Ghosts by Dolly Alderton is a modern cultural commentary on today’s online dating scene and the phenomenon of ‘ghosting’. The story also explores the pressures and expectations put on women to be settled down and start a family, competing against the ever ticking biological clock threatening their chances of fulfilling their ‘purpose’.

The characters are very middle class, and come across as somewhat dull at times, with little character development throughout the story. For me, the most interesting dynamic was between Nina and her mother as they struggle to come to terms with a terminal illness diagnosis in the family, I found this storyline quite moving and thought it was a shame that it was cast to the sidelines as a secondary plot.

I am slightly younger than what I believe to be the intended audience for this book, and so it is possible this is why I didn’t quite connect to the story. However I am beginning to think that maybe storylines based upon finding a love interest just aren’t for me, as the element of this book that intrigued me to most was the concept of the new cookery book that the protagonist was working on (definitely going to be researching more into the link between food and nostalgia!).

This is the story of a 32 year old woman and the trials and tribulations of finding love. She follows the advice of her only single friend Lola and joins an online dating app.
She meets Max and starts a relationship which needless to say isn't without it problems.
She is also trying to cope with a father slipping into Dementia as well as doing her job as a food writer and author.
A thoroughly enjoyable read.

Dolly’s writing style is so accessible, so funny and poignant at the same time. I eeked this book out as much as possible as I didn’t want it to end!

An interesting read that I'm glad to have discovered. I'll definitely be seeking out more by this author. Love her Times column.

Nina Dean is in her early thirties when she meets Max, who on their first dates tells her he is going to marry her. She feels like her life is finally going to plan.

Max comes into her life at the right time, her friendships are fading as they settle into their new families. Her own family are struggling with her beloved dad's new diagnosis of dementia.

I was scared to read Ghosts at first, as I needed to love it. I'm glad it exceeded my expectations. I'm sure it will ring true to so many people who are entering their mid 20s/ early 30s, it's observant and heartfelt.

I loved Dolly's observations on dating and relationships, on female friendships and how it can be difficult to maintain friendships when the dynamics change in them. I think Ghosts is a novel that everyone can find themselves in, and I think that's why it's so special.

I thought I was going to like this book from the first chapter but it went nowhere. Boring characters, ending felt like it was stuck on at the required length. Awful book.

Although this book was well written I found it to be quite pretentious and difficult to get into. I probably wouldn’t recommend it to my friends. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an egalley.

I enjoyed this. I’d read mixed reviews so went in with an open mind, but I found this a refreshingly modern read. Sure, some of the characters make you want to bang your head against a wall, Nina’s friends in particular. But I found it pretty reflective of the flawed people we meet in life. The book was both comical and heartbreaking. I didn’t like the ending, it felt wrong, hence only 4 stars. Overall though, a thought provoking read tha t I would recommend.

This is Dolly’s debut novel about a thirty-something food writer and her experiences with ‘ghosting’ and just her general life too.

This was so relatable! I am a similar age to the narrator and myself and friends have had similar thoughts and experiences to those portrayed in the book. It felt so real and believable. The characters all felt like they could just walk off the page!

The tone of the novel was just perfect, but I kept hearing it in Dolly’s voice in my head having listened to so many of her podcasts!

I really enjoyed this book. It wasn’t particularly high brow or literary however it felt like a slice of real life and was a great read.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley in order to provide an honest opinion.

A funny, light-hearted and emotional narrative that really strikes a chord with women in their 20 and 30's. I really enjoyed this book but wasn't blown away by it. I found it was a really easy read, but wasn't really gripped to keep picking it back up - I dipped in and out over a week but enjoyed it nonetheless.

Dolly has a real way with words that in some points made me howl with laughter, but also made me quite emotional - her characterisation was fantastic, and I really empathised with Nina throughout.

With thanks to #Netgalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.
Stella - the main character is a woman in her 30s living in London working as a food writer. She has a job she loves, friends and family and her own home.
What she doesn't have is a stable relationship with a man. So in search of this she decides to try dating apps. When she meets Max, is like all her dreams have come true until he ghosts her.
Ghosts is the story of a year in Stella's life and Dolly Alderton's characterization is spot on. However, while I did enjoy the book it was like eating fast food, it really didn't satisfy me. I think I'm missing something which maybe a lack of depth or perhaps I expected too much from the book.
This would make a perfect holiday read.

