Adult Assembly Required

By: Abbi Waxman

Narrated by: Emily Rankin

“Abbi Waxman is both irreverent and thoughtful.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Giffin

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 best-selling 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.

©2022 Abbi Waxman (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Abbi Waxman explores the challenges of adulting in her warmhearted fifth novel, Adult Assembly Required. … With heart and humor, Waxman sensitively explores the challenges of leaving the nest while still loving your family, as well as learning to set clear boundaries and ask for help—sometimes in the same moment. …[A] witty, hopeful celebration of courage, community and spreading one's wings.”
—Shelf Awareness, (starred review)

“Abbi Waxman’s intrepid heroine has to find herself before she can find love in the heartwarming and hilarious Adult Assembly Required. ...the slow burn between Laura and Bob contributes to its witty, feel-good vibe. Fans of Waxman will recognize several of the wonderful supporting characters, and readers new to her work will want to pick up her backlist after devouring this delightful novel.”
—Washington Independent Review of Books

“Waxman has a talent for creating familiar characters who are flawed in all the ways many of us are but didn't know anyone else was. ... Waxman nimbly describes the normality of anxiety, and readers can count on her to provide comfort and feel-good smiles. Readers of Emily Henry, Linda Holmes, and Beth O'Leary will be delighted.”
—Booklist

I love this world

I love how well Abbi Warman has woven her stories throughout this world. I honestly didn't even connect Bookish Life and Gardens until this book. It was like a light bulb went off and I was more invested than ever! the author has a wonderful balance of keeping each book independent and authentic but still involving the characters we love. Also, the narration is wonderful!

Loved It !

This book was amazing! I have read two more of Abbi’s books since reading this one and have loved them all

Didn’t like it as much as her other books

I didn’t get the same sense of the characters in this books as the others. Neither the story or the characters seemed as well developed.

cute and an enjoyable story

Laura Costello feels her life is a mess. In a decision to rectify this situation Laura uproots herself and moves to Los Angeles in hopes to leave behind … the panic attacks, the bad memories of a horrific car accident, a family that are overprotective and don’t approve of her attending grad school for PT and let’s not forget the overbearing ex-fiancé. Thing are not out great the flat Laura rented was located in the apartment build that just burnt down .. the good news with the help of newly made friends Laura snags a room in a slightly illegal rooming house with lots of fun eccentric friends. With the help of people like Maggie, Anna, Libby, Nina Hill, Liz, Polly, Asher and “Impossibly Handsome Bob” Laura learns how to be true to herself.

Overall, I thought the story was a cute and an enjoyable story about a young woman overcoming challenges past and present, putting her on a path for the life she wanted while dealing with a strained relationship with her parent and making new friends that were there for Laura to learn on for support. The characters are quirky, fun, and sometimes act a little too much like a teenager.

So why only three stars … I just was not as captivated and charmed with Adult Assembly Required as I was for The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. I found that at times it fell flat and a tad to drawn out especially Laura and Bob’s relationship which moved very slow. I did find the ending was rushed giving Laura and Bob their HEA, a resolution to Laura strained parental relationship but most annoying was the continuous changing of POV.

This was an audiobook narrated by Emily Rankin and was as enjoyable as the previous Abbi Waxman novel. Since I do enjoy this author, I think my next book by this author will be The Garden of Small Beginnings.

Sweet story

I liked listening to this sweet story of friendship that happens to Laura Costello just when she needs it most. After her apartment building of 1 week has a fire, Laura must find a new place to live in Los Angeles, a new city to her when she moves there for graduate school. Luckily, she seeks refuge in a bookstore where one of the employees takes Laura home to the house where Laura becomes a renter and meets many new friends.

Good read

I've been reading everything Abbi Waxman has to offer and this, her most recently released book, is the total package. She now writes with ease and familiarity yet retains a fresh and lively point of view. Her pacing for this story of quirky characters was well done and she didn't seem to rush the ending as I have commented on in my reviews of some of her other books. This would be a great book club book as there are lots of things to reflect on as we all live our own messy lives. Left me hoping for a "next book"!

Exceeded expectations

Solid book about women and life and a bit of love. Nice, comforting and easy to listen to.

Read it 3 times so far!

I love this story! Kind of a sequel to The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, my all time favorite book. The characters are so relatable. I’d love to live in Maggie’s house and work in the bookstore!

lotta words to get to a love story

Performance is excellent. The buildup to a romance takes way too long. One lucky gal that everything went her way,except for the fire

Soporific

DNF because in the first chapter the author introduced too many characters, not one of which was even slightly interesting, while the droning narrator lulled me into a coma.