Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It had a great premise, but it just did not come through for me. It was a little too YA for me. However, I would still recommend.

Thank you to netgalley for this advance review copy. (For reference I read this during Covid 19 lockdown)

I enjoyed this character driven novel about the period after school, where you have to work out what to do with your life if you’re not the smart student at school anymore.

Thank you Netgalley but this book wasn't my cup of tea.
I didn't finish it, couldn't get into it.
Think it was the use of the teenage language that I struggled with.

Such a funny and realistic portrayal of teenage life. There is something in this book that I’m sure everyone can relate too. Whether you’re a doctor who fan or a music lover everyone will love reading this book. I can’t remember the last time I loved a character so much. The honesty and insecurity in this book so perfectly defines teen of our time.

I found myself struggling to get through this book at times; mainly due to the amount of inner dialogue we got from Lona. For me personally, I prefer more interaction with other characters as opposed to the main character telling us everything through her inner dialogue, which at times was a bit clunky.

Lona was an interesting character. I found it so refreshing to read about a character who doesn’t know what they want to do in life. Most characters seem to have a fairly good idea about what they want their future to be like, which gets a bit boring after a while. I also felt that this made Lona a lot more relatable and realistic to me. I know so many people who don’t know what their doing with their life, I still feel that way at times and I think that’s why I related to Lona as much as I did. At times I would find myself being really annoyed with some of the choices Lona made and then I realised that it’s probably what I would do. You know how you never listen to your own advice.

There still seems to be a stigma around dropping out of university and I think this book did a really great job of showing why university isn’t all that it’s meant to be. Sometimes university isn’t for everyone and Young did a wonderful job of making Lona’s story so real that you understand more why it wasn’t for her.
I would have loved more interaction between characters, I wanted to know more about them than what we did get to see.

Having said that, I did enjoy this book. I don’t think I’d be in a hurry to pick it up again but I still enjoyed the story.

I did not finish this book, so I will not put a review on Goodreads (I don't like to leave comprehensive reviews unless I have read the whole thing). This book had a lot of elements that I thought I would like, but the very short, choppy chapters and the unique tone of the main character just did not work for me personally. I do believe this book would be great for a lot of readers.

This book was...depressing. It definitely does capture that "now what?" phase of life after college (or in this case, while college is on hold). However, it's SO frustrating, from an older perspective, to see the mistakes Lona makes, and the desperation she experiences. I'd recommend this for older readers, but would hesitate to hand this Ghost of Christmas Future of a novel to high schoolers.

Lona is drifting through her life, this is not necessarily a bad thing, it makes her a believable character. Her anxiety makes her analyise things too much, and stops her from living her life the way other people expect her to. She is a loner; she has a best friend but things start to drift, she has dropped out of art school for reasons that she can't quite explain. Unfortunately I just couldn’t care enough about Lona to enjoy this story, everything feels bland and diluted, but maybe that is the point?

I... loved this book. I don't know why. Maybe it was because it offered a break from the dreary monotony of quarantine life to give me dreary monotony of not-in-uni life. As someone the age of Lona it made me feel just so seen and realised. Life is messy, life is sad, this book made me not feel in the way that it feels like an empty gape in my chest that so many people know. The ending made me happy it felt almost a bit rushed but at the same time, everything had been building for so long that it was a rush that felt real. I'm obsessed with this book.

This book was tough to get into. It was a good read but it doesn't grab your full attention or leave you wanting more. I

I like the choice of narration; it looks like different diary entries. You don't have the usual chapters but more a theme about Lona's life in the past or the present.

So there is only one point of view, but I would have like a more general point of view for some parts as sometimes Lona's point of view isn't enough and miss depth.

During the whole of the book, we can see that she feels aimless. This common, especially when you are her age, and it's a good thing to read about this in a book. Also, she talks about having anxiety; nevertheless,
she doesn't evolve through the book, and I didn't see real anxiety as some people can suffer daily.

