I loved Waxman’s previous book and was thrilled to see some of its characters make their way into her latest read. This was such a unique and warm-hearted story- I loved the eclectic bunch of characters whom were so very different from each other, they were the perfect blend.

I really appreciated the references to mental health, and the authors mission to normalize it in her fictional writing. The message of adulthood not meaning we have it all figured out was well written and thoughtfully played out.

The romance was very subtle and sweet, and while I would have liked a little more, it suited the characters. I’d love to see a sequel to this book and see where this group goes next!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for my review copy.

I have to begin my review with my praise for Abbi Waxman. Her writing is so refreshing. Her tone is so easy and funny, and her characters are so well thought out. I have so much respect for her as a writer.

However this book was hard to read. It has some issues with pacing as well as a very unique POV switch every paragraph or so.

Here's what I liked:
-Laura's attitude towards starting over
-POLLY. SHE'S A STAR.
-The house and the roommates
-Nina's advice for Laura
-Lili and Edward's appearances
-The timing. This book doesn't happen over a few days or weeks. It's months. Slow burn.
-POSITIVE THERAPY REP!!! Yaaaas!!!

Here's what I didn't love:
-The pacing. This book doesn't have much substance until 70% where you get a clear idea what needs to happen to achieve that HEA.
-The amount of POV switches. It was so confusing to get flip flopped around so much
-The amount of "page time" Nina gets. I loved her in her own book but it's as if I can tell that the author likes Nina more than the intended mc of this book, Laura.
-The length. It just seemed so long. It was really hard to get through.
-Unnecessary Harry Potter references 🥴

Even though I had a few gripes, I know I'm going to be thinking about and missing these characters this week as I move on.

I enjoyed Abby Waxman’s The Bookish Life of Nina Hill so when asked to review her newest release about Laura Costello and her journey of self-discovery—that included Nina and her trivia team—I jumped at the chance.

I expected another quirky but relatable lead who had some growing up to do but this story was clunky and lacked all charm.

The multiple point of views was jarring. One paragraph to another was different and I considered giving up after three pages. I guess it was going for third person omniscient, but I felt confused. If you can’t tell who the MC is right away, it’s not a good start. I never connected with Laura or the cast of characters.

At least I learned that Nina and Tom are still together.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on May 17th, 2022.


Abbi Waxman consistently writes books that make me laugh out loud, and fall in love with the characters, and Adult Assembly Required is no different.

I was so excited to be back in Nina Hill's world and the new characters are just as amazing and lovely as all the ones before. This fun, light, and heart warming story was a delight to read! I couldn't put it down, but I also wanted it to never end.

ADULT ASSEMBLY REQUIRED is a delightful return to L.A.'s Larchmont neighborhood starring Nina Hill of, The Bookish Life Of Nina Hill, book one fame. This time around Laura Costello ditches her suffocating fiance' and over-bearing parents to pursue a career in the field of physical therapy. After a debilitating car accident left her traumatized and learning how to walk again, she moves to L.A, in the hopes of forging a new life, go to grad school and heal her mind, body and spirit. Her science-oriented family aren't happy about her chosen occupation along with her ex-fiance'. It's her life, she is an adult and it's her prerogative to decide what she wants to do. Within days of living in L.A., her apartment complex catches on fire. Sorely crestfallen, she is currently without digs and her belongings. What is she going to do?

Fate plants Laura at the right place and time. After walking through town to sooth her soul, she gets caught in a rainstorm. She bursts into the warm haven of a bookstore and meets Nina and Polly. Laura hesitantly shares her dilemma and Polly finagles a room at a beautiful old house, where she and Nina live. It is owned by a lovely older lady named Maggie. Laura is introduced to Bob who lives there also. Bob catches Laura's eye, as he is outrageously handsome. Although, Laura is determined to focus on grad school and adapting to life on her own. She becomes good friends with Maggie, Nina, Polly and Bob. She is encouraged by their kindness and encouragement to slowly overcome her panic attacks about being in a car. Laura shyly enters a friendship with Bob who only has eyes for her. They develop intense feelings for one another, but remain on friend terms only. Everyone in the house can see how attracted they are to one another. Will they ever take the next step, date and become a couple?

