I expected this to be a laugh out loud book and while it was funny at parts this was not a fun beach read. Nina has a lot on her plate and has to deal with all of it while trying to navigate the dating scene. Max comes along and you think he’s Prince Charming until you remember the title of the book. Ugh
Max annoyed me so much, but I absolutely loved Nina and the strength she had, especially towards the end of the book. So while it wasn’t the book I expected it to be, I throughly enjoyed it.

I found this book to be interesting & a raw look at a single woman navigating dating apps & aging parents. Nina is a complicated but enjoyable character with a lot on her plate. She finally gets on a dating app after deciding to move on from her previous long relationship (with Joe who is still a friend). She meets Max & all is great until he bails on her by ghosting her. Her dad's mental health is quickly deteriorating with her mom not wanting to see how bad it is. Her lifetime friend is married with kids & not on the same page. Her friend Lola who has been single with her & got her on the apps finds someone. I recommend reading this story to see what Nina ends up doing. She may surprise you.

Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

Nina Dean is a 30-something single woman in London. She writes cookbooks and food columns to pay the bills. After her long term relationship with Joe ended she stayed out of the dating scene for two years and then downloaded a dating app called Linx. On her first date she meets Max who tells her he will marry her one day. After three months of bliss he leaves and she doesn't hear from him again. I liked Nina and even though I'm more than twice her age I can relate to that single girl scene where all your friends are married or desperate to be. Her friend Lola seems like a flake but gosh that girl is so hopeful and optimistic you can't not love her.

The ghosts in this book aren't the Casper-like spirits but the ghosts of old relationships that bleed into the new ones. Ghosts of memories like a tree from your childhood that pops into your head when you imagine a tree. The ghost of who her father was before he got dementia and trying to keep that memory alive for her and him. The ultimate ghost was her relationship with Max and who she imagined him to be and who he really was.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Knopf Doubleday for providing me a copy of this book.

I have mixed feelings about this book because I was expecting a laugh-out-loud rom-com and I am not young, hip or urban so I just didn't get a lot of what was happening. However, the book was smartly written about successful single Nina Dean who deals with dating, friendship and family drama. At times I felt confused but realize that I am not the right audience for "Ghosts". I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

This book was so entertaining. I was drawn into the story from the beginning and was involved until the end. The characters were complex and interesting. I found the story to be well paced and engrossing throughout the whole book. I was invested in the couple throughout the book and felt all the emotions through both the highs and lows of the story.The side characters were such an integral part of this story as well. This is the love story i needed to read at this time. If you want an entertaining and well written book this is it for you

I wanted to like this book. The blurb sounded appealing with a funny story line. Anyone of dating age, especially in your late 20s and early 30s, can relate to being ghosted by someone you meet and seem to hit it off with. There are dozens of books and movies with back stories that include someone who has been ghosted (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days comes to mind pretty quickly). It really had the potential to be funny.

But it wasn't remotely funny. By the end, I came to the conclusion that this wasn't only about being ghosted in the dating world. It's also about letting go of the ghosts of your past, but that does not make for the funny story that other reviewers described. Until the very end, this story just became increasingly depressing and not something I enjoyed.

***SPOILERS***

The book begins and ends on Nina's birthday, and her 32nd birthday leads to a pretty crappy year, which is what we follow throughout the book. Sounds fun, huh? Let's start with the title theme — the ghosting. Nina meets Max on a dating app. They have their first date, they have amazing chemistry. At the end of the date, Max tells Nina he's going to marry her. They have a whirlwind romance, spending tons of time together, and after telling Nina he's in love with her, Max disappears. He stops calling. He stops answering. He won't text. Gone, the classic definition of a ghost in the dating world. After five months, he shows up on Nina's doorstep, telling her he was confused, things got intense too fast...and she jumps into bed with him to restart where they left off only to be ghosted again. WHAT?!?! I'm all for giving people a second chance, but you don't just pick up where you left off when someone vanishes for five months. There's a reason for the saying, "When people show you who they are, believe them." At 32, Nina should know better.

In addition to the ghosting, Nina's father has Alzheimer's and is becoming progressively worse. He is wandering into the street, forgetting who people are, generally getting himself into dangerous situations. Nina's mother refuses to acknowledge what's right in front of her face and wants to continue with life as normal, pretending that there's nothing wrong with her husband.

And then there's Nina and Katherine's fight. After Katherine has her second baby, she is more overwhelmed and exhausted, Olive is not taking to being a big sister, and Mark is not helping as much as Katherine needs. Nina is dealing with her own crap between her dad and her book and Max. Instead of confiding in one another, they push each other away. Totally understandable. They come back together and really talk to one another when Katherine shows up drunk at Nina's apartment, but again...depressing. Not funny. Not even a little.

