This is a quirky book that hits deeper than it may appear on the surface. Nina is in her 30s and really at a crossroads. She recently entered the world of dating apps. Her friendships are challenged as she has a difficult time connecting with those who are finding themselves at a different stage in life with marriage and having children. Her father is starting to struggle with his mental stability and health. She finally feels like one aspect of her life has moved along for her when she meets Max and the two seem to have a strong connection instantly...until months later, he ghosts her.

This is presented as a romantic comedy but there is no HEA here and, while the banter is really funny, there are so many other parts that are truly so sad. The way she supports her dad as he deals with his Alzheimer's and the change in their relationship was touching and heartbreaking at the same time. I hated the way that Max was dealt with and that Nina had to go through so much with him. I did really enjoy the realness of the relationship with her friend. The feisty relationship with her neighbor really made me laugh several times. I just don't know that I'd characterize it as a rom com but more along the lines of women's fiction.

All in all, I liked this one. It was witty and had the same feel for me as Notting Hill. I think if you know what you're going into and are okay with not having a traditional romance, you will enjoy this one.

Interesting concept. I enjoyed most of the story, but really thought our MC should have either kicked him to the curb when he showed back up after AGES, or at the very least made him grovel for waaaaay longer. Also, the downstairs neighbour bit was super weird for me. I feel like they could have fought it out very differently and came to the same outcome.

Whenever I read literary fiction, I always think of them as "quiet reads." There's no real plot - not in the sense of a mystery or thriller where you're waiting for the big thing to happen or the big twist. It's just a peek into a moment in someone's life, make observations, and then see your way out.

This story is about Nina. She's in her early 30's and she's to the point where her singleness is starting to make her feel judged. She's surrounded by couples and families now instead of the single friends she had in her 20's. She always thought she'd have a family and a husband and she's starting to feel the comments, the side-eyes and she's starting to wonder if she should panic a bit. Feeling the pressure, she joins a dating app.

But Nina is pretty happy with her life as it is. She's secure in her career which makes enough for her to live on and be comfortable. She has solid friends she loves and she appreciates her quiet nights if she chooses or her late nights drinking. However, Nina is also not facing that her dad is ill. And his illness isn't getting any better.

It was interesting to learn Nina's world as she navigated dating apps, her friends and their relationships and their judgement that she was still single. I loved her friend Lola and how comfortable she was in her own skin but also how sad she was that she didn't have a partner to navigate life with. Katherine also tugged on my heartstrings and she tried to hard to make her world look so perfect. But I can't saw I loved Nina or that I felt fully pulled in to the story. I felt the beginning drag a bit and that held me from really enjoying the rest. It did work out, I liked how much Nina grew to know who she was in the end. There were a lot of good thoughts in here and I appreciated them, just didn't love Nina.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

👻 This book was INCREDIBLY different from what I thought it would be. I expected quirky but I got profound… and I really appreciated its depth.

👻 This is an unflinching look at the single life of a woman in her 30s. From the pressure to find “the one” to dealing with aging parents, this book hit several topics that impact and influence a woman’s life.

👻 I particularly appreciated the peek into how friendships between women change when some get married and start having kids and others stay single.

👻 The title is genius! Not only is it about ghosting (disappearing from a relationship), but also the ghosts of our former selves and experiences and how those continue to impact us as we get older.

👻 I particularly loved the relationship between Nina and her father. Heartwarming and sad in equal measure.

👻 I appreciated the ending. It wasn’t all tied up in a neat little bow and I love that because it was realistic.

👻 I absolutely recommend this book, but don’t expect a romantic comedy. It is so much deeper than that.

Thank you @NetGalley and @KnopfDoubleday for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I received a reviewer copy of Ghosts by Dolley Alderton from the publisher Knopf Doubleday from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Nina Dean is single. She is still good friends with her ex-boyfriend who is happily with someone else. Her dad is entering the early days of dementia and her mother seems to be having a midlife crisis. All her friends but one are having babies and this is also causing distance. While all this is going down, she is relieved to find that she has met someone who has instant chemistry with and could be the one but then he ghosts her.

What I Loved: This book is so relatable as a 30 something. I think this is a really realistic perspective of what it is like to be single while everyone around you has kids, buys homes, and gets married and how you feel judged for not being there. This book definitely seems like a book you'd like if you liked Sally Rooney but our main character Nina doesn't read as self centered as some of Sally's characters. I found the storyline with friendships waning out very believable and sympathetic. I also thought Alderson handled the character's grief and struggle with losing her beloved father to dementia. It was well done and relatable.

What I didn’t like so much: At times the character has trouble overlooking her own biases. And these parts got annoying while listening. I also didn't buy the whole greatness of Max so that love story was not my favorite.

Who Should Read It: People who love Sally Rooney. People who are single and 30 something. People who want a compelling story of challenges as a 30 something.

Summary: A well written story of being 30 something and living your life, parent challenges, friend drama, ghosting, and more.

Ghosts
By Dolly Alderton

This is a story about a young thirty something gal trying to maneuver the ups and downs of dating, aging parents and friendships.

