Book Review: Grown Ups by Marian Keyes
Long time, no blog! The run up to Christmas was a bit manic with work, a trip to Berlin, and lots of Christmas shopping, and blogging seemed to fall by the wayside. But it's a new year, a new Goodreads reading challenge, and first book done! Despite just falling short of my 30 book target for last year (29, dangit!) and deciding not to set another target of 30 for this year, I caved and did it anyway. While I don't want to put pressure on myself to read a certain amount, I do want to set aside more time for reading this year. I'm guilty of saying 'I haven't got time' when in reality the hours I probably spend scrolling through my phone and absorbing nothing, could be spent devouring a good book.
With that in mind, my first completed book of 2020 is Grown Ups, the forthcoming novel by Marian Keyes. I'm a huge Marian Keyes fan and love the way that she has kept her titles fresh and relevant, always incorporating important themes and issues. This title was no exception.
Grown Ups follows the lives of the Casey brothers and their sprawling families; wives and girlfriends, children, step-children and beyond. Flitting through time, the story explores the lives of each of the principal characters and how their lives became entwined over the course of 20 or so years.
During the initial few chapters I found it difficult to keep up with the sheer number of characters and who everyone was, but everything quickly fell into place as the story progressed. Of the three brothers, each seems to fit a stereotype; Johnny is the oldest brother - seemingly the ringleader of the family, a ladies man, always in control. Ed is the middle brother - quiet, observant and unassuming. Liam is the youngest - bit of a #lad, cocky, careless. Apart from this, the story mainly focuses on the brothers' respective partners Jessie, Cara, and Nell, and their own personal struggles.
This novel really explores the idea of the modern blended family and challenges the idea of a 'normal' family set-up. The relationships between each character is explored in really honest and detailed way, and the issues each character faces are dealt with sensitively throughout, especially Cara's struggle with an eating disorder. The character I most related to was Jessie; she's trying to be everything to everyone, to take charge of her business and family but forgetting that it's OK to ask for help sometimes. Her pride tells her she has to be in control at all times, and any setback is a sign of weakness. I enjoyed seeing the development of her character throughout the novel and I think she's a character a lot of people, especially women, will be able to relate to.
I very much enjoyed this novel and despite a bit of a slow start (for me) I was absolutely hooked by the end and was using every spare minute to keep reading. Marian Keyes does such a fantastic job of exploring the minutiae of daily domestic life and family drama, and I think this is a sub-genre of writing that is becoming more and more relevant. Little Women was the first novel that centred on women's experience and the validity of a life in the domestic sphere, and I love how that has developed and grown into novels such as Grown Ups. I personally love a good character story, one that focuses on one person or a close unit of characters and examines their lives and relationships, and this is a fantastic example.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this!
Grown Ups is released on 6th Feb 2020. Thank you to Penguin and NetGalley for the advanced review copy.
With that in mind, my first completed book of 2020 is Grown Ups, the forthcoming novel by Marian Keyes. I'm a huge Marian Keyes fan and love the way that she has kept her titles fresh and relevant, always incorporating important themes and issues. This title was no exception.
Grown Ups follows the lives of the Casey brothers and their sprawling families; wives and girlfriends, children, step-children and beyond. Flitting through time, the story explores the lives of each of the principal characters and how their lives became entwined over the course of 20 or so years.
During the initial few chapters I found it difficult to keep up with the sheer number of characters and who everyone was, but everything quickly fell into place as the story progressed. Of the three brothers, each seems to fit a stereotype; Johnny is the oldest brother - seemingly the ringleader of the family, a ladies man, always in control. Ed is the middle brother - quiet, observant and unassuming. Liam is the youngest - bit of a #lad, cocky, careless. Apart from this, the story mainly focuses on the brothers' respective partners Jessie, Cara, and Nell, and their own personal struggles.
This novel really explores the idea of the modern blended family and challenges the idea of a 'normal' family set-up. The relationships between each character is explored in really honest and detailed way, and the issues each character faces are dealt with sensitively throughout, especially Cara's struggle with an eating disorder. The character I most related to was Jessie; she's trying to be everything to everyone, to take charge of her business and family but forgetting that it's OK to ask for help sometimes. Her pride tells her she has to be in control at all times, and any setback is a sign of weakness. I enjoyed seeing the development of her character throughout the novel and I think she's a character a lot of people, especially women, will be able to relate to.
I very much enjoyed this novel and despite a bit of a slow start (for me) I was absolutely hooked by the end and was using every spare minute to keep reading. Marian Keyes does such a fantastic job of exploring the minutiae of daily domestic life and family drama, and I think this is a sub-genre of writing that is becoming more and more relevant. Little Women was the first novel that centred on women's experience and the validity of a life in the domestic sphere, and I love how that has developed and grown into novels such as Grown Ups. I personally love a good character story, one that focuses on one person or a close unit of characters and examines their lives and relationships, and this is a fantastic example.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this!
Grown Ups is released on 6th Feb 2020. Thank you to Penguin and NetGalley for the advanced review copy.
Added this to my list!
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