Did not finish at 22%. I tried over several days to read this. Usually I can't wait to pick up a book again between reads, but this really just didn't interest me.
The narrative style seemed wrong, it felt a little disconnected to be looking AT Lona rather than hearing her voice in the first person.
Maybe it's just not for me right now, at my age and in my situation but Lona's story didn't really interest me, her love for a guy, but the style really didn't draw me in.

I've seen so many positive reviews for this book, but for me personally it just didn't hit the mark.
I felt as if there was no real plot direction, and the characters weren't strong enough or developed enough for a character driven narrative.
I found it to be the kind of book that you get to the end of and aren't really sure what it was about.
I couldn't get super invested in the story and that just left it feeling a little underwhelming.
It was a quick read, though, and did have some interesting moments, so I'd say you should give it a shot as so many people seem to have liked it a whole lot more than I did.

I wanted to like this book but alas - I didn't. The lack of character development coupled with a lack of a plot meant that, while I found the writing beautiful, I was completely uninterested by the story it was telling. I wonder if this author would be better as a poet.

I really loved Lona to begin with. Her friendship with Tabs interested me and it was fun to read about someone who didn’t have it all together immediately. But after a while her bad attitude started to rub me up the wrong way and the last third of the book was a bit of a slog. The ending was rushed and cliched although (SPOILER) I did enjoy that it wasn’t a sickly ending. Some of the scenes and Lona as a character will stay with me.

Loner is quirky and unique, just like its protagonist. An enjoyable read!

Lona is a quirky young woman who really doesn't know what she wants in life. She's dropped out of art university and is currently working in a supermarket, weekends at skate world and the odd gigs as an event photographer. We follow Lona through this confusing phase of trying to puzzle herself out. The relationship dynamics between Lona and her friends and family are really interesting. She always seems to be mentally detached from social interactions. Alone even when in a crowd. The writing style of this book is very unique, different to anything I've ever read before and in a refreshing way. You get a really good insight into what she's thinking in her head and the juxtaposition of her actions. I really enjoyed this book, in particularly her relationship with her grandad. I saw elements of my younger self in Lona.

This was a quite unique book. At first I had some trouble to get acquainted with the writing style which at the end I became font. The story was clear in the beginning, with Lona just being annoyed by everything and everyone. She doesn't know what she really wants, she knows that she doesn't want what most of those around her want. That is at least something. I think the book shows how lost this generation feels and uncertain how to start navigate through all that is ahead of them.

I’m so sorry I just couldn’t get into this book. I’ve tried multiple times but I didn’t care for the main character or the story. I’m aware I’m in the minority in my opinions.
I received this ARC from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A must for that in between stage of teenager/adulthood.

Absolutely loved this book, such a fantastic storyline. One I’ll be recommending for a while!!

Overall, this book is an easy, interesting read, if a bit forgettable. I did think the author perfectly captured the essence of being in your early twenties, with navigating non-compulsory education and shitty part-time jobs and new relationships and moving out and just trying to find yourself - I really enjoyed this aspect. At the same time, I kind of hated the protagonist - she felt very relatable, but was also incredibly unrelatable and irritating in the same breath. As the book is an account of this character’s day to day life, it made it hard to enjoy the book, hence the low rating. However, this is an ARC so things may change before it’s published next year.

Unfortunately this wasn't for me. I requested this thinking it would be different to what it actually is and therefore ended up not enjoying it. Not due to any fault with the book, it's just not the type of thing I enjoy. Thank you so much for the chance to read it though - that is always appreciated.

Unconventional and engaging

Lona is a young woman in her early 20s navigating her way in life. She is socially awkward, antisocial and a bit of an odd ball. She's arty, but unmotivated and prefers the unconventional life. Her difficulties with forming relationships and generally fitting in, make for some sharp-witted and humourously wry observations.

This isn't a book with a beginning, middle and end, but is rather a journey through Lona's world and friendships. And like Lona, this book is unconventional, but warm and funny, endearing and heartfelt.

I took a while to read this book and wasn’t a huge fan. The topic was not my style and I shouldn’t have picked it up. Nice writing style but I did not finish the book

I really enjoyed this book, in particular, for the short, snappy chapters and incredibly crafted dialogue. The book contains a lot of descriptions that are there to make Lona’s feelings more vivid. The topics explored in the book – being an introvert, the difference between feeling lonely and being on your own as a choice, the anxieties of the contemporary young adults as they try to navigate through life and find what it is they want. Subjectively, the best books are those that make you relate and feel compassion (or any kind of strong emotion) towards the main character. And I can confidently say that I, as a hundred percent introvert myself, relate to Lona and her relationship to Tab.

