really enjoyed this book, I love Marian Keys books have never been disappointed. Her story telling is awesome, you feel like you know all the characters and you want more you just don’t want to leave their company. A really great book .

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Random House Canada, Doubleday Canada, and Marian Keyes for an ARC of Grown Ups in exchange for an honest review. All of my opinions of this book are my own and not influenced by receiving an advanced copy.

CONTENT WARNING: eating disorders


I am rating this book a 2.8 out of 5 stars. I rate different categories that are important to me personally in a book, and then take an average of the scores to get my overall rating. I don’t share this rubric, because everyone has their own opinions on what makes a great book, and should cater their ratings to their own personal preferences!

I’m honestly having a hard time formulating an opinion on this book. There were plenty things I liked, but also quite a bit that I didn’t like. My overall view of the book would most likely be improved if I had liked the writing style better. It just seemed to jump from character to character so fast and it felt like whiplash.

There never seemed to be a main plot the book was following, and sometimes it made me feel tired trying to read it because I was wondering if there was ever going to be a point made. It made the overall story somewhat hard for me to grasp, and it was hard to pay attention to the book. I think that if the novel was trimmed down a bit, I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more.


I really loved the character depth of Cara, Nell, and Johnny. Those three were so developed to me, and they felt very relatable. At the beginning of my post I put a content warning for eating disorders because Cara struggles a lot with bulimia in this book, and it could be triggering for those who have suffered from the same illness.

I’m not totally writing off Marian Keyes on my to read list because I know she has written quite a few bestsellers. It just so happened that the first book of hers I tried, really fell short for me.

I love Marian Keyes and was excited to read Grown Ups. Unfortunately, this copy had way too many typos and distracted from the story. I also didn’t feel any of the characters were likable and DNF at 25%.

This typical Marian Keyes story story about a dysfunctional family told with flashbacks and dark, witty writing. It was a little tough to keep track of everyone but once I got it, I really enjoyed the story.

I will be honest and say I had a hard time finishing this book. There were too many characters and too many flashbacks (especially in the beginning) for the story to really take hold and draw me in. The beginning of the novel had strategically placed flashbacks to provide the reader with information but they were not believable and came across as forced information. It wasn't until near the end when I really started to care about how everything was going to fall into place. I can't even say I was satisfied with the ending.

When you look at the structure of the novel, there wasn't really a central climax or even rising action. There were constant little fights between the characters, mostly between spouses, but not really any main plot to grasp onto as a reader. Reading this novel was like having a bird's eye view of three different couples going through the motions of life and martial problems. Yes, the characters were likeable, especially Nell. However, there were times when family friends and the children's friends all completely lost or uninterested me because there were too many names thrown around. I kept wondering where the story was going and if there was going to be a point to all the madness.

I appreciate the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this novel and generally I am a light critic. However, I feel "Grown Ups" was missing something major, a main plot element, and without it, the reader cannot be drawn into the story. As readers, we want to envision a part of ourselves when reading a book, but more importantly, we also want to escape reality, even if for just a few moments. By giving us martial problems without some element of thrill or excitement, a story just ends up being a retelling of everyday occurrences.

I would still recommend this book, but it was not my favourite. I am left feeling as though the story could be better, and be fixed into a really amazing novel.

Thank-you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada / Doubleday Canada for the opportunity to read and review this upcoming novel by Marian Keyes.

Marian Keyes is one of those authors I will always remember because her books were foundational in my love of reading as a young adult. When I saw Grown Ups on NetGalley, I couldn’t request it fast enough. Her Walsh Family Series, especially Watermelon and Anybody Out There will always remain extra memorable for me.

Keyes always succeeds in sharing complex family dynamics in a light-hearted yet engrossing manner. Grown Ups is no different and shares the daily ups and downs of three brothers and their wives and families. There is a great mix of humor and intrigue (a big family secret gets revealed!) mixed with plenty of hijinx.

I did find that it was tricky at first to keep track of all the characters because there are many!! I connected more with some of them than others but all in all this was a super endearing and humorous read. I am so happy to have Marian Keyes writing back in my life and I look forward to what she shares next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada/Doubleday Canada for sharing an advanced copy with me in exchange for an honest review.

Loved it!

I immersed myself in this one completely. The characters were great - most were likeable and all seemed real to me by the end of the book. I was really rooting for Jessie, Cara and Nell and felt very angry on their behalf about the treatment they receive at the hands of some of the other characters!

There is so much humour here - I loved the dialogue in particular.

It's not a page-turner in the sense that exciting things happen - it's more like spending time with friends and hearing all the gossip, and wanting to know what's going on with everyone. It wasn't too long for me - I was hooked right from the start and enjoyed it throughout.

Some reviewers have said that they felt there were too many characters and this led to confusion, but I didn't find this to be the case at all. Each character, for me, was very distinctive and therefore easy to keep track of.

Only two slight niggles - lots of problems with the formatting and 'ff' and 'ffl' were missing throughout the proof copy, but I got used to this after a while. Maybe I wouldn't have persevered, though, if I hadn't been enjoying it quite so much.

The other niggle is the ending - I was left feeling a bit unsatisfied, especially with Nell's story.

But those are very minor negatives - a definite 5/5 for me.

The formatting of the galley was all off and made it too hard to read through unfortunately. DNF'D at 10%.

The large Irish family, the Caseys, are a quirky interesting group. Cara begins at a family dinner when, because of a concussion, begins telling family members truths that they don’t necessarily want to hear. A cute premise, but it goes downhill from there.

