This is the follow-on book to The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, which I've been eagerly awaiting. While nothing can top Nina Hill, this certainly gave me all the warm fuzzies.

Laura Costello moved to LA to get away from her overprotective family and try to outrun her demons. But after a fire burns down her apartment, and everything she owns, she finds herself in a local bookstore where Nina pretty much adopts her (and recruits her for their trivia team).

At Nina's recommendation, Laura ends up moving into a room in a boardinghouse with a bunch of other people, one of which is the silent, brooding gardener...who happens to be scorching hot. Did I mention his name is Impossibly Handsome Bob?

Laura starts to rebuild her life, and question her motives for trying to run away in the first place. Turns out this adulting this is harder than it looks...but not impossible if you have the right support network.

There were definitely some challenging subjects in the book, but it was also warm, cozy, and all-round delightful. I quickly became obsessed by not only Laura and Impossibly Handsome Bob but all the supporting characters too—with their wonderful quirks.

I found this book incredibly boring. It was perfectly pleasant, but by the end I found myself simply wondering what the point was; none of the characters' lives or problems were particularly interesting.

As a rule, I enjoy books by Abbi Waxman. They are filled with quirky characters who create found families that find themselves in a compelling premise that keeps me interesting from beginning to end. Adult Assembly Required has two of these elements- quirky characters and a unique found family- but lacks the compelling premise. When I finished the book, I just felt as if nothing had really happened. I almost feel as if I read the backstory to a story I didn't get to read.

I have a problem with this book because I loved the cover, I loved what it planted in its synopsis, I love the trope of found-family and all, but the execution of the book left me wanting too much.

We have Laura, who a year ago had a car accident that almost killed her, left her with trauma from getting into a car, but also showed her what her vocation would be: to be a physical therapist. She has decided to move to LA to study for a postgraduate degree and start from scratch.

Problems? She has always been a girl from whom too much is expected because ALL her family are professors, scientists, scholars, so that was the path she was going to take and when she changed it, her family does nothing but criticize her, put down her decisions and tell her that is wrong.

She has an ex-fiancé who does nothing more than look for her but to convince her to "rectify" her life and stop "studying something stupid" because everything she does is wrong and due to the trauma of her accident, according to him. A complete jerk. In addition to this, Laura's building has just caught fire and she has been left on the street.

This is where the story begins: Laura comes to live in the house of an old lady who rents rooms to young people like her. There she meets three of the tenants and becomes close to Maggie, the owner. And well, until then, the premise promises me.

What was not good for me:

-There are so many characters that their individual stories fell short, a little was said about all of them, but none with depth, so it all felt very scattered, there was no clear plot thread.

-The romance has the cliché of "lack of communication" so intense, that it made me desperate. Also I didn't like at all that both characters have an "I'm ugly, I'm boring, I'm not worth it" complex, but at the same time, the guy is literally nicknamed "handsome Bob" and Laura when she puts on a bikini, the Others tell her what a goddess she looks like. That cliché of "I know I couldn't have a chance with him/her, he would never notice me" but they are both beauty type of models and without hesitation they notice each other, I don't like it at all.

-In some scenes the characters have zero empathy towards Laura despite claiming to be her friends.

-Things happen, but nothing happens, reiterating that in general it seems that there is not a plot per se, but many loose things that were put together chapter after chapter. There is no clear thread.

I found it extremely boring, I feel like it took me ages to finish it and I continued until the end because I waited until the last page for something to happen that would make me love it.

A fabulous trope, a poor execution.

However, I liked the protagonist, her personality, her reactions, her traumas, I think that everything about her is well treated, very realistic and I love her resistance and strength, her motivation to continue despite all her relatives telling her everyday that she is wrong.

I think some people can find this a really good book, but I'm not one of those people. Sad.

This books was delightfully charming, with a wonderful eclectic cast of characters, including some previously known from Waxman’s other works. Such a fun read.

This was the first book I’ve read by Abbi Waxman and it was really enjoyable. I found the pacing was a little bit odd - some parts seemed to have good momentum and then suddenly the story would really slow down. I really liked the focus that was put on the friendships Laura made, because I haven’t read many books that get into building new friendships as an adult. Despite dealing with deeper issues, it was a generally “feel good” story. There was conflict and resolution, but all the moments in between really make it shine.

How charming it is to return to the world of Abbi Waxman! By turns sweet and irreverent, this book had me laughing out loud and feeling ALL the feels! I just want to spend a Saturday afternoon with every member of this lovable and quirky ensemble cast! Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for my gifted ARC!

