Enjoyable read touching upon numerous, very timely social issues. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

<i>All Adults Here</i> focuses on the Strick family; the matriarch Astrid who is perceived by her adult children as being cold and aloft; Porter (the only daughter) Elliot (the oldest son) and Nicky (the youngest son and only one to move away from his family and whose daughter Cecelia comes to live with Astrid after an altercation at at her previous school). After Astrid witnesses a neighbor get hit and killed by a bus, it causes her to question not only her relationship with her children but also the idea of honesty and being herself. 

One of the ideas that runs through Emma Straub's books is that the kids are okay. I've read all of her novels, and with all the worrying that society seems to do about teenagers, millenials, etc. Straub's young characters are always the ones that come across as empathetic, compassionate, and more self aware than the adults. <i>All Adults Here</i> is no exception to that rule. While the adults are at times unlikeable (Straub excels at creating unlikeable characters that you still feel compassion for), the teenagers in her novels are some of her best characters because they are adaptable, understanding and less jaded than their adult counterparts. 

As always, I'm excited to read what Straub does next.

Thank you NetGalley and Riverhead Books for the ARC of the book.

The premise of this novel is that an adult woman witnesses something traumatic that causes her to reflect on all the wrongs she committed as a parent. That plot line wasn’t really evident throughout. The accident that Astrid witnesses isn’t really explored, her relationship with the victim isn’t really believable, and the “wrongs” she committed against her children weren’t really stated beyond the everyday decisions and statements that we all second guess in hindsight.

Breezy novel that introduced several topics that would have made a good enough novel on their own. Widowhood, bisexuality, trans identity, fertility, not wanting to have children, alcoholism, addiction and of course dating and marriage. All of this and more from a codependent family where topics are raised and then abandoned only to move on to the next character and their particular problem. Very hard to stay interested with so much going on at once.

This was the first title I've read by Emma Straub. She definitely has a great writing style and able to tell the stories of each character well. The story involved family drama with the many character story lines to follow but it kept my interest and was not too difficult to follow. I plan on reading past work by this author and look forward to reading future as well.

Oxford defines “adulting” as “the practice of behaving in a way characteristic of a responsible adult, especially the accomplishment of mundane but necessary tasks.”
.
E.G. spending peak sun hours with a baby monitor in the shade.
.
Fortunately, those hours pass quickly with @emmastraub’s gorgeous, warm new novel. I loved the Strick family, with all their flaws and honesty and messiness. Straub writes various characters’ thoughts so seamlessly that I at once inhabit and know them all — and love them for it. It’s also especially poignant as the mom of young kids to read matriarch Astrid’s grappling with her parenting mistakes now that her children are grown.
.
“People without children thought that having a newborn was the hardest part of parenthood, that upside-down, day-is-night twilight zone of feedings and toothless wails. But parents knew better. Parents knew that the hardest part of parenthood was figuring out how to do the right thing twenty-four hours a day, forever, and surviving all the times you failed.”
.
Thank you to @netgalley and @riverheadbooks for the copy. (And thank you to @vtechtoys for making a baby monitor I can travel with lol.) ❤️📖 Pre-order for when it’s out in May!
-Asher

I LOVE Emma Straub and this book was so wonderfully written. The intertwining family stories held up and I loved the realistic family secrets. I also loved the handling of the coming out of August/Robin and appreciated the author's handling of delicate moments with grace. Absolutely loved it!

The Strick Family mostly lives close to where they grew up in the Hudson Valley: Mama Strick, Astrid, her daughter, Porter, and Elliot. Nicky moved to New York and, after a few successful roles in films and television, mostly hangs out and smokes weed with his buddies. Clapham, the town they live in, is small, and everyone knows everything, even things that folks are positive they have kept private about themselves.

The fun of this new novel comes in when secrets unfold, and both adults and teenagers make life-changing decisions. On the surface, the Stricks represent the best of Clapham, but things begin to change when Nicky's daughter Cecelia arrives in town as a punishment for being expelled from her Brooklynn school. Cecelia soon finds a good friend in August, and together they shake things up a bit.

I loved the various hijinks, stunts, and secrets revealed as the story progressed. ES has a gift for exposing the soft spot in characters who think they are fooling the world with their most secret inner selves. I found this novel to be entertaining, and full of advice on how to live an honest life, embracing family as close as you can get them to love and love you back.

