When We Grow Up: A Novel

by Angelica Baker

For fans of Fleishman is in Trouble and Such a Fun Age, an electrifying novel about six longtime friends whose tropical vacation is interrupted by an unexpected crisis, forcing them to ask how strong their bonds really are

Clare is supposed to be the grown-up one. Married to the love of her life, with a major deal for her first novel, she has everything she thought she wanted. So then why does it all feel so wrong? When she agrees to a weeklong vacation in Hawai'i with five of her oldest friends as they each approach thirty, she is hoping for an escape with the people who know her best. There is Jessie, who won’t stop talking about her new boyfriend; Mac, trying to pretend he hasn’t outgrown the group; Kyle, the eternal peacemaker; and Renzo, who brought them all together but keeps picking fights. And then, of course, there’s Liam, who Clare has barely seen since high school but somehow can’t get out of her head—or her bed.

But when a terrifying news alert shatters their peace, it becomes harder to ignore how much the world has changed since they were teenagers. As the resentments and tensions that have always simmered just beneath the surface begin to boil, Clare must ask if their shared history is enough to sustain their friendships, or if growing up might mean letting go.

With crackling wit and emotional fearlessness, When We Grow Up is a provocative portrait of friendship in a world that feels ever more unrecognizable and a searing exploration of what it means to be a good person.

Genres: Fiction, Audiobook, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Friendship, Novels, Adult Fiction

Kindle Edition

First published February 25, 2025

About the author

Angelica Baker is the author of the novels WHEN WE GROW UP and OUR LITTLE RACKET.

Her essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, Vogue, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Lit Hub.

She was born and raised in Los Angeles and now lives in Eugene, OR with her husband and their two sons.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

i'll know i'm fully healed when i can resist adding every low-rated lit fic i see.

then i could have avoided this one.

oof. this was just not good. 

i like character driven books, i like books about unlikable characters, i like stories that are 99% dialogue of people having philosophical conversations.

so it wasn’t that. 

this is not a well written book, and it isn’t an interesting one. it’s 300 small-print pages of six unbelievably privileged people debating whose guilty-conscience liberal politics are the most correct. it’s five white people and one Black person all noticeably created by a white woman talking about race. it’s a protagonist having an affair with a guy who is so pushy and traitless that an unsexier flight of passion cannot be imagined. it’s an all-star lineup of literature’s most punchable faces and our main character is worst of all. 

there were moments i had to actually put this down and breathe through it. 

the tough part is that a lot of this is intentional, and a lot of it isn’t. and somewhere between the 7th and 13th time our cast ate ceviche i stopped caring enough to determine which was which. 

bottom line: not the book it thinks it is.

(thanks to the publisher for the arc)

[Sara Ellis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The more I think about this book the more I disliked it. It reminds me of the book conversations with friends but the friendships were very hostile. The characters were even more unlikeable.

A group of friends from childhood reconnect on a trip to Hawaii. I thought this book sounded fun but it honestly wasn’t. I would not want to be on this trip or be friends with any of these people regardless Of how far we go back. If they are in Hawaii I want to see them exploring the beautiful island but unfortunately I did not.

There are a lot of dinners with too many drinks. These people are turning 30 and they talk a lot about growing up or growing out of their partying stage but it seems to be all they are doing. The over consumption of alcoholic beverages produces a lot of hostility and conversations about racism, sexism, homophobia and many other social political issues. I got really tired of hearing about privilege among other things from these middle class liberals.

The author also touches on what makes you a bad person. Does one bad deed make you bad? Claire is very concerned that she might be a bad person because she is in an ongoing affair. I think I might agree with her.

I will stop ranting but this book just wasn’t for me. The character development wasn’t good enough for this kind of open hostility in this trip. It might be time that they all grow up and find a new friend group.

Thank you to netgalley for a copy of this arc.

[Emily (The Litertarian) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Looking for a book that hits on every hyper-zennial political and culture topic there is without actually giving any substance to any of it?

Man, I hate writing negative reviews, but this one was just.not.it.
I will give the two major trigger warnings for the book here so you don't have to read through the rest: miscarriage & extra-marital affairs.

The premise of When We Grow Up is a group of friends from childhood go on a vacation together just before turning thirty.

I was expecting it to be an exploration of deep humanity and how we grow and change and how things in our lives that seemed so foundational just don't make sense anymore. Instead we have a whiny narrator, Clare, who has major self-esteem issues and a group of friends who don't even like each other all that much (past or present).

