Member Reviews

This book certainly wasn't for me, sadly.
I didn't find Ollie funny at all or like the character or the other characters through out the book. Ollie was annoying almost all the time. I had hope that it would be better througout the book, but it wasn't - only thing i actually enjoyed was these mails he got when he wrote the article 'Dumped Actually' and that was about it. I think i maybe had too high expetations for the book and it let me down after that.

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What a funny and engaging read! I typically shy away from books with a male narrator as I find them hard to relate to! However, this book couldn't have been further from that. I loved Oliver and his inner voice and found his story to be easy to relate to. I wanted him to get the girl and come out on top and rooted for him despite every set back. What a fun(ny) read !

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I loved this book to start with and had been really looking forward to finally getting my teeth into one of this author's books, but I found it became too samey about halfway through and I got fed up with it. Truth be told, I am at 75% and haven't been able to finish it, and that's rare for me.

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This British romcom follows Ollie, who was dumped by his girlfriend right after he proposed to her. Now 'nice guy' Ollie has to pick up his shattered heart, needs to get over being dumped and turns his experience into a successful online column.

I liked Ollie from the start. He felt quite real to me, even though he was a bit of a doormat at the beginning. However, the sometimes extremely absurd situations Ollie found himself in, as well as the humour started to grind on me the further I got into the book. Also, the plot became pretty predictable towards the end of the book. I still read on, but at times it felt like not being able to turn your eyes away from an accident.

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Oliver gets dumped....Badly...and in public. As a writer for an online publication, it is suggested that Oliver get over his ex with a series of new experiences. And so goes the journey of Oliver. He let's his readers guide his path, and in so doing, learns there is more he is improving then just himself.

I loved this book, it was so fun and original. Very easy read if you like that kind of thing also. I can't say a whole lot more about this without giving too much away. But I will say i was very surprised by how much I enjoyed the journey that Nick went on. Definitely going to check out more works from this author!

I received this book in order give my opinion and review.

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Ollie Sweet is not a halfway sort of guy. So when he decided to ask his girlfriend Samantha to marry him, he went all out. Knowing that she is a lover of roller coasters, he got tickets for the opening day of the new theme park and special tickets that meant they would be among the first to ride their roller coaster The Blitzer. He hired a band to play her favorite song after the ride, and he had the ring all ready to go. It was all perfect. Until it all went wrong.

First, the coaster almost made him sick to his stomach. Second, the band that he had booked wasn’t able to make it after all, and the replacement band wasn’t quite what he had in mind. And third, and most painfully for Ollie, Samantha said no. While an oompah band played on just for them. Well, just for him, as Samantha walked away.

When Ollie goes back to his job at a lifestyle website, his boss suggests he write about the breakup. Ollie refuses. There is no way he wants to share this with the internet. It was painful. It was humiliating. But if he did write about it, his subconscious hints, he could call the piece “Dumped, Actually,” a throwback to Richard Curtis’s famous film Love, Actually.

The piece Ollie writes is a big hit, and others who have struggled to get over a breakup start emailing him with advice of how their got over their failed relationships. The weeks (and articles) that ensue find Ollie taking that advice and getting a makeover (including getting waxed in intimate areas), going camping (and getting interrupted during an intimate moment by a family of hungry deer looking for a snack), trying to meet someone new (Nintendo’s Mario is forever ruined for me), and throwing himself into work (probably a bad idea to go golfing with your boss).

As Ollie keeps working down his list, he really does start to realize where he may have gone wrong. He continues to work through the advice—confronting Samantha, trying mindfulness, spending time with family, taking more risks, and when he’s ready, falling in love with someone new—and finds a whole new way of being in the world. He learns to be more authentic and less focused on comparing himself and his relationships with others.

And by sharing his experience with his website’s readers, he has found more friends and offered others the same chance at becoming a better partner in a relationship.

Author Nick Spalding brings a hilarious take on getting dumped in his latest novel, Dumped, Actually. Now, this one is not for the feint of heart. There are some very funny and deeply disturbing sex scenes (not 50 Shades type, just incredibly awkward), so you definitely be aware of that, and if you think you might be better off to skip this title. But if you’re willing to give it a shot, Dumped, Actually is a charming story of genuine characters trying to find a better life.

I listened to the audiobook on this one, and narrator Steve West seemed to have a lot of fun with Ollie’s voice. He tended towards the melodramatic with an almost Shatner-esque drama to the reading, but who doesn’t love William Shatner? I thought the audio was a great way to experience this book, and I do recommend giving that a try.

There were times that this reminded me of the ‘90s Britcom Coupling. If you liked watching Coupling, then this is a good choice for you. Funny, smart, an oompah band—what more could you want?

Galleys for Dumped, Actually were provided by Amazon Publishing UK through NetGalley, with many thanks, but I bought the audiobook myself, thanks to Audible.

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This was such a funny book!! I always enjoyed Nick Spalding’s books but I think this is now my favorite.

Dumped, Actually has is following Ollie Sweet, a features writer, as he tries to get over a breakup by writing about it and asking for advice from the world how to and trying it to see if it works.

And I found myself, often laughing my head off, sometimes at inappropriate times, at some predicament Ollie finds himself in. Which means I shouldn’t have been reading it at all during those times. Hahaha. Soo funny!!! Looking silly and giggling to myself in public was worth it.

I loved how Ollie discovers why they broke up and then found some more answers. I love the promise of Ollie becoming more. And the hint of who is really meant for him.

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK and Lake Union Publishing, Seattle for this copy. I really enjoyed it!!

