enjoy reading non-fiction titles so much (!) but it’s true that it takes me longer time to go through them. I guess fiction is easier to get hooked on. This didn’t happen with Everything I Know About Love, though. Dolly Alderton’s first book is funny (and serious), silly (and smart), sweet (and sour) happy (and sad), and above all, it made me feel whole.

First of all, Alderton can write and what I mean by this is that some of her paragraphs felt so real that I decided to write them down in my own journal. I could relate to her feelings and to so many of her cultural references (internet / MSN messenger / living in a damp flat in London…etc). This is a bit selling point of the book because, as the chapters go by, the author’s experiences become your own and she has the power to make you feel exactly what she is feeling: it doesn’t matter if you are from London or Barcelona, if you are 20 or 44, if you are timid or outgoing or if you are a party girl or spend your nights relaxing at home– We’ve all gone through what Dolly’s explaining in her memoir.

The author has tried it all (really) and, in the book, she vividly recounts falling in and out of love, wresting with self-sabotage, getting drunk, going into therapy, getting dumped, finding a job… – in fact, she recalls what is like to become a grown-up *with all its highs and lows*.
Throughout the chapters, Alderton made me laugh. And she made me cry.
I also started recognising some of her behaviours in myself and understood the importance of loving oneself and this was her best lesson. The author taught me things that I already thought I knew – and it was a great discovery.

‘This is a book about bad dates, funny nights out, messy days, good friends and – above all else – about recognising that you and you alone are enough’ and I couldn’t have said it any better myself.

If you only read a book next year, you have to make it this one!

A book which takes the reader through all aspects of relationships in life from school to adult. How people react differently to situations and the way that groups of friendships change and develop. It is a very descriptive book however one downside is the way it jumps from one area to another.

I only got through the first 20% of this book but I couldn’t bring myself to read anymore. It’s well written and engaging but I found it a bit too self indulgent and a bit like I was wasting good reading time on it when I could have been reading something else.

Not for me - sorry!

⭐️⭐️ 2 Stars.

This was a different book with a very simple and to the point writing style, almost diary entry style.

I do wonder about the intended audience however; as someone who was a teen in the 80’s, there were chunks I couldn’t relate to.

Also it’s written in an almost memoir style, which felt too descriptive and lacked elements of humour that I was hoping for.

Not for me sorry.

I was able to review this book with thanks to Netgalley

What can I say, where do I begin.....I loved this book. Sassy, Funny, Sharp and writing spot on. I had never heard of Dolly Alderton before I read Everything I know About Love but I can say she gained another fan.
I was laughing out loud at her antics and adventures on her quest to find true love. Took me back to a time when I was young, carefree and single and facing the exact same feelings and insecurities.

This is an honest account of life as a young female in a big city and the challenges that life throws at you. A brilliant read about the value of true friendship and how being in love is not just about having a partner. The book is well written and doesn't attempt to be over clever - simply just brilliant

I recommend getting copy of this book when it is published as it truly is ace.

When I started reading I thought this book wasn’t for me, after all, what do I have in common with a young girl? But I persevered, and I’m glad I did. Funny, yet full of wisdom and good advice - more than once I copied a few lines down, to remind myself at a later date.
Dolly is an interesting character - I’m glad I met her!

A good read, an interesting insight in to Dollys life, lots of parts I could relate to, some laugh out moments and even got a bit emotional at some parts, really enjoyed this

Not my usual choice of book didn't seem to have a lot of depths for me think this novel would be more suitable for young people liked the relationship between Dolly and Farly and enjoyed there stories and how they were there for one another liked that Dolly eventually worked out what was wrong with her life and liked how she took control not really for me though

Hey world, it's the girl who has spent the last two days glued to the pages of this book. It's not like I didn't know who Dolly Alderton was before, I didn't even know she was somebody you could know. When I received an advanced reader's copy of this from NetGalley, a quick google search put me right.

Turns out she's a journalist and former Sunday Times dating columnist who also has her own podcast The High Low and now also memoir. In Everything I Know About Love she shares the trials and triumphs of becoming a grown up with all the falling in love, getting drunk, going on bad dates and getting dumped.

Does this ​sound familiar? You might say yes, because it sounds like everyone else's life or you might say because it also sounds like everyone else's memoirs. I've read books like this one before, but not many have managed to grip me from beginning to end like this one has. So what is it that makes Dolly Alderton's stories different?

First of all, she can write. Her vignettes are humorous without being obtrusively funny, they're heartbreaking without being manipulatively whiney. At the same time she reflects and observes in a witty and intricate ways and never comes across as preachy - something that I consider my personal memoir pet peeve.

But then it's also what she's writing that made this an entertaining read. Part of me was amused about how it brought back my own memories - I had forgotten how MSN used to be the place were the cool kids used to hang out after coming home from school. Though a few years older than me, her student years sounds a lot like the lives' of people I know personally - from being obsessed with male attention to relying on drugs to extend an average night out.

What all those (sometimes relatable, sometimes crazy) anecdotes have in common is that they're full of love. Dolly has felt a lot of it, sometimes platonic, sometimes obsessive, not always healthy. What this has taught me though, is that there will never be a point where you'll know everything about love. And how joyful that is.

