Dolly Alderton's Everything I Know About Love was such an incredible read, and I was so excited to read her first novel.

I really enjoyed this - and related to it in a lot of ways, as a 29 year old, at a kind of cross road in my life where some friends are getting married, some are still living as though we are teenagers. I liked getting to know Nina, and enjoyed the part about her father struggling with dementia - this was the strongest part of the book for me.

The one part I was a bit unsure about was her and Angelo...it felt a bit unrealistic.

But all in all, a fab read that I devoured in a day.

I am a HUGE Dolly fan so I was very excited to read this and it arrived just in time for a holiday. I found it slightly slow to start but once it got moving I got completely immersed. I particularly thought the thread following the main character's dad was really moving and well done.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. I did wonder if this was fiction or non-fiction quite a lot at the beginning but then I got too lost in the story to remember. Very timely, accurate and an essential book to help navigate the treacherous dating seas.

A book that I could relate to from a personal perspective as Nina faces luther cruel motions of her beloved father's progressive disease. I loved the friendship between Nina and Lola and the way the girls faced the cold reality of dating in the 21st century. Brilliantly written and a great follow up to Dolly's memoir which I read recently.

I found this book incredibly difficult to like and enjoy. From the very opening of the book, the narrator seems very vapid, narcissistic, and immature. It felt as though Ghosts was trying to be a modern day Bridget Jones, but failed to create the same sense of humour, sentimentality, and camaraderie. The way the narrator describes all of the other characters we encounter in the story makes them all seem like flat, two-dimensional caricatures. She seems to hate everyone, even the people who are supposed to be her best friends.

Whilst the title works on many levels — the narrator is ghosted by an online date, and the family plot dealing with Alzheimer’s where a character becomes a ghost of their prior self — I think I expected more from the online dating storyline. The narrator meets a grand total of one man from a dating app. In a book that is supposed to reflect modern dating this just felt a little like a cop out.

Whilst this book does have many reviews full of praise, sadly it just wasn’t for me.

Finally, a commercial novel that I enjoyed! This is a fun, extremely readable debut novel by Dolly Alderton - not as enjoyable as her brilliant memoir, but great nonetheless. Nina is a relatable millennial heroine with more substance than your typical chick lit character. The book explores themes of friendship, mother-daughter relationships, illness, and dating - including the dreaded ghosting that the title alludes to. It’s gently funny, sweet, and thought-provoking at times. I do agree with other reviewers about the conclusion of a certain storyline, that is wrapped up in a strange way that makes little sense in terms of both characters and plot - but this doesn’t ruin the book as a whole. It has only made me more keen to see what Dolly does next.

I absolutely adored Dolly Alderton's memoir about life in her 20s 'Everything I know about Love' and it was one of my favourite books of 2018. So I was thrilled to receive this much anticipated digital ARC of Dolly's debut novel 'Ghosts'.
Nina Dean is a 30 something food writer and Alderton looks at her changing female friendships, her experience of online dating and her relationship with her parents. I found the latter particularly moving as Nina's father is living with dementia and Alderton writes powerfully and emotionally about this.
This is a funny, moving, warm. insightful and gorgeous read that I did not want to end and I would highly recommend it.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC.

What a great way to spend a wet Sunday! I do not often sit and read a book in one sitting, but the unique blend of fun and terrifyingly true situations kept me hooked. Thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish.

Nina is a food writer in her early 30's, looking for love. When she matches with Max on a dating app, she thinks she has found the one. But is he really the right guy for her? Although I'd say the book has romance at its heart, it's about a whole lot more than that. Family relationships, friendships, identity and the idea of home all come into the mix and make it a fully-rounded, captivating novel.

Like Olive by Emma Gannon, this book also really resonated with me. I saw a lot of my friends and myself in Nina. I could hugely sympathise with her frustration of using dating apps & trying to make real connections with people.

For me, the romance between Nina and Max was sexy and exciting, without being really cringy. I enjoyed reading about the ups and downs of their relationship but the parts of the book I enjoyed the most were the moments Nina spent with her parents - (her father is suffering from dementia which is portrayed exquisitely by Dolly) - and her friends.

