The description of this really worked for me so I was hoping to love it. What I did love was how rich the world is in it, how vivid the cast of characters. It feels like a real snapshop of these friends living their lives. What I liked less was the writing style. That's just a personal preference thing, this particular type of humourous prose never really lands for me. It keeps me from ever actually finding a way in, remaining an observer. Nevertheless I'm confident this will find an audience who find it relatable, funny and a real treasure.

Spiralling is the story of Gabe, a young gay man living in Manchester with boyfriend Seamus. That is until he discovers the ultimate betrayal, he loses his job and he, effectively falls apart. Or he would have done if it wasn't for best mates, Tasha and Evie. Who, along with a supporting cast of family, friends and Paul the security guard, help to push Gabe back onto his feet.

I loved this book. The writing is a mix of prose, some rather risqué poetry and text messages. It is really funny in parts, a little bit near the knuckle in others and very emotional as well.

Cal Speet is an author new to me but I really hope that he writes more soon. Hos characters were totally believable and wonderfully vulnerable. The holiday to Seville was my favourite part.

I'll warn you now that if you are a sensitive soul you might want to skip some parts but do read this book. Its a wonderful book about real friendship, learning about yourself and a lesson in gaining self-respect, knowing what you want and always standing up for your real friends.

Highly recommended. If you like something a bit different with great dialogue and characters then this is for you.

Thankyou to Netgalley and HarperNorth for the advance review copy.

This is a fun, witty and very British story that manages to explore plenty of aspects of modern gay life while keeping the tone light-hearted. Gabriel’s post-break-up spiral is messy, relatable and often hilarious, buoyed by the unwavering support of his best friends Tasha and Evie.

Between dodgy Grindr prospects, a possible Post Office romance and the drama of Tasha’s interfering boyfriend, Gabe’s life is never short of complications.

I enjoyed the mixed format of storytelling, a blend of first-person narration, text messages and other creative touches that reflect Gabriel’s aspirations to be a writer, even if he rarely puts pen to paper. The use of footnotes added extra humour, though at times they felt a little like they were written for readers unfamiliar with queer culture.

The Manchester setting is a real highlight, full of recognisable details and cultural touchstones, Light, funny and chaotic in all the best ways, this is an entertaining read with moments of genuine insight.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

Thank you NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Not for me at all but I was really looking forward to this. I found Gabe, the main character annoying. Someone did at some point give him a talk about it, which I thought was deserved. I did not enjoy the writing style, I instantly get annoyed when there’s a lot of “texting style” in books.
Some parts were cool, like the “articles” by Gabe which weren’t really articles, ick list, game sessions, I don’t know how to describe them but nice as they were, even those weren’t enough for me to make up for the rest of the book. Neither was the twist I didnt see coming a little over halfway.

For me what threads this story isn’t just downfall: it’s friendship, survival, and trying again even when you don’t know how.

im not sure i was meant to get quite so much laughter,huge smiles and joy from this book but i did. im sorry i cant help it! the writing style, the wit, the flow the characters i just loved it.
this is about a gay man who has his heartbroken and loses his job and so yeh "spiralling" for sure.
but at least he has his best friends. but they have their own problems.
there is so much of Gabes story that is telling and touching. we get such a door into his world but also into the world around him and those like him going through the same or similar. it catches some important themes and handles them so well and we always get that feeling of lightness or hope or humour.
Gabes life seems to be all going wrong, their is mess and chaos abound. and it does seem he meets these things as lots of people do with humour.
the setting was great and it felt like i could imagine just what the author was describing at each moment from clothes to places to culture.
i liked how it was simply a snippet into this mans life. and that isn't trying to downplay or mean it lesser because it most definitely was not.this is what made the book for me. we were meeting someone where they were at and hearing their story. and for that it made it somehow more beautiful. so there wasn't some big plot or beginning middle and end. we were just there, with Gabe, going through it alongside him as he let us into this window of his life. and refreshing it was to see it written about a gay man in modern culture.
you could feel so much for him in this world but also somehow relate.
and i liked having my ignorance challenged and wanted to learn from parts too.
A great read.

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.