I love love love this book! When we meet Jenny, the protagonist of Adults, she’s agonising over a picture that she’s sure will define her as a human being. It’s a picture of a croissant. Transcendental pastries and Jenny comparing herself to Ellen Ripley only a few pages in had me completely hooked. I wasn’t sure where this book would go but I definitely wasn’t expecting such an emotional and insightful story which showed just obsessed you can become with having the perfect insta life.
Jenny’s mother is hilarious, one of the best characters I’ve come across in a while. Art however is the worst and I want to sit him down for a viewing of Midsommar as soon as possible.

I'm probably any older than the target audience for this book, and almost gave up on it early on. However, I'm glad I stuck with it. The opening chapters of Jenny, completely social media obsessed didn't resonate with me at all but the unfolding of the story kept me interested. Jenny is recently single, having split from her 'famous' photographer boyfriend and is struggling on all counts with her life. We follow her gradually coming to some painful realisations about her and her life. A different sort of coming of age story.

Jenny is a 30 something online columnist who has been trying so hard to live her best ‘online’ life, that she has become obsessive and completely neurotic about the likes and followers. She has totally lost sight of her real life, which has been slowly falling apart.
There were some great moments in this book, laugh out loud funny at times. But for me it just didn’t seem to flow as I was reading it. I think that may have had something to do with the main character, Jenny, I just couldn’t take to her and found myself almost getting bored of her neuroses a little bit. That said, overall I still enjoyed the book and was definitely rooting for Jenny towards the end.
My thanks to NetGalley and Borough Press for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.

Jennifer is witty, charming and completely anxious at any given moment. A lot of her anxiety seems to come from the place of her power: she is a writer and feels she is well liked for her funny one liners, but the pressure to appear clever and funny in an effortless way makes her feel nearly ill. Her turmoil over the perfect instagram post about a croissant, complete with trying to drag in her long suffering friend Kelly to proofread her "off the cuff" offering, tickled me, but I felt like I needed more than this. I did enjoy Jenny's psychic mother and trying lodgers, but ultimately the book wasn't for me, as I just couldn't warm to Jenny. I would still recommend for anyone looking for a light read about modern life and romance.

Jenny McLaine is in her mid thirties and, on the surface, lives a successful life as a columnist for an online magazine and even owns her own home. However, her career is not a career anymore, her photographer boyfriend breaks up with her and replaces her with - please God it can't be true! - with her biggest Instagram obsession, her best friend Kelly doesn't want to be her friend anymore. And her psychic mother comes to stay with her. Please send help.

Based on the premise, I was expecting this book to be a humorous and sarcastic view at adulthood. However, what I got, was a novel that was impossible to get into, with a heroine that was on no account relatable nor likeable. I don't know, maybe I'm too old for this already but Jenny McLaine and her unhappiness with everything, her seeing problems where there weren't any just made me annoyed with the book and with her. I wanted to DNF this novel more than once however I kept reading hoping that something is going to happen, something that will make me change my mind and like the book. Nope. For me it was neither realistic, nor humorous, nor relatable. If this is what adulthood really looks like then I must be living on different planet.

It was a very character driven read. Jenny, as a main character, was anxious and insecure and all the time wanted to be in the centre of attention. Nothing interested her, neither people, friends nor family, but social media, where she followed people with, as it seemed, perfect lives, incriminating in the feeling of failing at her own life even more and more - it was like a vicious circle, she was all the time obsessing about likes, receptions of posts, her ex. She was annoying and irritating and her realisation that she needs to grow up came too late for me to change my feelings towards her and the book.

Nevertheless, the book had some strong points, for example in exploring mother - daughter relationship and pointing at the damage that social addition may cause. It sounds very authentic and the author has captured well the feelings of desperation and addiction to social media that can change the whole attitude to life and relationships. The writing is very modern and sophisticated, but sometimes it felt that the author tried too much and especially the humour felt much too forced. I wanted to enjoy this book but, sadly, it didn't work for me.

