Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for approving me for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to read this book purely because I’ve heard great things about Dolly Alderton’s non fiction work, so when I saw ‘Ghosts’ available to request, I thought why not.

It’s the first time in a long time where I didn’t read the blurb and just went into the book not having any idea what it was about. Initially I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy it but ended up loving this book so much.

I’m not 30 yet...not too far off but regardless there were parts of Nina that I really related to. She’s the woman that is always there for others when they’re not quite there for her, she’s the fixer in most scenarios and loves fiercely.

Any moment between Nina and Bill made me emotional, I think the way Dolly wrote Bill and the progression of his dementia was really well done and with a lot of thought and compassion. It’s the first time I’ve read anything where dementia is addressed and I think it was done very well and respectfully.

The character of Max...hmm. I know a Max in a few people and I’m not a fan!

As a debut novel, I don’t think Dolly could’ve done any better and I really enjoyed this read.

This was a mediocre read - disappointing as the author's non-fiction was fresh and heart-warming at the time it was released. The character seemed bitter and unlikeable; but the problem doesn't lie in her being unlikeable, it's more that the author seems to have accidentally done that and not noticed at all! She has no personal growth in the book, and relies on the tired trope of single women being SO different to married women with kids that they can barely sustain a friendship. A few witty lines, barely any substance or self-reflection in the character. Would not recommend except to a certain kind of middle-class white woman.

I am a bit of a Dolly obsessive, whatever Dolly writes, I read, whatever Dolly recommends, I buy, so I was quite worried this book could only be a let down. However, I've been in a massive reading rut and this is the only book that's managed to pull me out. It was a gorgeous book full of Dolly's beautiful, descriptive writing, particularly as always when she's describing female friendships.

We follow Nina through a year of her life in a which she is haunted by a myriad of ghosts; the ghosts of what her friendships used to be, her father's wavering memory, the ghosts of what she thought her life would be and of course, the guy who ghosts her. I think the book dealt so well her father's dementia and the idea of being child-free in your 30s, themes I haven't seen much before.

I'll be honest, this isn't a book you read for the plot, so if that's you're thing, maybe give it a miss. It's a book you read for sometimes hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking observations on what it is to be living right now.

I had no doubt that I'd enjoy "Ghosts" by Dolly Alderton, given how much I loved her essay collection "Everything I Know About Love", but I didn't expect to get so totally sucked in and emotionally invested in this rollercoaster of a novel.

The novel takes place over a year of Nina George Dean's life, from her 31st birthday to her 32nd. She is reasonably content when we meet her: she has lots of close friends, owns her own apartment and had quit her teaching job several years back and is about to publish her second cookbook/book of food writing. It is lovely to read this sort of contemporary novel where the person has done all the hard "finding themselves"/"growing up" and is more content where they are. It is also refreshing that Nina likes how she looks and doesn't try to change herself. However, at any or part of life, things are never perfect. Nina's father is starting to lose more and more of his memory, and her mother seems to be more concerned with reinventing himself than looking after him. Nina hasn't had a serious boyfriend since she and her ex Joe split up, and while they are still friends it's strange that he is in a new serious relationship, along with most of her friends who seem to only care about marriage and children. She decides to download a dating app, and at first feels like a queen swiping through all the eligible bachelors, then insanely lucky as she finds the charming Max, until just as things are going brilliantly he seems to just disappear.

Interestingly, we see the "ghosting" in this book through texts only. As Max draws further and further away, I loved that we don't get to see her real thoughts and feelings, but only see her performance of nonchalance until it begins to slowly but surely crack. This side of modern dating felt horribly real, and seeing it from the "outside" is a real reminder of how little you can know someone you've been seeing, how easy it is for meaning to be misconstrued in a text message and how people think they can use online dating like online shopping, with no one's real feelings hurt if you don't have to say what you want to their face.

Alderton pulls no punches with this book. It is witty and charming in its quick little observations about "modern life" as it were, but sharp and verging on mean at others, which reminded me of Norah Ephron's style quite a bit (especially as her character in "Heartburn" is a food writer!). No one is really safe through Nina's eyes (I say Nina, knowing Alderton may at times use her as a mouth piece, but also that Nina as a character is very insightful and at times resentful.) She has some really biting lines about the women she is friends with who are agressively defensive of their decision to marry, move out of London and raise children, and don't seem to care what their single friends do until they "eventually" get to that stage themselves. The men Nina meets are at worst cruel manipulators who treat women like toys or tools for self development, and even at best like useless little boys who can't wait to marry a woman who will mother them. Her single friend is subject of plenty of snarky remarks, being a free spirit and a hopeless romantic, and Nina's mother is very often dismissed. However, this book has so much heart too: it shows all these people in good light and bad, and we get to see under the surface of many of them when Nina looks a little deeper and considers their standpoint.

