Intense, Often Insightful…
Ida is a forty year old architect. She sees nothing but others peoples happiness and her own lack thereof. Deep feelings of sheer panic have overtaken her every moment. A big birthday celebration is not what she needs, especially with the big news hanging over them all. As familial tensions surface, this will be no cosy gathering. Intense and often insightful this is also somewhat of a depressing read and the readers sympathies may be hard to place.

Grown Ups is a short, sharp slice of family drama, taking place over a few days at an idyllic lakeside cabin in Norway. Translated from its original Norwegian by Rosie Hedger, Grown Ups was a one session read for me. I was highly engrossed in the detail and drama of sisters, Ida and Marthe.

Sometimes, there’s nothing like a bit of sibling rivalry to get the truth to bubble to the surface. As is the case here, in Grown Ups. 40-year-old architect, Ida takes a trip to her family’s cabin to celebrate her mother’s 65th birthday.

Ida’s sister Marthe is already there with her husband, Kristoffer and her stepdaughter, Olea.

While Marthe has the husband and child boxes ticked, Ida is single and finds herself longing for a child. It’s hard not to compare her life with her younger sister’s and feel resentment while working out exactly what it is she wants. In short, when will she ever feel like a proper grown up?

What was so delicious and readable about this book was the simmering under-surface tension that merged with highly relatable moments of frustration, pain and pettiness. If you are someone who doesn’t always express their emotions in the best way, or has a sibling, you’ll really feel for Ida and her attempts to process her feelings.

From its insightful and concise exploration of family dynamics to its dry, often funny tone, sudden moments of heartache and the beautiful Norwegian countryside it conjured up in my head, I just loved everything about Grown Ups. rown Ups is a short, sharp slice of family drama, taking place over a few days at an idyllic lakeside cabin in Norway. Translated from its original Norwegian by Rosie Hedger, Grown Ups was a one session read for me. I was highly engrossed in the detail and drama of sisters, Ida and Marthe.


Opening sentence: Other people’s children, always, everywhere.

Sibling rivalry is real
Sometimes, there’s nothing like a bit of sibling rivalry to get the truth to bubble to the surface. As is the case here, in Grown Ups. 40-year-old architect, Ida takes a trip to her family’s cabin to celebrate her mother’s 65th birthday.

Ida’s sister Marthe is already there with her husband, Kristoffer and her stepdaughter, Olea.

While Marthe has the husband and child boxes ticked, Ida is single and finds herself longing for a child. It’s hard not to compare her life with her younger sister’s and feel resentment while working out exactly what it is she wants. In short, when will she ever feel like a proper grown up?

She has Kristoffer, and soon she’ll have a baby of her own and still she complains.

A one session read
What was so delicious and readable about this book was the simmering under-surface tension that merged with highly relatable moments of frustration, pain and pettiness. If you are someone who doesn’t always express their emotions in the best way, or has a sibling, you’ll really feel for Ida and her attempts to process her feelings.

I feel the words on the tip of my tongue, eager to escape, they taste sweet and dark.

From its insightful and concise exploration of family dynamics to its dry, often funny tone, sudden moments of heartache and the beautiful Norwegian countryside it conjured up in my head, I just loved everything about Grown Ups. Also – special mention for that gorgeous cover.

Marie Aubert's Grown Ups is an interesting look at the relationship between siblings, and how it can flip between adoration and rivalry throughout life. Ida's just turned 40, and isn't quite sure what to do with herself. On a trip to the family beach house for her mother's 65th birthday, she continues this quest, facing interactions with her needy younger sister and her sister's husband, who seemingly understands her in a way her own family does not. She bonds easily with her step-niece, to her sister's chagrin, which causes her to question the kind of parent she would be. Ida's biggest test though, is reckoning with they way she thought her life would look at this age versus reality. Once her mother and step-father arrive to the beach house, tensions mount.
I enjoyed the dynamic between the two siblings, and think anyone who has a sister would enjoy reading this novel. It was an easy read, and would be the perfect trip for a weekend getaway or beach read. The author excels in engaging you in the innermost thoughts of Ida, flaws and all. I was actually left wanting more. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy.

Grown Ups follows Ida, a forty-year-old architect, as she spends a week during the summer in the family summer cottage with her mom, her mom’s husband, her sister, her sister’s husband and his daughter from a previous marriage. Being single and childless, Ida struggles with loneliness and finding a purpose in life.

