In this dating tell-all, Poppy recounts dates with many men who portrayed themselves as other than they were and shares lessons learned along the way. Told chronologically, each encounter leads to self-reflections about herself and deal breakers. While unflinchingly honest, it lacked the humor of Chelsea Handler and was formulaic, unflattering and not compelling. This is self-published, and it shows in the amatuer writing; editing might have helped.

(As an aside: the ingenue depicted on the cover totally looks like Taylor Swift, and it would be hilarious if Poppy was just a pseudonym...)

This was my kind of book. I love books about dating, and social media. At times I wanted to throw the book out of the window in disgust as the men she dated were disgusting and down right creepy! Some situations she found herself in made me think why you doing that? Walk away. It was very interesting and loved the titles of the chapters been about the guy. I hope poppy writes more as I love her writing.

Thanks goes to net galley and the publishers for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review and for the author for writing it.

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. Loved this highly uncomfortable and hilarious book of 28 first dates. Some were downright horrible but I loved the transparency and honesty the author shared with us. Highly recommend. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book reminded me why I quit dating. I haven't been on quite as many first dates as the author but have had similar, albeit less exciting, experiences. Her adventures were pretty awful but she had a good sense of humor about them and told her stories rather fairly. Minor errors observed such as continuity issues (sentence indicates Thursday for the date, later on the same page it's given as Saturday) and mistakes that should have been caught in editing (Mark Anthony should be ANTONY).

I absolutely loved this, I was cringing, howling with laughter and cringing again. I love how the author described her experiences so much that I could picture them, some definitely not so great to visualise (thanks for the warnings). It took me back to my dating days and how my friends would be waiting to hear of the disasters that I'd dated. Truly enjoyed this.

Entertaining disaster dating stories that Poppy experiences in England, LA and Australia from ages 22 to 40- letting us know that crap dates can happen across the globe and at any age. And at amusement parks, restaurants, parties and the beach, among other places. I do wish that the author included some of her good dates -- during the courses of the book she mentions at least 2 (maybe 3?) longer-term relationships and I think including the stories of how those early good first dates went (presumably) would have been a nice counter-balance and would have added a bit of depth to the book. Each date includes an into of her age, how she met the guy and how she was asked out (or if she did the asking) as well as a warning for possible triggers. Goof one to read when you don't have time for a long book as you can read just one or two dates and then pick it up again later when you have more time.

NOTE: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this one. Then I noticed a few annoying trends. First, she says what she 'learned' from each date, then continues to make the same mistakes over and over. If you keep getting stuck on dates with losers, maybe stick to your idea of hour long dates, locally. No, she keeps putting herself in potentially dangerous situations.

Second, a period after each word to indicate a pause is as annoying as misused air quotes. And. It. Gets. Old. Especially when it's used in almost every chapter.

Third, I guess the author must be the most beautiful creature on the planet, she reminds the reader of this over and over. And she's got a really sweet Beamer, and a wonderful sense of fashion., No author photo to be found, not even online. Red flag.

I stopped reading at the 81% mark when she wrote this "After all, I'd been the best part of every one of my dates so far, so I figured I would lean into that, date myself, and let a man tag along." Really? She belittles these men for using online dating services, but where is she finding them? She's also on those sites!

I doubt these dates were really, and I wonder if "Poppy" is what she claims to be. If she is, she's a dating fool, setting herself up for a shallow life.

UGH!

I rarely give long reviews, but this book irked me. I advise readers to look elsewhere for their humourous memoirs.. Try David Sedaris.

A book full of Dates! It was really funny for me nd kind of interesting. I liked the way she made nicjnames for all these dates and the fact that from every single one of them taught her something is super meaningful for me. This book can teach people how to see the bright side of "bad" dates, that I find really important.

