This was a bizarre, quirky book, unlike any I’ve read before. It took me a while to find a flow, but when I did, I loved that everything was organized with quick subheadings instead of by chapter. Lona’s internal conflicts are very relatable. Perhaps I feel a kinship seeing that the characters reference being born in 1994, but this is overall a great story of finding yourself in the weirdness between teenage angst and being on your own in adulthood. I admire the miniature world this story created and the multiple relationships between friends, family, and coworkers.

This was a delightful, quirky and fun read that had me smiling and laughing and emotional throughout. Young created an intense, unique and engaging protagonist that had me reading till the end without pause.

Lona is one of the most relatable characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading about. I loved her relationship with her grandfather and their bond. The ending was brilliant.

Unfortunately this wasn’t for me. I was expecting something different from this. This is absolutely no fault of the author or book, just my taste. I don’t often read in this genre.

I'm a fan of "new adult" novels and would like to read more of them, so I enjoyed this. It was, sadly, incredibly relatable and reminded me a lot of the various crises I went through in my early twenties.

Good book, not like anything I've read before. Enjoyable from a writer who is new to me. Would recommend.

Beautiful writing. I was hooked!
A perfect read for the summer holidays.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

Good young adult book, I am glad I read it and recommend it to all ages, not just young adult. If you're old like me it will bring you back to good memories. Thank you for my ARC.

This felt so real and so raw, you see Lona who is going through quite a lot and is also kind of relatable, she doesn’t really know what she wants to do and goes through quite a few different emotions.

Lona is a completely unique character and I know for a fact people will either like her just be very meh…

I think seeing Lonas personal journey and her trying to discover things about and for herself and it felt super real. It was one of the few books I wish I’d of read whilst growing up because becoming an adult isn’t something you just know…

Nice enough as a read but I can’t said I was completely hooked. The main character is purposely a bit odd and it had too much self pitying for my liking but certainly readable

LONER BY Georgina Young is a new adult slice of life type novel . It follows around the main character Lona as she comes to terms with growing older, dropping out of uni and juggling relationships. At times Lona can come off as overly miserable and sort of bland and generic with her art school punk angst. But as you dive in deeper into the book you realize that most of her angst comes from the fact that she is incredibly insecure about herself and what she wants from the world.
You catch glimpses of her figuring out what she wants and realizing that needing people in her life isn’t a bad thing. She has her great friend Tab who is her main go to, she has her crush from uni Sampson who is a great male for her to be friends with and you have her love interest George. Each one of these people help her grow and mature throughout the book to make her a more well rounded character, but the best relationship she has is the one with her grandfather.from his introduction you can tell that her grandfather is an important figure in her life, he supports her unconditionally and in return she loves him for it. There relationship lasts throughout the entire book and it is pure delight to see their interactions on the page.
While Lona doesn’t ever really get over the angst that she has she does learn and grow throughout the book which makes her angst feel tolerable. It doesn’t help that a lot of her angst comes in the form of pop culture references , we get it you like my chemical romance and doctor who so does a large portion of the population, and how that makes her different or superior to others. The book itself while delightful and charming does tend to rely on naming dropping pop culture references, which will date the book quickly, but also don’t really add to the story. We know Sampson likes doctor who and we know she likes Buffy the vampire slayer and we know her dad likes Hamilton. But other than just being details they don’t matter because nothing is ever really brought up so the details fall flat.
Still despite the flaws and faults of this book it ended up being charming. Readers might find themselves rooting for Lona to figure out what she wants from this world and will enjoy watching her fumble her way towards getting it. Her awkward persona works for what the book is trying to accomplish which is a coming of age book for adults. This will especially speak to adults who grew up in a similar time and also feel alienated and a bit behind in life.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles.
I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

I really liked this book, it was a fun read! the characters are sharp, and everything felt realistic, and a pretty good depiction of a 20 year old trying to figure out what she wanted from her life. i also adored the friendships!!