I had not heard of Dolly Alderton but requested the book after reading the blurb sent to me because I fancied a light, fun read whilst I was ill. It's not a good book. It reads like a few anecdotes cobbled together and frankly, the anecdotes just aren't amusing or insightful. Perhaps if you're a fan of Ms Alderton this all becomes more interesting, but I found it dull and incredibly shallow.

Another one where the synopsis made the book out to be a right good, funny read but I found myself thinking the exact opposite! I seriously doubt half the things that were claimed to have happened actually did occur!

I picked this, largely because of the recommendation by Marian Keyes. I love Marian, and if she says something is good, I believe her. Then, as I read, I wasn't sure for the first few chapters quite how I felt about this. I wondered if it would be a vanity piece, but once I'd taken the measure of Dolly, I loved it. It's frank, it's confessional. It's raw and honest. What I like about it is that Alderton seems able to shine a forensic attention on herself that means that although she is not always flattering to herself, she seems very real. It might sound stupid in what is basically a memoir, but actually, some memoirs are so highly glossed, they come across as more like puff pieces in OK magazine. This is definitely not that. I found myself worrying about her as I continued to read, as if I knew her personally, and this was a good thing. When I had to put it down, I found myself actively thinking about when I could read it again. It was funny and tender and sad and I think you should probably read it.

This is a really funny and easy to read memoir. I enjoyed the ups and downs of the authors life and felt like I really knew her at the end.

Everything I know about Love by Dolly Alderton a witty and honest five-star read. I thought this book was so funny, I’m a woman of a certain age so a lot of the cultural references were so funny to me, but I really do think even if you were a different age or genre you would get this book, you may not get all the references but the writing is so good you will be sucked in and some may go over your head but some will make you chuckle. Just be warned if you are a woman of a certain age, be mindful you may leak if you laugh to hard. (There’s a real possibility with this book)
This is a book about relationships, but the variety of relationships keeps it interesting and fresh and so funny you won’t be able to put it down. I will definitely be looking out for Dolly in her other lives, I can’t wait to read more of her funny and honest heart-warming stories.

Sorry, I didn't finish this because I'm not a fan of memoirs and I'm not the target audience for this one.

Like a nostalgic stumble down my binge-drinking youth. It's an absolute must for 80s/90s kids growing up in the UK and what life was pretty much like for most of us, in some way or another.

“If you think you want to break up with someone, but practical matters are getting in the way, this is the test: imagine you could go into a room and press a big red button that would end your relationship with no fuss. No break‑up conversations, no tears, no picking up your things from his house. Would you do it? If the answer is yes, you have to break up with them.”

Never a truer word spoken.

In fact, this whole book should be given to any and every twenty- or thirty-something female to make them understand that they need to be at peace with who they are and not try to impress others. So much of what she imparts towards the end is so ridiculously true and it's the entire recipe for happiness. You definitely need to stop blaming me and understand what you are like to live with and how others may find your habits incredibly irritating. Always live with randoms; it makes you more tolerant of people and helps you understand how everyone is different and you learn to respect others views of the world, even if they don't match your own.

This book is set to become the one that your girlfriends will hand to you when you get yourself into a downward spiral and you feel like there's no way out of it and hopefully, you'll understand that there is. It all begins with you; your outlook, your choices, your chosen path. A strong 9 out of 10 because I truly believe that every young woman needs to read this.

Fab book- full of honesty and brilliantly written, as always. Dolly Alderton is one to watch- it should be recommended reading for everyone in their teens and twenties.

A good friend of mine whose taste I always trust turned me on to Dolly Alderton so I was familiar with her newsletter but not so much her journalism.

This book is an easy read insofar as it is compelling and intriguing and so well paced. It's just so readable, I read it in two sittings. So relatable and with so much heart, Alderton brings the reader into her life and her world, and I felt so invested in all of it. There were a few typos in my copy, which was annoying, and occasionally Alderton's voice grates - mainly early on - but that was sort of the charm of the book. She isn't trying to impress us, and even when it could appear that way, in her collecting of fabulous nights out and anecdotes, we eventually see what lies beneath. It is warm and human. I may be biased because I'm a woman around her age who has gone through a similar emotional journey (and I cringe with every fibre of my being to say that), but the very last chapter honestly made me tear up a bit. I feel like if I could have found this book before I went through a couple of years of therapy and 8 months of self-imposed dating exclusion, I would have saved loads of time.

After a bad break up about 4 years ago, I found myself wishing there was a book for lovers who didn't have romantic love in their lives, something to unpack the yearning and sadness and wanting. I think this is that book.

Everything I Know About Love is the first non fiction book written by journalist and podcaster, Dolly Alderton.

What a thought this book would be: A light-hearted journey through Dolly's dating history peppered with many a cringe-worthy moment along the way.

What this book was: A deep dive journey through Dolly's school, university and post-graduate years. Yes there were plenty of quite funny dating stories but this also deals with her battles with eating disorders, drug/alcohol use, therapy and most importantly her friendships.

As well as the main prose, peppered throughout this are lists of advice, between the lines accounts of bulk sent emails and even recipes. My personal favourites are the lists of 'Everything I know about love at...' written from her perspective of love of ages from a teenager to the present day, I think this was a great way to highlight how a person's romantic priorities change so dramatically over time.

I don't think you need a prior knowledge of Dolly but being a similar age would probably help, I would imagine the references to MSN and dial up internet maybe being lost on some.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an uncorrected proof in exchange for an honest review.