Nina Dean is ghosted by a man she fell for and who claimed he loved her. All while trying to deal with her dad who is in the beginning stages of dementia.
It’s a great story if you are looking for something light and funny. While reading this story it made me realize not to take anything for granted. Whether it be the health of parents, a living friendship or a fly by night relationship. Enjoy life because you never know when you could lose someone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the advanced copy in turn for my honest review.

This book was so great. I previously read Dolly Aldertons memoir and was confident with her writing style that this would be a book for me. As a millennial woman, it was right up my alley with the themes of dating and missed encounters. Highly recommend!

~3.5 STARS ROUNDED UP~

This book felt very raw to me. Some may see it as mundane or "stream of consciousness" as a woman tries to navigate middle adulthood, but I really appreciated how real Nina's story felt. Real life is messy and complicated and full of people from your past and also people you hope to keep in your future. The way this book jumps around from topic to topic was a little jarring at first, but once I got used to it I saw why it was written in that way. In my opinion, it was written that way because us as humans have to juggle so many things and we always have to be focusing on all aspects of our lives (friendships, romantic relationships, family relationships, your job, your hobbies, etc) all at once, and simultaneously separately.

My main critique of this book is that I felt like it tried to do too much. I do feel like it did all of those things well, but I just wish that it wasn't all crammed into one story.

I felt pretty conflicted reading this one. Nina is so relatable, it was easy to feel every emotion right along with her. However I found the plot slow moving and a little boring. This isn’t your run of mill romance as there are serious themes but it didn’t go as deep as I was expecting and felt a little clunky.

this was the funniest most relatable book about dating in the age of apps i’ve ever read - dolly alderton’s writing is whip smart and emotional, i couldn’t get enough!

This story got me right in the feels. It explores the ups and downs, the ins and outs, the everyday messiness of life, and I was rooting for Nina from the beginning. As someone with a 32-year-old younger sister, I saw a lot of my own sister in Nina, and that made me love her even more. I highly recommend this one ❤️

This is the first book i have read by Dolly Alderton, and i have to say that i really enjoyed it!! There was a little of everything that i love in books in it.. IF you have not read Dolly Alderton's books yet you should definitely give her a try,

Really enjoyed this read. Love a good chicklit/romance novel. It was certainly
Hard to put down and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a nice light read!

Funny book! A delight to read. I enjoyed the premise and the characters. Really relevant to dating in these days.

Ghosts is a funny, yet sad commentary on the lives of thirty-something women and men. The women are thinking marriage and children, while the men hint at commitment, enjoy the sex, and then leave. Nina, a successful food writer based in London, is publishing her second book and writing her third. Nina's father is facing aging issues and Nina juggles within her parents' relationship where her mum does not want to grow old, yet her dad cries out for his mother to visit him when he is hospitalized. Enter Max, the handsome man Nina meets online to complicate or complete Nina's life. Dolly Alderton writes a good novel about the angst of adulthood at many stages.

It had its ups and downs but overall I liked the characters! Which is what I want. I laughed out loud at parts too. The detailed writing and words used made the book really stand out.

This is another one that would be up peoples aisle who enjoyed Sally Rooneys “Beautiful People Where Are You” and Anne Tyler’s “French Braid.” It was okay - somewhat told like an inner monologue / diary, readers follow around Nina and her experience with being “ghosted” which is apparently more common in the mature dating scene than I was aware of.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for an ARC of this in exchange for my honest review.

I read Alderton's memoir, Everything I Know About Love, earlier in 2021 and enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to picking up her fiction debut. I thought I knew what to expect from her writing and, if I'm honest, expected it to be a fictionalized version of the kinds of things she discussed in her memoir. WOW, she blew my expectations out of the water! This was a fantastic British contemporary story about dating, loss, and the people we love. The writing was so sharp and funny -- full of insightful gems that were both witty and totally relatable. I loved the heroine and was so moved by her relationships -- with her best friend, with her family, and with the people she tried to find love with. I truly felt the heartbreak of being ghosted, even as someone who got married before online dating/apps took off. I ended up listening to this one on audio and highly recommend that format. The narrator was perfect for the role! As you can tell, I'm So Obsessed With It. And it made my "Top 10 of 2021" list, too!

There is a lot to unpack after reading this book. First of all, I would not call this a romantic comedy. There was plenty of laugh out loud banter between characters…but the essence of this story is so much more. There were points in this story, mostly in the reflections of the main character Nina, that were equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking as she navigates single life in her 30’s.

Nina is dealing with a lot. A recent break up with a man who is still her best friend, a father with a terminal illness, a mom she has never been close to, a best childhood girlfriend who is married with children and doesn’t fit as easily into Nina’s life and Max, a man Nina has met when she finally gives in to online dating. She also has her friend Lola, a bigger than life character who added much fun and eccentricity to the story. She is fabulous.

I enjoyed this book and all the feelings it evoked in me. There was nostalgia, there were truths, there were insights into love, family, marriage, friendship, heartbreak, and how important it is to “live some life.” It was all very relatable. It is a wonderful story of womanhood and sisterhood and learning that life, in all its facets, is hard, unpredictable but always filled with hope.

Did not finish - Not my thing at the moment. I might revisit later in life but for now not working out for me unfortunately