Today I am excited to be featuring the book Adult Assembly Required by Abbi Waxman on the Blog Tour hosted by Berkley Publishing. This post contains affiliate links, so if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.
About The Book:
Title: Adult Assembly Required
Author: Abbi Waxman
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Berkley, 5/17/22
Source: Publisher
My Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
A young woman arrives in Los Angeles determined to start over and discovers she doesn’t need to leave everything behind after all, from Abbi Waxman, USA Today bestselling author of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
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.
My Review:
Having really enjoyed The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, I was excited to hear that this book takes place in that same world and Nina is a featured character. This book is about Laura, who moves to L.A. from NYC in order to start over. She ends up at Nina’s bookstore and is taken in by Polly, who helps her find a place to live – in a house that is divided up and inhabited by the most interesting people you could imagine. They are all so quirky! There were parts that had me laughing out loud as well as rolling my eyes at how quirky these people are.
Although Laura is the main character, there is an omniscient narrator who describes everyone’s thoughts, shifting viewpoints often, and even personifying the household dogs. The viewpoint shifts could be disconcerting at times, but I didn’t mind overall.
Laura is dealing with PTSD after a car accident and is scared to drive or even be a passenger in a car. Part of the story is her working through this fear, as well as how her relationship with Bob helps her do so. This was a sweet aspect of the book.
I wrote down the following quote: “‘I thought being a grown-up meant not needing help with anything.’ ‘No,’ said Nina, ‘being a grown-up is accepting help when you need it.'”
If you liked Nina Hill or enjoy quirky characters, definitely check this one out.
