Book Review: All Adults Here by Emma Straub

Book: 67/150

Rating: 3.5/5

Summary: When Astrid Strick witnesses a school bus accident in the center of town, it jostles loose a repressed memory from her young parenting days decades earlier. Suddenly, Astrid realizes she was not quite the parent she thought she’d been to her three, now-grown children. But to what consequence?

Astrid’s youngest son is drifting and unfocused, making parenting mistakes of his own. Her daughter is intentionally pregnant yet struggling to give up her own adolescence. And her eldest seems to measure his adult life according to standards no one else shares. But who gets to decide, so many years later, which long-ago lapses were the ones that mattered? Who decides which apologies really count? It might be that only Astrid’s thirteen-year-old granddaughter and her new friend really understand the courage it takes to tell the truth to the people you love the most.

Thoughts: I think that if I had to pick a favourite genre, it would be family drama. I love a multi-generational family story where you chapters focusing on different family members. This one was just okay for me - the characters were complicated and vivid, (I found Astrid to be really grating!) and Cecelia, Astrid's granddaughter, was definitely my favourite. I really enjoyed her storyline and her friend August. This one was an enjoyable read, but I think in the long run it will be forgettable.

If you're looking for a good family drama, I would be more likely to recommend The Most Fun We Ever Had by Clare Lombardo.

Thank you to Libro.fm, Riverhead Books, and Emma Straub for an ALC of this book.