Clare is floundering. She doesn't seem confident in any of the choices she's made in her life. She also doesn't seem close to any of these friends. It's a paradox that they know one another more deeply than anyone because of how much shame and humiliation they witnessed in each other growing up (inevitable in middle school), but they also know hardly anything about each other as an adult. They claim they're so close, but they almost never talk about anything personal. Everything is so damn surface level. Then when they finally do, it's like they could be talking about literally anyone.

I only know Clare by the choices she makes in the novel, and how self-critical she is. I don't really know a damn thing about her character. That's a problem.

I didn't like Jessie, the only other girl in the group (why are there so many girls on the cover?), and the boys didn't have enough personality to even tell who is who until far too late in the novel. There was a black one and a gay one, and I thought they were the same person for most of the book. We knew who Liam was because Clare is having an affair with him, which also irks me because she didn't seem to even know why, beginning, middle, or end. (I'm not even counting this as a spoiler since it is alluded to in the blurb).

The biggest problem was I didn't care. There was nothing interesting about the book except the first chapter. Their vacation in Hawai'i happens to coincide with the false missile alert that went out to everyone on-island in 2018. That happens on page one, and kind of explains the whole book. The characters are completely apathetic, even when they're warned they're about to die. This absolutely should have been a short story. It actually would have been an excellent short story.

I wanted to like a book like this. As I read I was hoping that things would shift and the insights would start bringing everything together in some profound way. Nope. Never happened. The only insight here is that Clare is unhappy and kind of judgy. In some ways it kind of felt disparaging toward the whole generation, which, for context, I am the same age as these characters. In 2018 I was turning 30.

Near the end, Jessie kind of confronts Clare by telling her being a boy's girl is essentially a fucked-up thing to be.

Ahem.

Like I said, this book was not for me.

Note:: This title was provided to me by the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Angie Miale · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️ another story in the collection about a group of friends turning 30.

Kept together due to shared history, and perhaps a sense of obligation, the six friends from school are all in Hawaii at the same time for a reunion. They have less in common than they used to, and they struggle with whether or not to maintain these friendships. In some ways, they know each other so much better than the people in their current day-to-day lives. In others, they are almost unrecognizable to their childhood friends.

This book has some beautifully constructed sentences, I know that there are going to be a few quotes that will be highlighted and re-highlighted by many who read this book. If you are at a crossroads in your life with your friendships, I’m sure that you will find a lot to relate to. The set up in the premise of being separated from their day-to-day lives while getting a breaking news alert that makes them think that their lives are completely threatened, brings to the surface how quickly we bounce back from thinking everything is over. Who are we really? Are you The core of the person that you were at 13, before you experienced the traumas and insecurities that you did? Is that who you really are? Or are you the composite of lived experience? Do these people know you better than others? Or less?

On audiobook, this was a little hard to follow, there are many characters and it became cumbersome to try and keep them separate, as they were all the same agent in the same friend group. The audiobook narrator is well acted, but it is not the kind of book that is necessarily meant for audio. From an accessibility standpoint, I do think that this would be fine, but personally, I found it difficult to follow the storylines Because there are so many characters and they can be similar.

The characters are relatively unlikable, which makes it difficult to become invested in their story. I do believe that the book asks, interesting and powerful question, and I really do appreciate the set up in premise. It’s not a long book, but it did seem to drag on as it was difficult to follow the time jumps into get into the characterization of all the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and McMillan audio for an arc of this audiobook to be released February 24, 2025.

#booksbooksbooks #bookstagram #booklover #arcreview #booktok #netgalley #bookrecommendations #WhenWeGrowUp

[The Bookish Elf · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Angelica Baker's sophomore novel "When We Grow Up," a group of friends approaching thirty gather for a vacation in Hawai'i, where the tropical paradise serves as both backdrop and contrast to their increasingly fraught relationships. Baker, whose debut "Our Little Racket" explored the aftermath of a financial crisis through multiple female perspectives, returns with a sharper, more intimate focus on the complexities of longstanding friendships and the painful process of maturing in a world that seems increasingly unstable.

Set over a week in January 2018, the novel follows Clare, a married writer who hasn't finished the novel she sold at auction, as she joins five high school friends: Renzo, the narcissistic center of their social circle; Kyle, the peacemaking rich kid; Mac, who's silently outgrowing the group; Jessie, obsessed with her new boyfriend; and Liam, with whom Clare begins a reckless affair. The trip is immediately disrupted by the real-life Hawaiian missile alert of January 2018—a false alarm, but one that forces the friends to briefly confront their mortality before retreating into their usual patterns of evasion and performance.

