I thoroughly enjoyed this book from page one. Alderton captures the neurosis’s of the modern woman so perfectly it takes your breath away. She demonstrates a such expertise on the current day, understanding the rollercoaster that is the 21st Century dating scene.

Her writing is excellent and sharp, it doesn't tip over into melodrama but maintains a great balance between satirising and observing the world we live in today. Through Nina, our main character, we explore the complications of dating and what love really is. I particularly loved the reflections on the hypocritical nature of the things men can say versus what women can say early on in a heteronormative relationship. Alderton lays out all the many many frustrations that woman have faced over the last century brilliantly. It doesn't read like a single lady moaning to the universe that she hasn't got a boyfriend, it reads as an empathetic understanding of just how hard navigating love can be. At the heart of the novel though Alderton hammers home the message that love can fill our lives regardless of one’s relationship status.

I also listened to the audiobook and felt that Holliday Grainger couldn't have been a better pick for the narrator.

This is the book I shall be gifting to all my friends.

Nina Dean is celebrating her 32nd Birthday, and really this book is a quick snap-shot of a year in her life. From the ex-boyfriend she is still ridiculously close to, to the permanently single best friend she can always count on, through to her oldest friend who moves to the suburbs with her family. Add in to the mix the perfect boyfriend material via a dating app, and the fact her beloved Dad is gradually slipping away thanks to dementia and you have a whole heap of ghosts wandering through the pages of this book.

Nina is coming to terms with the approach of middle-age, and the fact that maybe her life hasn’t worked out exactly how she planned. Not in a morose, pathetic, who are we if we’re not married, kind of way; which I have to applaud the author for. This book is fun to read, witty, clever (without being pompous) and at times amusing. There are some refreshing observations on womanhood, and the call to procreate etc.

I thought Nina was a really interesting character – not too overbearing, nor thrown to hyperbole and random emotional outbursts. It was a joy to read about someone who was real, and you know what, just hanging on in there and doing OK.

A big thank you to Penguin for sending me an early ebook copy for me to review.

I had seen this book. for pre-order for a while and was curious to read it, so I was very excited when this opportunity came around.

This book is not your typical adult romance as this is more of a story about Nina Dean’s journey throughout her 32nd year of life. At 32 she is single and tired of hearing about her friends perfect lives with partners and children and feels like her friendships are falling apart because of her leading a different lifestyle to them. Nina decides to join a dating app for the first time, where she meets Max who seems to be a great match for her. However things don’t end up working out for them, leading Nina to change her perspective on relationships.

Living in London myself, I found the descriptions of areas where I’ve spent a lot of time in (and lived!) enchanting and the familiarity of the culture and places in the story made it a great read for me.

However, I found the book quite slow and not as gripping as I would have liked, but I’m certain that has got to do with me not being the target audience for this book at 25.

This book was a joy to read. A real insight into female solidarity, sisterhood, respect and love. The dating is at once integral and peripheral to the plot of the women in this book, weaving in and out of friendships and family relationships.
An absolute belter of a novel. Delighted to have read this one.
Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review

I wanted to love this book, but unfortunately I found it a bit arrogant and the character of Nina to embody this strange trope that is fashionable among "single girl looking for love" stories where they put their single life on a pedestal and denigrate the choices of married-with-children friends. I had similar issues with Olive by Emma Gannon: the main character isn't nice about other people and their choices, and it becomes wearing very fast, sadly.

This is the full review that I have posted to my blog, and there is a shorter version on my Instagram account that I will also use for Goodreads and other retail sites.

I was kindly approved by Penguin to read an E-ARC of this novel via NetGalley.

Following the success of Everything I Know About Love, Ghosts is Alderton's first novel. The novel follows Nina during a particular year of her life, beginning with her 32nd birthday. Alderton takes us along with Nina as she tries online dating for the first time whilst grappling with everything else in her life and the changes and challenges that life throws at you.

We quickly learn that the relationships in Nina's life are a central part of this novel, whether they be friendly, romantic or familial. As everyone in her life grows older, Nina's relationships with them change, often causing difficulty and tension. Nina's parents are growing older and her dad's condition is causing a rift between Nina and her mother. Meanwhile, Nina's friends are getting married, starting families and entering a phase of life that necessarily changes their relationships. Along with her friend Lola, Nina is ready to look for love again and turns to dating apps which opens up a new world, and one that isn't straightforward.

The way in which Alderton writes about relationships is amazing. She has a real skill at social observation that made for believable relationships and an engaging and interesting narrative. I find relationships fascinating, and this novel really appealed to me in that sense.

Another element that I loved was Alderton's portrayal of feminism. She creates characters who are relatable in that they want to be feminists and they are doing their best to be, but sometimes, they just want to find a man who will be chivalrous. Things like this throughout the novel were so relatable for modern life and dating and I loved that.

