Aside from accurately portraying the fallout of a partner ghosting you, Ghosts examines the idiosyncrasies of adult friendships — particularly those that have grown from childhood — and explores the hopelessness of watching someone you love struggle with dementia. Throughout the novel, Nina deals with an obnoxious neighbor, has a front-row seat to her ex moving on with someone else, and grapples with many other deeply relatable aspects of life in one's early 30s. At first glance, Ghosts is another romantic comedy about dating in the digital age, but as you get further immersed into Nina's story, it reveals many beautiful and messy layers.

Synopsis: Nina Dean is perfectly content with her life — great job, loving parents and a social calendar of which to be envious. But her life takes a sharp turn when she meets Max on a dating app, who, after going hot and heavy, disappears. All of a sudden, Nina’s relationships with her family and friends begin to disappear from her life one way or another.

I just don’t think this book was meant for me, right now. I could see its aim, wanting to create a thread between humans who are full of flaws and disrupt the idea that by the time you’re 30, you should know what’s going on. And I appreciated it for what it was.

But it didn’t resonate with me. I was often bored, with characters I wanted to connect with but couldn’t seem to and plots that barely moved. Now, arguably, this is a study of humanity, not an adventure or a romance. So, I could understand why I was feeling this way — which is why I say, this book is absolutely meant for someone and maybe even for me, just not right now.

It was well-written but I also failed to see the funny that others seem to be enjoying about it. However, one of the early chapters absolutely nails dating apps — how I feel about them and how men behave on them. It was astounding, hilarious, and totally universal. It sold me on the book but I quickly lost much of my interest after that.

Maybe adult literature just isn’t for me? Or maybe I just wanted more? Whatever it was, Ghosts didn’t work for me. But it could work for you!

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton was my first experience with this author. For me the book was just okay. I was excited to read it because the blurb told me it was a wickedly funny laugh out loud romantic comedy. I didn't find it any of those things. I think I chuckled once.

There was nothing wrong with her writing. There were words and sayings I had to guess at because I'm not totally familiar with those used in the UK. Her characters were well developed and I liked the voice of the narrator.

For me a lot of the book was sad and not necessarily funny. I admit I'm am of the older generation. I still have had experience with dating apps as I was widowed and I know younger folks who use them. I think some of those experiences could be fun and hilarious but, I just didn't get that from this book.

All in all, it was a decent story. It just was not what I expected. I'm sure this book would be better suited to the younger generation of young adults.

I received a copy of this book from #Netgalley/#Knophpublishing for a fair and honest review. Thank you.

Ghosts felt like an authentic glimpse into what being a single woman in a friend group that is quickly being married off is truly like. For all intents and purposes Nina Deen is successful, intelligent, and has her life together but under the surface she has the same anxiety and stress about dating as most others do. She questions herself, the men she dates, the way people make choices and when she finds someone who truly sweeps her off her feet, she is ghosted.

The story was so enthralling that I felt real anger and anxiety for Nina as she experiences the ghosting and the amount of time it takes her to move on. Her feelings were rich and complex. This story gave real heft to the value of friendships and highlighted some of the upsetting lengths people will go to find love. It was an extremely fun story to read.

*deep breath* Okay I don’t know if I can put into words how much this book means to me but I’m going to try.

There was a boy once. I thought I loved him and then he left without a word, without a trace. And all those nights I spent crying, I wrote so many letters in my head and I thought if I had just written them down, I could’ve had a whole book about what it means to be broken and put yourself back together again.

That’s this book. That’s how I felt reading this. It captured all those thoughts and feelings from all those years ago and it put them into words. I wish this book would’ve existed back then. I would’ve found it such a comfort. (But instead I found the likes of This Is Where I Leave You and Shopgirl and this book reminds me so much of them and what they meant to me back then and now.)

This is a beautifully written, wonderfully funny and equally heartbreaking story and I’m glad it exists. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love it and how much I need it on my shelves so I can visit it again and again.

This is a story for all those thirty somethings who are still looking for love or the answers or who they’re going to be. I found myself in these pages again and again and I felt at home. I felt so seen. So if you’re still looking for something, this one is for you.