Whilst I think this book handled difficult subject matters in a skillful way, I couldn’t get past how horrible Ida was being. Look, I love a morally gray character, but Ida was just mean and having a little sister myself I could never imagine thinking about her, let alone behaving towards her, in such a way Ida does. She wasn’t the only character that kept rubbing me wrong though, in fact all the characters did.

I’m glad I read it – it was short and concise and a perfect read-in-one sitting book, but I don’t know if I’ll go around generally recommending it to people.

Thank you NetGalley and Pushkin Press for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley, Marie Aubert and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book, in exchange for an honest review!

Grown Ups was a short, and beautifully thought-provoking read. It touches on problems with infertility and the pressure a woman can be under by society, as well as their own family and friends. However, the protagonist carried out a lot of actions which made her mostly unlikeable.

I really enjoyed this book and it was a five star read for me! Grown Ups focuses on a family holiday at the seaside, narrated by Ida, a 40-year old woman who is grappling with the idea of motherhood - both whether she can have children and whether she should have children. Tensions are high between Ida and her sister, as well as the rest of the family, culminating in a clash between the whole family.

I very much connected with the themes of the novel - jealousy, sibling rivalries, dysfunctional families, and what it really means to be a ‘grown up’. I loved that these themes weren’t overexplained, and instead it was left to the reader to draw connections between Ida’s childhood relationship with her sister and the ways these patterns continued to manifest in their adult relationship.

None of the characters were likeable, but for me this made it so much more interesting to read. I felt that the characters were very realistic, and Ida’s sister’s stepdaughter Olea was a definite highlight for me. Ida herself was selfish and spiteful, but I could understand her reasoning and what made her that way, while still disagreeing with her actions.

The novel is quite short, at only 160 pages, which made it a quick but enjoyable read for me. I can see myself continuing to think about this novel for a long time afterwards. I would recommend it to fans of Kevin Wilson’s ‘Nothing to See Here,’ and anyone who enjoys short, character-driven novels.

I really wanted to love this book. It was a quick, easy read but I really disliked the main character. I found her to be selfish and immature. I thought I would relate to her as a modern woman but couldn't get past her sense of entitlement. That said, I did like the author's writing style and would like to read more of her work.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #PushkinPress for the opportunity to review this ARC of #GrownUps in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Drily funny and emotionally gripping, another lovely book with a great cast of characters. Beautifully written and I got really invested in the story. I would highly recommend reading this one.

Overall a little too punchy for my taste.

It’s a story about a family vacationing over a weekend, all at specific critical points in their lives but clearly filled with a lot of angst, more than the typical family banter. It was hard to feel the love or connection between the characters and I couldn’t grasp why they all felt the need to be such awful people to themselves and each other. Mind you it was a short book so there wasn’t a lot of dedication in fleshing out background and history. But from what was explained and gathered, it still did not make sense why somebody at a much older stage in life continues to act like a bitter and horrid person. There was way too much oddly timed competitiveness, need for one-upping and lack of any sort of humanity or compassion toward others that it was pretty painful to read.

Thank you to Pushkin Press & Netgalley for the opportunity to read grown ups, publishing on 21st June 2022!

Grown Ups is a short, punchy novel about, what is essentially, a dysfunctional family in many ways. Not only as a whole, but in little sects and relationships; very little seems to work in this novel, and we feel that frustration throughout.

A lot of the book focuses on fertility: Marthe is pregnant, after a long time trying, and Ida is looking to freeze her eggs - though keeping this rather more quiet than her sister’s pregnancy. Initially I really routed for Ida, I felt her irritation and loneliness at the hands of her sensitive & pandered sister, I understood the feeling of not being in a couple, feeling the odd one out, not knowing what you wanted. Whether that was a family or a career or simply to enjoy life by yourself. I think Ida was a brilliant character and Aubert writes her fantastically, because we sympathise with her so much & yet I don’t agree with the choices she makes regarding her sisters relationship, and I think she can be selfish and careless. She is a flawed and real character, and that’s refreshing. Marthe I never really grew to like, I did like Kristoffer for some time but perhaps some of the book from his point of view would have helped that. Olea, the child in this novel, was fairly standard to me - i didn’t have very strong opinions on her either way.