The characters themselves were so well-depicted that they became clear in my mind and I couldn't help but be lost in their stories and the complications of their lives. I liked Nina as a character and some of her cynicism made me smile. Her flaws made her more rounded and it was because she seemed human that I felt attached to her and was keen to see how her story would progress.

The plot had me hooked and I found that I read the novel quite quickly. Alderton managed to capture my emotions in ways that I had not expected and I was quickly invested in the lives of her characters. I liked the ending of the novel and felt that the narrative arc was handled well and felt right in many ways.

One of the things that I enjoyed thinking about with this novel is the title, 'Ghosts', and how it is reflective of the narrative. Before I read the novel, I knew that the title referred to 'ghosting', but I didn't realise how many other connotations it would have, such as memories and our past selves. These were aspects that I found interesting and were explored well throughout the novel.

Overall, there is a lot that I could talk about from this novel, but instead I will recommend that you read it for yourself.

Ghosts is released on the 15th of October and I recommend picking up a copy of this great novel, especially if, like me, you find relationships interesting.

Ghosts is one of those books that makes you feel utterly and unapologetically human. It makes you as frustrated with the characters as you are with yourself, it breaks your heart when their's breaks, and it makes you so grateful for the people in your life who drive you mad.

Dolly Alderton has such a beautifully simple way of writing which doesn't feel simple at all. It's easy to read, but makes you feel so much.

I’m going to cut to the chase. I didn’t enjoy reading this book. I took some time to think about it before writing my review but it still stands.

I didn’t like Nina - I found her unbearably smug and completely unrelateable. I could not understand how she chose to handle her relationships with the other characters - the results of which were hopelessly predictable. The only person that surprised me was Angelo the neighbour. Even the annoying characters like Katherine and her mum were more relatable. Speaking of Katherine, could not get over the 180 flips both of them did and the sheer hypocrisy at the results. Don’t even get me start on Max.

I’m giving this a 2 because I managed to finish reading it, even though the writing style needs more work.

*3.25*

"Ghosts" is Dolly Alderton's first novel, and I have to say I was really glad I had the chance to read it. The book follows Nina, a woman at the beginning of her thirties while she tries to balance relationships, friendships and a difficult family situation.

I really liked the concept behind this book, and who the "ghosts" were in this novel and what they represented. How all our life is surrounded by ghosts, them being lovers who suddenly decide to never show up again, memories slowing fading away with age, memories of our childhood that haunt us for how perfect they are in comparison to our current life, the ghosts of friendships that once were and now seem to hold onto nothing more than the past.

I think Alderton really has a way with words and human emotions, and I would like to read other works by her, because I really like novels focused on feelings and what growing up means.
I have to admit that being in my mid-twenties this book really hit too close to home sometimes, and I was glad I had the chance to be in Nina's mind. She was a woman I totally admired, and her strenght and perseverance are something I look up to.

What made me lower the book rating was a thing happening at the end, though, that I felt came up out of nowhere and really didn't sit right in the narrative in my opinion. Also, sometimes I disagreed a bit with some of Nina's choices and I couldn't see how she so easy forgave someone who hurt her so bad, but I think in the end everything turns out right.

Overall, I think this was a good book to read in this time of my life, I laughed and sometimes I wanted to cry for how real some situations felt, so I highly recommend it.

Synopsis
Nina is a successful food writer who is coming to terms with her beloved Dad losing his memory after battling dementia, as well as trying to navigate her way through a new dating app after the break up of her long term relationship a year or so prior.

Thoughts
I think that this is going to be a very unpopular opinion but for me, this was missing something. I didn't hate it by any means as it it was easy to read, the themes were strong + very relatable to any woman in her late twenties right the way up, the characters were likeable + there were many funny moments in the book, but it's the sort of book I would forget about in a year's time. I was a big fan of "Everything I knew about Love" and recommended it to my friends /colleagues all the time, so I was expecting big things from this book but just found it a little underwhelming.
Nothing about it made me say "Oh that was so clever", it was actually really similar to Olive by Emma Gannon which was released a few months ago (August maybe?). I think Alderton is a great writer and I find her sense of humour brilliant- it's witty, honest + very sarcastic, but I think this lacked real depth in the plot.

This book has fully pulled me out of my recent reading slump, if it wasn’t for working over the weekend I’d have probably finished this in one sitting.

My absolute favourite part about this book is the friendship between Nina and Lola, I don’t think I’ve ever read such a close depiction of me and my best friend and it was so nice to read a female friendship that resonated so much with me.

It is also the first time I’ve read such an accurate depiction of having a family member diagnosed with dementia and all that entails. The way Nina and her mum have to essentially relearn how to communicate with her dad again was painful but cathartic to read about for me.