There are scenes that stay with me from this book. In particular, the time that Nina goes back to her childhood home and reflects on the difficulties that she's now facing with her father's deteriorating condition. I had to share this quote which just absolutely broke my heart:

'I would make a strong case for the argument that every adult on this earth is sitting on a bench waiting for their parents to pick them up, whether they know it or not. I think we wait until the day we die.'

Maybe it's because I lost my dad when I was 20 but it just made me weep when I read it.

While I was reading the book, there were times I found myself urging Nina not to do certain things, as if she was my pal asking for advice. She became like a friend & I would certainly give the book a re-read. I would also love to read a sequel with the same characters - I just loved being a part of their world.

A bittersweet novel that reminds you to appreciate those who always have your back.

A completely up to the minute look at modern dating and the way in which today’s swipe culture can dehumanise relationships and leave people open to being treated like a commodity to be used and abandoned. Dolly’s writing is as a acerbic as ever in her fiction debut and I’ll definitely be recommending this book. Thanks NetGalley!

I actually struggled with this book initially - the protagonist felt overly harsh and judgemental and the characters felt quite generic - but I got more invested as I went on.
There are various storylines around Nina and her friends and family, many of which are quite predictable, but the dementia storyline to me was the most well written. This book has more depth than your typical "chick lit" as well as some very funny, well observed moments.

Ghosts - Dolly Alderton

I really do love Dolly’s Writing, she is the the only person I’d even consider reading the Times for and I’ve directly quoted entire chunks of Everything I Know About Love. Ghosts however was disappointing, underwhelming and just a bit ‘meh’.

There are some attempts at combining seriousness with levity, but the seriousness never really reaches any true depth. Whilst the characters, the lead character Nina Dean included, felt like pastiches of generic millennials. There were definitely parts that enjoyed, a lot of very realistic and resonant things about modern relationships in your thirties (familial, friendships and romantic) - some evening felt lifted from my own experiences. Unfortunately these moments of enjoyment were typically, clumsily followed by something not as great - I even rolled my eyes at the audacity of a disappointingly predictable turn of the story.

There is a lot going on here, the move between each plot point felt quite clunky and made it so that I would forget about some bits. I think maybe I had too high expectations for this book, because I loved and have reread Dolly’s first book so many times; there are genuinely moments that I would have loved had this been my introduction to Dolly Alderton - her commentary on dating apps and their resulting relationships are so incredibly apt and poignant. Unfortunately the bits in between that didn’t connect or communicate with the rest of the book made it difficult to fully enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this novel but I definitely enjoyed it as I read over half in one sitting so that’s a good sign right?
I loved the background of Nina & her family and friends. I loved how realistic it felt and I would recommend.

I couldn't get through the first 50 pages of this book. It just wasn't for me. The main character felt pretenious to me, too much to be enjoyable, it was very London centric and gave me a feel of 'London as the centre of the universe'. I felt excluded from the narrative because of this, especially so when a joke was made about the north of England that made it sound backward and behind the times, as a working class woman from East Yorkshire myself this really threw me off. I have never felt so disconnected to a comtemporary protagnost before, usually London centric narrative don't bother me but this time I just couldn't continue.
Maybe the characted grows through the novel and becomes more likeable, maybe the eventual plot makes up for the like of a likable protagnist. Yet there was nothing enticing me to keep on reading.
I can see this being loved by so many, especially as online dating becomes more and more popular. And I cannot deny that Alderton has a clear voice and a unique style, talent for sure. Every book does not appeal to every reader, and unfortunately this one definitely wasn't for me.

I was not prepared for how much I enjoyed this book.

I first heard of Dolly Alderton when her memoir, Everything I Know About Love, was released. I devoured that book, and found that Alderton had a style and way about her writing that made it feel like you were friends sharing (sometimes shockingly) honest truths about life and the world. I was worried that this style wouldn't translate across (I'm not sure why) but I was so wrong - this book is FANTASTIC.

Nina is in her early thirties. She has a thriving career, great friends, a mortgage...And then she meets Max, and everything seems to be coming together. In reality, things will get worse and she must face the issues that no one ever tells you about: friends moving away, people starting families, parents becoming ill, the crisis of identity the you can face at absolutely any age. All of these issues, and more, are tackled with humour, empathy and honesty throughout the novel. The delicacy with which Alderton describes the illness of Nina's father, and the feelings of those around him, is nothing short of beautiful.

