There’s a particularly heinous level of hell reserved exclusively for single women in their thirties. If you’ve visited it yourself, you know. And if you haven’t, Dolly Alderton has written a book to give you a tour.

In Ghosts, 32-year-old Nina Dean is a confident, independent, successful cookbook author. Societal pressure to couple up and lock in a baby daddy before her biological clock goes ding sends her to a dating app, where she meets her match in Max. After months of dating and his profession of love, he ghosts her. Just disappears without an explanation. Vanishes into the ether. Dropkicks her from the heaven of new love back down to the aforementioned level of hell.

Perhaps because I could relate to Nina so much, reading about her experience was PAINFUL. I had a pit in my stomach and truly felt her emotions right along with her. She also has to contend with her smug married friends (as Bridget Jones would call them), who are leaving her behind in a wake of soiled nappies and suburban lawn clippings.

Somewhat oddly, the publisher seems to be pushing Ghosts as a romantic comedy. Years from now I don’t think I’ll remember the comedy, and I certainly won’t recall any romance. But what I will for sure remember is how the author expertly captured one very specific aspect of the modern human experience.

4.5 stars

Sharp, witty writing that will you keep you hooked until the last page. It’s like sitting down with a friend and asking “how are you?” and all of this comes tumbling out. Current and relatable, super funny and sincere. The author did an excellent job bringing Nina to life.

Relatable women's fiction that follows the life experiences of a 30something. From her relationships with family and friends to losses and loves. Well paced, beautifully written. Thought provoking and heartfelt

This book takes you through Nina's life during her 32nd year. There are many relationships explored during the year and the growth Nina experiences in relation to her mother and father, her best friend from childhood, her current best friend, Lola, her long time boyfriend Joe who has been her ex for years, etc. This isn't a romance although there are romantic elements. Jethro and Max, what sorry excuses for men. I'm glad Nina went after him and she gave him the talk she wouldn't give to Max. I would have preferred more of a HEA ending for both Nina and Lola.

I really loved this book. It is a very relatable story of a woman in her early thirties experiencing the annoyances of dating, evolving friendships, and the hardship of seeing a loved one suffer from a disease.

Although there were some real-life serious part, there were so many lines that I laughed out loud to! I highlighted several lines because of how comical and smart they were. Highly recommend!

This is such a good book.
It narrates Nina's life in London as a young, single woman and her struggles with nearly every aspect of adulting as a millennial.
The characters are very relatable, and their conflicts have the specificities of a generation, but at the same time, the author's approach makes them universal. You are going to find humor, psychological pain, and romance.
Nina is not only struggling with her romantic relationships; she is also suffering her father's decline due to some form of dementia. This situation makes her reflect on childhood memories, the way food triggers evocation and friendship, all of which gives the character an interesting depth.

This was my first Dolly Alderton but certainly not my last.

Thank you NetGalley, author Dolly Alderton, and Penguin publishing for giving me a free arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
3.5 stars
Nina George Dean is a 32-year-old single food writer living in London. It seems like all of her pool of friends are getting marring and expanding their families with more children. Having a more modern woman mindset, she doesn’t believe she needs a man to complete her, but at the same time, has the same desire as many for her own family and person to love, if life's paths leads her that way. Then comes Linx dating app and her match made in heaven, Max. But what happens when everything seems to be going well and suddenly he disappears without a word? Read the book to find out!
This book had a great premise, especially in this day and age of dating apps and ghosting. I found the story to be believable and relatable to the times we live in currently. While, at the beginning, this story has a lot of humor and romance, the latter half deals more with loss, grief, and sadness, mostly surrounding her family namely her father.
Nina’s father, Bill, recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, plays a significate role within the story. The author did a wonderful job highlighting the disintegration of his thinking and personality, as well as Nina’s mother, Nancy’s, dysfunctional response to it. The reader can really see how much stress it puts on the family - in a realistic light, but it seemed a little bit of an outliner for a book marketed as comedy. It felt like there were two competing stories happening … the one with Nina and Max and the one with Nina and her father and both had a different tone to them.
Nina and her neighbor were at war with each other throughout most of the book. I loved their hijinks and pranks they continued to pull over on each other. I thought their chemistry was very interesting and I enjoyed each and every scene with them although it was by no means a healthy relationship but rather a very toxic one. Some of the other issues with these characters were the toxic relationships that seemed to overshadow the story. From the growing distance between Kathrine and Nina to the toxic relationships between Nina's ex Joe as well as the downstairs neighbor Angelo. I was not overly sure what the author was traying to convey by all of these dysfunctional relationships. The writing and pacing were well developed and made for an easy read! Overall, this was an interesting insight into the 21st century dating, marriage , and family lives. I would be interested to read more books by this author in the future.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided to me through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

Ghosts follows Nina over a year in her life and the struggles she faces with dating, friendships and aging parents. I found this book very relatable (as I’m in my mid-30s) and find myself dealing with many of the same things as Nina and really found her friendship with Lola to be similar to many of my friendships and how she dealt with feeling like she was growing apart from some of her life-long friends who were married and in different parts of their lives.

