All Adults Here

By: Emma Staub

4/5 🚌

All Adults Here follows the story of one extended family as they navigate what it means to be an adult. It also follows their children, as they navigate what it means to live in a world where everyone thinks they're an adult. After Astrid, beloved mother and grandmother, witnesses a school bus crash, old memories begin to resurface. She remembers her own acts as a mother and wonders if she truly was as good as she once thought.

Her three adult children are now making decisions of their own. Decisions Astrid doesn't always agree with and sometimes takes the blame for. As Astrid is coming to terms with who she is late in life, her children are still trying to navigate adulthood as they try not to ruin their own children. At points, it seems like Astrid's thirteen-year-old granddaughter and her new friend are the only ones speaking any sense. What does it really mean to be an adult?

After seeing so many negative reviews for this book, I really wasn't sure what to expect; however, I was pleasantly surprised! This book was a fast-paced look into adulthood from the perspectives of so many different people at so many different ages! I loved the idea that you can find yourself after you've already reached adulthood. That it's never too late to discover who you are and live life for you.

I imagine most of the characters' dislikability accounts for the negative reviews. The characters are very flawed, but that's because they're realistic. It's easy to hate characters that we see making the same mistakes we do. This book is more realistic than other books I usually read. It reminds me of Anxious People mixed with Nothing to See Here. It's random and nonsensical but also masterful. All in all, it's a book about finding oneself, accepting what's discovered, and living life as seen fit. I'd say that overall, it's worth the read.