Loved this book. The author sure can write a quirky character and is bang on with her portrayal of how people can obsess with social media and paint a completely inaccurate picture of their real life.

Well formed and interesting characters and a contemporary plot and story world make this an enjoyable and entertaining read.

Thank you to Emma Jane Unsworth, Harper Collins and NetGalley for the ARC of ADULTS.
I really wanted to love this novel, but it's just not for me. The constant introspection and textspeak became really annoying. Is this really how people communicate with each other? And she's supposed to be thirty-six but I think she comes across as very juvenile. Okay, this books isn't for me, but it will be for lots of others. I know it will be a fabulous success

A smart, funny exploration of the evils of social media for those of us who didn't grow up with it - and so much more besides. I found the book insightful and was told off by my child for laughing too loudly whilst reading it. I loved the cultural references from Jenny's past, the characters (who each resemble someone we all know) and the sheer honesty of the protagonist. I related to much of this and it kinda startled me. "Adults" is a wake up call and a battle cry. Emma Jane Unsworth is the voice of a new wave of women's fiction, acknowledging that we can all be a bit hapless and hopeless but we are also nuanced and complex characters underneath.

Oh dear, just not for me this one I'm afraid. How many pages were filled with the word "pastry" at the beginning?
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity. Sorry for the negative words. x

I tried to get into this book - twice - but just couldn't. The blurb hooked me, and it sounded like the sharp, realistic and witty read I'd been looking for (especially as the main character is, like myself, mid-thirties). I could not relate at all to this novel. Instead I found it a bit pretentious.. I really, really wanted to like Adults as for once it's nice to have a slightly older protagonist, so I was a little disappointed.

However, I am not a social media addict, and find that all-consuming obsession with Instagram tiresome, so to be fair I'm probably not the target audience for this book. Jenny was way too obsessed with her phone and 'likes' that it just became grating. Maybe I'll give this book another try in future and alter my rating accordingly, but for now, I just can't get into this one.

Many many thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC.

Sadly for me I just found I couldn’t get into this at all. I even left it then returned to it. It just didn’t gel for me. I found the writing style a bit hap hazard.
I really wanted to love this book as it has received so much hype.
Thank you to both NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review

I'm sorry, but I just couldn't get into this book!! I think if I were younger maybe I would have, but unfortunately, some of the time I had no idea what was going on!! To be fair, there were a few funny bits but I'm afraid it's not for me!! But thank you for the opportunity to give it a go!!

A Hilario warm wonderful read.A book everyone can relate to the struggle to become an adult find our place in the world.I will be recommending to all my friends those who are now truly adults and those who will relate to the struggle,#netgalley#harpercollinsuk.

Brutally honest, hilarious and insightful, Adults tells a story of a thirty-five year old Jenny who is obsessed with social media. Jenny is bright and funny but not coping well with the break-up with her boyfriend who seems to have found a replacement for Jenny in no time.

If you are in a mood for something witty to make you laugh, this might be the right book. That is not to say Adults have no serious moments. It makes accurate observations of today's obsessions of young generations with presenting glamorous lifestyle on social media even if the reality is far from perfect.

Many thanks to HarperCollins UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love what this novel is trying to say even if I’m not enamoured of the style in which it was said. This is a sharp and witty commentary about today’s online living and the need to reconnect with each other. It’s poignant and funny and the MC is interesting. Not a fan of the writing but that really was personal preference. It’s a good book.

Emma Jane Unsworth give us an authentic view of the use of social media. To look better in internet than it is actually in real life. I liked to hate her main character Jenny because she want so much to be seeing, to be the most seeing.

Adults is the kind of modern day novel to make me get on my soap box and rant!! This comic tale is so relevant in our digital age, where lives are lived via social media platforms and our self worth is gauged by our number of followers/friends/likes. We now live in a society where individuals are self obsessed, selfish, shallow and keen to buy into the notion that everyone else is living the perfect life and that’s what we should aspire to;anything less and you’re a failure. This is the major theme flowing through this novel and will resonate with many.
The protagonist Jenny is most definitely in need of a digital detox preferably for a VERY long time!! She is guilty of all of the above and completely glued to her devices,wasting ridiculous amounts of time pondering over the right pic to post on Instagram accompanied by the ‘perfect’ comment. For her it’s a disaster if she gets it wrong so her poor long suffering friend Kelly has to endure many many emails from Jenny asking for validation. Basically this woman has lost sight of what is truly important in life, preferring to live her life through a lens, thinking that strangers are her ‘friends’. There are some very comic moments taking the rise out of what is very much a first world problem! Her relationship with Art ends (for many reasons) but if you’re glued to your phone during sex there’s no hope really!! Will Jenny wise up and see the error of her ways? Who can help her see the light?
In many ways Jenny is a complex character, having had a strange relationship with her clairvoyant mother and no father in the picture. She works as a columnist for an online magazine, lives in her house with lodgers now that Art has fled the scene and is trapped in a vicious circle trying to be someone she isn’t. I found her frustrating and irritating but she’s basically a good person. I much preferred the characters of Kelly (single mum friend) and her bonkers mother who provides much of the laugh out loud moments. I have to say that as someone who belongs to an older generation, some of the references here went straight over my head and I didn’t always appreciate some of the more colourful language.
Whilst I read this fairly quickly I feel rather ambivalent about the novel, neither loving nor hating it. It’s probably something I would pick up when browsing in a bookshop but I expected to enjoy it more than I did. Like I said there are many hilarious moments, too many to mention, and I like the fact underneath the silliness is a real message urging people to live in the moment and to try and manage their online presence so that they don’t lose sight of what really matters. ( the scene where Kelly questions their friendship after Jenny abandons her son in the middle of the street highlights this beautifully).
I’m grateful to HarperCollins for inviting me to read ‘Adults’ and thanks as always to the author and Netgalley for allowing me to read in exchange for an honest review.