Loner is a refreshingly different and unique when compared to others in the genre, however I do feel as if this is its downfall as well as its selling point. It is poignant and thought provoking in the way it deals with subjects of new adulthood and the tumultuous reality of real life. It is stark in its portrayal of life which I can imagine isn’t to everyone’s tastes however it does represent a slice of life that many people can relate to which I think is definitely important.
The story follows Lona who has dropped out of university, is balancing three jobs and overall does not really know where she is heading. Her relationships are strained and overall, she prefers to spend her time alone instead of working to enjoy things that she feels she is supposed to enjoy. This internal monologue between what makes her happy and what she feels should make her happy is the basis of the novel.
The plot of this book is just as vague and unconventional as the synopsis and at times feels very haphazard. Going into the book I did not really know what was going on and by the end I felt very much the same. But that is the very nature of the book. Life does not follow strict guidelines, does not flow in a logical order, so neither does the story. There is no clear ending or the same strict structure and flow you might find in other novels. But that is the joy of it, and the reason I can see many people who are also going through a similar phase in life might choose to pick this book up.
The author did do a good job at making us aware of Lona’s life, the monotony of her everyday life and the city through her eyes. However, the writing isn’t particularly descriptive, so this is kept to a minimum. Similarly, the writing style is definitely unique and takes a while to get used to. For me personally it was not an issue however it is straight to the point and blunt which is not to everyone’s taste.
Lona as a main character is flawed and often infuriating in the way she treats those around her, yet this feels totally realistic and crafted in a meaningful way which shows the authors intentions for her perfectly. I would even go so far as saying she is an unlikeable main character. But isn’t that true of so many people in real life!
Rating : 3.5 Stars

This was a style of writing that took me awhile to really get into. Storyline & character were a little confusing overall as well. I felt like the premise of the book didn't deliver that "wow" factor I was hoping for.

Pretty good book. It started a bit slow for me but picked up the pace further in. I say you need to give it 2 chapters before you feel comfortable in the story.

Lona was a confusing character to me. Even after reading the entire book, I don't feel like I know her well and am not completely sure if that's the point? I feel like getting another character's point of view would make things clearer for the reader.

For fans of Sally Rooney and Emma Jane Unsworth, Loner by Georgina Young will hit you just right. It is a character driven, slow paced introspection of the main character, Lona, in her socially awkward attempts at adulting. Much of the narrative is layer upon layer of sameness, so one has to be motivated to keep reading, which is why I rated it 3 stars.

Advanced readers' copy provided courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Loner is about Lona, an art school dropout with no clear direction. She DJs at a roller rink and hangs out with her best friend Tab, and she seems mostly content with her choices.

This book feels like a stream of consciousness, and I don't mind it. It feels poetic, and it's a short book so I never felt bored. I felt comforted by the themes in this book -that it's okay to not have a plan, that it's alright to be alone, and that we don't have all the answers in our 20s. The ending was a little bittersweet. I really enjoyed this book! I thought it was cute.

Lona is a young girl with a raging self-doubt who is trying to find her place to “belong” in this world. Her photography is a passion yet she doesn’t want anyone to share it with her. Her loved for music is evident and defines her but she can’t quite let herself go. Part of her generation is about discovering new acts but then not wanting anyone else to sense how cool they are... she wants to be their biggest fan. Lona wants to belong but her family is transitioning to individual living arrangements. I liked her desire to connect with her grandfather but her connections are tenuous. It’s hard to belong to this world when you don’t understand where you are going. Our lead protagonist is very self absorbed and yet full of self-doubt. A sign of the times. 2.5 ⭐️⭐️ rounded up to 3. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc. My review is without bias. #netgalley #loner

Lona is in a dark room. I couldn't get interested and some of the dialogue was boring. I didn't feel a connection to Lona.

** Received a free ARC copy of this for an honest review from NetGalley **

Firstly, thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC. As this is an ARC, many things can change from the version I’ve received, and so I can only base my review on that and not the published book due out in February 2021.

I’ve rated this book three stars, as I enjoyed reading it—but only for the most part. I feel the story primarily being told from Lona’s point of view is good, but due to her inner thoughts we get a clunky idea of her friends and family dynamic.

She seems to have anxiety, (that at least is mentioned) but we see no one in her life bringing it up except fleetingly by George who acknowledges it. It would have been nice for Lona to act upon her own admission of her anxiety as she even realises she often cannot cope with emotions and things.

There was a real interesting development between Tab and Lona that I feel ultimately went nowhere other than Tab leaving university, but her ‘disappearance’ and odd behaviour isn’t mentioned other than that. I understand this is from Lona’s POV, but it would have at least felt like the plot had come full circle, like the ending did.

I did love that Lona started at the skate and ended there. I loved that she herself was constantly, mind the pun, skating around it all the time, never really wanting to give it up as it was, in some ways, the centre of her. Her beginning to paint and turn the books into her own art was beautiful, but I wish this had been more fleshed out, understanding what her future intentions are.

Overall, I enjoyed the writing style of this author. I liked their tone and the voicing for Lona, but there were times I wasn’t sure what the purpose of the story was, not knowing why I’m following Lona and what will be gained from it. I found myself feeling the same at the end, especially with the phone ringing and not knowing whether it would be good news or bad at the other end. I also think whilst I enjoyed the tone and character of Lona, I’m not sure what path she was in to begin with, as it’s hard to tell if she’s lost or just purposefully deviating from a plan she made when she was younger.

If that is the point of the entire thing, it isn’t as clear as it could be.