This is a big book (656 pages) 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 iss...

First of all let me start by saying that I am a massive fan of Marian Keyes - so it pains me to say that I did n0t love Grown Ups. It started off well and I loved the opening chapters at the dinner party, but after that I struggled to engage with the characters and the story. I did like it but not as much as I usually do with her books.This is a very long book at 656 pages. I am not adverse to long books, my favourite Stephen King book is over 800 pages. But when the story is a bit slower than y...

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...

Oh, Marian Keyes how could I have doubted you?This book started off on the wrong foot with me and I actually wanted to return the audio for a refund. And now that I am done, I feel it’s too soon to say goodbye to the Caseys.Although there were a LOT of characters, I never struggled to remember who was who. And as always, the author tackles difficult themes with insight and humour. The story was entertaining, touching, witty and memorable.I don’t think any fans of this author will be disappointed...

2.5 starsGROWN UPS as you might guess, really showed what a mess grown ups can be. This was a family saga of epic proportions both in length of book but also in depth of shambled relationships and lives. This was definitely a less funny offering from Marian Keyes, but I wouldn’t have minded the lack of humour if the story had worked better for me.The story centred on three families, brothers, wives and children. The brothers weren’t particularly close but the other people around them included so...

This is the story of the Casey brothers, Johnny, Ed and Liam and their wives and families. Their parents as we learn later in the book, are cold and verbally cruel so it’s the biggest wonder they are able to function at all. It shines a spotlight on family secrets and grudges that are hidden for the sake of family and appearances. The secrets come spilling out at a family dinner party at the beginning of the book then it backtracks to where it all blurted out. There are some serious moments and

I love an Irish setting, and this was a great one. I am reviewing months after completion but I am on a mission to get to all of my books.This is a clever and funny read, it was too long ago to go into any detail, on looking back it seems I won this, and I don't even remember this being the case, oh dear. Lucky me to be sent this physical copy from the publisher.I was interested in reading this one as the author has spoken freely on her addiciton history, and this makes me recall that eating dis...

Overall rating: I start at 5 stars (I read it, finished, enjoyed it (+1 star) and even was a bit obsessed by it in the process and afterwards which is a rare thing for me (+1 star)).Now I remember why I loved Marion Keys' books: - Love how she is showing us a fragging lot of emotions that MCs entertain. And she does that all the time. (+1 star) - Spectacular shit hits the fan half the time for absolutely no reason. (+1 star) - There's this whole parade of MCs each of which have their own person...

Please note that I received this via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.I honestly don't know what to say here. This did not read like contemporary Marian Keyes to me. The whole book was jumbled with too many characters and plots that it felt like I got a never ending story of a family I did not care about a whit. I also have to say that it's gross that we see two people in my eyes exploiting relationships with younger people in this one. I think that Keyes in some weird way was

I am a big fan of Marian Keyes books and was delighted to receive a copy of her new book Grown Ups.This is a story of three brothers and their families. There are a lot of characters to remember and it took me a while to sort out where they fit within the family. Unfortunately I did not engage with any of the characters and sadly missed the humour that I usually find in Marian's books.Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

There are approximately a million characters in this book, and complex relationships between family members and divorces and remarriages and friends—it was a little confusing along the way, but when I finished the book, I was sad to see this complicated clan go. Most of the main characters have some fatal flaw. When Cara, wife of Ed, who is one of the three Casey brothers, gets a concussion, she suddenly reveals a whole of truth about the Casey family during a birthday dinner. The novel goes bac...

I am a big fan of Marian Keyes but had read quite a few mixed reviews about this book. Yes, it is quite lengthy but I was so disappointed when it finished. Enjoyed every minute of this book!There are three Casey men, Johnny who is married to Jessie with 3 daughters and 2 step children from when Jessie was married to his best friend Rory. Then there is Ed who is married to Cara, and has two boys. They appear to have the perfect marriage but not all is at it appears. Then there is Liam who is marr...