Mostly this book just made me feel so Seen, Nina made a lot of bad choices that I’ve definitely been guilty of making in the past and whilst I was screaming ‘no!’ in my head at certain things it felt almost validating witnessing others (even if they are fictional characters) make the same stupid mistakes I have before.

This was one of my most anticipated books of 2020 and sadly it just did not work for me.

Nina is in her early thirties, a successful food writer who has broken up with her boyfriend of seven years and is entering into the world of online dating and coming to terms with her father's dementia diagnosis. Needless to say, she has a lot on her plate. I did like the way the book balanced all these elements and Nina's coping strategies for these things were believable and showed a lot of strength, which was a nice change from many books which show women falling to pieces after a break up.

My main issue is that Nina is not a likeable character. She is judgemental, critical and self centred and as the book went on I struggled to find any redeeming features.

I also had a lot of problems with the depiction of mothers in this book who are shown as desperate, embarrassing, insecure and unable to cope. This didn't sit well with me as a representation of motherhood.

I am disappointed that I did not enjoy this book as I had high hopes for it and others seem to have really liked it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin UK for the ARC.

Firstly I just want to say, I LOVE Dolly Alderton. I relate so much to her writing and think she is so smart, witty and insightful.

I have been so excited for her debut novel, Ghosts, and the storyline and characters were what I hoped for. A *very* relatable take on dating in your early thirties, the importance (but difficulties) of female friendships and other life stresses including managing a career and keeping financially stable. As I say VERY relatable!

I did enjoy reading the book but as someone in a similar situation, it caused me a bit of anxiety at times! This is absolutely not what Dolly was going for, but her characters are so stressed and worried about finding a partner, it made me panic too! Am I going to find my soul mate? Am I going to get ghosted even though I'm sure my partner would never do that to me? Argh! It's definitely accurate (the point around every man on dating apps saying they're a graphic designer made me actually lol) and she certainly made some really interesting and valid points via her character's narrative... but it doesn't mean I particularly want to read about those worries in my fiction.

I think if you're happily settled down you'll enjoy this, otherwise it may be slightly stress-inducing. The writing is top class though.

I absolutely loved this book! I took to the main character Nina straight away and I throughly enjoyed the story. It’s well written, interesting and had me hooked from the start. I will be looking out for more from this author. I definitely recommend you read this book! Thank you #netgalley

I'm afraid this is far too heavy on the telling. Conversations that could have been funny are simply related to us by the narrator. The humour too did little to elicit my interest.

Nina is in her mid thirties. She looks like she has her life sorted...good job as a food journalist, her own flat and a great relationship with her ex boyfriend. But her friends are off having babies and Nina would like a relationship of her own. She joins a dating app and meets a man who tells her he is going to marry her at the end of their first date....but it’s not all plain sailing from there. Add to the mix a father whose health is deteriorating, a mother who is going through a delayed mid life crisis and a neighbour who might be a member of the mafia and Nina is definitely having a strange year!!
I really enjoyed this book. It’s a nice easy read and some bits really made me giggle.. I recently read Olive by Emma Gannon and it had a similar vibe to that. I would definitely recommend it

Sorry, but this book did nothing for me. I found it very drawn out with too many characters and unfortunately I did not appreciate the plot. I realise other readers will not feel the same.

Thank you, NetGalley for this book. Here is my review;

I can't remember the last time a book affected me. I planned my reading around my day, had to read a bit every night. It was beautiful. I will be buying this for friends and family and I must have a paper copy for myself to highlight my favourite passages or sentences. I am that geeky about it!

Nina is a London girl, early 30's, food writer and looking for love in this modern world. She is still the best of friends with her ex, Joe. Her much-loved father is ill, some of her friends are moving onwards without her, except Lola, she was one of my favourite characters. I adored the friendship between them.

Nina meets Max online and during their first date, he says he wants to mrry her. Their relationship moves quickly, but they are both ok with that. But something changes and Nina has to learn what is going on while handling the stresses of a mad and upsetting neighbour.

This book is simply about life, the happy times, the relationships, the sadness, grief and acceptance. The author narrates all of this with such humour. This book is bright and perceptive and I absolutely loved it.

If you are after a swooping story with a strong happy ending this is not the book for you. It is realistic and at times funny and sad on how life really is. Life is not all peaks, highs and lows it tends to be middle of the road and when hard times appear they are constantly there in the background. I enjoyed this story and liked the authors observations on dating and motherhood in the modern (pre-covid) world.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for a honest review.

Liz Jones and I read this book to review for her podcast Liz Jones Diary for MailPlus. Both of us enjoyed this book and Liz felt it was very Bridget Jones without the humour. I particularly liked that it is very well written with engaging descriptions. The characters are very realistic and scenarios easily relatable. Although I agree with Liz that the book isn't laugh out loud funny it does have some great lines which kept me smiling throughout. I cared about the central character and felt for her ups and downs but was content enough when the book ended. A nice easy non-demanding read...