What a beautiful, wonderful, deeply poetic book. I highlighted so many passages to revisit again and again. This is definitely a new favorite. And Dolly Alderton is now 100% an autobuy for me. I can’t wait to read everything she ever writes.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Knopf for allowing me to read this! I can’t wait to have my own copy to live forever on my shelves.

Nina is a 32-year old food writer who is single and living in the city. She loves her friends, and discovers that one-by-one they have started to pair off into marriages and children. She's ready for the next step in her life to begin--but where is he?

Then she meets Max who takes her world by storm. Whereas she was used to nights out with her girlfriends, she has started practically living with Max almost overnight. And the promises! They are going to move in together....they will get married.... And then he ghosts her!

What also seems in risk of disappearing is her once vibrant father's health. He once was an admired professor (and even subject of a fan page by his former students), and is now ill. Nina sees him slowly becoming less of himself and slowly becoming confused, or forgetting the past.

Ghosts is a book about relationships and how sometimes our expectations are far from reality. I loved the exploration of human nature when it comes to relationships, both romantically and within friendship. She also tackles aging parents, and explores what really makes a person a person--is it a collection of their past and memories, or the things that they do everyday? When I picked up this book I expected a fun comedy, and the book definitely met that expectation, but it's also a smart comedy and goes even deeper with an exploration of what makes a person a person. I definitely enjoyed this one and look forward to reading her future books.

Nina’s Story Is Fully Engrossing, Capturing Your Attention From The Very Beginning! Witty Little Bits, Such As References To George Michael, Pepper The Story, Lightening The Mood Despite The Sometimes Serious Or Somber Passages. The Use Of Language As An Artform Elevates This Book From So Many Others. It Is Smartly Written And Funny While Also Tackling Serious Issues.


Nina George Dean, just celebrating her thirty-second birthday, is trying to find her way forward as she watches most of her friends settle down now that they are all in their thirties. Nina spent so many years with Joe – seven – that she had missed out on a lot of dating. He had been her only boyfriend. It turns out they were probably better off as just good friends. She behaved a little recklessly following the breakup, but quickly decided to put her dating life on hold to focus on herself and get past her co-dependency. Two years later, she is more mindful. She bought a flat in London just a month ago, realizing one of her dreams thanks to the success of her new writing career. Her first book, Taste, was a cookbook inspired by her personal life. It led to a contract for more books and a newspaper column. She had begun her career teaching English in secondary school, then added to that a supper club in the evenings, saving her money until she could afford to quit her job and embark on her career as a full time food writer. Despite her success, and in spite of the rather irritating way her friends have changed as they settle down one by one, Nina feels she is finally ready to date once again. She is content with her life and in a good place to start again.

With the urging of her only remaining single friend Lola, Nina sets up a profile on a popular dating app, Linx. Lola is replete with advice, some of which might seem counterintuitive to a newbie such as Nina. Eventually, though, Nina meets Max online. When they finally meet one another in person for their first date, they hit it off immediately. Their chemistry is off the charts, and he seems almost too good to be true. Nina easily falls into old habits, and soon Max is basically her boyfriend. But she is still dealing with her changing friendships, wondering how to handle what seems like the inevitable. And her worries about her father never wane. It has been two years since he suffered a severe stroke, and the memory problems he now suffers from weigh on her.

Max is a bear of a man who looks like a Viking warrior. His age shows, and questions about his past intrigue Nina even more. He signed up for Linx six months earlier, his first try at a dating app. He is an accountant but dresses casually in dirty clothes. While Joe had been big on jokes, Max is more philosophical in nature, more serious. He is a dreamer. He enjoys surfing and the outdoors. For ten years he has indulged his wanderlust in a cycle of working, saving, and taking time off to travel. He enjoys reading, and it turns out he and Nina have a lot in common, including issues with their fathers. Max dreams of a simpler life, but is holding onto his career since it affords him the opportunities he craves. He has felt uncertain about the direction of his life over the past few years. Max is a bit of a puzzle, full of contradictions. When he declares his certainty that he will marry Nina at the end of their first date, Nina is over the moon. But Max has ghosts inside that hold the secrets of who he is today and how he became the way he is. There is a lot to unwrap.

