Not my style of book so I unfortunately DNF at 22%. It was very lit fic and stream of consciousness and also quite graphic detail on sex. Might appeal to someone who likes to dissect the meaning of the books and likes unlikeable characters.

Emily you reach inside me and find my thoughts and feelings and have contextualised them in your portrayal of Iris. I began the book a little confused, is she a narcissist? Is she playing with people? But as the story unfolds you delicately reveal the complexities of Iris's feelings, the visceral ache of mental illness and riding through the waves of not knowing how and when it will end. It's a hard, but compelling read.

"Everyone I Know is Dying" was in equal measures authentic and exhausting. As an exploration of unaddressed mental health struggles, the main character and her choices feel very real and I think the story is quite on-trend with the focus on an unlikable, self-absorbed female protagonist with traits that previously were reserved mainly to male characters.

But what this story lacked for me, was the originality, hence only 3 star rating.

3,5 stars.
Although this was not a 5 star read for me, I thoroughly appreciate having read this book and been introduced to Slapper.
It is hard to believe a writing of such calibre comes from a debut novelist.
Everyone I Know is Dying is a modern, timely and important novel about a 20 something Londoner, Iris.
Trigger warning: suicide ideation, mental health issues, self-sabotaging.
Iris struggles in her own skin, in her life, around everyone else and herself, and makes some irrational choices.
The title of the book comes from a darkly hilarious exchange between two characters.
Overall, it was the tone of the book and the POV of the character, Slapper’s ability to write authentic inner thoughts that kept me interested in this book. I feel that there is more material here. I hope the author continues writing at this strength, and around these themes,
If the plot and the characters had other layers and nuances, if the story were longer and a bit more detailed, this would have easily been a 5 star read for me.
I highly recommend it nevertheless.

This book is raw, honest, gritty, and vulnerable—a powerful read. I devoured it in one go and couldn't stop thinking about it for days after finishing.

I think I am not the target audience as the main character annoyed me..
It is well written but I didn't enjoy it

Trigger warning: suicide ideation.

This is a very difficult for me to review. On the one hand this is a very accomplished, intense, authentic and powerful portrayal of someone struggling with significant mental health issues in the context of the societal and peer pressures that young women face. And I say that with no authority, as I’m not a young woman, but that’s how it seems to me. And on the other hand, I found reading it a chore. My 4-star rating is for the quality and importance of the book that I believe that it is. And I’m attributing my lack of enjoyment down to me being the wrong audience.

Is that fair? I don’t know. It is what it is.

The book is essentially in two parts: the first part (the first 34 chapters, or roughly 90%) is an incredibly raw portrayal of the day-to-day struggles of Iris, a young woman trying to understand what happiness is, whilst searching for it in the reflected judgement of others; the second part (the final 3 chapters) is the resolution. The resolution was exactly what I expected it to be, but also the only thing it possibly could be - and is also totally fitting, given what I believe the author is trying to say.

The main body of the book is a brave, difficult, genuine, and very difficult portrayal of Iris grappling with her sense of self, identity, and worth. She sees herself only in the reaction she gets from other people; she has no genuine friendships; she is not her authentic self.

“I can’t understand why people don’t like to be seen as objects when to be seen as an object is to be desired. This is why I keep coming back”

She knows that there is something lacking in her life, and she persistently misidentifies it, bouncing from one potential source of happiness to another.

“It’s disconcerting when you realise that getting what you want doesn’t make you feel better”

There is an audience for this book, and it isn’t me. That’s not to say that I didn’t get anything from reading it - rather that there was no part of me that could identify with anything that Iris was going through. All I could really do was feel sorry for her. Perhaps I got a deeper understanding of the internal struggle related to certain types of mental health issue. But for that I need to totally rely on the authenticity of what the author is portraying (which I have no reason to doubt) rather than being able to draw on any of my own experience.

Reading the comments about this book from other reviewers makes it clear that there is an audience for this book - people who can directly relate to some of the struggles that Iris had. In the reviews I have read, there are more comments from people who directly relate to Iris, at least in some small part, than from those who don’t. And for those people, I have a sense that the portrayal of Iris has a resonance, depth, and meaning.

If I could relate to Iris, this would probably be a 5-star read. If I were to give a rating solely on my personal, subjective enjoyment of the book, it is a 3-star read. What’s a reviewer to do?

Thank you #NetGalley and HQ for the free review copy of #EveryoneIKnowisDying in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to the author Emily Slapper, NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me an ARC in exchange for my review.

