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Ghosts, by Dolly Alderton (2020)

Premise: An English woman struggles to manage the ever-shifting dynamics of fading friendships, aging parents, and the horror that is twenty-first-century dating.

Review: I‘m pretty sure no author has been able to articulate the highs, lows, and humiliations of the millennial generation as well as Dolly Alderton. Cont.

“I didn‘t think you were that keen for marriage…”
“Yeah, but that was with you,” he said.
“Cheers.”
“No, I mean, the future you decide with a person is different for every person, isn‘t it? It‘s not like you decide what you want, then someone fits into that. We decided we wouldn‘t have gotten married. Lucy and I discussed…that we would…”
“All these things we thought about each other…funny how wrong we were.”
“We weren‘t wrong…we were growing up.”

“I had never known a feeling as unbearable — as sour, wrenching, and unshakeably sad — as pity for a parent.”

It‘s a testament to Alderton‘s writing (& my own healing) that I was so immersed in the story, I didn‘t even think to compare it to my formative heartbreak until 3/4 of the way through! Being “ghosted” by someone you care about, when you‘ve been lead to believe that what you have together is valuable, is so damaging to your self-worth. I love that in her novel, Alderton suggests we trust our friends to be keepers of our hope. Just for a while.👇🏻

A great, character-driven novel about Nina, a single cookbook author and daughter, who we follow through her 32nd year as she navigates a relationship, her father‘s tough diagnosis, and her friendships changing as they become married or with children. There were many moments of introspection for Nina but plenty of comedic moments as well.

3.5⭐️

I loved it. This is definitely not just a light funny book. It portrays wonderfully how difficult it is today to find a partner with whom to build a serious relationship and a family. The story bits about dating apps raise some interesting questions on how viable this option really is, and more importantly about who raised all these boys (maybe entire generations?) who become immature men uncapable to comit to anything and behave manly.

I almost never do this, but after 40%, I jumped to the last chapter and the epilogue to write my NetGalley review. This is not a rom-com and I‘m sick of publishers mismarketing books as romance or rom-com. It's a story of a thirty-something woman's journey of discovery: how she deals with bad romantic relationships, friendships changing/ending, and a parent with dementia. This is the kind of contemporary fiction I avoid like the plague.

#superseptember Readathon
Still looking after a hubby with covid and two girls full of colds, reading has had to take a back seat. Pleased to say that I have finished book 1 of 2 for my Readathon goal. Fingers crossed I might finish book 2 by the weekend.

Nina has hit the thirties, has her own home, a great career and a loving family. A new relationship with Max looks promising until he ghosts her. Her dad would normally provide advice but she‘s losing a piece of him everyday and he doesn‘t know who she is. Everyone one around her is growing up including her best friend.
A debut novel which is funny, tender and really makes some smart observations about life, family, friendship and growing up.

Nina is in het thirties and single while almost all of her friends are getting married, have babies and move to the suburbs. While they chat about diapers and sleepless nights, Nina is having a rough time herself, with her father suffering from dementia and being ghosted in the world of online dating. A fun read; chicklit with a bit more depth.

Pic: Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan

This isn't a funny book, it's a book with funny moments - and I need publishers to stop claiming books with funny moments here and there are funny. Anyway. It was still a good book but I don't think fits how it was billed at all.

Nina is a delightful British woman looking for love on dating apps. But there‘s SO much more to this novel than this surface-level synopsis. Ailing father, oblivious mother, evolving friendships, creative work life, London setting— this has it all. MC Nina felt incredibly real to me; she jumped off the page. Poignant, heartbreaking, hilarious, relatable…just everything I want in a book. And I can see this being made into a movie. Loved it!

https://wellreadneck.wordpress.com/2021/11/09/%EF%BF%BCghosts-dolly-alderton/

An apt title for Halloween but based on a modern type of ghost rather than the traditional kind. An insightful book on the current dating scene from a female perspective which would probably class this as chick-lit but there is much here that men would also identify with, not least the scenes where the protagonist deals with her father's progressive dementia.

It was a crazy week. I just want to sit here and be left alone.

4🌟 I quite enjoyed this book, and Alderton's writing was great! I thought how she used the idea of ghosts and applied it to Nina's life was so clever. Like how as people get older and evolve in life they leave ghosts of their former selves, if that makes sense. It was very reflective, and especially true for Nina's father who has dementia. Alderton really captures dating and life in today's world quite well. #bookreview #bookstagram #bookblogger

I saved reading this until I got my hands on this mug

Loved this as an #audiobook Nina is dating again after a breakup and these are her single 20 something adventures. Told with great empathy and good humor. #ARC

Ignore the synopsis that calls this a romantic comedy. It‘s not that. It‘s much more a story of a modern millennial life, of friendships, dating, career, and aging parents. It‘s sharp, funny and yes a bit generic at times, but also really enjoyable.
It‘s got a very London vibe, making it relatable for me despite being a generation older than Nina. She‘s flawed, sometimes behaves badly, but in mostly believable ways. (Review continued in comments)

This sentence really hits home for me….. 💔

Love that equation 💕🙃

I kept hearing about this one so I‘m starting this next.

Surely everyone in their 30s isn't this childish? No-one I know is. Mildly entertaining but I soon got quite tired of the melodrama and the constant judgemental attitude of the narrator and other characters @TheAromaofBooks #bookspin

Loved Dolly Alderton‘s nonfiction (tagged in comments) so I jumped at the chance to download this #arc of GHOSTS from #netgalley. I believe it is released in the states in August. I‘ve been seeing this one pop up here in Litsy and I‘ve been looking forward to getting my hands on it! So far it is very British which I very much enjoy 😊

Book 6 finished for #FabulousFebruary and #DoubleSpin book for February.

Took me a long while to get into this book, but then did enjoy it. Quite an emotive book looking at dementia and it‘s effect on the family, & Nina trying to find a relationship using a dating App. Nina was treated quite badly in this book following her experience on a dating app. Loved second half of the book, but then just petered out in my opinion. Needed a better ending.

I picked up these books from the library yesterday. I have a week off work now, so I will read one of these. #tbr

I love Dolly on the High Low and liked her first book (Everything I know about love) so I wanted to like this much more than I actually did. A quick, easy read but not a book I'll think about again.

Thanks so much for the book and the HUGE chocolate bar Jess @jhod

I am really excited to read this one - think it will be perfect Christmas reading.

And thank you for the card - I shall write back soon.

#jolabokaflodswap thank you for organising @MaleficentBookDragon

PS your detective work on my email address was correct... 😬