Nina’s story is fully engrossing, capturing your attention from the very beginning. Witty little bits, such as references to George Michael, pepper the story, lightening the mood despite the sometimes serious or somber passages. The use of language as an artform elevates this book from so many others. It is smartly written and funny while also tackling serious issues. Nina’s journey is a challenge, but she is a glass half full type of woman. At the same time she is a realist. She embraces her life as a single woman but cannot help but acknowledge to herself that she really is a relationship person. As she tackles issues of friendship, family, career, and love, her sometimes self-deprecating style keeps things real.

Nina’s story is wonderfully written. The plot is fairly simple. The characters are carefully crafted and three dimensional. It is easy to connect with their stories. The story is written in first person in Nina’s POV. I rate this book five stars.

I received an advance copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Nina made me chuckle and laugh while also bringing tears to my eyes. I easily identified with her relationship with her dad. Having experienced dementia with both of my parents reading this brought memories of them flooding back. That was the highlight of the book for me. Her friends irritated me and I kept wanting more from them.
I have to admit that the author’s style of writing didn’t flow for me as a reader. I wasn’t as eager to pick up my kindle for this one.
Many thanks to Dolly Alderton and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read this heartfelt book.

3.5 stars

This took some time to get into and I was really close to putting it down as a DNF. And while I am glad I kept with it, it definitely wasn't perfect.

I read Dolly Alderton's memoir, Everything I Know About Love, last year so I was excited to pick up her debut fiction novel. Ghosts displays the same witty writing with this commentary on relationships—platonic, familial, and romantic. Her voice leaps off the page and felt very genuine. I really loved the characters, especially Lola, and thought they developed really well across the novel. My big problem was the pacing—this book felt like it went on for 500 pages when it didn't even hit 350. There was so much time wasted, dragging through parts of the story that didn't need to be there.

While I do think I will keep my eye on Dolly Alderton's writing in the future, I might just stick to her essays.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for an ARC of this book for an honest review!

I had not heard of or read Dolly Alderton before this, but I am sure glad I was able to snag a copy of this! The writing is witty and the dialogue is just fantastic. I found a lot of similarities with myself in main character, Nina, and the events and people that come into and out of her life in the course of the plot. Yes, it’s very Nora Ephron plus Millennialmania, but I am a millennial and love Nora Ephron and this book made me laugh so hard and was just a real delight. I look forward to more writing by Dolly and definitely enjoyed this book!

**FULL REVIEW**

So, I didn’t hate it. I also didn’t really love it either…just an okay story about regular, messy life.

Spoken in British English, I found even in my head, I read with an accent which tells me it is probably amazing in audio…just for the accents alone.

But overall, following along on Nina’s journey of love, loss, and friendship, while she herself has quite a bit of growing to do made this story read more like a memoir instead of fiction. To that effect, it bored me.

I will say, I love the banter and ultimate truce between Nina and Angelo…I also love her friendship with both Lola and Katherine. All different aspects to the story that add depth and realness. If you’re into books with no real direction beyond the growth of the main character filled with a bunch of unnecessary details that really hold no relevance to the story, but you just want to be nosy and see how interesting and devastating ones life can get, pick this up.

If you’re looking for something quick, skip it. Lengthy and long-winded, even if written in a pretty accent, doesn’t give me the vibes I was hoping to get when I started this book…I feel like I’m wrestling with Nina’s “Ghosts”.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this title and five my honest feedback.

**2.5 Long Story, Stars**

Entirely enjoyable. I loved the characters, the scenes, the banter, just about everything. This is a fun story about dating in the 2020’s. Nina’s relationship with Max seemed so real, a happily ever after, and I felt her angst when he “ghosted” her. The only negative for me was the theme surrounding Nina’s father. He obviously has dementia, but that word is never mentioned. I get why Nina and her mom might not want to speak of it - like many grappling with this diagnosis, they are deep in denial - but it leaves the reader in limbo, especially the reader who is not familiar with the disease and doesn’t understand why Dad is the way he is. The writing surrounding this is exquisite and spot on. The author did a terrific job. But as an advocate for those living with dementia I felt she missed an opportunity here to do some real education on a poorly understood illness. I also did not like the cover. That needs an improvement. Still, a good read recommended for those who like women’s fiction with strong heroines, lots of drama, and well-placed laughs.

It really took me a minute to get into the book, and even then I didn't find it relatable.

Most rom-com's grab my attention in the first chapter. Whereas with this book, I struggled to complete the first chapter and then get into the overall story-line. The author's writing was not bad, just not funny as I was led to believe by the early reviewers.