Relentless Self-Awareness Without Self-Improvement

What distinguishes Baker's novel is its unflinching portrayal of educated millennial self-awareness that never quite translates into meaningful change. Clare and her friends know exactly what's wrong with them—they constantly analyze their own behavior and motivations—but this knowledge doesn't lead to growth. Instead, they remain trapped in cycles of mutual antagonism and dependency.

This dynamic is best exemplified in Clare's relationship with Renzo, the gay man who has served as her confidant since adolescence. Their connection is defined by barbed affection, with Renzo frequently undercutting Clare's pretensions while she enables his worst impulses. During one particularly brutal dinner argument, Renzo tells her: "You're so proud of your own self-awareness...I liked you better, frankly, when you spent your days tap-dancing to avoid anyone realizing that your house didn't have a swimming pool. At least you weren't constantly keeping score."

Baker carefully unfolds the group's history through flashbacks to their teenage years in Los Angeles, revealing how their adult identities were formed in relation to one another. These sections are among the novel's strongest, capturing the potent mixture of competition, attraction, and performance that defines adolescent friendship groups:

"Renzo was the one person she never wanted to see that she was afraid. And here he is now, still doing the crossword, still reminding her how insufferable he finds her choices."

The Personal and Political Intertwined

The novel's political context—a year into the Trump presidency—adds an important dimension without overwhelming the personal drama. Baker shows how the friends' political posturing reveals more about their self-image than their actual commitments. During a heated argument about student protests and climate change, the characters talk past one another, each more concerned with demonstrating their moral superiority than engaging with the issues:

"If you're a selfish person, does it make any sense to trust that you'll one day be able to identify how it might feel, for once, to be unselfish?"

This struggle between self-interest and social responsibility extends to the characters' treatment of one another. Mac, the sole Black member of the group, delivers a devastating assessment of their friendship when he tells Clare: "I can never really just be when I'm with you all, and there's other good stuff, obviously, but it's still...there." His confession spotlights how even close friends can fail to recognize the full humanity of people they claim to love.

Prose That Cuts Like Glass

Baker's prose style is one of the novel's great pleasures—precise, witty, and unflinching. She has a gift for crystallizing complex emotional states in memorable phrasing:

"There is something almost delicious about watching Renzo and Mac align themselves against Jessie, against the man she's sleeping with. Clare cannot be the only one thinking this."

The novel particularly excels in its depictions of how people navigate social situations, constantly calculating how they're being perceived. During one beach scene, Clare observes: "She feels like she's watching it happen already. She feels like someone has helped her onto a train, she's realizing she has no way of speaking with the conductor, no say in the matter."

Strengths That Set "When We Grow Up" Apart

1. Character complexity - Each character contains multitudes, with even the most frustrating personalities revealed to have depths and vulnerabilities that explain, if not excuse, their behavior.

2. Dialogue that rings true - The friends speak in a shorthand developed over decades, full of inside jokes and charged silences. Baker never explains too much, trusting readers to intuit the subtext.

3. Emotional fearlessness - The novel refuses to look away from uncomfortable truths about how people use and hurt one another, particularly Clare's infidelity, which is neither romanticized nor overly condemned.

4. Structural elegance - Alternating between present-day Hawai'i and flashbacks to pivotal moments in Los Angeles, the novel gradually unveils the history that binds these friends together.

5. Social observation - Baker has a keen eye for the specific anxieties and contradictions of educated millennials: their tendency to intellectualize emotions, their paralysis in the face of climate change, their complicated relationship with privilege.

Areas Where the Novel Could Go Further

While "When We Grow Up" succeeds brilliantly on its own terms, some readers might wish for:

1. More resolution - The novel's ending, while emotionally truthful, leaves many storylines unresolved. This is clearly intentional but might frustrate readers seeking catharsis.

2. Deeper exploration of certain characters - Kyle remains somewhat underdeveloped compared to the others, and Geoff (Jessie's boyfriend) functions more as plot device than fully realized character.

3. Broader social context - While the novel touches on race, class, and politics, it could delve even deeper into how these forces shape the characters' lives and choices.

