Although this book was well written I found it to be quite pretentious and difficult to get into. I probably wouldn’t recommend it to my friends. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an egalley.

I enjoyed this. I’d read mixed reviews so went in with an open mind, but I found this a refreshingly modern read. Sure, some of the characters make you want to bang your head against a wall, Nina’s friends in particular. But I found it pretty reflective of the flawed people we meet in life. The book was both comical and heartbreaking. I didn’t like the ending, it felt wrong, hence only 4 stars. Overall though, a thought provoking read tha t I would recommend.

This is Dolly’s debut novel about a thirty-something food writer and her experiences with ‘ghosting’ and just her general life too.

This was so relatable! I am a similar age to the narrator and myself and friends have had similar thoughts and experiences to those portrayed in the book. It felt so real and believable. The characters all felt like they could just walk off the page!

The tone of the novel was just perfect, but I kept hearing it in Dolly’s voice in my head having listened to so many of her podcasts!

I really enjoyed this book. It wasn’t particularly high brow or literary however it felt like a slice of real life and was a great read.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley in order to provide an honest opinion.

A funny, light-hearted and emotional narrative that really strikes a chord with women in their 20 and 30's. I really enjoyed this book but wasn't blown away by it. I found it was a really easy read, but wasn't really gripped to keep picking it back up - I dipped in and out over a week but enjoyed it nonetheless.

Dolly has a real way with words that in some points made me howl with laughter, but also made me quite emotional - her characterisation was fantastic, and I really empathised with Nina throughout.

With thanks to #Netgalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.
Stella - the main character is a woman in her 30s living in London working as a food writer. She has a job she loves, friends and family and her own home.
What she doesn't have is a stable relationship with a man. So in search of this she decides to try dating apps. When she meets Max, is like all her dreams have come true until he ghosts her.
Ghosts is the story of a year in Stella's life and Dolly Alderton's characterization is spot on. However, while I did enjoy the book it was like eating fast food, it really didn't satisfy me. I think I'm missing something which maybe a lack of depth or perhaps I expected too much from the book.
This would make a perfect holiday read.

Ghosts was everything I wanted from a Dolly Alderton novel. Things I Know About Love was the first memoir I read that I felt described experiences I shared and Ghosts in many ways was the first romantic fiction I felt saw me in this way! The perils of online dating are not new to today's 20 something but the normality of it in our daily lives is definitely a first! Ghosts exposes all the horrors of modern romance while also revealing the fun of casual interactions, the diversity of people we get to interact with and ultimately that whether in laughter or tears it is something that our friends get us through!

Ghosts is a novel that captures a unique time in a woman’s life and the predicaments that come with it. While your early 20s is about trying out new things and making mistakes and learning from them (or not), in a woman’s late 20s and early 30s the discussion shifts to primarily focus on her romantic relationship status, or lack thereof. Suddenly the weight of finding a suitable partner and having a family is thrust upon you because your friends are comfortably settled in the suburbs with toddlers running amuck, so why can’t you? If one existential crisis is not enough, there is also the evident discomfort of watching your parents aging and succumbing to illnesses which makes the idea of mortality, terrifying glaring.

In Ghosts, Dolly Alderton tackles these tenuous aspects of growing older with a great deal of tenderness. Her otherwise self-assured protagonist and food writer, Nina Dean falls in love quite quickly in the book with a man she meets on a dating app. He turns out to be every bit as mysterious, handsome, and guarded you would expect a fictional hero to be. Except that he vanishes from Nina’s life soon after confiding his love for her. Alongside the ghosting by a potential partner, we learn about Nina’s father’s Dementia – a ghosting of another kind where one has no control of the precious memories (including that of his daughter’s) he has to let go of.

The book astutely highlights the transformations friendships go through at the turn of a significant decade in the person’s life when you suddenly find your bestie consumed in changing diapers instead of planning your next night out. Ghosts deals with real-life issues without overtly sentimentalising anything but merely pointing out the universality of our life experiences, especially when we think that nobody else could possibly understand what we are going through. To quote from the book, “Maybe friendship is being the guardian of another person's hope. Leave it with me and I'll look after it for a while, if it feels too heavy for now.”

Nina has it all. She's a 31 year old homeowner with a fantastic career as a food writer. She is however, single and with her friends all settling down, Nina decides to join a dating app.

.Meanwhile, Nina's dad has dementia and her mother is going through another transformation

There are some really well observed moments in this book. The relationship that Nina has with her friends and her mother, which are constantly changing as they all find their lives moving in different directions.

The main problem for me though is that I just didn't like Nina although I felt that the book was just all over the place.

