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A review by ellereadsbookslike
Grown Ups by Marian Keyes
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Jessie, Cara and Nell are very different women but they have one thing in common, they are all married to a Casey brother. When the family starts to unravel they start to wonder...where are the grown ups?
I read ME AND MR JONES by Lucy Diamond earlier in the year which had a very similar concept to this book (a story about the wives of three brothers) but it ended up just not being my kind of book. This however was more my kind of thing. MAMJ was just a little bit too clean cut for me whereas this was much more messy which is definitely more like the kind of book I usually enjoy.
I liked how complexed the characters were and with it being quite a long book, we got to spend a lot of time getting to know them. However sometimes all the names and who's related to who did become a little confusing. There is a family tree at the front of the book but it was quite hard to reference as I was reading it as an ebook. I was half way through and I still found myself going 'wait who's that again?'.
There is a lot of build up for the 'big event' which also means that it runs the risk of falling flat. I did enjoy that aspect of the story but the ending just wasn't what I hoped it would be. And you would think that after 650 pages, all of your questions would be answered but that's not the case and I didn't feel 100% satisfied.
I think this a great character driven story about the difficulties of relationships and adult life. Just don't get your hopes up too high for the ending because you might be disappointed. I enjoyed it but I don't think I'll be reading it again.
I read ME AND MR JONES by Lucy Diamond earlier in the year which had a very similar concept to this book (a story about the wives of three brothers) but it ended up just not being my kind of book. This however was more my kind of thing. MAMJ was just a little bit too clean cut for me whereas this was much more messy which is definitely more like the kind of book I usually enjoy.
I liked how complexed the characters were and with it being quite a long book, we got to spend a lot of time getting to know them. However sometimes all the names and who's related to who did become a little confusing. There is a family tree at the front of the book but it was quite hard to reference as I was reading it as an ebook. I was half way through and I still found myself going 'wait who's that again?'.
There is a lot of build up for the 'big event' which also means that it runs the risk of falling flat. I did enjoy that aspect of the story but the ending just wasn't what I hoped it would be. And you would think that after 650 pages, all of your questions would be answered but that's not the case and I didn't feel 100% satisfied.
I think this a great character driven story about the difficulties of relationships and adult life. Just don't get your hopes up too high for the ending because you might be disappointed. I enjoyed it but I don't think I'll be reading it again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Addiction and Body shaming