This book felt completely real and I was angry on some characters behalves, wanted to strangle others, and came very close to tears several times while reading the storyline about Nina's parents. The ghosts of the novel are everywhere: not only the now famous concept of "ghosting" a person instead of breaking up with them, but the things that haunt all of the characters. This can be the ghost of a parent you remember from when you were small, memories of your own childhood, of relationships that have ended or completely changed, and all the selves that live inside you as you grow older. I can't believe this astonishingly accomplished, funny and moving novel is only Alderton's first, but I can't wait for many more from her.

Ghosts is out on 15th October.

Ghosts is like reading a fictional version of Everything I Know About Love and listening to a long episode of The High Low. If you enjoy Dolly's columns, and her ramblings on her podcast, then you'll love this.

It's an easy read, with so many quotable, relatable musings on life, love, friendship and generally becoming an adult. The protagonist, Nina is 32, a successful food writer and single again after a long relationship. She's beginning to look for love again, whilst dealing with changing friendships as her friends all take their own paths - moving away or getting married or having kids - and the changing relationship with parents for various reasons.

There are lots of reflections about what her expectations were for her thirties vs where she is now. Even though I am yet to reach my thirties and feel this pressure, the whole perspective on 'adulting' was VERY relatable. And I think that regardless of your age, or where you are in life, everyone will be able to relate to this in some way.

Ghosts tells the story of Nina, a thirty-something single woman living in London and working as a food writer. The book will be right up your street if you love authors like Marian Keyes and Jojo Moyes, but I feel like Dolly has her own strong author's voice that sets her apart.

Nina has just bought her own flat, and is looking forward to a promising career and the launch of her next book. Watching the friends she grew up with marry off and settle down, Nina turns to a dating app in search of love. It's here that she meets Max, and they hit it off almost instantly. That is, before he cuts ties suddenly and with no explanation, leaving Nina hurt, confused, and angry. Trying to process what's happened at the same time as dealing with a father suffering from dementia, Nina is struggling to keep afloat.

I really enjoyed this book. I think it portrayed clearly and with real warmth and humour the reality faced by so many women in their twenties and thirties today. At 32, Nina is feeling the pressure to settle down and start a family, but finds it hard to find time for dating when she's just purchased her first home, is working in a highly pressurised industry, and is trying to be the model friend and daughter. It really showed how hard it can be trying to be everything to everyone, and the pressures we put ourselves under; maintaining friendships into your twenties/thirties once you're out of school and university and everyone is at different stages in their lives takes real effort, effort we didn't have to make when our timetables all looked the same.

I loved the relationship that Nina has with her Dad, and how she comes to accept over time that, rather than not caring, her Mum is struggling to process her husband's illness in her own way. The characters in the book have changed as they've progressed into adulthood, and even changed over the course of the novel, and the narrative shows that that's okay; we have to accept that the people we love will change and grow and we need to be adaptable to that.

Apart from Nina's dad, there aren't really any 'good' or likeable men in the novel. They all seem awful. Despite this, Nina has a really good relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Joe, as they split up in mostly amicable circumstances. It was great to see Nina have this positive relationship with someone she shared such a huge part of her life with, and for her to feel genuinely happy for him as he moved on with someone else.

Finally, I thought the novel was really funny, and there were so many references to modern culture and society. Dolly's voice from Everything I Know About Love really shone through and I think I'd have guessed it was her writing if I didn't know already!

Ghosts was a great novel that I would recommend. The only thing I thought felt slightly out of place was Nina's encounter with her rowdy downstairs neighbour, that I felt seemed slightly out of place. Other than that, a great read and one I absolutely whizzed through. It highlights the importance and value of true friendship, and of home.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin (Fig Tree) for the review copy.

I really enjoyed Dolly’s first novel. It is well written and includes many relatable subject matters relevant to anyone who has sought love online, seen friendships change from their twenties into their thirties and dealt with ageing parents.

Nina Dean, food writer, single, one previous long term relationship. Venturing cautiously back into the world of dating, she meets Max, who seems amazing. But there’s much more to the story than that, as we follow Nina through her thirty-second year.

There are various “ghosts” here, not just the men who mysteriously vanish into the ether whenever things look like getting serious. Nina’s oldest friend is disappearing into Surrey domesticity; her beloved father into dementia. Others are all too present, like the downstairs neighbour from hell who plays deafening music and seems immune to reason.

Ghosts was a really lovely read. There’s some great observation, insight and some major laugh out loud moments (Nina’s mum’s Emily Davison costume idea, complete with horse, cracked me up). I loved the characters, too, especially Lola. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with Lola?

On a side note I was singing Barry Manilow’s “Mandy” off and on in my head all the way through, so thanks for that. (Nina might not know it, but I guarantee her mum does.)

I confess I hadn't been a follower of Dolly Alderton's columns but I thought this was great.
Really enjoyable.