In Adult Assembly Required, Laura moves to LA for grad school. She brings a lot of baggage, the physical components of which go up in flames with her new apartment building. On the figurative end of that spectrum, she's struggling with two years of trauma following a brutal car accident, a complete lack of support from her family for the move and her choice of non-academic career (physical therapy-- soooooooo blue collar), and an ex-fiancee lingering in the periphery long after his expiration date. The fire is the last straw, and Laura's meltdown in a bookstore leads to a surprising offer of tenancy in a house full of delightful weirdos. The book features a very sweet and slow romance story that's all forced proximity pining and no spice. All the unsaid emotions between Laura and Bob stagnate and then resolve in a flurry at the final hour. The bulk of the plot is more focused on Laura acknowledging her mental health struggles coming from a family environment with little support for perceived weakness. She also makes friends and tries new activities, making the life she wants for herself and finding happiness along the way. This is by far the more compelling part of the story, in my opinion. Also, the author pens a bunch of cute, silly one-liners, and her humor was another aspect of the book I appreciated.

Beyond the very low-key nature of the romance plot, which wasn't offensive or cringe but just lacked spark, there were a few things that bothered me with the book. The main one is the villain, Laura's ex. He's cartoonishly misogynist and domineering, and he stomps all over Laura's conflict-avoidant self. Her family supports his cause to win Laura back, and her new friends in LA don't seem to pick up on his low caliber as a human once introduced. It bothered me that they ignored the warning signs with him despite their high visibility. It chipped into their credibility as supposedly empathetic and protective friends that they observe Laura's discomfort, his self-introduction as her fiancee when they know him to be her ex, and the snide ways he tears her down and invite him for dinner anyway. With Laura. In their home. I think it was just geared at creating a dramatic, tension-filled standoff with a full cast, but I didn't like the way it did so at the expense of consistent characters. Finally, there was a sentence that got under my skin about a side character, Anna. The author wants us to know she's ethnically Indian and goes about it in the weirdest way by saying her personality (or what Laura infers of her personality by looking at her face during one conversation) reminds Laura of other Indian people she knows. What the actual fuck. So you can tell someone's personality from their face, which is also a trait tied to ethnicity. Do I have all that right? Ugh.

So basically, this is women's fiction with a slice of low simmer romance plot. It's about creating your own expectations for life rather than following someone else's and taking chances on yourself. It's also about getting help when you need it, both from loved ones and from professionals. There were a couple key moments that ruined my enjoyment, and the humor and overall message weren't enough to save my overall opinion. Thank you to Berkley for my copy to read and review.

A fun book of self discovery and acceptance! Growing into he person you want to be. And also the growing pains of maturing!

This was a really well done read! Abbi Waxman has a way with creating characters that are so good and relatable you feel like you are in their shoes. Look forward to her next book!
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

I read and quite enjoyed Abbi Waxman's The Bookish Life of Nina Hill a few years ago, but upon picking up Waxman's latest novel, Adult Assembly Required, had no idea I was being transported back to Nina Hill's world! While not the subject of Waxman's new story, Nina features prominently as a supporting character to Laura Costello, a Los Angeles transplant who finds herself in the City of Angels by way of grad school and meets some colorful characters upon her arrival, one of which being the infamous Nina.

It should be said up front that the light-hearted and amusing Adult Assembly Required is essentially a book without a plot, or rather, a book without much of one. Instead, Waxman's novel reads like an offbeat independent film with a cast of quirky characters figuring out the big "life stuff" while cohabitating and communing together in a shared house. Narrated in an omnipresent style while jumping in and out of the heads of the many characters (at times, even the dog shares the spotlight), Adult Assembly Required is an introspective, reflective kind of novel that serves as a character study of a group of unconventional Los Angeleans more than anything else.

Readers who can see themselves in Waxman's characters are likely to be fans of this book about chosen family. The black sheep, misfits, and those who otherwise just don't generally fit in due to their idiosyncrasies will relate to Waxman's quirky crew and will feel at home in their witty world. Recommended to those looking for something a bit avant-garde and heart-warming.

Great read! Hard to put down, the characters are engaging and really draw you in. I wanted to keep following and get more involved in the story.

A young woman faced down death and now wants to take her life by the reins. But, with her anxieties, forceful relations, and a house fire that left her homeless, perhaps she needs a little help from new friends and time to get that adulting thing sorted.

Adult Assembly Required is a standalone women’s fiction with a healthy dose of humor that has ties with two of the author’s previous books, The Garden of Beginnings and The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.

Laura Costello wants to specialize in physical therapy, but her brilliant, driven scientist parents want more for her. After a car crash and breaking the engagement she had with a guy she’d known all her life, she determines to take her grad classes across the country in southern California and take some initiative of her own. Then, her apartment caught fire and she has to duck into a bookshop to get out of the pouring rain. She’s fighting PTSD and her anxieties since the crash. It there in Nina and Molly’s shop that her life takes a turn for the good though it takes a while for Laura to realize this for herself.