4. More moments of joy - The relentless examination of dysfunction, while compelling, occasionally feels overwhelming. A few more glimpses of genuine connection might have provided welcome contrast.

Final Thoughts: A Novel That Lingers

What remains with the reader long after finishing "When We Grow Up" is its emotional honesty about the gap between who we imagine ourselves to be and who we actually are. Clare's realization near the end captures this perfectly:

"Pose long enough as a novelist, as an engaged and devoted citizen of some wider community, as the sort of woman who acts. Pose long enough as a wife and eventually it will mean something in her bones, it will become her identity on a molecular level, she will not conveniently forget she's married one night when she's had too much to drink and feels lonely"

Baker's novel suggests that adulthood isn't about achieving perfect consistency between beliefs and actions—an impossible standard—but rather about acknowledging the messy contradictions that make us human. In an era that often demands performative virtue, there's something refreshing about characters who admit their own hypocrisy, even if they can't transcend it.

[Mackenzie Larochelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately this was a miss for me. Nothing really happened, there was a ton of conversation that seemed unnecessary. The first chapter was great and the plot could've been good but the story just fizzled after that

[Samantha Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spoiled, insufferable twenty-something’s reminisce about their college days together, in this eye-rolling bummer of a literary fiction. I couldn’t finish the audiobook, to be honest—the best part of the whole book was the first chapter, which I imagined was a masterful, tight short story that was forced into expansion.

[emily *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had very high hopes for this book but, i'm sad to say it just wasn't for me. the entire book is a bunch of thirty year olds staring drama and acting like teenagers and it just wasn't appealing to me. i liked the premise of the book but at the end of it i just didn't really care what happened.

thank you to the publishers and netgalley for the ARC!

[Zibby Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an electrifying novel about six longtime friends whose tropical vacation is interrupted by an unexpected crisis, forcing them to question how strong their bonds really are. Despite her seemingly perfect life, Clare feels something is missing, prompting her to reconnect with five old friends—Jessie, Mac, Kyle, Renzo, and Liam—on a trip to Hawaii. A dramatic false missile alert intensifies, forcing the friends to confront their hidden truths and vulnerabilities. This pivotal event acts as a catalyst for self-exploration, highlighting the fragile nature of friendship and personal growth.

The author skillfully portrays the shifting dynamics within the group, demonstrating how relationships evolve under the weight of expectations and unresolved past conflicts. The tropical paradise of Hawaii serves not only as a beautiful setting but also as a metaphor for the friends’ underlying struggles, contrasting surface beauty with inner turmoil. This thoughtful storytelling and prose make this an engaging read, offering profound reflections on navigating friendships, identity, and life's unexpected turns.

To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:
https://zibbymedia.com/blogs/transcri...

[Carolyn Shelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

An irritating cast of 30something friends have a reunion in Hawaii when bad news arrives. I just couldn't relate to any of it and gave up on finishing the book.

[Leslie - Shobizreads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished this audiobook and I regret spending my time listening to it. This is a very character driven novel which I sometimes like but this one was missing any growth. Unlikeable characters is one thing but no growth or change just drives me crazy.

This is about a self absorbed group of friends in their early thirties on a trip together and flashbacks to their younger years. Some of them are downright self destructive and mean, and for what purpose. I have no idea what conclusion I was meant to draw from this story.

Reminds me of Sally Rooney’s books.

Trigger Warnings: Infidelity, Miscarriage

[Igor DelRey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a premise that usually appeals to me: a literary fiction about a group of friends who get together on a vacation to reminisce about their younger days and stuff. This whole book is about conversations these friends have with one another. The reader learns how their friendship worked in the past and how it all led to the present days - and if it still actually works or not.
This book brings some relevant discussions that can be relatable to many readers, so it can speak personally to some readers, which is great and it makes the reading more fun and entertaining. What's more, in my opinion the writing is well done and decent enough to make all the conversations dynamic and easy to follow through.

On the other hand, if the reader cannot connect or relate to any of these friends, they might not enjoy this book.
This is a classic case of a book that will work for some readers and just will not work for others.
Personally, I enjoyed this book much more during the first half. I felt immersed in the narrative and the dynamic among those friends. I felt like I was watching (and listening to) from a distance a glimpse of these group of people's lives, and I was in for it. I wanted the gossip, the tea and everything.
However, in the second half the story takes a turn that did not please me at all. The characters started to sound way too whiny, melodramatic and they would rant about anything! I kept asking myself "wait...why are they still friends again?" Also, that conversation about "who wants to have sex with whom" was, to me, so unnecessarily boring. Unfortunately, the second half failed to hold my attention and interest entirely.

