This is a book told from the perspective of a black woman in her 20s about the pressures we put on ourselves on dating, what we want in a romantic relationship, the family's expectations about it and the adventure of trying to find your soul mate on a dating app.

Why You'll Never Find the One (And Why It Doesn't Matter) is a graphic novel that resembles a self-help book that advises and teaches that maybe there isn't just one love for our life.

Overall, despite having really enjoyed the illustrations in the book, I would have liked the book to be more colorful (because from the cover I had high expectations regarding the colors of the illustrations in the book).

This book was published in February 2023 and I recommend it to anyone who likes to read books about love relationships and self-knowledge.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

I absolutely loved this novel.
Such a great story with defined characters and a great plot.
What drew me in the most was how fleshed out the characters were
The writing style was fluid and relateable.
The cover was fascinating as well.
A reviting read overall
Definitely recommend adding this to your TBR!

An entertaining yet insightful account of how it is to experience the world as someone who is single in their late twenties. It reflects on what dating is like, why it can be disappointing, how being you can be single and happy. It also does a great job explain how we can prioritise ourselves yet keep realistic expectations From our love lives.

It was....okay? I was expecting more of a traditional comic style and certainly illustrations that were more advanced than this one. I wouldn't say my experience of dating has been remotely like what is depicted here, but I am also both older and from a very different cultural background than the authors. I'd be willing to get this for my library in hopes it landed in the hands of the right patron, but there certainly wouldn't be broad universal appeal I don't think

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order next year and will recommend it to students.

Why You’ll Never Find the One by Sarah Akinterinwa is the perfect combination of dating advice and illustrations. British Cartoonist Sarah Akinterinwa says in her LinkedIn profile,” Before I became a cartoonist, I drew as a hobby and worked as a therapist.” So all of the advice is very sound, beautiful and clear.

The book could be set anywhere that has a singles dating scene. The chapter titles that speak to me are “We Are All Victims of Romanticization” and “Why You Need to Date Yourself.”

If only I had learned these lessons and also about red flags when I was in my 20s. I could have avoided so much heartache and nonsense. The best quote in my opinion is “I think I just need to stop giving shitty people a change.” So simple and brilliant.

The main character’s dating life is based on some of the author’s experiences. Many of us feel pressured to find our one true love and live happily ever after. The truth is that we don’t have to give in to what everyone else wants.

People need to focus on loving themselves and figuring out what brings them joy. It’s sort of like marie kondo-ing your life but with relationships. Does this relationship bring me joy? No – then move on to whatever does bring you joy. The point is to choose yourself. Do not ever, ever, ever feel guity about choosing yourself.

Everything that the main character goes through is totally relatable. The story is told in a way that we can all laugh about how we’ve handled things before. Now that we have access to all of this great advice and lovely illustrations, we have hope for an new and improved dating experience.

If you are a single person of any sexual orientation, race or religion, then this book could have the answers for how to deal with dating. Sometimes I miss dating but not usually because it can be horrible.

If you have really strict, inflexible ideas or rules about dating then you might not like this book but you should read it anyway.

I received this ebook from NetGalley. This is my honest review. All opinions are my own. Obviously.

This is touted as an illustrated dating guide but feels more like a comics collection of the author's dating experiences. Although an interesting and uplifting read, there isn't much technical or in-depth advice beyond basic knowledge, so calling it a guide might be a bit of a stretch.

However, I really enjoyed the book overall. My favourite parts are the ones about self-love and taking yourself out on dates (which I already do). I also appreciate all the insight into various topics such as compatibility and putting yourself out there. Don't forget the funny and entertaining comics!

I think this book will be more suited/beneficial to those in their early to mid-20s, when you are still a bundle of insecurities and anxiety and everything feels so alien. Thankfully, I am more self-assured now than I was years ago but this was still a nice refresher.

3 stars

This is an interesting comic strip and weird self-help reflection/advice book. I loved the graphic novel/comic strip elements, but I could've done without the corny and cheesy advice column breaking up the panels. I didn't need that or ask for that feature and it was not for me.

