The Adults by Caroline Hulse

Could you spend the holidays with your ex and new partner? In this funny, and sometimes harrowing story, of 4 adults trying to have a “Normal” Christmas for the sake of one child, the author explores the underlying problems that make this a very bad idea and a good story (provided you are not in the story). Of course, the adults are anything but adults and when jealously, insecurity and other normal human emotions enter into the mix it is a disaster in the making.

The story opens with a frantic call to the police by Alex, Matt’s partner, saying someone has been shot with an arrow. Then Alex hangs up. Now step backwards in time a few weeks, to when Matt finally has the courage to tell Alex that he has already committed them to plans for the holidays. They are spending the holidays with Claire, his ex, and Claire’s partner Patrick at the Happy Forest Holiday Park. They want Scarlett, Matt and Claire’s daughter, to have a normal family Christmas.

Everything is already planned he says. Just pack a bag and have fun he says. I don’t know on what planet he thought it would be fun; because we all know, even without the glimpse into the future we got at the start of the story, these “Adults” are asking for trouble. Boy, oh boy did they get it!

Usually I do not like to know what is going to happen in advance, but in this instance it really worked. Since we know how things are going to end it leaves the reader time to imagine all the possible things that could go wrong before they arrive there. While reading, I constantly had thoughts such as, surely this was an accident, who shot who, what about Scarlett, and so on. In short, the plot execution was spot on. The pace was great too. All the little incidents that happened, such as Posey not liking Alex because scientists experiment on rabbits, moved the plot along in a way that I kept wanting to read more.

Throw in the loveable and flawed characters and one invisible, talking rabbit and you have a winning combination. I especially liked how the author presented some very real problems that lots of families face and injected some humor to make a very likable story. The character of Scarlett was particularly well done and by giving her an invisible friend, Posey, which she communicated with we were able to understand her view point. Scarlett and Posey made the story!

In recap, this is a humorous story and I think it will appeal to readers who like humorous fiction as well as readers who like stories about family dynamics and dysfunctional families. I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.