I found myself *seen.* while reading this book. Thank you for telling us that how women are treated in the modern age is not okay.

The value in Nothing Personal is that Sales calls out some perpetrators of modern misogyny through detailed anecdotes set within a frame story. Memorable for me were the mentions of incels, sexist decision making by (supposedly forward-thinking) companies, that Tinder was popularized at SMU, and that dating app companies won’t share concrete data. This book introduced me to the concept of dating historians, a profession I am delighted exists.

Overall, Sales successfully captures the experience of dating in today’s landscape.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review. First off, let me apologize in advance to the author for what I am about to say. I will take full responsibility for why I did not like this book. BUT...there are not enough words in the English language for how much this book and I did not get along. I am at fault because I chose a book based on it's cover more than anything else. What this cover says to me is that this book is going to be full of funny stories of stupid shit women do on dating apps...I don't use dating apps because I have been married most of my adult life but I have to say I probably wouldn't use them anyway as I am very much an introvert who actually thrives on her alone time. If I had actually bothered to read the synopsis and read the word "feminist", I would not have requested it. I have not, nor most likely will I ever, liked feminist movies or books. They tend to be full of anger and hate...yes sometimes life is about that but I choose not be angry or hateful if I can help it. Anyway, I very soon reached a point where I literally could not read more than ten minutes at a time because it would piss me off so much. Sometimes it would be the run on sentences that took half a page, sometimes it would be the fact that it jumped all over the place and didn't always seem to have anything to do with dating apps, and sometimes it would be the content itself. Reading about a woman somewhere near my age going against herself because she was afraid a young guy wouldn't want to have sex with her? Nope, not gonna do it. I have reached the point where I am relishing that I don't have to worry about that crap anymore and she is sad because a man child might not want her? Eesh...

I received an ARC from the publishing and Netgalley. Nothing Personal mainly describes the author's experiences as a single mom using dating apps. Boy am I glad I've never experienced online dating. Met my husband the old fashion way, through friends. This book was just ok for me. I was surprised how quickly they put Covid references in the book. I'd say only read this book if you've experienced online dating, otherwise you won't be able to relate.

Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

As a single woman in my thirties, this book couldn’t have come at a better time. Sales is funny, serious, and perfectly captures the fluctuating emotions that this time in life can bring. Buy it for your girlfriends wondering if they’ll be “forever single.”

This was just what I was needing to break up my constant murderous books! Glad I don’t have to use online dating, as I don’t think I could survive! A well written, dramatic, funny story that really delves into what it’s like to use online dating sites! It really had me laughing out loud in parts, but thankful that I don’t have to use these to try and meet their life partner! Anyhow, if you want a fun, funny, and slightly sad story on the horrors of online dating, here’s your book!

I got quite an education from this book. The world of online dating is something I've never done, but I was curious to know more about it. This book made me run the other way. As portrayed by the author, online dating services are merely platforms for quick, casual sex. The sexist attitudes and behaviors of men using these platforms were stunning.

The book was well written and interspersed with thoughtful essays on sex and feminism. I wish there had been more essays and less descriptions of the author's sexual encounters.

It’s public knowledge that everyday casual misogyny flourishes on the Internet. But nowhere is this phenomenon more noticeable than in the world of online dating. For many women the dating landscape can look bleak, sexist and can even be dangerous. "Nothing Personal", by Nancy Jo Sales, could be another tome on the dangers of social media and relationships, but instead the author deftly weaves in her own experiences using these dating apps into the narrative. This turns what could be a clinical study on feminism in the age of the Internet into a personal journey and exploration into women’s wants, desires, and goals in dating.

Nancy Jo Sales digs deep into the Big Dating companies, and the answers are daunting. These services like Tinder, OkCupid, Match, etc present themselves as “revolutionizing” dating but are reticent to take any ownership over the experience of their users. Online dating apps have inadvertently provided an environment in which users feel it is ok to post intolerant and insulting posts, many pointedly at women. Also, to the consternation of many women, dating online can mean dealing with the frustration of perpetually being in an “undefined” relationship; Never knowing if they can actually refer to it as a relationship at all.