This is promoted as a romantic comedy involving a large Irish family. I found it to be tedious, the book is ridiculously long, too many characters, and the plot line with its time jumping confusing. The dialogue which conveyed Irish accents and terms was irritating. It was an uncorrected proof, advanced copy. I was given a complimentary ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

Grown Ups is very long and complex, but well worth the read. The story is full of her characteristic depth. It took me a while to sort all the different characters with their stories and their relationships, but as the story unfolded, I became more and more familiar with them. It may have been helpful to introduce all the main characters and how they relate to each other before dropping the bomb at the very beginning, though. It was a very strange way to start a story and the first chapters were very confusing!

I'm a long time fan of Marian Keyes so I was very pleased when I found her newest book on Netgalley.

Thank you for the complimentary ARC! All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this. I hadn't read any Marian Keyes before, but I will be looking up more of her books. This was funny, slightly irreverent, very humane, insightful, and well-paced. Sometimes in writing social commentary on a large family, everyone is an assholes, but Keyes manages to show us their dysfunction while still making me cheer for them. (Well, most of them.) There have been many large family books where I have been unable to read because I just hated everyone, but that is not the case here. Even when I did not agree with the person/situation/decision, I could understand it, because Keyes does a fantastic job bringing every character to life. These feel like real people--complex and flawed, full of drama and joy and ups and downs. There are a lot of serious issues tackled in this book, and I like how Keyes toed the line between humor and seriousness. It's incredibly insightful.

The ending does drag on a little, but it's only the very, very end. For most of the book the pacing was great, and I was very invested in all the characters & plot-points.

Please be warned that a character has an eating disorder and it is shown/written about extensively. I felt the topic was handled well, but it is a significant part of the book.

This book made me think making me laugh and that's my favorite kind of book. Highly recommend.

TW/CW: sexual harassment, challenged; eating disorder.

**Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced ecopy in exchange for an honest review.**

Marian Keyes was my favorite author in my early 20s and undoubtedly what turned me into a book fiend. To this day, Watermelon is one of my favorite books of all time. When I saw she a book on Net Galley I was so excited. Sadly, much of my excitement ended there.

Many of Keyes’ books challenge you as there is usually one main character who is insufferable. Unfortunately, this entire book was filled with them. I found it impossible sifting through the characters - and their children - to find anyone likable. There were a few glimpses of hope for most characters, but largely they translated at spoiled and entitled brats.

I had a lot of difficulty with the timeline of the book and would have preferred the opening scene didn’t happen rather than the present and then past working it’s way forward and the addition of flashbacks woven into those timelines.

Because this book was an advanced copy, it was riddled with a LOT of typing/grammatical errors. Usually I’m happy to ignore these as they don’t really detract from the book, but that was not the case here. I often wondered if a word was cut off because it was Irish slang or because it contained ‘ff’ that was missing in the entire book.

The last 15-20% of the book was a bit more enjoyable, but I was incredibly disappointed that we really only saw resolution to one relationship that we had to suffer through.

I think with a bit or trimming on unnecessary characters and plot points and perhaps giving some more resolution in the epilogue would help this book a great deal.

I love, love, love Marian Keyes and have missed her books like crazy. Grown Ups is very similar to her early work in that it is very character-driven, long, and full of the personal trials and tribulations that most people can relate to. However, it does seem to be a bit more, well, grown up, than her previous work. At 650+ pages, it isn't a fast read. But, it is certainly worth giving it the time it deserves.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Marian Keyes latest family saga does not shy away from the big issues faced in life. Its witty, sassy and moving. Could not put this wonder book down. Marian Keyes at her best.

This was an incredible novel that drew me in and never let go. I felt emotionally invested in the characters’ lives and couldn’t stop reading.

The Casey family is as much dysfunctional as any of our family. This story was light heart, but hard to really submerged into. The family is vast as any family would be. However, with that many characters it's hard to keep up with everyone story. It took me half of the book to keep track of the family tree and after that I forgot what everyone issues is with the other family members. On top of the miniature family fuel there is the case of each family members attitude, quirks and identity to keep track of. It's a bit much. If this story could be divided into smaller families into different books, I think I would be able to enjoy it more.

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

First off, I love Marian Keyes. Her Walsh Family series are some of my favorite books to re-read because they are such great reads to improve your mood and take you away. I love them.

This book, while very well written, just didn't capture me quite as much. I still really enjoyed reading it, but it just felt like there was just a few too many perspectives going on to fully invest in them all. I am really glad I read it and will continue to be a fan of hers and read all her books, but this one probably won't be on my regular re-read list.

I would still highly recommend this book to read because it is really good and the characters are multidimensional and developed. I was very glad I read this book and I did actually enjoy it's arc. I just would probably give this a 3.5-4 ranking rather than a 4-5 like her past books.

To say that I love Marian Keyes books is the understatement of the year. I have read the Walsh family books so many times I feel that I know all the sisters personally. So when I got a copy of Grown Ups I was over the moon, and was not disappointed. This book is a heartfelt, sad, and sometimes hilarious look at the Casey family and all their ups and downs. Beautifully written full of interesting characters that will stay with you. I really hope Ms. Keyes writes more books about that big boisterous family. Highest recommendations for this excellent book.

Wise, funny, generous, heartbreaking, this is Marian Keyes at the top of her game. I recognised myself and my loved ones on every page and I want to press this book into the hands of everyone I know. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I am on the fence about this book. The plot was light hearted, but there were too many characters to try to keep track of, which made me feel lost.