This book is like having a call and catch up with a friend, it's hilarious, heart breaking and so so real.
You feel as though you are following through the characters lives like you know them as well as yourself, the description of "normal life" and emotions both big and small reached a part of my heart I wasn't expecting.
Following these friends through their lives, and meeting so many characters that have growth and understanding is so heartwarming but it's littered with so much humour and sadness, a perfect balance!
Queer culture is not an easy thing to write, well. This book has done it such justice there are parts within the book that reach out on such a human level. As a queer person it is so important to read these characters and stories and I am so thankful.
If you are a twenty something queer person, or a parent or just a person in general I would recommend this read so wholeheartedly

I'd like to begin by admitting that I am convinced I am not the intended reader for this book (middle aged woman who enjoys a good M/M romance or historical novel). I think I was deceived by the cover (which I find very distasteful, by the way, by combining such a beautiful image with horrible lettering and bold bright colours that looks like it was made in Word 95) and the title into thinking it was a more heartfelt narrative about loss. Hence why I was not impressed with the first half of part one, and I struggled to connect or empathize with the MC.

On that note, I found Gabe to be rather irritating, high maintenance and self centered, and sometimes even arrogant towards his friends. It was well deserved when he had the talking down by Mitchell.

Having said that, I´ll have to commend the author for his use of different formatting in some of the sections which, although I found a tad childish myself, I´m sure will resonate with young readers and make for a welcome change. I also appreciated the lack of gratuituous sex descriptions that are so rife in M/M romance books these days. Although there were some (like the 'douche guide') that will unfortunately close the door to a potential young adult audience.

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

CAL SPEET – SPIRALLING *****
This is the humorous story of Mancunian gay Gabe and his girlfriends after his split from Seamus, his boyfriend. One learns all about his relationships, gay and straight, and there’s a glossary of gay terms and expressions which I found useful as an older gay man. Some I knew; many I didn’t. You also must be okay with lots of long texts between characters including the time of each one and long, humorous lists: Depression List, for example, where he lists all the reasons he’s depressed. Number one. I am unemployed. If you find this sort of young man humour annoying, this novel isn’t for you. 28 December: (2 missed calls), 29 December (6 missed calls) and so on.
Personally, although I’m not the target reader (twice the main character’s age) I loved it. You get to learn about ‘Polite Vers’, ‘Drunk Vers’, Floppy Top, Dom Top (another list: don’t ask) and each of the men he meets.
You become immersed in the gay culture of Canal Street, as well as modern music, film, TV, cultural references and it bowls along at a rate of knot. If you’re on the wave-length of Gabe and his cronies, well worth a read.

Spiralling follows Gabe through a year in his life, in which is loses his boyfriend, his job and his trajectory.
It covers so many aspects of modern gay life, diving into some difficult topics with a lighthearted spin.
Told through a mix of first person narration, messages, lists, diagrams and footnotes, reflecting Gabe’s dream of writing and his ever moving thoughts. This style of storytelling definitely worked for me and made it a lot more interesting, but the footnotes did annoy me a bit, as they were humorous but it began to feel like the book was written for clueless straight people which how much explanation there was, overall though I loved the style and found it really engaging.

It took me a little while to get hooked, mostly because the cover had me expecting something a little more lit fic (I know, I know, never judge a book blah blah blah) but once I was in I really enjoyed it!

Thank you to HarperNorth and Netgalley for the ARC!

Spiralling is a novel about a gay man living in Manchester whose life falls apart after his boyfriend cheats on him, so he has to spend the next year trying to pull himself back together, with the help of his friends. Gabriel has just broken up with his boyfriend and then he's fired from his job, so he's ready to start spiralling. His best friends Tasha and Evie are there to help him, but they have relationship ups and downs of their own. As Gabriel tries to deal with his problems and not forget to care about his friends' problems too, everything gets messy.

This is a fun book that manages to cover a lot of aspects of modern day life for gay men through Gabriel and other people he knows, delving into some serious topics but always keeping things pretty light-hearted. The story is told through a combination of first person narration, messages between people, and occasional other, more creative forms of writing, seemingly to reflect Gabriel's desire to be a writer (even if he hardly ever writes, a highly relatable trait). There's also occasional footnotes to explain things, which were meant to be humorous but sometimes read like the book was entirely aimed at straight people with no awareness of modern queer culture or any slang. Generally, the style of telling the story worked well to keep the book light and funny even as things went wrong, in the same way Gabriel tended to make jokes about things even when they were bad.

The Manchester setting was great, with a lot of recognisable details, and generally it is packed full of British culture and things like exactly which pair of Dr Martens Gabriel is wearing. It was refreshing to see this kind of book—someone down on their luck in terms of love and work who has a messy time with their friends—being about a gay man, and I liked how the book had space to explore some of Gabriel's feelings about what it is like to be a gay man in the modern world. As you'd expect from the genre and vibe of the book, things are wrapped up pretty neatly with some potential big drama averted at least for Gabriel. Overall, this is a funny, messy read that reminded me of the sitcom Big Boys in its approach to both serious topics and showing modern gay life.

This book shows us a year in Gabe’s life, including his ups, downs, drama, and friendships. It took a little while to hook me, but once it did, I could barely put it down. The writing was really interesting, with a variety of styles used throughout the book, which made it feel unique.

The characters felt authentic and had real depth. There was a lot of detail in the storytelling, which provided the context needed to fully understand their lives and struggles. It allowed you to experience their world in a way that felt honest.

Okay, I genuinely belly laughed at this book. Cal Speet has the best humour and it shined through in Spiralling.

The book focuses on Gabriel, who is living in Manchester and recovering from having his heart broken by his long term boyfriend. Throw in his sassy best friends Evie and Tasha, a larger than life Mitchell and Paul, the security/handyman for his building with who, he forms an unexpected bond.

I loved how authentic the characters felt, I could imagine being friends with them, the dark, witty humour and how none of them really had their shit together but they had each other. Spiralling reminds you that we are not all perfect, we don’t always get it right and life is fucking shit sometimes BUT it does get better. There are some darker themes but Cal Speet manages to broach the subjects with a light heartedness and “laughter is a coping mechanism” outlook. Because if you’re not laughing you’re crying right? (Aka me everyday in work lol)

But on a serious note this was a great read! It’s hilarious, juicy and has lots of representation to the LGBTQ+ community. If you’re looking for a step by step guide on douching then look no further Cal Speet has you covered 😂 I love Manchester and Spiralling has made me want to book another trip asap.

I really enjoyed this - first feelings were "its Bridget Jones but gay" which isn't a criticisim, I love the modern spin. This is essentially a light-hearted read but with some really poigniant moments and many laugh-out-loud moments. Having a Man City obssesed son the references to The Ethiad, Kevin Du Bruyne and Phil Foden were not at all lost on me. There were a lot of British cultural references which if this is being published to other countries may not hit the same but for me, loved it and would like to maybe see a follow up? Would love to know how Tasha, Gabe & Nico et al are getting on!

If you like mixed media you will love this book. Great for people as a starter book to youth gay culture. Definitely interested in reading more from this author.