I feel like you would be hard pushed to find a woman who doesn't identify with at least one of the characters in this book. I found myself laughing and cringing at certain parts of the story, especially being single as I fast approach 30. The conversations and fall-outs are so realistic that I couldn't help but think about similar (or identical) scenarios from my own life. The biggest takeaway from this is that there is no one way to do this - our lives, desires, priorities and timescales are all different but relationships can endure, even through difficult times, and there is always beauty, nostalgia and love to be found in the present, as well as the past.

This novel reflects the simultaneous hardships and joys of life. It does it with humour, zest and from woman's perspective. The rose-tinted glasses shatter when love inevitably isn't perfect or even close for Nina. At the same time, she is trying to maintain a connection with her father as his dementia takes hold. Of course, she has her close friends for some pivotal moments and sometimes she sits in the dark and is sad. Adjusting and accepting what life throws at her - Nina is grateful for what she has and tries to let go of what wasn't hers to start with.

I was so excited to have been approved to read this on Net Galley as I loved Dolly’s autobiography Everything I know about love! ⠀
⠀
This debut novel follows 32 year old Nina who is single and is aware that the majority of her friends are married with kids or in long term relationships and she goes on a dating app to meet someone. ⠀
⠀
I buddy read this with @blmbookclub2020 and at the time of reading it I felt it was ahead of its time and I loved the way it approached important topics but it had a huge downside for me- It was made up of only white people so for that reason it really isn’t ahead of its time at all. This novel felt like a modern love story as it focused on online dating and the protagonist, Nina, wasn’t desperate for love but was aware that she felt ready to date. This novel also approaches parenting in the modern day, the pros and cons of dating online and a parent with dementia which I personally though Dolly addressed really well but as someone who hasn’t had a family member with dementia I’m perhaps not in the place to make my own opinion on that. ⠀
⠀
This novel is set in London so if I’m honest I expected more diversity and it’s clear Nina is in a really privileged position so although it was a great debut novel I was consistently aware that it focused on white people and their dating life, and as someone who is trying to diversify their reading I think this really stood out to me as a negative point. ⠀
⠀
I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading this though, it was filled with humour, emotions and human family dynamics it’s just important to go into the novel being aware that it’s about someone who is privileged. But of course, Dolly is writing about what she knows as authors are all told to do, it’s just something I was aware of!

A thoroughly enjoyable read about Nina Dean who has reached her 32nd birthday and is looking for love, but the person she meets is not ready to commit and disappears entirely from her life - hence the title, Ghosts.

Ever since I read Everything I know about love, I have been a Dolly fan, and this book does not disappoint in any way.
Ghosts is a story that acutely observes love and modern dating, changing friendships and the changing of family dynamics.

I love Dolly's style of writing, and her insight into relationships, friendships and life in general.
She artfully balances light, funny aspects of dating and adult life with the more poignant, emotional moments of seeing Nina's father struggle with dementia with poise and elegance which in parts reduced me to tears.

Nina is a loveable character, and one I rooted for from the very beginning. She is kind, emotional and just wants to love and be loved - making her relatable to every woman. She feels the pressures of modern dating, and struggles with the dynamic of her friendships shifting as many of her friends get married and have kids, and the relationship between her parents shifting too.

As a woman in my mid twenties, I found myself often laughing outloud at Nina's acerbic (spot on) comments on marriage, dating, hen parties and friendships which are past their sell by date. The descriptions and analysis of why men ghost was a beautiful mic drop moment and one that is needed for every woman who has ever been ghosted.

I found this book so difficult to put down and it so much more than just the telling of a girl being ghosted by a stupid boy. I know this will be a book I will return to, again and again if only just for advice and to feel less alone! I couldn't recommend this book enough and I am excited to see more of Dolly's novels in future!

I do love a book with a meaningful title and this one - Ghosts - has multiple meanings, from characters who are ghosts of their former selves to characters who 'ghost' others. Nina is a likeable heroine and one of the things that helps you to empathise with her is the combination of naivety and hope that everything will turn out OK in the end. You feel that she deserves better and keep rooting for her as you read on. I thoroughly enjoyed this sensitive, thoughtful portrayal of how life can be for young women today. I'd definitely read more by this author.