I think the only part of the book I found funny is when Nina goes to Joe's bachelor party (she's standing up on the groom's side) and realizes that men have way more fun at a bachelor party and none of the endless preparation for the wedding the morning after. They get to show up hungover, get dressed, and proceed to the wedding.

The books ends with Nina having come up with a book idea that her editor loves, she is again happily single, she and Katherine are again BFFs, and life is good. I'm glad Nina got her happy ending in this book, but it was a really painful journey to get there.

An interesting look at the life of a successful, single woman in her 30's. A very likeable character. She is ghosted by her boyfriend, something that I was not familiar with. I guess it is quite common in this age of social media, etc. She also has to deal with changing relationships with friends and her aging parents. I enjoyed this book.

So I had taken this picture cause I thought this was a thriller but then as I read realized this is about ghosting not ghosts. So it's a dating book so I still think it fits in my original thinking. I mean this is a voodoo doll and I think Nina could have used this on a few people in this book.

This made me feel all the feels of dating the ups and downs. The frustrations of being the only single then being that mom with the single friends. Omg the mom with a newborn and a toddler and not even knowing your own name let alone what day it is.

My Dad had some health issues and would just mentally checkout and scare us so I felt that. I feel bad but it made my heart happy that my voice was the one that could bring him back from wherever he went.

Ugh and the horrible neighbor, being at odds and fighting with no open communication. I mean this didn't go the way I thought at all but really I always think you can't know what others are going through. Be kind we are all a little broken.

You don't have to be in a relationship to be happy but if that is what you want then it sucks when people waste your time and lead you on! May the odds be in your favor if you are dating and looking for your person! 

Thank you knopfdouble and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

A book I went into blindly thinking it would be a nice vacation read but kind of shallow and I was surprised in the best way, this is a great book !
Nina the main character is a successful food writer in her early 30’s, recently purchased her first apartment and outwardly successful but doubting whether she’ll meet her significant other and in that way doubting life choices. She tries dating apps and meets Max. After seeing each other for a couple of months and talking about marriage, Max disappears, just ghosts her. She sees most of her friends moving on in life, getting married,having babies, and moving to the suburbs and feels herself stuck. At the same time she needs to cope with her father’s developing dementia and her mother’s way of coping with it.

After reading this, I thought the title of the book was perfect. Nina has multiple ghosts in her life, Max, her friendships growing apart, and the relationship between her and each of her parents. This books is clever, funny, hopeful, and sad and it was absolutely relatable. None of the issues are my issues but I felt the feelings. The author’s writing style was amazing and made the book hard to put down.

DNF @ 25%

Unfortunately, the writing style was not for me. This was a new to me author and it just didn't grab me like I hoped it would.

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton was somewhat different than I expected. I found the writing to be very good and the characters were well rounded and felt real. Those are both things that are important to me and affect my enjoyment of a book.

I did find Ghosts a little bit of a downer, which surprised me somewhat. I got the impression this was a romantic comedy. So that confused me.

I think ghosting happens more than most of us realize, especially in the dating world and I did feel a great deal of empathy for Nina.

I would recommend the book, but be prepared that I did not think this was a comedy at all, whether romantic or otherwise.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for approving my request for an ARC. Thoughts are my own.

3.5⭐️‘s
I have totally mixed feelings about this book. While a very well written debut and humorous at times, I actually found it depressing in the end. Nina and Lola are 30 year olds living in London and looking for love. When Nina signs up on an online dating app, she is surprised and ecstatic about meeting Max on her first swipe. Things were progressing nicely until they weren’t, until Max completely ghosted her. Lola has been playing the dating game for quite some time with similar results. As they console each other life happens around them. Nina is learning to deal with her father’s Alzheimer’s, her best friend’s (and ex beau) wedding, an obnoxious neighbor and her friends adding children to their already domesticated lives. What is she doing wrong?? Will she and Lola find the lasting love they so long for or will they learn to be happy right where they are?

I received a free electronic ARC of this especially funny tale from Netgalley, Dolly Alderton, and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read Ghosts of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.

Nina George Dean is approaching her 32nd birthday, feeling isolated and slightly hostile toward her aging parents, and single with no prospect of that changing. She is blessed with good friends including an ex-boyfriend, loves her job as a freelance journalist, and hasn't met any new men in way too long. Against her better judgement, she signs in to a dating app on her phone. And despite all those horror tales and ghost stories about online dating sites, she meets Max, an exceptionally perfect man. Maybe. Or not.

