#GrownUps #NetGalley

'He'd had dementia and just faded away, like a picture left in the sun.'

'You get one precious life. Why not try to have a contented one.'

THE AUTHOR: Marian Keyes (born 10 September 1963) is an Irish novelist and non-fiction writer, best known for her work in women's literature. She is an Irish Book Awards winner. Over 22 million copies of her novels have been sold worldwide and her books have been translated into 32 languages. She became known worldwide for Watermelon, Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, and This Charming Man, with themes including domestic violence and alcoholism.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Penguin Random House, Doubleday Canada for providing a digital ARC of Grown Ups by Marian Keyes for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

Funny,snarky and at times heart wrenching all bets are off when secrets are revealed within a family because even within a family there are things that should never be told. Pick this up and discover a strong well written story that at times will have you cheering and at others cringing. Happy reading!

This book was a bit of a change of pace for Marian Keyes. The characters are "grown ups" in their 40s and it is a wonderful family saga which people in this age group will love even more. There are a lot of characters to follow but there is a chart at the beginning which explains them all. I have read all of her books and her writing has matured over the years. I highly recommend this novel.

The Casey brothers- Johnny, Ed, and Liam- and their wives- Jessie, Cara, and Nell, as well as their many children (most notably Ferdia) make up one big dysfunctional family which probably spends too much time together. Johnny and Jessie run PiG, an imported food firm; Jessie's a perfectionist who is spending too much money and who remains shadowed by the death of her first husband Rory, who was Johnny's best friend. Cara is struggling and losing the battle with bulimia while working at a hotel. And Nell, well I liked Nell the most (wait- I also really felt Cara). She's younger and more idealistic than the rest (as well as artistic). The novel centers around various events where they all come together- an anniversary, a birthday, a summer holiday. They all ping off one another in ways but all come together repeatedly. There's a lot of characters and certain things go on too long (too much at the murder mystery and in Tuscany, for example)- this would have benefited from some paring- but if you're looking for a big Irish dysfunctional family- this is the one for you. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A little different from Keyes usual but still a good read.

I'm usually a fan of Marian Keyes, but this book was hard going. I had trouble keeping the characters straight, and there just didn't seem to be much of a plot.

The Casey family are a close knit family. There's always a get together happening, a birthday celebration or a vacation. First there's Johnny and his wife Jessie. They got together when Jessie's first husband - Johnny's best friend - passed away. Not right away, after an appropriate amount time. They've had 3 children together. They've been together for years. Time for some people to get over it.

Then there's Ed. Him and his wife Cara seem to have life figured out. Two great kids. They're clearly in love. On the outside it seems they have no problems. Ed likes to keep his head in the sand and pretend that's everything is great. But is that really true?

Liam - the youngest brother. He's had one failed marriage already. Two kids he never sees. He's been floating around living a bachelor life when he very quickly settled down and married Nell. There's seem a relationship of passion. But with how quickly they got married do they even know each other.

Grown Ups begins with the dinner that unravels it all. Then the story goes back in time to explain how they got to this disastrous dinner. Is there any way this can all have a happy ending?

Sounds like a lot of characters and for a few chapters it was but very quickly you figure out who's with who and how they connect together. Quickly you'll fall in love with all the characters despite their flaws. Except for the one or two you are intended to dislike.

I've always loved Marian Keyes. I'm sure I've read everything she's written. I first picked up one of her books based on the size - I love a long story. Even after 656 pages I wasn't ready to let go of these characters and have the story end.

Grown Ups is available at Chapters starting later this week on June 30th.

While I felt the book had good promise, I just couldn't get into this one. While I enjoyed all the crazy, family drama, I could not connect with any of the characters. There were just too many and too many pages to tell this story.

I typically really enjoy any book written by Marian Keyes but for some reason, this one just didn’t draw me in at first. I was introduced to too many characters right from the start that had me struggling to keep everyone straight. Once I was into the book through the family drama had me engaged.

The book begins at Johnny’s birthday dinner with the entire family attending. At the dinner, secrets are revealed which causes some chaos. The book then goes back to six months prior to this event to delve into how we have come to this chaotic birthday dinner.

In the end, I enjoyed this book. Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advance copy.

Oh my gosh, how to explain this book. This is a huge book, but it is great a huge family, filled with dysfunctional family drama.
The family is Irish the kids all behave, but the grown-ups!! They are not behaving at all. After I read so many murder mysteries this book was just what I needed to make me laugh it was a light read.