ADULT ASSEMBLY REQUIRED is charming, gratifying and engaging. I loved every single character and their eccentricities. It was like walking into a bar where everyone knows your name! The story puts you at ease from the first page reading about the obstacles Laura has to overcome. This story is beautifully light, fluid, witty, funny, with many deep conversations. Laura's new close friends help her recover and find inner strength along the way, with a burgeoning romance with a handsome hunk at its core. Ms. Waxman's delightful new story warmed my heart thoroughly. ADULT ASSEMBLY REQUIRED is totally irresistible!

Thanks to NetGalley for access to an advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is classic Abbi Waxman banter mixed with callbacks to The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, massaged into a new contemporary that will make you smile. We follow Laura, a physical therapist new to LA, who moves into a co-op after a breakdown in a bookstore. Here we meet a giant cast of characters, including impossibly handsome Bob. I loved the match between Laura and Bob - a PT and a gardener doesn't make sense in the conventional romance, but here it was all coming up roses. While this book is certainly uplifting, it's not without tough topics. We discuss toxic relationships, PTSD, and more, all within what feels like a safe space. I'd recommend this book to anyone who needs a pick-me-up and loves a PoV that allows you to be in everyone's head at once.

*Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review*

I'm always a fan of Abbi Waxman books but this latest one kind of dragged for me. Wish I remembered more about the characters in her previous novels I would have appreciated it more:) They all rang a bell but other than Nina Hill I only had the vaguest recollection of other story lines.

I am a Book - lover and so enjoyed all the fun little references to books I’ve enjoyed over the years!
Laura comes to LA to make a fresh start and only as she discovers her new housemates does she start to learn things about herself. As a character I loved how down to earth, normal and realistic she is. She reveals her anxieties and deals with them honestly throughout the book, all the while getting her new life started. I love that she and Bob are friends first and then begin to discover other feelings. It’s a fresh take without the added pressure of sex and over-descriptive love scenes ….refreshing to read!
Thank you you Net Galley for the advanced read!

The fac that she calls him Impossibly Handsome Bob was a little cringy to me, but this book is really fun to read! Honestly the perfect guilty pleasure book.

Fans of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill will be thrilled to revisit L.A’s Larchmont Village neighborhood and become reacquainted with that titular heroine and her bookstore co-workers in this new book of women’s fiction. Yes, there’s a very slow-burn love story (actually two), but it’s more about found family and friendship.

Laura Costello leaves her home and ex-fiancé in New York City to attend grad school for physical therapy in L.A. Her family of hardcore science academicians has never hidden their disappointment over her decision to forge a new path, and are convinced that she is too fragile due to her PTSD following a serious car accident and long recovery. However, her mother’s heavy-handedness and her controlling ex-fiancé’s unwillingness to accept her rejection and his insulting infantilization of her only serve to strengthen her resolve.

Following a fire in her new apartment building, she find herself in Knight’s bookstore (co-owned by Nina Hill). Serendipitously, sales clerk Polly hooks her up with a room rental in the house where she lives and, as time goes on, she grows to care about Maggie, her landlord and house mom, and Bob, her handsome housemate. Over the course of the summer, while waiting for her classes to begin, she cultivates friendships with Nina and Polly, joins Nina’s trivia team, and with Bob’s encouragement, kindness, and patience, slowly begins to overcome her trauma-induced panic over driving and her reticence about entering a new relationship. Will either of these two awkward friends ever find the courage to acknowledge the attraction that everyone else sees?

The biggest lesson Laura learns is that everyone has fears and personal issues that can hold them back from falling in love, forging new career paths, mending relationships with close family members, and more. However, her new chosen family helps her see that her inner strength not only aids her recovery but also provides the support her friends need to heal their own hurts, chase their dreams, and take a chance on love.

