Publication
PENGUIN (2020)
Description
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.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member pgchuis
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.
My ARC had the family tree completely scrambled, but presumably this will be fixed before publication. It also had every instance of 'ff' entirely deleted, which served to highlight how very very frequently the author uses the word
Anyway, I enjoyed this for the most part, although it was longer than I felt it needed to be. I was glad the prologue was repeated once we had worked our way back to it in the 'present day' of the novel, as it was by then a very long time ago. At one point the focus on Cara's problems got so depressing that I put the book down for a while, but otherwise it kept me reading, although I did wonder at the number of extravagant holidays and celebrations Jessie organized for entire family - how much was her business making? Who has this much time to devote to extended family? Who wants to? (Maybe only families in novels.)
The ending was a bit off for me. Ed behaved in a manner that seemed totally out of character from his behaviour in the rest of the book. Johnny turned out to have been carrying on a friendship the reader had not been privy to, and that felt like an odd concealment. By the end I was skimming a little as I had had enough.
My ARC had the family tree completely scrambled, but presumably this will be fixed before publication. It also had every instance of 'ff' entirely deleted, which served to highlight how very very frequently the author uses the word
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'stuff'.Anyway, I enjoyed this for the most part, although it was longer than I felt it needed to be. I was glad the prologue was repeated once we had worked our way back to it in the 'present day' of the novel, as it was by then a very long time ago. At one point the focus on Cara's problems got so depressing that I put the book down for a while, but otherwise it kept me reading, although I did wonder at the number of extravagant holidays and celebrations Jessie organized for entire family - how much was her business making? Who has this much time to devote to extended family? Who wants to? (Maybe only families in novels.)
The ending was a bit off for me. Ed behaved in a manner that seemed totally out of character from his behaviour in the rest of the book. Johnny turned out to have been carrying on a friendship the reader had not been privy to, and that felt like an odd concealment. By the end I was skimming a little as I had had enough.
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LibraryThing member dolly22
Disappointing effort from Marian this times with too many under develop characters. There was too much focus on adolescents and children to the point of tedium
LibraryThing member alanna1122
I love Marian Keyes. I have read every book she has written except The Break (which is still yet to be released on Kindle or Audible here in the states, the two formats I favor the most). I watched all her You Tube Vlogs. She is a funny, smart and wonderful person to have in your life if only
I mostly liked Grown Ups. Keyes has a way of writing that draws me directly in. I feel like I know the characters and it isn't a great labor getting all the backgrounds and stories going.
The one thing that took me out of all of it - periodically through the book was the use of teenagerisms that just didn't feel authentic to me. The one that drove me the most crazy was the use of Bougie Ho by the younger set in the book to refer to a girl they didn't know but had observed over the course of a couple of holidays. This, I think was meant to be a lighthearted dig at this girl - but for me landed so much more aggressively meanly, it was jarring each time it was used.
Otherwise the story unraveled slowly and it was a little hard keeping all the characters straight but it was a solid summer read.
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virtually. Just so you know where I am coming from ;) I mostly liked Grown Ups. Keyes has a way of writing that draws me directly in. I feel like I know the characters and it isn't a great labor getting all the backgrounds and stories going.
The one thing that took me out of all of it - periodically through the book was the use of teenagerisms that just didn't feel authentic to me. The one that drove me the most crazy was the use of Bougie Ho by the younger set in the book to refer to a girl they didn't know but had observed over the course of a couple of holidays. This, I think was meant to be a lighthearted dig at this girl - but for me landed so much more aggressively meanly, it was jarring each time it was used.
Otherwise the story unraveled slowly and it was a little hard keeping all the characters straight but it was a solid summer read.
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LibraryThing member Cecilturtle
It took me a while to get into this book. The characters seemed too stereotypical with pithy comments and witty comebacks. Even the children seems to express themselves too easily. With over 500 pages, this book is also an invitation to settle in - and I finally did. I started to care for the
I did struggle a bit with the Irish expression mingled with modern lingo but that made it a fun sociological exercise.
DId I love this book? Did I hate it? No, it's somewhere plumb in the middle: a good read for something not too strenuous.
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characters - their big flaws started to become more nuanced and the decisions that lead to their actions a bit more evident. Then I let myself be carried by the plot and made it through to the end.I did struggle a bit with the Irish expression mingled with modern lingo but that made it a fun sociological exercise.
DId I love this book? Did I hate it? No, it's somewhere plumb in the middle: a good read for something not too strenuous.
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LibraryThing member ASKelmore
Best for:
Fans of Liane Moriarty’s writing.