Yet, I could recommend this book to any readers who are into that 'slice of life' literary stories.
The audiobook, in my opinion, is the best part about this book: I found the narrator to be very good and even when the story was boring me, the narrator kept my attention. I'm pretty sure I would have DNFed this book if it weren't for this audiobook narrator. Highly recommend it.

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, for allowing me to listen to a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Missy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book #35 read in 2025

Clare and five friends head to Hawaii to celebrate their upcoming 30s. What follows is a story where not a lot happens to characters I didn’t connect with. I was excited to read this because I love stories where friend groups revisit their friendships and reconnect. However, this one didn’t really give us the glimpse into their lives I wanted.

Because I listened to this on audio, it was more difficult to follow the connections and stories. It also dragged on quite a bit and didn't really explore what it means to be a good person, which was touted as the novel's underlying theme. Unfortunately, this one was not for me.

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel was published on February 25, 2025.

[Christine M in Texas (stamperlady50) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six friends vacation in Hawaii together. Memories, self-doubt and challenging situations. Sometimes friendships aren’t meant to last forever. I enjoyed that the author did not stray away difficult conversations.

Thank you MacMillian Audio for this audiobook.

[Paige VK · Rating 2 out of 5]

what does it say about me that no matter the ratings, I am always going to read a book about childhood friendships falling apart

[callistoscalling · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mom always told my that 25 was the age that challenged her the most, worse than middle age. My life blew up in my late 30’s, losing both my mother and mother-in-law who were my best friends. Grief wrecked me and friendships that I thought would last forever did not make it through that difficult period. I always thought once you escaped adolescence, the growing pains of friendships were over but boy was I wrong. Angelica Baker beautifully explores the complex nature of adult friendships in her novel, When We Grow Up. And perhaps those lifelong friendships with layers of history are indeed the ones that feel those colossal upheavals as the decades pass and life gets HARD. This impeccably narrated audiobook is captivating and real, allowing the reader to really reflect on how to embrace those tough situations. At the end of the day, we’re all human and we make mistakes. Hopefully, we can do our best to right our wrongs, be kind, and surround ourselves with people who forgive us and inspire us to be the best version of us.

[Erika Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

I typically love books about friend groups working through struggles, but this one was kind of a miss for me. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I didn’t listen to the audiobook. There were a lot of characters to keep track of, and while I think the narrator did a good job overall, she doesn’t do much differentiating between characters. Also there is a lot of talking and not a lot of anything else. That isn’t inherently a bad thing; I like character driven stories, but I didn’t particularly like any of the characters. Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Angelica Baker for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Reagan Shrestha · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, sucked too much to give it 3
Book tries to be self aware but basically decides that you can judge random strangers for their decisions but it's okay when people you know personally are guilty of the same things. Idk why anyone in this book chooses to hang out together or why cheating on your husband was glorified.

[Emma Hempelmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although a little confusing at times I really liked how the author wrote the dialog. It felt chaotic and engrossing. This book really makes you question what good must be done to make up for our bad deeds.

[Maddison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm. I wanted to like this more than I did. The premise isn’t all that original, but some of the prose is really pretty. If I’d felt connected to even one character I think it would’ve been a much more enjoyable read.

I usually like books that tackle a group friendship dynamic but to me, this book stalled a little. People didn’t feel distinct enough and I didn’t feel like there was a unique element to this particular group. Ultimately I felt like I was entertained because I was able to simply tolerate the group.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[ella luna · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF half way through. so bad so boring so straight. hated it!

[Shelby]

DNF at 47%. I tried. I think if I was reading it on a beach and it was shorter, I could have loved it. Literary fiction following a group of friends in their early 30s.

[Allison Orszak]

DNF. 🎧 I found that if I was listening to the drama of rich twenty-somethings, I’d rather jump into another Magnolia Parks.

[Kelsey Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the kind of the story that either we have lived through aspects of it or know of someone who has. The vibes are very much “you are at a party and someone there knows you from years ago and keeps bringing up your dirt and gets offended if you ask them to stop”.

The story is about a group of high school friends who a decade plus later have a vacation together in Hawaii. After an almost near death scare- each of them reflects on what their friendships mean and how their lives are drifting apart despite their efforts to keep the status quo.