Emma Jane Unsworth's breakout novel Animals featured two main characters – Laura and Tyler – and as with Zoes and Zeldas, you're either one or the other. I'm definitely a Laura, and Animals was powerfully resonant for me partly because of that. Adults, on the other hand, is narrated by the equivalent of a Tyler: Jenny, a loud, selfish character whose brashness is often a mask for uncertainty or loneliness. The opening scene sets the tone, as Jenny obsesses about how to caption a photo on Instagram: 'I am creating a social media post about a croissant that I am pretty sure will define me as a human.'

Adults follows Jenny as she stumbles through life, trying to get over her ex-boyfriend Art and thinking about her personal brand every five seconds. She's 35, so we're at the very tail end of the 'millennial woman figuring herself out' thing here, and that's kind of the point. This book's Laura, Jenny's more reasonable friend Kelly, is often relegated to the background. (We hear from her when she texts Jenny – pleas that often go unanswered – or when Jenny needs to bounce something off her. Like an email to Art or yet another Instagram caption.) The more important relationship here is between Jenny and her eccentric mother Carmen, a flighty and often neglectful fortune-teller who swoops in and out of Jenny's life and, it quickly becomes clear, is responsible for a lot of her neuroses.

There's more of a chick-lit vibe here than in Animals. If I hadn't known who'd written it, I'd have guessed Lisa Owens (Not Working) or Lauren Berry (Living the Dream). Jenny's narration is sparky and entertaining – and pretty exhausting too. I read the book quickly not because I was loving it, but because spending more time with Jenny felt detrimental. She's a solipsistic and arrogant character who's hard to like, even when her insecurities are laid bare. The very current tone of the satire doesn't really help: some of it already seems dated (especially the bits about the online women's magazine Jenny writes for). I did like the ending, and Jenny's various relationships are all wrapped up in ways that feel both satisfying and plausible.

I read Animals three years ago. There are lines and moments from that book I still think about regularly. I don't think I will remember the details of Adults beyond the next couple of weeks. I don't mean to be harsh; it's enjoyable, I guess it just didn't really speak to me. There's too much gloss and not enough grit.

I was really, really excited from the moment I heard about this book - it sounded right up my street and I had pre-ordered it already before the NetGalley copy dropped.

Unfortunately, I found it really difficult to get into as I just couldn't click with the protagonist's voice. There are some brilliant one liners, and the observations about life are spot on, but it just didn't captivate me which was a real shame. A solid 3.5 stars.

Sorry I just could not get into this book at all - I didn't get it - hate giving a negative review but the book just wasn't for me

I think this book was talking to me, ok maybe not, written for me, yeah also unlikely but that is exactly how I felt reading this. Struggling in the world to find your place, to be an adult, don’t feel like you are an adult , then this book is definitely for you. Filled with 100% relatable characters, a hilarious, touching, emotional and entertaining read. This is the first book I’d read in ‘chick lit’ where I felt it’s breaking new ground, it felt new and original and I haven’t had that feeling in forever. A highly recommended read and one of my favourites this year.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

There is something seriously wrong with me, I am very worried.

Two comments in praise of Adults are:-

A DAZZLING book’ Marian Keyes

‘HEARTBREAKING and HILARIOUS … I completely and utterly adored it’ Dolly Alderton

Actually I am a bit stunned. You see, I thought I had a good sense of humour but only once did I laugh when reading this book. Yes I was slightly amused in places but never Hilarious. Heartbreaking? Well, I did feel for Jenny in a few places – particularly when her mother abandoned her at Christmas, but if I am honest my heartbreak was for myself because I just didn’t get this book.

I know I am sounding ancient, and I do understand people are obsessed by their phones and social media but Jenny didn’t need any of this, she was just living in her own head, in her own space. A space which didn’t leave any room for self-worth.

Also, I didn’t like the structure of the book. For me it felt a bit dis-connected and certainly for the first half of the book I was not even sure what was happening, particularly into Jenny’s relationship with Art: on/off, on/off or what, compounded by his relationship with Jenny’s mother, or with Suzy – just weird. By the end of the book I was slightly more comfortable, because clearly there was some sort of closure, but this was overlaid with a more overwhelming feeling – relief.

So sorry Emma Jane for such a negative review, but it is only my opinion and I have never written a book

I tried to get into reading this one but unfortunately, it's just not for me. This particular story has a very distinctive narrative voice and whilst run-on tangents might gel with some people, it didn't for me. I could tell quite quickly that I was going to have some issues with this book, but those are mainly on a personal level and shouldn't detract from anyone else picking up this book. The issues addressed in it are important and will be a great read for anyone who enjoys novels about that strange intersection between childhood and proper adulthood we call being in our twenties.

I adored this book!

I hadn't read or watched Animals before going into Adults, so I had no idea what to expect. What I found was a hilarious and insightful look into social media and narcissism, with a cast of characters that makes you roll your eyes so much they're in danger of getting stuck.

Unsworth writes unapologetically, and delves deeply into her main character's psyche, particularly her addiction to social media, but presents it in such a frank and often hilarious manner.

I can see the movie adaptation already.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for providing me with an advance read copy.

Ever felt like your life is spiraling away from you? Then you'll completely identify with Jenny, who is clinging onto her job, her house, her friends and the dregs of her relationship by the skin of her teeth. I thought this was a wonderful, clear-eyed look into the dissonance between how we want to portray our lives, and how they actually are, as well as a sharp and warm investigation of love and family.