Dolly Alderton did a fantastic job of bringing everyday life into a wonderfully written, relatable novel.

I was intrigued by this story especially since it was a popular book in the UK. Unfortunately for Dally, there were just so many incredible books that released in August, so I had to bump this one. This rating is not based on the book's quality, but simply on the fact that there are other titles I prioritized over this one.

I was provided a free copy of this text by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was very depressing. While it has a strong premise, Alderton leaves the characters in places that are far from uplifting. My wife and I were hoping for a better read, but this one was not it. Lackluster at best.

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton was a fun and charming read about a woman who is happy, but not everything is always as it seems. Nina is a successful writer and has great friends. Then to top it all off, she meets Max via a dating app and he seems too good to be true. They hit if off immediately. They seem to be a perfect match until he ghosts her after sharing “I love you’s”. What happened? Suddenly Nina is looking at her life and those around her, her parents, friends, ex, and more. Though this was a fun read, it was also touching and emotional. This was my first read by this author but definitely not my last!

Happy reading!

What a disappointment. I read the first several chapters and just couldn't take anymore. The writing style is mostly narrative with little to no action. Even the scene of her birthday party is narrative of her thoughts about everyone at the table. Its gossipy and the main character is depressing.

From the summary, I had hoped to find a story about a woman who was ghosted (dropped online and ignored) only to find a good reason for it happening. Maybe a misunderstanding or maybe the guy is hurt. But being ghosted seems to only provide an excuse for the writer and Nina, the main character (I can't call her a heroine as there is nothing heroic about her) to bash men. She's thirty going on sixteen.
Nina doesn't seem to have a goal other than to find a boyfriend and hang out with her friends. Even the humor is crass. Very juvenile.

I was provided a pre-published copy of the book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. So I am obligated to provide a review. Otherwise, I never post negative reviews.

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton is a novel following Nina, a successful food writer that has finally decided to jump into online dating with the Lynx app after the push from her friend Lola. Both women have stories from their app, but quickly Nina meets Max, a guy who she clicks with after the first date. However soon she learns Max may have been too good to be true when he disappears from her life and the app. Now Nina is reeling as she struggles with her father's Alzheimer's and battles with her mom and friends.

I found the premise of this book intriguing and expected good things as I have been recommended this author's previous book. This book did not disappoint! It touched on many topics such as online dating, societal expectations for men and women, changes after marriage and children and how that affects friendships, and much more. This book is much richer than the summary may lead you to believe as the author discusses these well but without a heavy hand.

The best part of this book were the characters! Nina was well-realized and felt like someone I could actually know in real life. She made real, messy decisions but we also understood why she did those things. I also found Lola a fantastic asset to this book and complemented Nina well. It was obvious they cared about each other and truly supported each other. They also contrasted well against the married couples in this book and I thought the author did a fantastic job portraying those personalities after marriage. Max was understandably the most frustrating character but I have also met guys like this so it felt very real. His treatment of Nina brought me back to helping friends with guys like him who thought they were not bad guys.

Overall I highly recommend this book and think so many would enjoy the subtle commentary from this book along with the plot and characters!

Many thanks to the publisher Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this eARC early. Let me preface this by saying I don't know anything about Dolly Alderton- I haven't read anything by her or listened to her podcast- so I'm not already endeared to her. If you are, I would think you would love this book. From what I hear it is very typical for her message. It's a great women's fiction about a woman named Nina and her life with her friends, her parents, her ex boyfriend, and the guy that ghosted her. I really liked how multidimensional this book was it dealt with all the major relationships in her life (her aging dad, her one girlfriend that is single in her 30's as well, her ex boyfriend who is still a best friend, the woman he's marrying, the man who she's met in an online dating app, etc.). I liked the commentary on being single in your 30's and how isolating it can be. Overall this was a really enjoyable and entertaining if you're looking for a character driven women's fiction story.