Ghosts was everything I wanted from a Dolly Alderton novel. Things I Know About Love was the first memoir I read that I felt described experiences I shared and Ghosts in many ways was the first romantic fiction I felt saw me in this way! The perils of online dating are not new to today's 20 something but the normality of it in our daily lives is definitely a first! Ghosts exposes all the horrors of modern romance while also revealing the fun of casual interactions, the diversity of people we get to interact with and ultimately that whether in laughter or tears it is something that our friends get us through!

Ghosts is a novel that captures a unique time in a woman’s life and the predicaments that come with it. While your early 20s is about trying out new things and making mistakes and learning from them (or not), in a woman’s late 20s and early 30s the discussion shifts to primarily focus on her romantic relationship status, or lack thereof. Suddenly the weight of finding a suitable partner and having a family is thrust upon you because your friends are comfortably settled in the suburbs with toddlers running amuck, so why can’t you? If one existential crisis is not enough, there is also the evident discomfort of watching your parents aging and succumbing to illnesses which makes the idea of mortality, terrifying glaring.

In Ghosts, Dolly Alderton tackles these tenuous aspects of growing older with a great deal of tenderness. Her otherwise self-assured protagonist and food writer, Nina Dean falls in love quite quickly in the book with a man she meets on a dating app. He turns out to be every bit as mysterious, handsome, and guarded you would expect a fictional hero to be. Except that he vanishes from Nina’s life soon after confiding his love for her. Alongside the ghosting by a potential partner, we learn about Nina’s father’s Dementia – a ghosting of another kind where one has no control of the precious memories (including that of his daughter’s) he has to let go of.

The book astutely highlights the transformations friendships go through at the turn of a significant decade in the person’s life when you suddenly find your bestie consumed in changing diapers instead of planning your next night out. Ghosts deals with real-life issues without overtly sentimentalising anything but merely pointing out the universality of our life experiences, especially when we think that nobody else could possibly understand what we are going through. To quote from the book, “Maybe friendship is being the guardian of another person's hope. Leave it with me and I'll look after it for a while, if it feels too heavy for now.”

Nina has it all. She's a 31 year old homeowner with a fantastic career as a food writer. She is however, single and with her friends all settling down, Nina decides to join a dating app.

.Meanwhile, Nina's dad has dementia and her mother is going through another transformation

There are some really well observed moments in this book. The relationship that Nina has with her friends and her mother, which are constantly changing as they all find their lives moving in different directions.

The main problem for me though is that I just didn't like Nina although I felt that the book was just all over the place.

Ghosts
Dolly Alderton
Pub date 15 Oct 2020
I love all Dolly Alderton books they such a good read you enjoy. The cover is so pretty and the writing style is beautiful written so clever. The characters are so easy to connect with. It such a funny book I was hooked I loved the plot and twist in this story.

After reading Everything I Know About Love, I was really curious to read her work of fiction. I was certainly not disappointed. As someone who has just turned thirty, I could completely relate to Nina's life. The online dating scene was perfectly captured, as was being the single friend in a sea of married women with babies. I felt totally understood!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy.

I loved this book. Such a relatable story to modern life and how we live today from dating, love, friendship to family. This is the first book I have read by Dolly Alderton and I will be definitely reading more.

An interesting book which covered a lot of difficult topics really well, dementia, ghosting and even dating apps. Although I enjoyed the book and found it both funny and sad it somehow fell a little bit short for me

I think you should be of certain experience, certain age and be at a certain stage of your life to really appreciate "Ghosts". It is like the main heroine, lovely, sarcastic, passionate and kind-hearted 30+ girl, Nina, states: "It's only in your 30s you realise you will not die of a broken heart..." (or something along those lines).

"Ghosts" is an engaging story about what it is like to be looking for love in the modern day and age, when you live in North London (I loved it that London was very much a character in "Ghosts"). It's a fable about modern dating, a satire about happiness of suburban families, about female friendship and just friendship, about getting old and finding your place in life. Thank you, Dolly Alderton, for writing this book and not being afraid to be sarcastic.

I don't think the cover (however cute!) makes it justice. I also found the very first pages of the book slightly misplaced - like they belonged to a different story.

If you enjoyed this book, I would also recommend "How Do You Like Me Now?" by Holly Bourne.

I loved it. Dolly Alderton books just resonate with me. It may be because I'm the same age as characters within her stories but I just find it really comforting sitting down with something Dolly has written. This book was a scary reminder of the pressures on women. To fit it in regards to having children, getting married etc. It also touches on alzheimers and how it affects not just the person with the disease but the whole family. A story full of ups and downs, laughter and tears. A real 10 out of 10.