Opening disclaimer, I have been a version of Jenny (the main protagonist in this excellent book) I have looked to see who’s like my Instagram post, I’ve laboured over captions, pondered hashtags and also quickly deleted tweets which I felt were not up to snuff. Jenny takes it to another level, even a routine Instagram post about her pastry is fraught with second guesses about hashtags, filters and how it might come across to Jenny’s followers. While her digital life is teetering on the edge, Jenny’s real life isn’t faring much better. Her relationship with boyfriend, Art, has fallen apart, her career as a columnist is stuttering and her best friend, Kelly is pulling away. To add to Jenny’s problems, her mother, a self professed psychic, has arrived out of the blue for an unannounced visit.

This is a pitch perfect book for this moment in time. It’s witty, perfectly paced and has such a lot of heart. Jenny is such a frustrating character but the author doesn’t shy away from that. Kelly’s frustration with her friend is evident and the perfect storm of Jenny’s screen addiction and build up of real life problems swirls into a perfect storm and a brilliantly written climax. The author’s previous book, Animals, hit the nail on the head perfectly when it came to female friendships and this book hits the mark again, so many times. It’s a laugh out loud ride with a real soul at the centre of it. I enjoyed it immensely and it’s already a strong contender for one of my books of the year. Fantastic.

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

Absolutely hilarious! Haven’t laughed out loud so much with a book in AGES. An instant modern classic that I’ll be buying for all my friends. Bloody brilliant!

A quick read for a Sunday morning. A focus on the Instagram generation and how much time is spent on or thinking about social media.

I'm in two minds about this book: on one side I found it a meaningful and interesting description of the Instagram generation, on the other side I found the characters a bit too unlikable even if there's a good development and they change.
I think it was an interesting read and I recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Initially I found this book hard going. Are there really people in their thirties out there who behave like Jenny? Jenny annoyed me, I laughed once in the first half of the book and it was heading for a one star review. I actually wanted to stop reading but you can’t review a book honestly unless you’ve read the whole thing and so I kept going. And I laughed, laughed a bit more, suddenly I understood Jenny and felt incredibly sad for her. I raced through the second half and suddenly it ended. I felt a little sad when it ended. What happens next?

If you read this and struggle keep going. It is worth it. It jumped from a one star to a four star so that alone says it got a lot better.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

I started reading this book with really high expectations but sadly I don't feel the book lived upto my expectations
I didn't find it side split tingly funny or approachable
Maybe just me but not my cup of tea

This book was one of my most anticipated books of 2020 - I actually haven't read Unsworth's hugely acclaimed Animals yet, but the description of Adults just immediately grabbed me. It sounded like a warm and hugely funny take on what it is like to be a woman in her 30s in the modern world, and gave me strong Fleabag vibes!

On first glance things seem to be going okay for the main character, Jenny - she owns her own house, works for a super-on-trend feminist magazine, and spends her days socialising - mainly on her phone, but occasionally in real life (if it is Gram-able). But although Jenny is, at 30, technically an adult, she definitely doesn't feel like one.

As I turned the first few pages, I could see right away that it was going to be hilarious - there is such a natural and genuinely laugh-out-loud humour to Unsworth's writing. Jenny is often frustrating and ridiculous - a bit of a parody of modern 30-something on the surface (which might annoy readers looking for likeable characters). After the breakdown of her "proper relationship" with boyfriend Art, Jenny finds herself distancing herself from her friends and her family. But she feels has no choice but to simply pick herself up and get on with things. As she says, there's no place for vulnerability at the "front-line of feminism", in a world that's looking for "a roar from the lady jungle, not a whimper". Most importantly, what hashtag should accompany her picture of her morning croissant (which is actually stale and extremely disappointing) to show just how over Art she is?

I have to say that when I thought I had the measure of this book - witty, wry and wonderfully observant - it then took me a bit by surprise. I didn't relate hugely to Jenny's addiction to her phone and her social media life, although I did find it pretty funny. But as I continued reading, the book drew me in more and more, as I got to know Jenny more and see see behind her carefully selected Instagram filters. Beneath the humour of Jenny's theatrical daily struggles, the novel gradually shows us she is often deflecting from her innermost fears - of not being wanted, of her and her body not being good enough. What I found here at the heart of the novel actually really got to me, and left me feeling quite exposed and raw: sometimes sad and self-pitying, but ultimately immensely proud and grateful for women, and our ability to feel, share and love.