The audiobook made a dynamic read and I thought the narrator was really good. Definitely not a book I would be eager to read again, but I would recommend for fans of Claire Lombardo and Sally Rooney.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and to Macmillan Audio for the audio edition of this book!

Content: language, open door relationships, cheating

Publishes Feb. 25th, 2025

[Diane Wilkes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I often disagree with the majority when I read Goodreads reviews, so even if I had checked them before reading this, I might have ignored them.

Which, in this case, would have been a mistake.

I also almost stopped reading it soon after I started because it was just. so. bad.

But I didn't. Another mistake.

The premise is that a motley group of (private) high school friends are gathered at a luxury villa in Hawaii, celebrating the 30th birthday of Lorenzo. The lodgings are owned by the parents of Kyle, who. is one of the wealthier ones, but two of the friends, gay (Lo)Renzo and Clare, the ostensible, married protagonist, come from less financially rosy backgrounds. Add in handsome Liam, Clare's lover; Black Mac the doctor's son who is now an inspiring teacher; and Jessie, the lawyer who is less cool and more desperate than Clare and you have the basic, boring crew.

They are not very nice to one another, yet they all know (and point out) each other's flaws and high school faux pas. This book takes place during Trump's first Presidency, pre-COVID, and Clare the cool is a bit hot under the collar that her friends are not as politically active as she is. They see her as slightly hypocritical because she's having an affair even as she criticizes their lack of integrity--she thinks her sexual fling with Liam is a secret, but there are no secrets between these friends.

All of their issues are somewhat banal and none of them is particularly mature; when they spend time together, they especially revert to their less-formed, high school selves. The way Baker has them communicate is particularly vapid and unclear, in the argot of younger people who are unfamiliar with complete sentences.

One point that I found of value was how we tend to mentally exonerate our friends from behaviors we reject and scorn in others. I know I am guilty of this, and I am going to try even harder to employ objective judgments in the future.

But the story goes nowhere, the self-questioning (via Clare and such as it is) is lethally trite and shallow. Once you get to your sixties, ideally you stop judging yourself as a "good" or "bad" person based on every act you make and take. You accept yourself even as you never stop holding yourself to high standards, if only because you accept your own flawed humanity, as well as the equally flawed humanity of others. You recognize what you can and can't control.

This novel is peopled primarily with the unaware and the unkind. I wouldn't tolerate a moment with them, in Hawaii (not the correct, woke spelling, I know--the book uses the correct one), nor in a box nor with a fox. I would not spend time with them anywhere.

[Susie Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

{thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this audiobook}

This is the second book I've read in a row that compares itself to Fleishman is in Trouble. I didn't get that at all, though I guess it does ask some existential questions about life and marriage. However, I really did enjoy listening to this one and would definitely read more from the author.

The book begins with a group of now 30-year-old high school friends vacationing in Hawaii together when the false missile alert goes off (just like in 2018). It's a kind of wake up call for each person to wonder what they're doing there.

The book is mainly centered on Clare. Clare is the only member of her high school group who is married and she prides herself on being more adult than her friends. But it's clear that Clare is not totally happy with her life and maybe that's why she keeps returning to this group of old friends who have grown apart in many ways. Maybe too many ways? Throughout their week together, there are lots of revelations amongst the friends, several arguments and heated discussions, and much pontificating. We also get lots of flashbacks to their time in high school, so we can see what drew them all together in the first place.

This book comes at an appropriate time as some of it is focused on the political matters of 2018. No names are mentioned (that I recall), but it's clear they're discussing the president at the time and everything they talk about is once again very relevant. Though I'm older than 30, I also appreciated that the book brings up a lot about childhood friendships and their place in adulthood. Can it be enough that we were there for each other and one point in life and had good times together? Should we really try so desperately to hold on to lifelong friendships if we don't have much in common anymore? I feel like everyone goes through this at some point in their life.

Overall, I really enjoyed When We Grow Up!

[Brittany Zeoli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plot: a group of childhood friends who are now approaching 30 reunite for a weeklong vacation. An emergency early into their trip has them thinking about where their relationships with each other currently stand and how these relationships fit into their adult lives.

Characters: each character has their own distinctive voice, but the entire time I read this book I couldn’t help but wonder why any of these people were friends and how anyone could want to be friends with them. With the exception of maybe 1 character these were all totally unlikeable characters. For me it didn’t seem like any of these characters had any growth at all over the course of the week or since high school. And - even if they were in a different place as adults they reverted back to their immature horrible tendencies once they were all together.