Thank you NetGalley for my arc of this book for my honest review.

I LOVE Marian Keyes. She presents another crazy, complex, dysfunctional family drama. This is a long, witty, dramatic, hilarious story about three charming brothers and their wives and their children. The Casey Brothers, Johnny, Ed and Liam, victims of cold hearted and authoritative parents, trying to shape their lives by having their own big families.This book is entertaining, powerful, laugh-out-loud, feel-good reading with tragic and tear jerking elements. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the growing number of characters. But at least we have still memorable ones.

Grown Ups revolves around the Caseys, a glamorous, complicated Irish family. We first meet the three Casey brothers and their wives and families at Johnny's birthday dinner, when his sister-in-law Cara starts to spill a slew of family secrets. From there we move back in time, and follow the family from one complicated get together to another, learning more about their relationships, struggles, and yes, secrets.

There is A LOT going on in this book - many characters, many plot threads. At the start, it was a little hard to keep track of who was who and keep the storylines straight. For this reason, it was a slower start for me. However, about a third of the way in, I was settled into the world of the story and could begin to appreciate the layers and connect more to the characters. Looking back I would call it a slower burn. If you enjoy Liane Moriarty, I think you'll like this one - the wide cast, secrets galore, people doing regrettable things. But it is funnier, a little lighter in tone, overall. Both Moriarty and Keyes write stories that I think will please a range of readers, from those who enjoy character-driven narratives, to those who prefer plot-driven experiences.

Lots of readers turn to Marian Keyes for comfort, and I think that sometimes "comfort reading" can be dismissed as lighter, less thoughtful, or weighty or important. Grown Ups proves that a book can be comforting to read, but complex. This one's about the messiness of family life, how it's crazy-making and sustaining and imperfect. Keyes offers an ending that is satisfyingly real.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a big book about a big messy Irish family where the children are all behaving, but the grown-ups not so much. The Caseys are comprised of three brothers, wives and an ex-wife and several children. Headed by eldest brother Johnny, a charmer and his bossy, generous Jessie who together run a successful grocery and cooking business, although Jessie very much wears the pants at work and at home. Middle brother Ed is an easy going botanist is married to Cara who has self esteem issues even though she is a successful customer wrangler at a prestigious Dublin hotel. Nell is the latest addition to the family, recently married to the youngest brother, divorcee Liam, who maybe is turning out to be not quite the man she thought she married.

Jessie loves nothing better than bringing all the family together for big events, rounding them all up for birthdays, trips to luxurious hotels for Easter and summers in a glorious Tuscan villa. The book opens with a family gathering for Johnny's birthday, where the normally diplomatic Cara who has concussion throws the cat amongst the pigeons by spilling the beans on everybody's dirty little secrets. The rest of the book then describes what led to all these secrets and then the aftermath where relationships inevitably fall apart. Although it is a big book (and probably could have been shorter), like all Marian Keyes books, it was a breeze to read and never dragged, mainly because there were so many angles to explore and different characters to get to know. It also touches on many subjects including infidelity, addiction, honesty in relationships, insecurity, self esteem, body image, grief and jealousy as well as Ireland's treatment of refugees. A big, entertaining book, perfect for cozy winter reading or long summer days on the beach.

2.5 stars.There is so much going on with so many people in this book, I had a hard time keeping all the names straight in the beginning. The Casey family is one hot mess, that is for sure. Is Anybody Out There is one of my favorite books by Keyes. In fact, I enjoyed all the books in The Walsh Family series. I really didn't enjoy this as much. It was VERY long and I felt like there was no payoff in the end. My favorite character didn't even have an ending. I felt like she was just left dangling there. A miss for me, but I still would read this author.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about this book at the beginning - it features a big family with a lot of people and I started out confused on who was who. I loved the story though - it was real. The characters were relatable and I loved most of them. Jessie, Nell, Johnny, Ed and Cara were all so relatable to me and I loved getting to see from multiple characters point of view. Well written and wonderful.

I absolutely adore Marian Keyes. I read her first novel when I was 17, and here I am, at 42, still reading and loving her work. She has an amazing way of developing wonderful characters, and brilliant comedic timing. And of course, her stories are always relatable, hilarious, but also very true to life. In life there are good people and there are terrible people, but for the most part there are those in between, erring somewhere along the bad to good spectrum, and Marian Keyes does so well at creating these real people who could be you, or me, or anyone we know.