Told through short, snappy chapters, Young explores the relatable feeling of figuring out adulthood. Lona has dropped out of college and is struggling to figure out what's next. As Lona explores work, friendships, and relationships, her introspection and observations are relatable, both for the accuracy and inaccuracy. She isn't sure what she wants or quite how to get it but is equally unwilling to ask for help. Lona insists on working through so much of what she is going through on her own, despite desperately wanting support from her family and best friend Tab.

I was very empathetic to Lona's desire to prove her independence while still being so unsure about so many things. Young's writing is quippy but poignant, and she makes Lona's coming-of-age story feel familiar, even if so much of the context is different from the reader's.

A light read which explored the difficulties in planing for adulthood, deciding what we want the future to look like, and coming to terms with what we actually care about. Not a particularly deep book, but certainly an enjoyable one.

This is an interesting and slightly different feel for a coming of age book. Good enough reading but it didn't bowl me over with the story line but I'm probably not the target audience! Writing was nice and the story flowed and built nicely throughout the book.

'Loner' follows Lona who recently dropped out of university where she was studying art and she is now having to decide what she wants to do next with her life.

I loved how this book was written. Each chapter was short and the writing was so simple to read that it made it very easy to get lost in the story and in Lona's life. I loved Lona as a character and thought she was very relatable. I loved how realistic the friendship between Lona and Tab was, and how they didn't have a perfect friendship and weren't always in each other's lives but were there for each other when it was most important.

I did like that the ending was left open as it felt like Lona's story hadn't ended because she was still trying to work herself and her life out and it felt very realistic and relatable.

I do feel like this book would not appeal to everyone because there isn't a lot that actually happens in the book, and if the reader does not connect with Lona then they might not enjoy this book. 'Loner' is definitely more of a character driven novel so if you like character driven novels, this is one I highly recommend.

Overall, I really liked 'Loner' and felt like it was a quick, easy read that had a very relatable main character and was just overall a very good book. I will definitely check out any future books that Georgina Young writes as I really loved her writing style.

Thank you to Text Publishing for providing me with an advance copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Despite not being written in the first person POV, the short chapters and short sentences in Loner read how one would imagine its protagonist Lona thinks. The book begins with Lona having left uni because she feels like she doesn’t have to be in art school to be an artist. Throughout the book, she’s pretty aimless, but it captures the feelings that many people at her age (early twenties) feel. I liked how the book explored the sense of liking to be alone with the feeling of loneliness. Lona enjoys her own company best, and that of her best friend Tab. But like most introverts (especially the not so sociable kind) she struggles with being herself but also compromising with being who people wish she were for social interactions. Although I’m not as introverted as Lona is in the book, there are moments that were relatable to me, especially when she has to prep herself to be excited about an outing and how exhausting an afternoon out with strangers can feel whilst trying to pretend that you’re having fun cause that is more socially acceptable than showing fits of malaise in public. The novel explores friends, art, and love.

Not a lot happens in the novel but if you’re into literary novels that put existential crisis under a microscope then you may enjoy this one.

Loner is all about Lona and how she goes through her life. She works part-time in a skate centre but also works part-time at a supermarket too. It details her experiences with her personal relationships. These include with George, who becomes her boyfriend; her best friend Tab as well as her family members.
It's set out in an interesting format with headings peppered throughout.
I found it a highly enjoyable read.

I enjoyed this medium-paced debut novel about early adulthood - it felt relatable in terms of Lona's prolonged low-grade existential crisis about what she wants to do with her life and her meandering relationships with her parents, her best friend and a couple of boys she knows. As someone who's not necessarily into slice-of-life, less plot heavy novels I still really liked this story.

There's plenty to like in this book - some sly humour, relatable characters, some nice romance. It's occasionally a little too unsubtle about what it’s trying to say, themes are spelled out for us as readers when they could have been better simply shown to us. If I were drawing comparisons between this novel and others I've read I'd say it's a little Convenience Store Woman meets Alice Oseman's Radio Silence (but heterosexual + new adult).