Thank you, Emma Straub, Riverhead Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC of All Adults Here. I have read all of Emma Straub's books and All Adults Here is my favorite so far. The Strick Family - mom Astrid, her three adult children, Elliott, Porter and Nicky - make for some great, fun reading. I really cared about this family and enjoyed their way of working things out or not. When Astrid's granddaughter, Cecilia, is sent to Astrid's home to live for a year, due to some problems in school, the story takes off. Elliott and his wife, Wendy, have twin terror boys, Porter is pregnant by a sperm donor and Nicky, Cecelia's dad, is just as carefree and happy as ever, while doing what he thinks is best for his daughter. Astrid, a widow, finds true love in the most unexpected place and the death of a long time acquaintance brings some of the past to life. I wanted to read this story much for quickly than I did because I was so involved with the characters, but with work and the holidays, I had to put it aside. Now that I finished All Adults Here, I'm very much looking forward to Emma Straub's next book and am considering going back and reading some of her others.

If you enjoyed The Dearly Beloved or The Other's Gold last year, or any really character driven novel really, All Adults Here if you for you! One of Emma Straub's best. You will absolutely find something about this family that relates to something about yours.

Coming back to your hometown to live as an adult creates some interesting situations -- some funny, some challenging. This author has a wonderful way of exploring what it is like to really grow up, no matter how old you are. Loved this book and am looking forward to recommending it to a wide variety of readers. Of all Emma Straub's books, this one is by far the best.

I LOVED this book. A lovely and honest look at family and all the way they love us and mess us up at the same time. The writing is lovely and both laugh out loud funny and will make you catch your breath with emotion. Recommend.

I liked the multigenerational plot, well-drawn characters and wry sense of humor here. But I wasn't that compelled by the mundane issues they were dealing with, so I found it hard to get to the end. Enjoyed set pieces like the death that opens the novel and the parade towards the end.

Unfortunately had to DNF this one at around 40%. I've struggled through two other titles by Straub, and was optimistic that this premise would make this text much more compelling than her past books. However, I continued to struggle to connect to and invest in her character's issues, and wish the focus was on the much more interesting minor characters.

Darn, this one started out good for me. I was really into it, I love a good family saga/drama where we follow all of the characters into the past and the present to see where they have been and where they are headed. I recently read Lombardo's "The Most Fun We Ever Had" and loved it.  This one gave me that great vibe to start, but then it screeched to a halt for me when the author literally threw every current "issue" at the wall.  Transgender rights, A late in life lesbian, cyber bullying, etc.... the list goes on and on.  That is when it lost me.  Well written, but not for me. I just can't suspend my disbelief enough to follow one small family dealing with seemingly every hot button issue in America.  This author always quotes musicians that I love (Built to Spill, Pavement, the Mountain Goats) so I keep coming back hoping to really love the next book.  I am sure many will love this book.

This was entertaining, though there was definitely zero plot. (I mean, maybe a minuscule plot. Hard to find. Need a magnifying glass.) I think it's a big of a set-piece. A truly enjoyable one, though! I will have NO trouble at all handing this to patrons looking for beach reading in 2020, I'll tell you what.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC! 

This book, like all of Straub’s books, was a delight. She has a knack for creating flawed, believable characters that the reader can’t help but fall in love with. August/Robin was my favorite character out of any book I have read in quite awhile. I would gladly read a sequel just about how his life plays out.

I had liked previous books by this author (Modern Lovers, The Vacationers) and I thought this multi-generational family drama set in the Hudson Valley would be right up my alley. Unfortunately the author piled on one trope after another in rapid succession (the flakey son, the gay parent, the transgender child, cat fishing, teen bullying and on and on). You can skip this one.

As individual lives begin to face massive changes the family is forced to find ways to function as a family of adults. Can they put away the expectations and resentments from childhood and become a supportive family of adults?

At first glance this looks like a novel about a family in crisis, but as I read and peeled back the layers, it was apparent that Straub used the Strick family as a vehicle to explore 21st century life, sexuality and changing mores.  

The author cleverly inserts family members in turmoil as they confront unmarried pregnancy via a sperm bank, bullying, internet dangers, gender dysphoria and lesbian love. Yet, none of this seems forced or outrageous. Straub manages to have the family going through these changes and beautifully choreographs their coming together to unite in understanding as a reaction to these changes. 

The catalyst for the novel is the removal of Ceceilia from her Brooklyn home to her grandmother in a more rural environment. She was forced to leave because of a bullying incident, caused by inappropriate interactions on the internet. The story moves on from there as her grandmother, family members and friends face their own crises. 

I can actually share this and plan for discussions around each of decisions and issues that are presented. Obviously, I really enjoyed this modern take on family drama. 

Thank you Netgalley for this interesting read.