Nina is a single, successful food writer in her early thirties navigating the online dating world, changing friendships, and a dad with dementia. Nina meets 'almost-to-good-to-be-true' Max on a dating app and the story follows from there. But it's a story about friendship, family, memory and love.

As a woman also in her early thirties, I could identify with a lot of the nostalgia, different relationships and references to London living. It's funny - not laugh out loud but it made me smile - and cathartic, and just a warm, easy, summer read. I really enjoyed her first book, and this - her first novel - didn't disappoint.

Dolly Alderton takes a look at modern dating through the eyes of Nina, a thirty-something independent girl-about-town, in her typical cynical style. The book mixes traditional romance tropes with very real and relatable themes of loneliness and performativeness in a digital-first world. Stylistically it sits in the traditional women's fiction space. but perhaps tends towards the more literary, and the package reflects this.

Fans of Holly Bourne's adult fiction and Marian Keyes will like this, and anyone who enjoyed Dolly's memoir Everything I Know About Love.

This is sort of like the modern version of Bridget Jones: dating is still a nightmare principally because men just can't be trusted; parents are causing emotional problems; but at least you can always rely on your girl-pals. I think I'd have liked this so be snappier: there are lots of places where it feels more like a magazine column/blog post that a novel (a multipage analysis of the categories of men you meet on dating apps, for example). Still, Alderton is smart and likable and her book is too. Perfect down-time reading.

Ah, this book was SO good. Alderton really captures the loneliness you can feel in - and out - of being in a relationship, and how much you can feel left behind, even when on the surface, life is pretty great.

I also really liked (spoiler) that the Max storyline didn't really have a resolution - I thought that was really realistic, and the way Nina constantly analysed herself, as if it was her failing, really rang true.

Quite simply, I adored it.

A fun but thought provoking romp through London based relationships, friendships and feelings.
I'd read the authors first (non-fiction) novel and was looking forward to reading this too, to see how her writing style translated to fiction, and I really enjoyed it! I am not normally a huge fan of 'chick lit' novels though this is at times deeper than that, it is essentially a girl meets boy, has a few issues along the way whilst also dealing with friendship dramas and elderly parents.

However it's very 'of its time' as the protagonist is a blogger/influencer/author (that multi hyphenated freelance life!) and is exploring dating apps and so on. Some of the plot is a little unbelievable (hence being more in chick lit territory than general fiction for me.

Loved some of the characters, loathed a few too but felt they were all well rounded.

Having read and loved Dolly Alderton’s previous book, I was looking forward to reading Ghosts. There is lots to love about this book, it is quite an honest portrayal of what it’s like to be a 30 something dealing with a multitude of situations especially a vulnerable parent whilst juggling dating, friends and life in general.
The thoughts and feelings are captured perfectly, I could definitely hear myself in Nina, the main character.
Really enjoyed this book, but not a particular Wham song I’ve been playing in my head ever since.

I really enjoyed this book a lot. The characters were clever and engaging, and getting to spend time with them was a treat. I liked the writing too - it was descriptive without ever veering into flowery territory, and I would certainly be interested in reading more work by this author. The cover is great too!

I loved this book! I knew I wouldn't be disappointed having relished 'Everything I Know About Love' but this still surprised me. A solid debut with a fabulous narrative - it's the little details are what makes this author so good and how she brings her characters to life through the intricate yet mundane descriptions of their day to day lives.
Highly recommended, a great read.
Thanks to Netgalley, Penguin and Figtree for the ARE copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Nina Dean is a food writer after being a school teacher and deciding writing about food was to be her career. She is in her early thirties and has decided that she really would like to be in a relationship which has not happened for a while and after talking to her friend Lola who is also single, decides to go on a dating site. She meets a man called Max and all becomes rosy for Nina. He is fit, romantic and wants to spend all his time with her and the relationship moves on very fast even to the point of telling her he is going to marry her. She feels happy and content and then suddenly Max disappears and does not answer is phone calls, texts etc. She is devastated She also has to deal with being an Usher for an ex partner and the insistence of his wife to be which she does reluctantly. She has Lola to go out with which helps until Lola meets a man and that turns out to be fraught with drama. She also has the added pressure of her dad vanishing into dementia and a mum who is having a mid life crises but is probably burying her head in the sand as a mechanism to help through her husband’s failing mind.
This book is lovely and although sad in places it is something we can all relate to and is written beautifully

Fascinating and moving.
A close look at the horrors of the modern world of internet dating, ghosting and of friends who are so self absorbed that they do not realise that all is not well.
I was totally on Nina's side- braving that world with little support from her loved ones and her emotional upheaval as she is ghosted by the too good to be true Max is painful to read.
I did get a bit angry with her as the story unfolds but all in all a book that is witty and enjoyable whilst still being sensitive to these modern world dilemmas.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into romance stories and literary fiction however I wanted to take the opportunity to read something from outside my norm. And I am glad I did!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different.