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Nick Spalding is one of my favourite make authors so I had high hopes for this book and I wasn’t disappointed.

As with all of his books I was laughing out loud throughout. It wasn’t my favourite of his but I would still highly recommend it.

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Oh my, what a dreadful introduction for the reader to poor, romantic Ollie Sweet. My heart broke for him. You just couldn’t imagine having to face the catastrophic events of a trip to a theme park.
The tale of a wear your heart on your sleeve kinda guy and his affairs of the heart. . A refreshing male viewpoint rather than the same old clichéd broken hearted female character.
Throughly enjoyed it.

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I liked this one! It's light, it's funny, it's absurd: it's right in my alley. I liked how Oliver discovered a lot about himself through everyone experiences. I liked to see the process leading to the realization of his well-being.

Many thanks to Amazon Publishing UK for the e-copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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This has some genuinely hilarious laugh out loud moments. Bless him, Ollie Sweet has taken some decent advice on how to move on from a broken heart but still managed to make a mess out of the advice. He's one of those people that is on the right track but always seems to stumble on the last step.

I liked the title play on Love Actually (such a great film). This book is an absolute cliche but done a little differently because the person who has been so brazenly blinded by idealistic rom-coms and their parents' supposed perfect marriage is a guy rather than a girl. So that was a refreshing take on this cliche. But it was still cliche - you have to wade through a novel of someone who is so unbelievably dense. It was a bit unbelievable for me that he couldn't see his issues that were so glaringly obvious - like, he never once got his back up about how he'd make himself have all these same hobbies and interests as his girls and never be fussed that they never did anything he liked? Or did he just literally not have any interests? He was that boring that he had to create the male version of his girlfriends' identities? No wonder they all left him; he was such a pathetic pushover?

So while I absolutely loved the shenanigans he got up to trying to recover, Ollie was a bit too pathetic for me to get behind and cheer on. I would have given this more stars if he wasn't quite so pitiful. I'm not gender stereotyping here too much, there are men and women who are genuinely only able to be identified as an extension of their partner, but they don't make for interesting reading. I would have enjoyed this more if we had a stronger main character.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read this.

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Great book, I really enjoyed it. I’m a fan of nick spalding and this one didn’t disappoint. Won’t give any spoilers just read it and enjoy!

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Great book yet again by this author. Really enjoy his books. Always some great laughs along the way.
The main character is likeable and you feel for him but he goes on a journey and finds himself along the way.

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Having read a few Spalding books and enjoyed them, I was excited to read his newest one. We follow Ollie Sweet, a hopeless romantic who can’t seem to hold down a relationship for very long. Having been ceremonially dumped by the love of his life, he begins to write magazine articles about getting over his relationship, taking on advice from his readers. His inability to say no and his desperate need to please see him get into a number of funny (if at times quite unbelievable) situations. Some parts of this book had me laughing out loud, others I skip read through. At times it got a little too deep and meaningful, these parts sometimes went on a little too long and I lost focus. However I really did enjoy reading from a male’s perspective and did think that the realisations that Ollie comes to were important life lessons. I’d recommend this book to others.
Thank you to netgalley for gifting me this book in exchange for an honest review.

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What a cracking read! This book had me in stitches. If you like silly comedy this book will be right up your street as you travel with Ollie on his journey to fix his broken heart. I have not yet read a book by this author that has disappointed.

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Funny and witty as always. I really enjoy all of Nick Spaulding books and this is definitely one of his better ones.
Ollie is a hopeless romantic journalist is given way by his reader to get over being dumped by his girlfriend.
This short lighthearted read kept me engaged and routing for Ollie from page one.

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I’ve read a few of Nick’s books before and have always managed to laugh out loud whilst reading each book, this one was no different. The story starts with Ollie Sweet making a dramatic proposal where all doesn’t go quite as planned, which somewhat of an understatement. Ollie is a writer for a lifestyle website which is under pressure by its owner who wants to shut it down. With a bit of persuasion from his boss, Ollie turns his disastrous proposal in to a story for the website which gets a massive reaction from the audience. He then starts to take on suggestions from the readers as to how to get over his break up which involves him getting waxed and camping in the New Forest getting a little too close to nature. All of these help his “Dumped Actually” column go viral.

Ollie is a likeable if not somewhat disastrous character. The book is written well and you see Ollie’s self discovery journey from complete sop who is desperate for love, to him trying to understand why it always goes wrong to him coming out a confident rounded man. All the way through there are good comedic moments, entirely at Ollie’s expense. A good light hearted read, which is well written.

I got this book as a free copy from Net Galley in exchange for this honest review, so thanks to them and the publisher. I give this book a 4/5 (rounded up).

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Thank you Netgalley for a review copy of this book.

Knowing this author pretty well I hoped that this book would make me smile and, hopefully laugh - I was not disappointed.
I was a bit indifferent to the main character at first as he was very weak and clingy and really off-putting. However, the situations he goes through made me soften towards him throughout and I started to relate to his predicament which is the sign of good writing.
I recommend reading past the first 6 chapters to really get into the book - I was hooked from that point onwards.

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Funny take on how to deal with a break up and the feelings that come with it. I loved Oliver's journey in this which comes with a very strong message. Great read.

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I really wanted to like this book, but it had a slow start.

After Ollie gets dumped very publicly he’s distraught and uses it as fodder for his column on Actual Life’s website, in turn trying to rescue the site from its impending demise after a takeover.

The first 50-60% of the book was hard to read, repetitive and rather glum. As Ollie started to find himself as a person it got a bit better.

Thanks NetGalley for the read in exchange for an honest review.

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