This work is a hoot. I found myself wishing I had had Nina's sense when I was 32 and understood without prejudice her predicament. Sometimes, a good man is just impossible to find. And sometimes being free and single is a great blessing.

I fell in literary love with Dolly Alderton after reading her memoir so it was perfect timing to start her first foray into fiction. It was an Experience. Using similar themes and talking points as her memoir, she uses GHOSTS to show the reader what life as single woman in her 30s trying to date is like.

While reading this book I felt seen in a way that I rarely feel seen except I’m talking to those closest to me. I feel like Dolly Alderton was able to so perfectly articulate what it is like to struggle to find a romantic relationship even when you do all the right things. I’ve said this many times, and it rang true throughout reading this book as well, you can work hard for almost every single thing you want in this life but you can’t force romantic love.

I can work hard to get the degree in the job I want, I can put in extra hours to become more competent at something, I can carve out extra time to pursue other hobbies that interest me but I cannot work hard to make myself feel a connection to another human being and vice versa. It is a very isolating feeling to not understand how something like relationships are so easy for other people and so difficult for yourself.

Alderton absolutely nails this feeling and so many others that are involved with being in your 30s, living in a big city, being independent and happy with your life and what you’ve carved out for yourself but also struggling with feeling the lack of a romantic relationship in your life.

If I had to describe this book into two words it would be “aggressively honest.” I could see how this book won’t be for everyone especially if you’re not in this season in your life but I personally felt this book deeply in my soul and I loved it so much, I wanted to start over from the beginning the second I finished it.

I wish I was better able to describe what made this book so special and significant to me but I am almost at a loss for words with how Important this book felt for the stage in my life I’m in. I cannot wait to see what’s next from Alderton!

Thank you @aaknopf for the review copy even though I immediately bought the UK edition after finishing!

Thank you SO much to the publishers & Netgalley for letting me read this!
I love Dolly Alderton so much and this book did not disappoint. It will definitely be something that will be read more than once in my life!

Unfortunately, I could not get into this title. The writing was incredibly descriptive and the pacing felt very slow. I did not finish the book around 25% in.

Thank you kindly to Netgalley for the ARC!

This was a new-to-me author and the blurb sounded interesting, so I took a chance. Maybe had I been British (or even traveled to Great Britain, I could have connected with this book. Instead, I was thoroughly bored by the time I reached chapter 6. The author spent so much time on useless descriptions of everything, that I compensated by skipping to Chapter 16 and honestly, I felt as though I didn't miss much. The book should have been condensed by 50%, IMHO. I did finish the book but really wished I had not invested the time. The ending was not uplifting, nor was it definitive.
A huge disappointment!

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton is a novel about Nina Dean, a food writer who is looking for a lasting relationship. Her mom is having a mid-life crisis, while her dad is suffering from dementia. Nina meets Max and thinks he might be the one, but he keeps ghosting her. Even her friends are being wishy-washy towards her. This story and the characters were nice, but the story didn't really go anywhere. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

This book is just the epitome of the older millennial experience and I love it. The ghosting while using dating apps. The feeling that you are still sorting your life out, even though younger you always assumes that by the early thirties you’d have it sorted out. Watching your family get older. The way friendships change as people enter relationships and have kids.

I found myself laughing, tearing up, and highlighting several sections that felt so true to my life. I think people born in the late 80s and early 90s will definitely enjoy this one.

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton isn’t just your typical rom-com about a girl who has a horrible dating experience. Oh no. The reader gets a year in the life of the lovely Nina George Dean. Nina’s a thirty-something, single gal who is about to publish her second book. She’s successful, has a great apartment, and a very active social life. Everything seems to be going swimmingly until her new boyfriend suddenly disappears once things are about to get serious. Yikes! My heart broke for this girl. What I loved most about this novel are the multiple relationships, and various situations that Nina desperately tries to navigate. She attempts to juggle her fellow single friends with those who have recently been married off, and are in the throes of new parenthood. Between pleasing her publisher, feuding with her new neighbor, and dealing with an aging parent, Nina has had quite the year. Nina’s life is truly relatable, and you can’t help but cheer her on until the very last page. From dating apps to Alzheimer’s, and creepy neighbors to George Michael, this new release will keep you entertained all the way through. If you enjoy books about modern life, families, friendships, and all of the relationships in between, you’ll love Ghosts by Dolly Alderton. It’s available now, and receives 4/5 stars from me!