Adult Assembly Required
Abbi Waxman
Synopsis: When Laura Costello moves to Los Angeles, trying to escape an overprotective family and the haunting memories of a terrible accident, she doesn’t expect to be homeless after a week. (She’s pretty sure she didn’t start that fire — right?) She also doesn’t expect to find herself adopted by a rogue bookseller, installed in a lovely but completely illegal boardinghouse, or challenged to save a losing trivia team from ignominy… but that’s what happens. Add a regretful landlady, a gorgeous housemate and an ex-boyfriend determined to put himself back in the running and you’ll see why Laura isn’t really sure she’s cut out for this adulting thing. Luckily for her, her new friends Nina, Polly and Impossibly Handsome Bob aren’t sure either, but maybe if they put their heads (and hearts) together they’ll be able to make it work for them.
My Rating: 4.25 stars – rounded to 4 stars.
Cover 3; characters 5; plot 3; pace 5; writing 4; enjoyment 4; cry *
My Review: While ADULT ASSEMBLY REQUIRED didn’t knock me completely off of my feet like Nina Hill, I still found it quite enjoyable! Also, please note that this book contains characters from both The Bookish Life of Nina Hill and The Garden Of Small Beginnings. While not necessary to read, you will spoil yourself if you read them out of publication order.
For me, Waxman’s character work is fantastic. She really knows how to get into the flaws of her characters and show us how they grow as people. I’ve always been able to find at least one person that I can identify with or something that has a similar struggle to myself and I definitely left this book, much like it’s predecessor, feeling a little lighter.
I don’t know that there was a whole lot of plot here, and that, for me is where this book didn’t life up to TBLONH. I’m not sure what the end goal was other than Laura leaving behind her trauma and figuring herself out. Which on it’s own is fine, but there was quite a large cast of characters and I think maybe there was just a little too much going on for any one thing to feel like it was a major plot thread.
Overall, I had a great reading experience and I’m hoping for a Polly book in the works!
I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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To see more of my reviews, head over to the reviews page on my website.