Themes: growing up, friendships, privilege

Writing: pretty strong character writing and some funny moments but not a very strong plot. This book made me feel like I was on the vacation from hell because I was figuratively stuck with these insufferable people for a week. The timeline hops around a bit to give perspective into Clare’s history with the group when they were teenagers and how they relate to one another now.

This story will make you think about how childhood and adult friendships differ and ultimately how you can grow out of friendships as you grow up. I appreciated the perspective that it is important to not let nostalgia be the only thing that holds you together.

Narration: The narrator does a good job. None of her voices are too over the top but she still manages to give a different voice to each character. Good production.

I received an ARC of this audiobook from the publisher via l

[Bel lvndrgms3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in 2018, 6 30-something friends since high school are on vacation in Hawaii when the island receives an alert about an imminent missile threat that sets off a frenzy amongst them until it turns out to be a false threat. The damage is done as the event has made them question if these are the people they’d choose to be with when the world is ending.

I’m always interested in books about friendships especially the coming of age kind, but I found it hard to connect with this one. There’s a deep undercurrent of tension and hostility that repeatedly rises between the friends data after the threat is over. It made me wonder why they still hang out because in some ways they’ve outgrown each other. They continue to pigeonhole one other, and also want to break free from their assigned roles. Still I was compelled to stick with them because in their one-on-one moments when they’re not partying or drinking themselves into oblivion, they actually drop their facades temporarily. Powers had a challenge with the narration here because these characters are a lot! She did a good job with these flawed individuals.

Highlights:
🏖️ Dual timelines
🏖️ Best friends over the years
🏖️ Flawed characters, angst
🏖️ Set in Hawaii

Be aware of: cheating, discussions about racism and bigotry

I liked the premise, however I’m neutral about this one overall. One the one hand, I liked the author’s writing and descriptions. On the other, I had a hard time with the characters. Individually they’re okay. Together there’s so much angst which was off putting to me. Yet it has left an impression on me, and I know I’ll think of it occasionally, and come up with different takes on it as the story settles with me over time.

Thank you @macmillan.audio for this ALC in exchange for an honest review.

[Fallon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book follows six friends who are on a week-long vacation in Hawaii. They have been friends since middle school or high school and are all turning 30. The story begins when everyone receives messages about a missile striking Hawaii, prompting them to take cover. From that point on, the group reflects on their lives, discussing what makes a good or bad person, as well as topics like homophobia, racism, sexism, and politics, all while getting drunk or high for most of the story. There are also flashbacks that highlight pivotal moments from their childhood.

I find myself hovering on the line between liking and despising this book. While all the characters have faced difficulties, none of them are particularly likable. They repeatedly mention that they revert to childish behavior when they are together, and they seem unable to get along, constantly sniping at each other. Despite being lifelong friends, they claim they don't act this way around their "adult friends."

Although the book touches on many important topics, it does so in a manner that undermines their significance. There are moments of deep connection, but something usually happens to discredit those moments. The writing has its high points, and there are important discussions that deserve more depth and meaning. However, the book ends abruptly, leaving us without any sense of resolution. We witness this chaotic glimpse of their vacation, yet we are left wondering whether any of these characters grow up or change.

The pacing is inconsistent; some parts are wonderful and kept me engaged, while others dragged. The narrator did a fantastic job with the material she was given, keeping me interested even when I felt like giving up.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this book based on the compelling premise of a group of old friends getting together on holiday, when they get warning of an incoming missile. I loved the idea - one of my favorite novels is The Interestings by Meg Wollizer, so I supposed I had pretty high hopes going into it. I listened to it on audio, and was gripped for the first chapter or two. The narration was good, the writing was enjoyable, and the premise had me hooked. Some of the observations about people and the times were great - one of the reasons I enjoy a book.

However, the story lost my interest for a few reasons. I wasn't able to connect to the main character, and found her friends unlikeable. Unlikeable can definitely work for me, but somehow I want them to be aware of their failings, or for the narrator to give us some unique perspective on their unlikeabiility, through humor or sarcasm. I gave it a go, but the plot didn't move along quickly enough to hold my attention, and I didn't get a sense for how these characters were going to grow or change. I felt stuck, as they were on the island, and have to admit I didn't finish. Maybe this just wasn't the right time for me and this book, but we weren't a good match at this time.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to the advanced copy.