Title: Adult Assembly Required

Author: Abbi Waxman

Publisher: Berkley 2022

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 374

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

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.

This sorta sequel to The Bookish Life of Nina Hill fell a bit flat for me. There’s something about the frantic/manic writing style of Waxman that started to annoy me at the pages went on. I tired so much after so many abrupt transitions and quirky writing. And then we get to the characters and I just wasn’t connect with any of those at all. It felt like we were trying to create stereotypical or even cartoon characters instead of real people. It just wasn’t believable as a group of real friends. In the end everything came together with a neat little bow and I just didn’t buy it at all…

Next up on the TBR pile: