I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I really liked the main character, Nina Dean. She is in her early thirties, has a successful career as a food writer and has a lovely new home. When she meets Max, who tells her on date one that he's going to marry her, it feels like all is going to plan. She is ready for a new relationship as everywhere she looks she is reminded that time is passing and everyone is moving on with their lives. Nina is very relatable and likeable. However, her family is slightly more complex. Her beloved dad is slowly vanishing in slow-motion into dementia, and I think Dolly eloquently writes about memory and family with compassion, empathy and love. I adore her style of writing as it’s witty, sharply observational and extremely funny. I loved her best friend Lola as she just embraced life to its fullest. There are subtle messages sprinkled within the book about self love, the acceptance of adulthood and friendship, and I learned a lot about ghosting. Urgh...how terrifying the dating world is these days!!😅

I loved Dolly’s debut novel. It was everything I hoped it would be. Clever, hilarious and so relatable. It made me feel good.🥰 It’s out now!

“Sweet, smooth tomato soup, sugary round rainbow biscuits, mushy ambrosial custard and jelly. The contents of supermarket baskets are surely evidence that none of us are coping with adulthood all that well.”

I've never looked at ghosts in this way before, but it's true we all have so many in our pasts that still haunt us to this day!

This was Dolly Alderton's debut novel & I have seen many reviews slating it or saying its for young adults...how can it be when the younger generation haven't lived yet, so won't have any ghosts in their pasts, whether they be of past relationships, friendships, losing a family member to dementia & so on?
I loved Nina (middle name George - as in Michael!) & could totally relate with her on so many levels.
This was a fantastic debut novel & I'm looking forward to reading more of Dolly's works.

Thankyou to Netgalley for my ARC in return for my honest review.

I sit well within the target demographic for Dolly's new novel and it got me hook, line and sinker. Anyone who has negotiated the horrors of online dating, changes in friendships and the shifts in relationships with parents will connect with the story of Nora Dean as she tries to navigate her way through her thirties.

I found myself laughing, crying (lots) and feeling very seen throughout the book which I will be recommending to all of my friends (all genders - not just women!)

I wasn't sure what this book was going to be about initially other than being ghosted n a relationship.
However, the author tackles ghosting in terms if dating and also in other areas including friendships.
I enjoyed this book but I do feel that the target audience is under forties.
I would rate this as 3.5 stars

Extremely readable, I finished it one sitting. I liked the side characters more than the main character. I wish the plot about her dad had been explored further and I feel like Lola deserves her own book!

I knew I'd love this, and it completely lived up to expectations. Funny, relatable and utterly absorbing. Left with nothing but want for more of Dolly's novels! Couldn't recommend more.

Ghosts is a novel set in modern-day London, following Nina as she navigates being newly single in the era of online dating. This isn't purely a story of the trials and tribulations of contemporary romance though: as we'd expect from the author of Everything I know about love, there is a strong element of female friendship and the changes it undergoes in our 30s as lives change: children are born, relationships are cemented or dissolved, jobs change, people move... This strand felt head-noddingly accurate to me, particularly Nina's relationship with her friend who has become a mother.
Nina is a very self-aware protagonist, sometimes a bit too much so, but she is engaging and as I reader I enjoyed following her adventures. Ghosts is beautifully written, and I raced through it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc copy of Ghosts by Dolly Alderton.

The book is titled Ghosts, relating to being ‘ghosted’; a term use for someone disappearing without a trace or reasoning. Heartbreaking for the person on the receiving end which leaves them wondering what they may have done wrong… Meet Nina Dean, a thirty-something food writer who signed up to the dating app ‘linx’ and experienced just this.

There is much more to this book than simply being ghosted, it has in-depth family issues, with Nina having a rough relationship with her mother who seems to bury her head in the sand rather than dealing with her husbands declined health. It takes for Nina to be cruel to be kind with her Mum to see that the man she loves is changing dramatically.

Dolly Alderton must have undertaken some in-depth research on how families come to terms with living somebody with a dementia diagnosis, and how the person living with the condition may be feeling.

I much preferred Nina’s relationship with her father than anybody else in the book. They seem to have a great bond and in the end she really tried to make an effort to understand how he is feeling/what is going on in his mind.

Overall, I really did enjoy this book. It truly depicts the woes of modern day dating, complicated families and the changes in friendships as life progresses.

It's hard to find a book that makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time, but 'Ghosts' had a good mixture of light-heartedness and more upsetting topics.

The main character, Nina, is a very relatable character as a thirty-something millennial, who is childless and single. However, I didn't connect her to her as much as I expected as I found her irritating and gullible, so I didn't enjoy the book as much as I was hoping to.

On the other hand, Nina's reaction to losing her beloved dad to dementia is what redeemed the book in my eyes; the raw, honest emotions created such a wave of sympathy in me for the characters.

Overall, I would recommend this book to my customers and look forward to reading Alderton's next novel.

When 32-year-old Nina Dean decides she’s ready to start dating, she opens herself up to the world of dating apps. What follows is an intense relationship with a seemingly perfect man… Until he ghosts her.

This book is well-written, witty and relatable. Nina Dean comes across as a pretty normal person, rather than being unrealistically feisty like the lead characters of these types of books usually are, which I appreciated.

I thought the topic of dementia was handled well. Nina’s dad is in the fairly early stages of the disease and his deterioration felt very realistic. Alderton had obviously done a lot of research in order to represent it correctly. However, I didn’t like that the characters treated dementia as a taboo subject, and Nina never uses the word outright which annoyed me – dementia isn’t a dirty word.

Overall, I would say that Ghosts is a very good book, which does a good job of dealing with some heavy and very real subjects. However, I’m not sure I can say that I particularly enjoyed it. Despite having some very funny moments and a witty narrative voice, I didn’t find it very uplifting and it represented the possible struggles of being a single 30-something woman perhaps a little too accurately.

This was well-written and a great modern book - contemporary fiction would be a good description! But it was also quite depressing and in places, the characters were quite dull. The main character had some good elements and characterisation but was also lacking in some areas... a clear three stars from me.

Fresh, funny & relevant novel about being a single “30 something” in the world today. Fab story that I’ll. be recommending highly!

This book was wonderful. Shocking, fascinating, heartbreaking and so so poignant.
I was unsure about the title at first, but how appropriate it is comes at you like a train as the book progresses.
The fact that there are people like Max that actually exist is terrifying, but he was portrayed incredibly well and I felt so many conflicting emotions about him. Nina is an amazing character and her relationship with her Dad was so so special. Nina's friends were real, believable and I loved them all in different ways.
I want a sequel!

In 'Ghosts', we follow 32-year-old Londoner Nina. Nina is successful in her work as a writer, she's bought her own flat and now just wants someone to share this success with. Cheered on by her friend and wingwoman Lola, Nina signs up to a dating site to see if there is anyone out there she might click with. Within days she meets Max and he seems perfect then one day, after months of blissful dating, he simply disappears...
Modern dating, particularly online, is littered with tales of people who have been ghosted in this way and I have been a victim of it myself. Alderton captured the frustration and cruelty of ghosting really well and the descriptions of Nina texting Max at first concerned, then confused, then finally despondent as she realises he's never going to reply was so relatable. Also, please can I give Dolly the names and addresses of any man who has ever ghosted me or one of my friends so she can shout at them for me? The way the men in this book were called out for their behaviour, yaaaas! I was living for it!
There are other important issues covered in the story too such as dementia, the changing nature of friendships, parenthood, societal expectations and even depression but it never felt like a dense or morbid read.
I really enjoyed Dolly's non-fiction book 'Everything I Know About Love' and 'Ghosts' is the perfect next step in her writing career. Many of the themes in 'Everything I Know About Love' are addressed in 'Ghosts' but the use of fictional characters allows these themes to be explored more fully and there is plenty of wry humour added in too. I can't wait to read what Dolly writes next.

A lovely, easy read! I loved Nina and found her very relatable as well as the experiences she goes through. I also liked how the story wove in the relationships with Nina’s parents, friends on different paths and annoying neighbours! Thank you NetGalley and publishers for giving a early copy.

Nina George Dean is 31, single and lives in London. A food writer who has published a successful memoir/cookery book and writes for both magazines and newspapers she has scrimped and saved to save enough money to put down a deposit on her very own flat. Her last relationship ended a couple of years of previously and she has spent the time since working on her career and herself. She is ready to meet somebody, so with the encouragement of her (amazing) friend Lola, she sets up a profile on a dating app, only to match with somebody almost immediately.

Max is tall, good looking, an accountant by day, an outdoorsy and earthy man at weekends, he is fun, intelligent, romantic and sexy as hell. Oh, and he tells her on their first date that he is going to marry her. It’s all going swimmingly well. She’s found him. The man she is going to spend the rest of her life with. She can join the ranks of the marrieds. She can live in a big house with a beautiful kitchen and a brood of children. Or will she?

I know what you’re thinking, this sounds like a run of the mill romance novel. Girl meets boy, something happens and they end up madly in love etc. Well, you’d be wrong. Yes, there is love in this book, stacks of it in fact. Nina’s love for Lola, for her life, her career, for her best friend Katherine and her child, for her parents, in particular for her lovely dad who is being lost to the horrors of dementia but this is a book of depth, startling observations, wit and a brilliant examination of modern life and love.

I cannot tell you just how much I loved this book. When I wasn’t reading it I was thinking about it and days after finishing it I still have that lovely buzzy feeling which only comes from a bloody good book. Let me tell you why.

Firstly, Dolly Alderton is just a terrific writer who has worked really hard at her craft. This is her first foray into fiction and her writing is just pin sharp. My ecopy of the book is littered with highlighted sections of absolutely wonderful observances and descriptions of people and events.

Her characterisation in particular is fantastic. Each person leapt from the page, fully formed and took up room in my head. Nina’s editor Vivien has a “shoulder-length, messy-fringed haircut that implied a former life of lots of parties” and a man is described as having “bought his entire personality from a cobbled side-road of boutiques in Shoreditch”. She makes us fancy Max (and I mean properly fancy him) and root hard for him and Nina.

It strikes the perfect balance between romance, wit and sentiment. One minute I was laughing at a brilliant chapter dedicated to an awful hen weekend filled with enforced fun and the next my heart was breaking for Nina as she watched her beloved dad descend into the grips of dementia. These sections in particular are beautifully written. The terror, denial of the true extent of the problem, the fear and the brutal nature of a cruel illness is executed with a deft and tender touch.

The ghosts referenced in the title not only represents the modern perils of dating and being ghosted, but also refers to the loss of some of the things which Nina holds dearest. Her dad’s illness is leaving him a ghost of his former self, it is affecting his relationship with Nina’s mother and in turn her relationship with Nina.

She really needs a friend and support but her friendships are changing and she misses the life she used to have. Her friends are nearly all married with children and her friendship with her best friend Katherine in particular has been forever changed by her marriage and becoming a mother. Being unmarried and child-free there is an assumption that Nina has all the time in the world, that it is totally OK to cancel on her last minute, to ask that she schlep to Surrey for a cuppa and to complain that London is just too far to travel. The ghost of this former friendship hovers on the periphery and I found it such an emotional thing to read about.

It is just perfectly executed and such an accomplished book which broke my heart a little. I absolutely loved this book. It’s gone firmly onto my Best Books of 2020 list because I connected so strongly with it. Compassionate, tender, poignant, witty, wry, emotional, sexy, loving – it is all of this and more. Read it then get in touch because I *really* need to talk about Max.

I suspect I'm out of step with this one; the much vaunted humour passed me by and I felt only happiness at no longer having to deal with today's dating scene.

At age 32, Nina Dean's career as a food writer has taken off - more than could be said for her love life. Then she meets Max and all of a sudden her future seems to be settled. As all her friends are moving on from singledom, she is set to join them until, overnight, Max ghosts her. No contact, no replies to her texts, leaving her with her confidence shattered. Whilst her friends are moving to the suburbs and starting families, Nina only has her family to fall back on; with her Dad suffering from dementia and her mother in the midst of a mid-life crisis, there's little solace to be had there.

I found this to be quite sad. How horribly those in the dating pool behave, treating others with disdain and, quite frankly, the whole thing horrified me. No matter how attracted I was to a person, there is no way I would give them a second chance after such appalling behaviour. In all honesty, I struggled my way through this book. I don't by any means live in the dark ages but I've never encountered this sort of novel before. Not one for me, although I'm sure others will love it. In all fairness, it is well written but it didn't keep my attention. For me, this is a two star read.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

🌿BOOK REVIEW🌿

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

🌼🌼🌼🌼/5

Happy publication date to the fantastic Ghosts!

Nina is a 32 year old food writer who has decided to re-enter the world of dating after the end of her long term relationship. With the encouragement from her friend, Lola, she downloads a dating app where she comes across Max. The two hit it off and become close extremely quickly and everything seems “perfect” but then he ghosts her.

Along with finding her feet in the dating world, Nina is also coming to terms with her fathers progressive dementia which has taken a huge toll on her mother.

This book is all about the ghosts we carry with us in our relationships and also the concept of being ghosted. Here the ghosting refers to all the relationships in Nina’s life- Max suddenly falling off the radar, the changing relationship she has with her parents with age and also the friendships that fizzle out.

I absolutely adored this book!! For a start I really enjoyed that it wasn’t a typical romantic “happy ending” but Nina found herself content with her closest friends and family. This was a hugely empowering novel highlighting that you never need a partner to feel complete! It also focussed difficult topics including watching a parents deteriorating health and not being able to help. Nina felt she was having to support everyone but herself.

I cannot recommend this book enough, @dollyalderton your writing is enchanting!

I was provided an advanced copy via @netgalley by @penguinukbooks to read, thank you so much!

If this was theatre there would be a period of prolonged applause during which I'd join the audience and rise to my feet.

This book is intelligent, gritty and filled with raw emotion. It is a book every woman should read regardless of their age.

Daring - it voices the thoughts women have when left alone but are afraid to say out loud. I'm so glad it's discussed here as it's important women know their are others that feel the same way.

Strongly feminist in its tones, it does not dismiss or ridicule the search for love. I found this so refreshing why can't we be both.

There were times I felt like crying yet I'd laugh further down the page but most of all I identified with Nina's journey. Sometimes through episodes in my own life and sometimes through the eyes of my daughters.

When a book makes you want to jump up and applaud you know its something very special. Share this with your friends, your daughters and your sons.

Highly Recommended.

Ghosts is Dolly Alderton's debut novel (and you could say sister to her brilliant memoir, Everything I Know About Love). Nina Dean is 32, a successful food writer living in her own flat in London and looking for love. Nina takes the plunge into online dating and quickly meets Max - good looking, funny, charming: perfect. Then suddenly - gone. Nina has been ghosted.

I really enjoyed this novel. It's written in the first person, which shows Dolly's strengths as she has written about her own experiences in her successful dating column in The Sunday Times for several years. Having experienced her first long-term relationship breakdown, moving to her own place (and encountering a nightmare neighbour!), developing her career and helping to care for her father succumbing to Dementia, Nina was a likeable and relatable character. Although I don't live in London or have ever used online dating, I have experienced various kinds of ghosting along similar lines as Nina - her married friends move away and start to have babies, with no time to travel to see you so you make great efforts to visit them until eventually you just drift into a yearly catch up at Christmas or a birthday. It can feel hard enough when it's a friend who 'ghosts' you, so it must be heart-breaking and ten times more confusing to have a partner do it to you as well.

Overall, I found Ghosts to be a clever, funny, uplifting story, with Alderton's narration becoming stronger as she went on and clearly became more comfortable in her role as an author and storyteller. There were some witty observations on modern life and yet was also tender and kind, particularly the chapters involving Nina's dad. Totally recommend it if you enjoyed Everything I Know About Love, anything by David Nicholls or Bridget Jones's Diary!