This novel will speak to the millennials still struggling to find their place in the world. We meet Lona, who we follow as she desperately grapples with her past and what it means for her present. For those experiencing similar struggles this novel is the perfect t blend of cynicism and wit. Deeply comforting in reminding you you are not alone in your bid to find out who you are and where you belong.

1.5 stars

Although I am extremely grateful to have received this ARC, I am so sad to say that I didn't enjoy this novel. At all.

This story initially caught my attention because we follow a twenty-something named Lona as she navigates what it means to be an adult and how to overcome the trials and tribulations that young adults go through as they begin to establish themselves in society. She frequently asks "What's the point?" but truth be told, as I was reading I was asking myself "What is the point of this book?" As far as plot goes - nothing of significance happened (not enough to carry a plot in my opinion anyway). As far as setting the scene of Lona feeling stagnant in her life, the lack of "exciting" plot points did just that. But man, did it make this novel a bore.

Along with the lack of plot, there was also zero character development. Lona was literally the exact same person as she was in the beginning of the novel, just with a different hairstyle. I found Lona to be unbearable to read from: she was very selfish, annoying, self-indulgent, all while trying to come off as a wallflower (but simultaneously wanting to be the center of everyone's universe). It was bizarre to say the least. Her relationships (both her platonic one with Tab and her "romantic" ones with several supporting characters) made no sense to me as well. Her entire story was very "woe is me" and incredibly difficult to get through.

Although I enjoyed the format of this novel (short chapters, themed chapter headers) the writing style got very redundant in the most literal sense (ie. the repeating of words, the overuse of colons while repeating phrases in reverse order, _____ = ______ = _______, etc.). I felt as though it was taking itself way to seriously - both the character and the writing style came off as extremely pretentious.

content warnings: terminal illness, blood, car accident, brief mention of a puppy farm

I didn't get on with this book at all, it felt really difficult to get through and just wasn't for me. BUT I absolutely LOVED that it had non-traditional views of relationships and connection, representation is so so important and I can't fault that aspect at all.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't sure what to think about this at first, but I ended up loving the story. Lona was so relatable. Sometimes I thought the author was writing about ME. There were so many fun pop culture references. First, she mentions World of Warcraft, a game I have played for 15 years. And I won't spoil it, but the gift Lona's boyfriend gets her on her birthday is literally the perfect gift. I feel like Lona was close to who I was in my early 20s, and her friends are people I would have hung out with. Definitely recommend if you need a quick read that gives you nostalgic early 20s feels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Text Publishing Company for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Loner was such a deep and enjoyable read about growth and adulthood, I really enjoyed this book and I'll be keeping an eye out for more of Georgina's work.

This had some interesting points and elements in this but the story did not work for me as whole. There were moments where i really liked Lona as a character but there were too many were she was just a bit apathetic and a bit meh. There were surrounding characters who seemed to be a bit more interesting and compelling than she was.

I love, love, loved this book, however the ending fell a bit flat for me and there were a few too many cultural references throughout for it to be a 5 star...but also, I feel the addition of the cultural references reflects the reoccurring "taste is internalised misogyny" theme of the novel. So maybe that is my internalised misogyny...so it may be a potential 5 star as a reread.

You are totally immersed in Melbourne. It's a slice of life for 19/20 year old Lona, recent university dropout and wondering what to do with her life, and more importantly what's the point?

Delivered in the same vein of Rooney's meanderings of 'new adults', it packed quite an emotional punch at times and likewise a lot of semi-pretentious reflection. It has short and choppy sentences, with paragraph long chapters being the norm.

There's not quite a plot to the novel and it's quite hard to sum up my feelings towards it. I (unfortunately) see a lot of my past self in Lona (and if I'm honest a little bit of my current self too).

The conversations and reflections on what it is to be a feminist today and the internalised misogyny that can go alongside that....and unknotting what is misogyny and what is not.

I can see this book being very polarising, but it was definitely a highlight for me.