The only disappointment is the lack of any sexual tension between Laura and Bob. Their friendship is enviable, but aside from a couple of kisses and countless longing glances, there’s no heat. It would have been much more satisfying had Waxman used her epilogue to give readers the satisfaction of seeing the relationship ignite. Despite this, it’s a delightful story with very likable characters, satisfying subplots, glorious gardens, a plethora of books, and the unique idiosyncrasies of Los Angeles. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Berkley Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Fans of Nina Hill rejoice! Abbi Waxman books are an auto-buy for me, so I picked this one up without much attention paid to the plot or setting. Image my delight when Nina Hill and the Knights bookstore gang from "The Bookish Life of Nina Hill" make an appearance! And then my further delight when Impossibly Handsome Bob from "The Garden of Small Beginnings" shows up!

Laura Costello is trying to put as much space as possible between herself, a failed relationship, an overbearing family, and the memories of a traumatic accident, but moving to the opposite coast and trying to reinvent herself in Los Angeles isn't going particularly smoothly. There's the fire in her apartment building and her subsequent homelessness for one. And the fact that you can't really ignore and outrun traumatic memories for another. And THEN the ex shows up. Lucky for Laura, and for us, she wanders into a particular bookstore and the lives of a quirky group of housemates who figure out this whole adulting thing together. Well, maybe not the whole thing. Some solid parts of it anyway.

There's plenty of Waxman's trademark good humor, kindness, and wit in this romance-adjacent feel-good read.

This book, set in the same universe as The Bookish Life of Nina Hill (one of my favorites), was a delight. The story centers on Laura, who is new to Los Angeles, and happens upon the bookstore and it's inhabitants on a truly terrible day. The women of the bookstore adopt her, find her a place to live, and give her new friendships, hobbies, and passions, while helping her learn about who she truly is away from her family.

My absolute favorite part was the quirky, small-town vibe, even set in the big city of L.A. The supporting characters were charmingly eccentric, all in their own ways. I'm hoping we get more of this universe in future Waxman works.

I really liked the Bookish life of Nina hill, so I was quite ecstatic for this one and it honestly didn’t disappoint. It was all fun, absolutely engaging and one entertaining story, that kept me hooked from the start till the very end, leaving me all fuzzy and warm feelings. And, making it a perfect 4 stars read for me!

This ranks as a very highly relatable book for the mid to late 20 something’s. However, It was unable to grip me the way Nina Hill did. I found the many intersecting viewpoints, coupled with the quirky descriptions overwhelming. Overall a gentle read, I would recommend for fans of AJ Fikry.

Laura is a young woman who moves to Los Angeles for grad school and to embrace a fresh start away from her family and past trauma. She soon finds herself a boarder at the home of a friendly older woman and her four other tenants. One of the tenants, Bob, clearly catches Laura's attention, but she adamantly denies it and tries to focus on just starting fresh in LA.

This books was fun and light. Every single character in this book was a blast; they were eccentric, charming, and easy to love. I enjoyed getting to know them, and laughed out loud more than once at their quips and quick comebacks.

The absolute biggest drawback of this book was the constant flip-flopping of the point-of-view. Too often on the same page, the perspective of multiple characters were shared, and it was very jarring; it kept pulling me out of the story and causing me to take a moment to switch focus on characters. That really became annoying and did not at all make for a smooth read.

The story starts out reading like a Brit who has never been to the States trying to sound like they're in the States. Luckily that changed pretty early on, but did make it seem like different people were writing it. Since the characters were all rounded out nicely and weren't just names on a page, it was easy to care about all of them.

Another enjoyable read from Waxman. I appreciated revisiting characters from her previous books.

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Lauren moves to California and start a new life away from the expectations of her family and the reminder of the accident but California does not start off great. When she stumbles in to the bookshop soaking wet and trying not to cry she does not expect to find her people, but she does. She finds a home and friends and begins to even find the life she wants. Filled with the characters from previous books this story provides glimpses into their lives.

Hmmmmmm…..I liked it almost as much as Bookish Nina, but it contained less bookishness, so only almost. I loved loved loved the housemates and all of their relationships, though. And the lives of the pets?!?!? That was awesome. This is just a wonderfully funny, sweet, good good book. Abbi Waxman makes me smile. 💜💜📚

A sequel to The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, featuring a new main character who accidentally meets the quirky characters of Nina’s bookshop and is drawn into their world. She is invited to move into a house shared by a number of other strange characters, including a mysterious gardener that she has an immediate crush on.