This book focuses on the dating experiences of a bisexual protagonist. This book is more self help-esque than I anticipated it to me. My issues with the book stemmed from the fact that I don't think I'm in the stage of my life to really appreciate what was going on in the text--so it is definitely a me problem. I will be reading the author's work in the future and enjoyed some moments of this book. Also the comics were lovely (but I wanted more of them!)

Rating: 3.25 stars

Dating is hard, whether or not you are bisexual. I speak from experience. This book reminds us that we don't have to seek perfection, but there are steps we can take to reduce disappointment. There's a lot of humor, some honest reflections on love, and really good advice.

The section about having a date with yourself appealed to me the most. It's a chance for us to understand what we want out of life. And I completely approve of that.

'Why You'll Never Find the One' by Sarah Akinterinwa is a cute self-help book about being true to yourself. It's about finding happiness with someone who might not seem to be 'the one' on first sight, or finding happiness with no one but yourself at all. It's funny and honest and the author clearly put her own heart and experiences in it. What makes it even better are the comics drawn by the author. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of self-help books, but the comic aspect made me excited to read it and it did not disappoint. The cover is drawn by Akiterinwa as well and I really love it. Furthermore it's not targeted to allo- and heterosexual people only, like many of these books are. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this author!

4 stars for a refreshing graphic novel covering the modern struggles of dating~

I really enjoyed this humorous and all-too-relatable for this generation graphic novel. It was painfully accurate especially from hearing from friends that have gone through/are going through modern dating. I liked that it kind of chronicled the main character's journey from her point of view through numerous different dates and misadventures with the end result of finding happiness. The most important lesson in here though is to make self-love a priority as well.

Thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books, PA Press for providing a digital ARC for review!

Wonderful wonderful book.
Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced readers copy.
I liked the graphics in the book. It was so amazing reading this.
Hoping to see more from this author

This is an updated honest take on dating. It's nuanced, cringey, but still hopeful that you can find capability in love and maybe let go of the fantasy it's just one person. I definitely recommend particularly for WoC. I'm adding Oyin and Kojo to my TBR.

This combination of self-help book and comic has something to offer, but it is not that original. The artist surely captures some well-known but also private dating experiences and frames them with the short chapters on self-love, finding your priorities while dating and finally not the one, but one of the most compatible people to make us happy. I enjoyed the comics and the sections filled with advises and some even slightly scientific perspectives. The book did not offer me new insights or anything, but I liked the mixture of comic relief and thoughtfull analysis of our dating behavior.

I honestly wasn't aware that I was getting a sort of self-help book. I'm really not into that. I thought this was a graphic novel and it's not even that. It is a heavily illustrated self-help and the self that is being helped is basically the author. It does feel like we are the therapist and the author is basically doing some positive self-talk at the other end of the book. Maybe this will help others.... maybe? It did nothing for me.

I'm giving this an average of 3 stars in this app (not rated in GoodReads) because of my mistake, I wouldn't have requested had I known it was a development book.

This book was very helpful and I think also necessary for a lot of young adults. Society puts a lot of pressure on "finding the one". You end up endlessly swiping left and right, hoping that "McCharming" will suddenly appear.
This book is a fun guide, from the perspective of a cis-het Black woman, about dating and self-love.
Akinterinwa also takes time to acknowledge that your experience finding a partner can look different if you're not a cis-het white person, one reason being the European beauty standards that people of color are expected to fit into.

The art style was unique, but in a good way. I did have to get used to it at first, but I got used to it very quickly!
I do wonder if this book is really a graphic novel. Every chapter starts with about three pages of text, followed by a few pages of comics. I'm used to graphic novels being solely comic panels. So, keep that in mind when you want to pick up this book.

This book has definitely given me very useful advice

I read this book as an arc from NetGalley.

This book asks its readers to be honest and open about their love lives. It is figuring out what you want from a relationship and finding the person or people who can fulfill these aspects. I think this is a good book to start with if you are beginning your serious journey in love.

It's a fun, cutely illustrated reminder to love yourself while looking for love outside in the wide, wide world. While the advice is nothing new, it's also sound and what people end up realizing with time, experience and/or reflection. I believe for most, this just reaffirms what a healthy mindset should be when it comes to love, self-love or otherwise.

Thanks to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for providing me with the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.