4.75 stars ⭐️ such a raw, vulnerable and honest book, Emily slapper incredibly encapsulated our main protagonists inner turmoil in a gut wrenching and fearless manner. What an incredible talent it is to be able to capture and articulate these moments of pure vulnerability. I feel that any reader will somehow find a piece of themselves in Iris no matter how desperately they wish they couldn’t. An emotional rollercoaster I found myself falling head first into, this was a truly stunning read.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for the ARC

What can I even say about this novel? It was a whirlwind of emotions. It's hard to believe that this is Slapper's debut because her writing was exquisite. The portrait of the roller coaster of emotions was so raw and good. The novel brought up a lot of important and rather tabu topics and discussed them nicely. I don't think the book is for everyone, but if you're up for it I'd check it out.

I loved this book. I have never read anything as accurate or reflective written from the narrator’s perspective as this. I especially loved how I as the reader could truly understand and see their line of thinking. Some sentences at first were seemingly random, but as the book progressed I understood that it was part of the character’s internal perspectives of themselves in the world they’re in.

It was a little slow in the middle, and dragged on for just a little bit past the 3/4 mark, but other than that, it was summarized well and wrapped up quickly.

Thank you to Emily Slapper, HQ, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

absolutely fantastic and powerful read! i couldn’t put it down - and I think it’s just one of those stories that just sticks with you
(thank you NetGalley for the arc)

Really struggled through this book and ended up putting it down early, with no desire to continue on. I felt it lacked a lot of emotion and depth to the character.

An unlikeable but very relatable main character and her struggles, mistakes and destructive path. Raw and ironic look at mental health issues.

"Everyone I Know is Dying" by Emily Slapper is an intense and emotional dive into mental health. Following Iris's journey, we see her evolve from seemingly narcissistic to deeply relatable as her struggles are revealed. The first-person narrative makes her inner turmoil feel very real. Though some parts are predictable, the portrayal of depression and relationships is raw and authentic. It's a thought-provoking read that's both compelling and moving.

I cannot tell you how much I wanted to love this book. A fan of sad girl fiction, this one seemed to tick all the boxes. I was readying myself for another Sorrow and Bliss. But it just fell so very short. I’m not even sure why. I can sympathise with mental health issues getting in the way of life more than most, and I don’t even need a protagonist to be sympathetic, but Iris just endlessly annoyed me. I also felt the side characters should have been more deeply developed. That said, it was an engaging read and the author has definite potential.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and Emily Slapper for the e-ARC of this book.

Warning: this book will take you on an emotional rollercoaster so make sure you’re prepared.

We follow Iris who originally comes across as quite narcissistic, which made me initially not want to like her. This soon changes and we being to see more of what lies underneath, showing her mental health struggles, and she becomes really quite relatable. I found myself really empathising with her, it had me crying at times and I don’t cry easily! We are experiencing her life through her internal monologue, inside her head with her for every thought and feeling, and it’s just perfect. The portrayal of mental health and relationships is just so real and authentic, I found it very confronting.

Honestly one of my favourite reads of 2024 so far, if not my favourite. If you liked Sorrow and Bliss this is a must read for you!!

This will inevitably be compared to some of the "messy millennial woman" novels of the past few years, but it's more interesting and original than that and deserves to be read on its own terms. The author's use of first person, and especially internal reflection, at times reminds me more of American Psycho -- Iris is watchful, cruel, status-obsessed, and funny, but she's also somewhat self-deluding. Emily Slapper does a great job of managing the tension between how Iris tries to control her appearance in the world - how she wants to be seen - and how she really feels, complicated by what she'll admit to herself she's feeling.

While I loved the voice, I did think as the novel went on its tone was a little same-y, and the action in the middle is fairly expected. (Good and bad boyfriends, family drama, mental health material that veers into the territory of "issues writing" and feels like we're being given a study of depression for educational means.) But this is still a darkly enjoyable, complicated study of someone's psychology under stress, and in the final third - I won't spoil it - both the author and protagonist make some original, surprising choices.

Recommended as a high-end summer read, a good book group choice with a lot to discuss-- I think people will enjoy having opinions on Iris, even if they don't like her as a person, and the themes of depression, self-sabotage, and how we internalise social narratives instead of listening to ourselves, will all make for great conversation.

Every now and again I choose a book that's miles away from my favourite genre. Everyone I Know is Dying was one of them. I found it really interesting to get inside someone's mind when they are going through mental turmoil. However, a lot of her thoughts seemed logical to me but I'm a bit on the spectrum. George seemed such a nice caring person but wasn't always enough for her in her destructive phases.
Thought provoking and interesting to read.

Everyone I Know Is Dying is an addictive, highly readable story that I devoured in two days. I found the writing brilliant - Emily Slapper is definitely a writer to watch - and despite the main character's flaws and struggles, you are rooting for her throughout the story.

I don't know why publishers keep buying books like this with wet characters who aren't aware of their own privilege. A really shame as the author has a talent in terms of her writing style. The plot wasn't for me I'm afraid.