Molly gets her a place to live in the place she rents that is lovely, but a little sketchy legal-wise. Her fellow renters, a rather fun and quirky lot, become close friends and there is a tingling of attraction for ‘Impossibly Handsome Bob’ a quiet gardener who is gorgeous, but very down to earth and has his own life issues to get straight. She insists they are just friends since she needs to get her life squared away before she wants to attempt another relationship. Laura also finds a place on Nina’s trivia quiz team and learns to cope with her anxieties that were crippling, figure out relationships with found family and friends in the making, and go for her career dreams and not her family’s.

I enjoyed Adult Assembly Required and I was cheering on Laura as well as the others in their side stories. I loved getting a peek in with Nina and Tom as well as the fun surprise of the folks from Garden of Beginnings when Bob took her on a date to the garden.
However, I got distracted a few times and wanted to like it more than I did because the author’s writing style and characterizations have delighted me so much in the past. Partly, this was the way the story zipped from character to character at times so that I got lost like I can do in a real life crowd of people mingling and talking. And, I liked Laura, but just didn’t connect with her as much as previous book heroines.

All and all, though, the fun antics of this crowd of people and the sweet slowburn of Laura and Bob, and of course Laura coming into her own was an engaging and entertaining read. Those who enjoy the idea of women’s fic crossed with romcom should pick it up and give it a read.

Laura has only recently arrived in Los Angeles for graduate school when her apartment burns down. Her family and ex-fiance are already convinced she’ll fail here, but after two incredibly hard years she’s determined to stick it out on her own. Which is perhaps why she has just agreed to accept an invitation to move into a house from a woman she only met a few minutes ago. But if moving in with a kooky collection of strangers was an impulsive move, it is also a brilliant one. Before she knows it, Laura is building a life in LA - a life with friends, long swims, conquering fears, thrift store attire, community dinners, trivia team victories, and learning to stand up for herself. Oh, and falling in love with her very hot and quiet neighbor across the hall, Bob…

Abbi Waxman has an easy, breezy feel that makes her books, including this one, and a gift for creating characters who leap off the page with delightful, winsome kookiness. I would happily have read a book about each of them! However, this novel suffered from a constantly shifting POV (sometimes for a single sentence). It made it much harder to develop a sense of Laura as a character and slowed the chemistry between her and Bob considerably. Ultimately this just fell a little flat for me, even though this was a fun and easy breezy read.

This book was a DNF. Which was disappointing since I like the author's previous book. There was too many characters and it was hard to follow at times, like the story didn't know where to go.

A swing and a miss! I feel terrible giving this such a low rating as I have never given Abbi Waxman less than 4 Stars prior to this latest release, but in all honesty I would have rounded down to 1 rather than up if it weren’t for those previous experiences.

The story here is about all of the inhabitants of a “share house” of sorts with a bunch of tenants who rent rooms from the owner of a big ol’ house in Los Angeles. What it all boils down to is these aren’t people I would want to be friends with and I never connected with the story whatsoever. I am not an avid gardner (pretty much the opposite with a certified black thumb), I am not a bird lover (seriously – New Yorkers who love pigeons??? Rats with wings!), I have less than zero interest in droning on and on about all things kinesiology. Heck, they even managed to ruin barroom trivia! And having Nina Hill pop in proved that magic might only strike once because she wasn’t nearly as enjoyable this second time around. Frankly, all the characters and the never-ending dialogue regarding the above-referenced subjects and more all bored me to tears and yet was simultaneously exhausting. I could never have survived in a room with these rapid talking, stream of consciousness conversation having extroverts. Not to mention the unforgiveable. All of this worthless knowledge being spewed about and the supposed baseball superfans called umpires “referees.” Referees????? But membrane transport systems just rolled off the tongue. Nope.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

Happy rom-com about finding one's chosen friend-family set in the "Nina Hill" universe. This is a stand-alone book, but readers will enjoy seeing some favorite characters from The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. Lots of possibilities for further books involving this delightful, quirky cast of characters.

Perfect for someone looking for a light, funny, closed door, new adult, escapist rom-com. Reminded me a bit of Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin.

This started ok, but about midway, I lost interest. I did finish it tho but I felt like the book lost its track.
I felt like the characters, who were supposed to be in their 20s, were living like they were old and affraid. I needed something more from them!

Unfortunately this title never gained enough of my interest for me to finish it. I appreciate the opportunity.

I wasn't sure if like this book because I knew it had many characters. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this. I mean all the characters main or supporting played a important part in this stories success,

Laura is looking for change. Sihex been in a accident that's chmzged her life phaucizlly and mentally. She needs to leave her family and her life I'm New York behind, the start to that life I'm LA has taken a to my start.

This is where she meets friends that help her heal and importantly handsome bob who despite he's good looks is shy and sometimes awkward.


Reading these two navigating each other and life was surprisingly awesome. I loved Bob's shyness cause not all guys are super confident.

You go girl is how I felt about Laura healing journey. Putting her feelings and thoughts first wax key. Then wwgkt the added benefit of Polly, Nina and other interested stories.

I loved that they all had there pov mixed into it all..

YES this was a romance but it was about a group of people navigating adulthood at many different stages