The writing of this novel was great & I enjoyed the pace of it, I just don’t particularly enjoy reading about family dynamics and fertility/motherhood. I think when it’s found within a novel I enjoy it, but I don’t seek out entire plot lines based on this, so I didn’t enjoy Grown Ups quite so much for that reason. I’d also have really enjoyed some more back story to Ida - I don’t think I had a grasp of what her career/city life was like and that definitely would have formed a stronger opinion of her for me.

What a wonderful read! Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read it! It was relatively short, yet, so captivating and real. "Grown Ups" is written from the perspective of Ida, the main protagonist, describing real struggles and emotions. It also includes other matters, like family dynamics. Really recommending!

Grown Ups by Marie Aubert is Ida's reckoning as she struggles with the reality that motherhood is likely behind her. On a family trip, she acts out before confronting her emotions. Compact, compelling.

This is the story of a family trying to celebrate a birthday. But unfortunately the family is full or awful people. Seriously this book had no likeable character.
Ida is mean, callous and has tendency to over step.
Martha is selfish and self absorbed.

Needless to say everyone had a horrible weekend

The writing was good. But the story made me angry the more I read it.

I read a few reviews for this and noticed that they were mostly positive, so I was interested to read it for myself. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this story at all. I found that there were no likeable characters in this story, but in particular, the main character Ida was so annoying and mean.
I just couldn't get into it at all; the bickering between Ida and her sister Marthe, the flirting with Marthe's partner, the rude attitude. Thankfully it was a short story at under 200 pages.

A little overhyped. It just felt a little too bleak and depressing in a way that left you wondering what the take away message was even meant to be? I found it hard to identify with the sibling dynamic which felt a little pushed and caricature-esq at times. However the language barrier was no problem and the English translation was great.

*** I received an early complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

None of the characters in this book are likeable in the slightest and I simply do not mind that at all! Ida is forty, single and considering freezing her eggs. Her and her family (sister & family, mum, step-dad) spend a few days at their cabin and are dysfunctional and petty. You know that feeling you get when you want to disagree with someone but can't be bothered with the argument it will start? Whole book felt exactly like that.

I never really felt that Ida wanted children, more that it was something she felt she needed to do at this age. Her sister, Marthe, sounds like someone who was a bit of a nightmare to grow up around and their quietly volatile relationship felt very real.

Overall a quick read and I liked the always simmering tension, both internal and external, but maybe a bit dull in places.

For readers who enjoy: translated fiction, unlikeable characters, short books, character-driven stories, fraught sibling relationships, meditations on motherhood.

Content warnings: fertility, child endangerment.

This was a fast read, which I think is part of the reason that this works as well as it does. The relationships and thoughts that it provokes are fully fleshed out, which is a real feat with how short this is. Overall this has been one of the top surprise hits of the year for me.

This was a super fast read. But quite a thought provoking one. Two totally different sisters with different lives and a load of resentment from all sides.
I liked the fact that there wasn't a solid conclusion - showing that life is fluid and always changing.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me the chance to read this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this.

I selected this book because I thought it would be interesting to navigate Ida’ story, for nowadays plenty of women are more career-driven rather than wanting to start a family and I felt curious about how things could develop from there regarding relationships and family.

Instead, in no more than 150 pages, I have found a story that reminded me on some occasions to Sorrow and bliss, by Meg Mason, but with the theme of being single and childless at 40. Nevertheless, I have enjoyed this book more than the other. I particularly enjoyed the relationship between the sisters, Ida and Marthe, which is far from idyllic, but to me is what kept me going, for sometimes I rooted for one sister, others, for the protagonist, even though all the book is narrated through Ida’s perspective, which gives the reader a whole lot of how she thinks things are going to turn out versus how they actually turn out long before you can actually take sides with another character that is not Ida. She has acted like a grown-up all her life, but now that she is really one, certain attitudes from her family make her look like she is not that responsible. It’s all about her family dynamics while she seems unable to have a family of her own. I did like that duality.

Would I recommend this book? If you love family bickering, then this can be a story for you. I’ve certainly enjoyed it for it.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Pushkin Press and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

I quite appreciate a title keeps me entertained and engaged throughout, mission accomplished.

Charming, witty characters mold this story. They come to life making it relatable.