Grown Ups is a family saga that starts in the middle of a dinner party kind of out of nowhere, and then leads us backwards, untangling the intricate knots of the Casey family along the way, before ending up right back at the dinner party again. There are the three brothers, Johnny, Ed, and Liam, and their wives, Jessie, Cara, and Nell, as well as their children. While the novel kind of revolves around Jessie, who has put herself in a type of matriarchal position, corralling everyone into partaking in all-expenses paid family weekends away, we get to know all of the others well enough. And everyone seems to have something to hide, or something they are ashamed of, something they just can’t keep hidden forever.

I personally didn’t have much time for Jessie or Johnny. I am very much like Nell and it would have driven me insane to feel forced to attend over the top holidays away from my own life all of the time. But I did understand why Jessie was the way she was, and by the end she had grown on me. I loved Nell, and I also loved Ed and Cara. And even Ferdia, who grows up a lot through the narrative. But what I loved most of all was how the story just worked. I thoroughly enjoyed becoming an invisible part of the family through the glimpses that Keyes gives us, glimpses that become a puzzle that you slowly put together in your mind.

I had been holding out on this one for a few months, knowing that I was in for a treat, and I definitely wasn’t disappointed!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love Marian Keyes. Sort of conflicted on how to rate this book. I would probably give it 3.5 stars. I enjoyed it but not as much as the author's previous books. The Casey families are definitely not the Walshes. I was so confused at the beginning of the book at the dinner party. I had a hard time keeping track of who everyone was and how they were related. There were so many characters. Ed was definitely my favorite, followed by Nell. Cara married the best Casey brother. He was so sweet and truly loved his wife. Ferdia completely changed and was no longer a complete douche by the end of the book. He treated his mom and Johnny horrible. They provided everything for him. I loved how Jessie called all the children bunnies. It was so cute. Not sure how Jessie afforded all those vacations. She definitely spent more than they earned. Not sure how Jessie afforded all those vacations. She definitely spent more than they earned. Liam was the worst person throughout the whole book. I kept forgetting he was a forty year old man. He acted more like he was twenty. He was useless and a complete waste. He valued a free apartment more than being a father to his children. I felt bad for Nell. She pretty much jumped into a marriage with a man she barely knew. Everything she thought she knew about Liam wasn't even how he truly was. The whole Sammie and Robyn thing was disgusting. He was a grown man. I wish Johnny and Ed would have challenged him more on his actions.

I enjoyed the story, characters and writing style. I liked getting to know all the Caseys (some more than others.) The murder mystery birthday party was quite funny. The "hotel" rooms and the "yurt"were not what the guests were expecting. Jessie's diva ways definitely showed through. She should have appreciated the effort her husband made, not be mad that he didn't spend the thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars that she expected. The ending was a bit of a disappointment. I wanted to know what happened to everyone. I wouldn't mind reading more about the Caseys and find out what happened to everyone. The book could be about when all the bunnies are older.

Definitely recommend the book. The Caseys are a CRAZY family. Something is always happening. I look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Penguin Random House Canada through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

, I was a little confused at first. There were so many characters and I wasn't sure who was who and what the significance was with them. This was a dysfunctional group of people to say the least.

I'm still not exactly sure what it was about as it was so long at times.

Thanks to Netgalley for my arc.

A story of three brothers and their dysfunctional families. This is a long and convoluted book with a huge cast of characters. It still doesn't have the wit or comedic writing of her earlier books. I also felt it could have been shorter as there was a lot of unnecessary detail.

#GrownUps #NetGalley

It had been a while since I had read anything by Marian Keyes and I was happy to read another one of her works. There was a lot of stories going on here in Grown Ups. While I was able to follow along, I admit, I did get lost at times with all the characters and keeping everything straight. I loved the Dublin setting Keyes chose for the story line and would love to see these gorgeous hotels they families stayed in. What elsse could happen when all the families come together?! Lots of love, scandals, health problems, and humor ensue.
I would recommend this book to other Marian Keyes fans, just know you'll have to pay attention. Overall, i give the book a solid 4 stars. Special thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada/ Doubleday Canada, and Marian Keyes for the Advanced Digital Copy in exchange for my honest opinion.