In a nutshell:
CN for book and review: Disordered Eating
The Casey family - three brothers and their wives and kids - are at a dinner party when it seems as though a few secrets are about to be spilled. We immediately go back six months in time to see what
Worth quoting:
“As a skinny, knock-kneed eight-year-old, she knew that too much bread and butter would make her fat - and far was the worst thing any girl could be.”
Why I chose it:
Paperback sale. Also I mostly enjoyed the last book of hers I read.
Review:
Three brothers - Johnny, Liam, and Ed - are married to three women - Jessie, Nell, and Cara. The book focuses mostly on the women, though the men have their own point of view chapters at times. Johnny is Jessie’s second husband, after her first husband (and Johnny’s best friend) leaves her widowed at 34. Nell is Liam’s second wife, and she is significantly - like, 15-ish years - younger than him. Cara and Ed are each others’ first partners.
It becomes clear quickly that everyone has issues. Jessie is an only child who craved a big family, and shows her love by spending loads of money on fancy trips for the extended family (and might be overextended in her finances). Johnny works for and with Jessie, and is father to three with Jessie, and stepfather to two (who aren’t really big fans of his). Liam is a former famous runner, dealing with his career ending, while Nell is a socially conscious set designer who married Laim just six months after meeting. Ed is a botanist, and Cara works in reception at an extremely high end hotel, and she’s also dealing with (and hiding) bulimia.
There’s a lot going on here.
It took a couple of chapters for me to get people straight and sort out their relationships (though there is conveniently a family tree at the front of the book), but once that was sorted, the book was pretty hard to put down. It’s over 600 pages long, but I finished it in four days because I just wanted to keep reading. And there are some genuine surprises that appear along the way — some that the reader could easily predict, and a couple that come out of nowhere but totally make sense. It was a fun read with some deeper exploration of themes (especially the bulimia storyline)
Keep it / Recommend to a Friend / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it.
Fans of Liane Moriarty’s writing.
In a nutshell:
CN for book and review: Disordered Eating
The Casey family - three brothers and their wives and kids - are at a dinner party when it seems as though a few secrets are about to be spilled. We immediately go back six months in time to see what
Show More
has led to this.Worth quoting:
“As a skinny, knock-kneed eight-year-old, she knew that too much bread and butter would make her fat - and far was the worst thing any girl could be.”
Why I chose it:
Paperback sale. Also I mostly enjoyed the last book of hers I read.
Review:
Three brothers - Johnny, Liam, and Ed - are married to three women - Jessie, Nell, and Cara. The book focuses mostly on the women, though the men have their own point of view chapters at times. Johnny is Jessie’s second husband, after her first husband (and Johnny’s best friend) leaves her widowed at 34. Nell is Liam’s second wife, and she is significantly - like, 15-ish years - younger than him. Cara and Ed are each others’ first partners.
It becomes clear quickly that everyone has issues. Jessie is an only child who craved a big family, and shows her love by spending loads of money on fancy trips for the extended family (and might be overextended in her finances). Johnny works for and with Jessie, and is father to three with Jessie, and stepfather to two (who aren’t really big fans of his). Liam is a former famous runner, dealing with his career ending, while Nell is a socially conscious set designer who married Laim just six months after meeting. Ed is a botanist, and Cara works in reception at an extremely high end hotel, and she’s also dealing with (and hiding) bulimia.
There’s a lot going on here.
It took a couple of chapters for me to get people straight and sort out their relationships (though there is conveniently a family tree at the front of the book), but once that was sorted, the book was pretty hard to put down. It’s over 600 pages long, but I finished it in four days because I just wanted to keep reading. And there are some genuine surprises that appear along the way — some that the reader could easily predict, and a couple that come out of nowhere but totally make sense. It was a fun read with some deeper exploration of themes (especially the bulimia storyline)
Keep it / Recommend to a Friend / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it.
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LibraryThing member gogglemiss
Too long, too many characters, a massive book to wade through. It was only three quarters through that secrets seemed, oh so slowly, to emerge. Not impressed.
LibraryThing member ElizabethCromb
Well written story around marital relationships, dilemmas and the decisions people make and the problems they have to face in everyday adult life.
LibraryThing member sachesney
This was so long and drawn out it took ages for me to read it. I didn't connect with any of the characters. There were outbursts of interesting stuff e.g. the asylum seeker and her story, but this was quickly dropped and instead, we are treated to a story about a priviledged, selfish family which
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drags on and on. This is the first Keyes book I have read and as you can probably tell, it will probably be the last. Show Less
Awards
Irish Book Award (Nominee — Popular Fiction — 2020)
The British Book Industry Awards (Shortlist — Audiobook — 2021)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2020
Physical description
9.21 inches
ISBN
0718179757 / 9780718179755
Other editions
GROWN-UPS (201 GRAND) by Keyes Marian (Paperback)