Again insofar as Nothing Personal represents a critical look at social media dating platforms, with all the facts and statistics presented up front, what really makes the book resonate is the author’s personal story using these services herself and the emotional roller coaster she experiences as a result.

I'm a sucker for sociology and this book delivered. Sales tells of her own experiences with online dating but also includes that of many others along with some experts and studies that have been done on how these apps have changed how relationships work in the digital age. While reading this book, I had the opportunity to watch her documentary on the same subject. While the documentary includes live interviews, the book is so much better. I will say reading this made me even less interested in trying out any app/website and I have to wonder how anyone has a long-term committed relationship these days with so many other choices at their fingertips just begging to be swiped!

Thank you Hachette Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Nothing Personal: My Secret Life in the Dating App Inferno by Nancy Jo Sales is a fascinating memoir that makes me glad I found my relationship before the present dating culture.
This book details dating from the past and compares it to the present, and explores what it means for sex and relationships.
The author, through her courageous, middle-aged exploration, provides a glimpse into a possible future of digital (to me, depressing) dating.

I would swipe right on this book! Nancy Jo Sales' voice comes loud and clear in this nonfiction piece. I enjoyed her take on online dating and the modern world. Also, her reaction to quarantine made this novel even more compelling during this time.
Thank you Netgalley for this arc

Yep, I'm glad I'm not that desperate. I will never do online dating. And from what I have heard, what friends have experienced, and this book, I think I'll just enjoy being single and meeting men the old fashioned way- through friends, relatives, and proximity....at least the dudes aren't strangers..... I think I'd buy this book as a deterrent for a younger female friend or relative....there, it has a use after all!

I really enjoy Nancy Jo Sales' articles in Vanity Fair, but I could not get into this book. The narrative begins without very much background, and I found myself quickly getting weary of it. i really wanted to like this because I like her writing, but I couldn't get past the first chapter. It was hard to believe that a woman so accomplished seemed to be so desperate.

Modern day sex and the city with a bigger twist. Absolutely loved it, although it did follow the timeline of sex and the city a little closely (huge fan here). It was a captivating read, well written and laugh out loud funny and equal parts heartbreaking. Highly recommend. Imagine following a real life dating app failure and wins play by play by one person - this is your book in one spot. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

A funny memoir about online dating tied along with dating in quarantine. Nancy Jo shares the trials and tribulations of dating in her 40's in a digital age. Nancy Jo is honest in her experiences, sharing the good and bad and admitting she may have let people into her life too easily and repeatedly.

While I have never online dated, I love memoirs that include research and the science behind cultural phenomenons. While I certainly learned a few things from this book, I just didn’t know who I should be rooting for. Sales repeatedly dated men 20-30 years her junior, and while she said she wanted a hookup, she obviously wanted something more. Yet, it seemed as though she was continuously drawn to the unavailable and attached. Sales, you can do better, girlfriend! Thanks to Hatchette and netgalley for the arc!

I read 50% of this book and had to give up. Having read Sales' book American Girls, I had high expectations for this one. However, this book was not what I expected. It was a far too detailed yet mundane account of every date she ever had, interspersed with her thoughts and feelings about each man she met, with a man named Abel appearing and reappearing. I did not see the point of this book; in my opinion, it offers nothing to the reader but a lens into her life with online dating. Perhaps had it been told with more humor or in a different style, it would have been more palatable, but this one was a no-go for me.

The book was called Nothing Personal, but boy, was it personal for the author. Interesting book.. I'm just glad I'm married and don't need to date...

Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

I requested this because I met my husband on match.com and we've been married for 10 years so I was interested. However, this one just didn't work for me. I think I just didn't connect with the author.

Simultaneously a memoir and a sociological exploration of dating app culture, hookup culture, and sexual relationships in the cell phone/texting age. Many insightful ideas as well as entertaining and some scary situations from the author's own life. It seems she is as addicted to the dating apps and hookups as the the people she interviews. Kind of like someone with a disease who writes a book about that disease and interviews others with the disease, all as therapy to understand their own disease. Not saying the author has a disease, but it seems a lot of the explanations, rationalizations, and discussions about the dating topic is as much for her own therapy as educating and informing the reader.