Jenny is obsessed with social media and seeing how many likes and comments she receives. It ends up ruining her life. It's starting to spiral out of control so her mother, Carmen, comes to stay.

There were parts of this book I enjoyed and others not so much. I struggled to connect with the main character, Jenny, but she did grown on me as the story progressed. There are some funny one liners that will make you laugh out loud. The book covers how social media can take over your life. I liked the authors style in writing this story. Adults is a relevant topic just now.

I would like to thank NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and the author Emma Jane Unsworth for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bob in and meet Jenny, who has the perfect life, a wonderful partner, a brilliant career and a constantly rising number of followers on Twitter and Instagram. She has her phone in her hand every waken hour. How many likes has she had on a picture or a posting? And why hasn't Suzy Brambles still not followed her back on Twitter? Her reality is very different. In fact, enough was enough with her partner when she was messaging while he was making love to her. Her career is far from sparkling and her friends are neglected. To top it off her mother arrives to stay and that is never a good thing.
This book covers all the terrible pitfalls of social media taking over your life and trying to better everyone else and their 'perfect online lives'. The characters are all larger than life, from the 'worship me' boyfriend to the mother who is overpowering. It all makes for a hilarious read as you can pick out bits of your own life from it too. Jenny's addition to social media and journey to actually breaking away from it and live a real-life becomes to aim.
An entertaining read that so many people will relate to.
I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

I really shouldn't have liked this book and when I started it I really wished I hadn't accepted the offer to read it. The thought of people living their lives on the internet is not my idea of entertainment. The book is irreverent, the subject matter often tasteless and I felt uncomfortable ... but then it started to make me laugh, despite myself. It managed to cover subjects very relevant today and there was a real depth to it. Sometimes confusing, often funny and often thought-provoking. I'm very glad I was invited to read it.
Three and a half stars for me.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Emma Jane Unsworth/Harper Collins UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

I am sorry this is not my type of book. I could not identify with Jenny’s life.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Found this funny but a bit too much. Not as real as some of the other books of this sort and the main character was very unlike able. A good read nethertheless

An enjoyable book of someone who seems to be at odds with the rest of the world, as we all are except she gets her negative feelings from the amount of likes she accumulates on her social media page, at the expense sometimes of her friends feelings. Her friends and boyfriend leave her but she finds happiness in other relationships, it was a journey worth the telling.

I took a chance on this because OMG I'M THIRTY-FIVE I SHOULD READ THINGS ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE ME.

Or not. Really, really not.

I finished this with the same kind of vague disconnect that I had reading Normal People; the kind of feeling that I should like this, I should relate, but I don't. Who are these awkward creatures posing as humans and doing these outlandish things that no one in their right mind would? There's a huge cultural divide, even after recently spending much time amongst these fancy white people.*

Sure, there were some things that pinged: an over-reliance on social media and its accompanying anxiety, the need to always perform, needing to disconnect but being unable to, the call of the aging female body to procreate**.

But it all hinged overly much on Jenny's neurosis, which flares in very unattractive ways.

Overall, Adults is a book with too much drinking and too little class. I am obviously not the target audience, despite the sad similarity in age and single status. I shall toddle back to my bright-eyed boys and girls trying to save the world with magic. Or dragons. Or both.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Harper Collins via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

* Or, rather, not going out to avoid very drunk white people.
** If anything, the thing I related to the most was the confused desire of my bloody uterus to host a little alien in it. Whether or not I really do want to have kids or have any maternal instincts at all.

Made me laugh out loud. A very delayed coming of age story, of a London woman hampered and aided by social media. Obsessing and paranoid over very action as it is recorded, reported and changes her relationships in real life. Skewering online journalism in passing.