I can’t believe some of the stuff guys said to her like the postman comment. I enjoyed how she said we could mentally put in whatever combination of swear words we wanted (thought that was unique and funny). I enjoyed how she started each guy off with a nickname, their age, where he was from, how they met, and how he asked her out. Also enjoyed how she added a lesson she learned after each guy. Some stuff the guys did was hilarious and only funny cause it was so weird. How could someone be so unlucky ,and have so many disastrous dates I feel so bad for her. I am so glad she was brave enough to show that not everything in the dating world is all sunshine and rainbows. She showed us the dark side too it, and what she learned along the way which might help others some day! I like how she included a warning for some guys the story might make you squeamish If you want to learn what to avoid ,and get a kick out of all of her dates this is the book for you!

Thanks to NetGalley, publisher and author, for the free copy of this book, in exchange for my review. This was a cute compilation of funny and scarily close to home, dating stories. I laughed and cringed plenty. I felt like these would be stories I hear from girlfriends on a night out between sipping wine, beer and cocktails and laughing hysterically. I enjoyed this a lot!

This book was a very funny read. Especially for people that have had their fair share of bad dates.
Poppy was very relatable and it felt like she was a friend of mine telling me all about her dates. She kept me interested the entire time with her humor and wit. Wonderful read and I definitely recommend!

I love the way that Poppy Mortimer makes us laugh, cringe and see the lighter side of looking for Mr Right! This book is written with humour and all the feels, perfect to remind the reader that life is for living!
The journey that Poppy takes us on is the reality of dating, being able to laugh at yourself and is well worth the read!

Thanks to the publisher, NetGalley and the very funny Poppy Mortimer for the opportunity to read this wonderful book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this honest and comedic insight into Poppy's disastrous dates, especially as a 36 year old single woman who has been on enough herself to completely understand the horrors that occur.
It is very easy to read and digest and the pages turn rapidly with ease.

My dislikes of the book were that firstly it was probably a little bit too long. 28 dates was a little too many in my opinion for us to get through, some of which weren't dates but just dealings with men.
I found it a little vain, I don't know why specifically, maybe it was more envy than anything because Poppy is clearly extremely attractive, so having dates fall to her so often made it less realistic for me.
The parts of the book where it was embellished to add to to the story were quite obvious. (Ie I'm sure the man that spat whenever he said a word with 'sp' in it didn't order SPaghetti with SPinach & SProuts. I suppose these moments made me feel like I wasn't actually enjoying hearing the disasters dates of a real person and give it a bit of a made up feel.

I would recommend this be read for a giggle, both to those who, like me, have to navigate the world of dating STILL, or to those who were lucky enough to meet the love of their life so early on - appreciate you idn't have to go through any of this!

3.5/5

This book was a fun frolic through a woman's dating life across many years and 2 continents. Hilariously illustrates the pitfalls of online dating/apps. Makes me count my blessings and cross my fingers that I never have to experience dating ever again!

If you have ever been on a bad date! Read this book... You will cry laughing at this story and learn a few life lessons on dating along the way.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC!

I usually don’t rate memoirs, but this compilation of failed dates was so funny and chaotic. I can only dream of going on dates that hectic but maybe with different dudes.

Mortimer’s narrative was extremely relatable and hilarious. The writing was smooth and concise. I loved how she divided the chapters into three parts and how she named each chapter after the date in matching formats. It’s uncanny that she managed to date so many red flags but I too would make a comedic work with it and profit. What is a failed date if not a funny story afterwards?

A humorous account of a woman's recollections of a succession of disastrous dates over the course of 20 years. Although the authors bright personality shone through in the writing, I got bored after a few chapters and did not finish.

I enjoyed this! I like the author's writing style and sense of humor about all her disastrous dates. Even in some of the stories that were quite disturbing. (Seriously, some of those images are seared into my brain forever, so I'm impressed the author was able to write so light-heartedly about them.)

Definitely recommend for humorous non-fiction fans.

These dates had me literally laughing out loud. Poppy's writing style is so relatable and made me feel like I was chatting with a friend. I really enjoyed this read and I couldn't put it down. I really liked the "What I learned" section of each date. Very descriptive and I felt like I was on the date with her! Awesome read and will definitely recommend!!

These dates made me laugh with humor and at times disgust. I greatly enjoyed reading these traumatic dates and loved format in which she presented the dates so us. If you are a fan of reality TV you will love this book.