Ghosts
Dolly Alderton
Pub date 15 Oct 2020
I love all Dolly Alderton books they such a good read you enjoy. The cover is so pretty and the writing style is beautiful written so clever. The characters are so easy to connect with. It such a funny book I was hooked I loved the plot and twist in this story.

After reading Everything I Know About Love, I was really curious to read her work of fiction. I was certainly not disappointed. As someone who has just turned thirty, I could completely relate to Nina's life. The online dating scene was perfectly captured, as was being the single friend in a sea of married women with babies. I felt totally understood!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy.

I loved this book. Such a relatable story to modern life and how we live today from dating, love, friendship to family. This is the first book I have read by Dolly Alderton and I will be definitely reading more.

An interesting book which covered a lot of difficult topics really well, dementia, ghosting and even dating apps. Although I enjoyed the book and found it both funny and sad it somehow fell a little bit short for me

I think you should be of certain experience, certain age and be at a certain stage of your life to really appreciate "Ghosts". It is like the main heroine, lovely, sarcastic, passionate and kind-hearted 30+ girl, Nina, states: "It's only in your 30s you realise you will not die of a broken heart..." (or something along those lines).

"Ghosts" is an engaging story about what it is like to be looking for love in the modern day and age, when you live in North London (I loved it that London was very much a character in "Ghosts"). It's a fable about modern dating, a satire about happiness of suburban families, about female friendship and just friendship, about getting old and finding your place in life. Thank you, Dolly Alderton, for writing this book and not being afraid to be sarcastic.

I don't think the cover (however cute!) makes it justice. I also found the very first pages of the book slightly misplaced - like they belonged to a different story.

If you enjoyed this book, I would also recommend "How Do You Like Me Now?" by Holly Bourne.

A solid debut novel about a millennial struggling to navigate the shifting dating and friendship landscape of her early 30s: ageing parents, revised life expectations and loss of friendships when priorities and life trajectories no longer align. This struck this right balance between light, contemporary women's fiction and delicately handling the heavier theme of dementia.

I loved it. Dolly Alderton books just resonate with me. It may be because I'm the same age as characters within her stories but I just find it really comforting sitting down with something Dolly has written. This book was a scary reminder of the pressures on women. To fit it in regards to having children, getting married etc. It also touches on alzheimers and how it affects not just the person with the disease but the whole family. A story full of ups and downs, laughter and tears. A real 10 out of 10.

An enjoyable take on growing up in London, growing out of friendships and online dating. I found the sections with her parents quite sad and liked when we got back to her saucy or not so dating adventures. Lola stole the show and the take on nostalgia was fresh.

I thought it was funny, heartfelt and it really made me miss the pub!

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Stunning. I love Dolly Alderton's writing and this just felt like listening to a friend tell me her worries and dating woes. I think we can all see a bit of ourselves in Nina, and I love that this book wasn't just about dating mishaps, it was so much more.

Overall a really comforting and enjoyable read.

Really relatable, observationally on the money and brilliantly funny.

Nina is a 32 year old successful food writer, who decides to dive into the world of online dating. She meets Max, and everything is wonderful, until Max disappears off the face of the earth with no explanation.

The story of Nina’s middle name had me howling with laughter- it's exactly the type of thing my own mum would do, and this is just one example of how relatable the characters in this story are.

The only slight letdown for me was I felt that we didn’t know enough of Nina’s life pre-Max, for example her job isn’t massively fleshed out and so feels rather irrelevant.

Aside from that small detail, this was a lovely and realistic take on modern dating.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Going into this I had lower expectations. I don't know why but I felt I wouldn't enjoy this. Thankfully I did. Although I do think the audiobook helped. Not necessarily because the narrator was amazing. But because its the type of story you can just listen to and time flies by. Perfect for a cozy day.

Its possible four stars is a little high. But CAWPILE says four and I trust it.

I'm glad this wasn't just dating focused but life as a whole. How crazy and hectic it is. The struggles that no one sees. But somehow you manage to keep going.

The parts with Nina dad were heartbreaking. I just wanted to hug them. Seeing Nina not notice her mum struggling, despite there being clear signs, instead thinking she just didn't want to be a carer.

When it comes to Max he always annoyed me. Right from the beginning. Their relationship was never cute. It was intense and cringe. It was good to see Nina realise things about men and relationships by the end. Especially how some types of men are.

Overall this was a good story. With a lot of little messages to learn. Where despite everything in the end you learn as you grow. You go through so much in life but in the end you'll figure it out. Just takes time sometimes.

This book made me glad I am older and do not have to navigate this dating minefield.
I found the writing style abrupt and fast paced, not a book to relax with.
Interesting concepts and situations, occasionally funny but quite disturbing.
Illustrates the dangers and frustrations of internet dating.