I get the premise of 'ghosting' in all types of relationships but the story just didn't appeal to me, even though the blurb definitely did appeal to me.

Love, friendship, and relationship are at the center of Dolly Alderton's GHOSTS. When her passionate, loving boyfriend Max declares his love for her and then disappears from her life, Nina reels from the betrayal of a man who will not respond and seems to have never been real. At the same time, her beloved father is disappearing swiftly into dementia and her friends are wrestling with their own relationships, including their friendship with her. Nina has nowhere to turn and no one single person to depend upon and slowly finds her way to build a life where she is in charge, speaks her truth, and understands for the first time how it is to live with ever-changing love. While the romantic relationship is the most obvious "ghost" of the title, parents and friends, even neighbors are revealed as Nina reveals herself. I received an advance reader copy of this novel in exchange for my unbiased review.

Nina is my hero. She is so comfortable with herself, has a job she loves, and is still good friends with her ex-boyfriend. So I was furious when she invests her life and heart in a man she truly thought she loved, only to have him disappear with no warning. If that isn’t enough her beloved father is slowly declining from dementia and her mother is in denial, she is in a feud with her arrogant (possibly psychopathic) Italian neighbor who is making her life a living hell, and her married friends with children don’t take Nina’s life seriously.

Watching Nina navigate the ups and downs of her life is so realistic and painful sometimes. All she wants is to be happy like her friends, but she has to dodge all the obstacles on the way. Nina is a person who will come out on top because she is smart, compassionate, and very genuine. She’s a great friend and a wonderful daughter, and she will find the right person to share her life with.

I have so many favorite moments in this book. Every moment with Nina and her dad is precious and heartwarming as she tries to cope with his heartrending illness. I loved Nina’s speech to the very self-entitled and condescending Katherine about what a shit friend she is. And most of all, I appreciated the unforgettably insightful and extremely delightful tongue-lashing Nina gives to Lola’s ex.

My favorite supporting character is Nina’s serial-dating, flamboyant friend Lola. She steals the show with her unconventional wisdom about relationships and her questionable fashion sense.

I loved the author’s writing and was totally engaged in the story. I learned a lot about ghosting and the reasons why it may happen. I learned some insightful advice about parents with dementia. I also learned not to piss off your neighbor because he may be a psychopath.

I highly recommend this thoughtful, funny, and sometimes painful story about navigating relationships in our lives as circumstances and time change them.

Thank you to Ms. Alderton for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

this had it's moment but it wasn't a favorite. I thought the main character was a bit whiny which I don't like. It was funny in bits though :)

Based on the synopsis of this book, I thought I would be reading a rom-com. I found that this book did not quite fit that description. The protagonist, Nina George Dean is 31 and single. She is a successful food writer living in London and standing on the sidelines as her friends marry and start new journeys.

Nina signs up for a dating app and is matched with Max. By all accounts Max seems great, until 3 months later he "ghosts" her. Nina has a father falling further into the realm of dementia, her mother dealing in her own way, an ex boyfriend, Joe, getting engaged, her relationship with Katherine, a childhood friend, growing farther apart.

The book is OK. This is the first thing I have read by Dolly Alderton. I know she writes a column for the Sunday Times. The book's underlying theme is all the ways people are ghosted, from parents no longer recognizing you, to friends moving on, or potential love interests ignoring you.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC. The review is my own.

Engaging and thrilling. I enjoyed the premise and it was incredibly readable. I found myself wanting to turn the pages. Enjoyed!

Ghosts touches on the current phenomenon of ghosting, be it a romantic interest, family, or friend.

This novel touches on heavy topics, which I wasn’t expecting but it did so with grace. This is not your typical read but it is entertaining

Ghosts is an emotional rollercoaster of a story. Following Nina felt like hearing gossip from an old friend. The story is so relatable and hooked me from the first chapter. I love a story that takes the opening premise of instant connection but then does the work to flush out that connection, stress test it, and see what really happens after those first magical butterflies of touch.


While the story starts out sweet and funny and light, it builds into a fuller picture of life below the surface. Nina’s humor and intelligence made the story so much more enjoyable even in the heart wrenching parts. I thoroughly enjoyed it.