I could not get into this. I did not like the main character, inauthentic and self-absorbed thirty-something Nina, nor did I particularly care for any of the other characters. The story drags, written in excessively long sentences and paragraphs conveying too much description along with Nina’s endlessly annoying inner monologue.

I was expecting a charming romcom, but this was not relatable, charming, romantic, fun, or funny. After slogging through a third of the book with very little improvement, I gave up. These characters are not people I want to spend time with.

I was given a free ARC through NetGalley, which I volunteered to review.

HAPPY PUB DAY TO ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS THIS YEAR!!! Ghosts should be at the very top of your hot girl summer tbr

Okay besties, my favorite type of book is one where there’s a woman in her 20/30s who doesn’t have “it” figured out. Who’s life is messy and chaotic and sometimes a little bleak but in a dark humor kind of way!!….anyways, long story short. This book is it. It’s IT!!

Ghosts is an immensely realistic -if at sometimes bleak- look at what your romantic relationships, friendships, and even parental relationships look like in your 30s. It’s rare when a novel can make me laugh, cry, and feel utterly anxious. I have years until I’m in my 30s, but I could still relate to the main character and all her anxieties. I don’t know what Dolly aLDERTON put in this book, but it’s crack. You’ll read one page and then decide to binge read it all in one go.

please please please go read this book
Okay bye

These days everyone seems to know someone who has been ghosted. Awful and yet it is so common that it’s not a surprise when you hear it happens. Disgusted yes, surprised no. This is the story about Nina. She is mostly happy with her life in all other aspects and hadn’t been actively looking for a relationship. She’s got a good job she loves, good friends, a busy life all while dealing with her fathers declining mental health after a devastating diagnosis and a mother who is in denial. To top it off she downloads an app and meets Max, who is potentially “the guy”. He is all in from date one. Their chemistry is off the charts and he is talking forever on their second date. Fast forward to them practically living together and she gets ghosted. It leaves her confused and angry. All the while her dads health is declining, most of her friends are not who she needs them to be and she’s trying to keep it together. It’s an interesting read.

I had a hard time writing this review. Because on the one hand I really enjoyed the writing style and the book was very enjoyable to read. But ultimately, I couldn’t relate to the main character in any real way.

We’re following Nina, who is in her thirties and has decided to start dating again. While she has many friends already married and having kids, Nina is “starting over” after a long-term relationship. She meets a man on the app, but it ends quite prematurely. At the same time Nina’s father is suffering from dementia, and her mother is not dealing well with his illness. There isn’t exactly a plot, the book is more of a slice of life, taking place during a year in Nina’s life. If that’s your kind of book, I think this will be something you’ll love.

Just based on the writing style, I’m very intrigued to check out Dolly Alderton’s first book, Everything I Know About Love. As a non-fiction book, I think that might suit my reading tastes slightly better.

With this book, I very much admit that it’s not the book, it’s me. I think Nina’s observations about life experiences is something that other people can connect with. The book does focus on cishet people, and while that’s not a bad thing per se, I just couldn’t relate especially to the significant portion of the book discussing dating, marriage and having children. The issues relating to having an ill parent did hit me quite hard, because that’s something I’m quite scared of. I think those points of the book were handled quite well and definitely made me give a higher rating to the book.

I recommend this book for readers looking for a slice of life story about being in your thirties.

This book was a bit of a mixed bag for me. There are some attempts at combining seriousness with levity, but the seriousness never really reaches any true depth. There were definitely parts that I enjoyed, a lot of things about modern relationships in your thirties that resonated with me. Unfortunately these moments of enjoyment were often clumsily followed by something not as great. Movement between plots points also felt a bit clunky and forced.

Ghosts by Dolly

It’s not easy being the last of your friends to marry even if you are a successful thirtysomel food blogger like Nina who is about to publish her second book. After an amicable break-up with long term boyfriend Joe, they realized they’re better off as friends, Nina decides to take matters into her own hands. With some help from her outgoing and meddling friend, Lola, Nina decides to try a dating website.

Low and behold, Nina actually meets a nice guy named Max They really hit it off on the first date, and start spending a lot of time together. Then one day while visiting her old neighborhood, he drops the “L” word only to ghost her the next day. This leaves Nina feeling worse than before and wondering where things went wrong.

Her romantic relationship troubles aren’t the only things in her world that have gone awry. Her father’s dementia is getting worse, and her mother is in denial. Her good friend Katherine, who is married, is also trying to remove herself from Nina’s life.

Read to see how everything works out in the end and if Nina gets her happily ever after.

Spoiler:
I like how this book doesn't have a HEA!