While talking to my boss earlier this week, I made the statement "I really could not care less what a man has to say" regarding a popular writer that he was talking about.

I've been trying to read more and more female (or female-identifying) authors. These are voices that I care about, that I want to hear from. That said, I want to like Lisa Taddero. I feel like on paper, it's someone that I SHOULD like, if not, LOVE. That said, "Ghost Lover" is just....eh for me.

First of all, the just...straight up fatphobia in this book is...disgusting. This man is fat. This talk show host is fat. She is fat. He is fat. FAT FAT FAT. This beautiful model has super thin legs and is so beautifullllllllll. So tan and beautiful and young and sexual and pretty and every man wants her and oh my god we get itttttt.

BUT - if you take all of that out, the meat of the stories, the actual stories are okay. I think the first one is a standout. Some of the others are trash, but the first one is the reason that this is two stars rather than zero.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Having enjoyed Three Women by Lisa Taddeo, I was interested in her new short story collection, Ghost Lover. However, I didn’t quite enjoy this piece of work as much as the former.

I do appreciate when short stories belong together. But while these stories vary in content, many of the stories involved the exact same main character type: a single middle aged woman who never married. And after a few of basically the same story, I grew tired of it. Overall, they just didn’t interest me very much. I found them all to be too similar and after a while they got boring.

I like my short stories to have a big twist or shocking purpose given that they only have so much time to pull you in. But there were only a couple stories that had a lasting impression on me. For the most part these stories did portray reality very well, which is what I liked about them most and reminded me of why I liked Three Women.

Overall, I was not very impressed by this collection. I used to think short stories were not my cup of tea but then I recently read some really amazing collections like Heartbroke by Chelsea Bieker and Seasonal Work by Laura Lippman. I hoped this collection would be another to add to the list but sadly it fell short for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for an ARC of this book.

I’ve read every Lisa Taddeo book, so was excited for a book of short stories by her! These short stories did not disappoint. If you’ve read Lisa’s other books read this!

oh boy, did this book take me literally forever to get through. that is not sto say that any of the stories were particularly bad, but it isto say that none of them were particularly good or memorible. The only story i remmeber is the first one that was about the girl who created the texting app that the book is named after. I wish that short story was expenaded a bit more evenso.

I am usually apprehensive towards reading compilations of short stories because frequently in these types of collections, some just don’t live up to the others. But recently reading Taddeo’s novel “Animal” and enjoying it, this was one that intrigued me. “Ghost Lover” was arresting, captivating, and very fun to read and explore. She has an unparalleled ability to write prose in a way I’ve only seen done by authors such as Ottessa Moshfegh or Sally Rooney. My only complaint was that I wish the 3 characters were connected a little bit more.

Lisa Taddeo does it again with her collection of stories, “Ghost Lover”. An instant five star for me, without hesitation, and no small feat considering my expectations were sky-high and short story collections rarely (due to the nature of being a collection) get a full five stars from me. I loved this, wholly, and it is the third in a series of five stars favorites, from Lisa Taddeo, in my exploration of her work! I cannot wait for more to come!

Lisa Taddeo always writes from a guttural, honest, and interesting place. She never requires for her characters to be perfect or “likable” or kind, well mannered. She respects them, specifically the women, enough to validate their experiences and emotions regardless. Real people are not wholly good or bad, there is nuance in all of us, contradictions and insecurity, insight and ignorance. In this way I find Lisa Taddeo’s writing to be real and fully realized. It connects to me in ways that are both favorable and unflattering. It can be unnerving or uncomfortable, at times, but for that it is fresh and intricately human. I see in the unflattering portrayal of a human being, marked by the world she lives in, self loathing and expectation embedded in her being and perspective. It seems to me, Lisa Taddeo does not write “unlikeable women” to excuse their behavior, rather to incite empathy for how the woman has arrived in this headspace, to see her pain, and judge less. To see yourself, or someone you know, and understand some part. To me, that is powerful.

“Ghost Lover” explores the nuance of female emotions and the way we view ourselves, our desires. She tackles the trappings of online dating, aging and modern life, celebrity culture and it’s effect on the individual, parenthood… the list goes on and on. Each story is riveting, making the collection an absolute page turner. It’s quite impressive the way Lisa Taddeo has managed to create the rush of a tabloid with intense character study. It’s intelligent, Deeply so. In many ways this collection pushes the envelope a little further than “Animal”, and it’s definitely different from “Three Women” but it is a wonderful and stand out edition to her storytelling, can we get a poetry collection maybe? A play even? I am so impressed by her ability to weave a tale that I can only imagine she would stun in any form.

On a personal note, “Animal” was my favorite book of last year, and I think about it almost daily, I often quote certain lines from it, as they resonated in a unique and transcending way, for me. “Three Women” also touched me in a way that is hard to describe. The women she writes are of the same pain, the same introspection, as I am… even if we do not fully align. I have found acceptance as well as accountability, strength and more in Lisa Taddeo’s writing, and this continues with “Ghost Lover”.

I highly recommend this collection for fans of her earlier work, or fans of Melissa Broder, Sally Rooney, Ottessa Moshfegh, Sylvia Plath, Raven Leilani, or Elena Ferrante!

This was tough sledding to get through. I think it’s time to declare that Lisa Taddeo is 200% not for me. There is some great cutting prose here - but it’s buried within such casual fatphobia and a panache for writing women who inevitably loathe other women. It’s grating, and unpleasant to read and I will never understand the love for her books. In the boon of “female rage” hitting the market these days, there is just so much better out there!

GHOST LOVER is a book of short stories by Lisa Taddeo, author of THREE WOMEN and ANIMAL. This is the first of Taddeo’s books I’ve read and I was underwhelmed.

Taddeo’s writing is sharp, witty, and full of personality. However, her stories feel repetitive, reductive, and almost designed to offend and upset. Her female characters felt like unrealistic stereotypes of women- vapid, selfish, materialistic, rooting for each other’s failure. In all, nothing like most of the women I know and love. I had trouble relating to them or rooting for them. The stories in GHOST LOVER come with many challenging topics that likely deserve trigger warnings- including what felt like an unnecessary number of references to suicidal thoughts and suicide. Unfortunately, I would not recommend these stories unless you are already a huge fan of Taddeo’s work- maybe there’s something I’m missing about her writing. I found it at best unrealistic and at worst offensive and misogynistic.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC which I received in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest opinion.

I’m so so sorry but oh my god I hated this so much. There were a lot of sentences and dialogue that was so cringe I couldn’t even take it. Some felt like things I would have wrote in my high school journal while attempting to be deep and profound. Also, I have nothing against sexual content but it seemed like the author wanted to hit you over the head and shock you with her vivid descriptions of jizz and pubic hair. It had no purpose. There’s some very clever turns of phrase here, and the writing overall was good. Seems like her stories are loved by many others, they’re just not for me.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: June 14, 2022

TW: death, parental death, rape, statutory rape, miscarriage, stillbirth, ageism, sexism, catfishing, suicide, suicide ideation (A LOT), and probably 100 more. This is unnecessarily vulgar, seemingly for shock value and not for substance.

Painfully cynical, miserable women that are cliches of everything society has historically told women what they should be upset about. This furthers the narrative that women need a man or children to be worthy and is the book form of an eating disorder waiting to happen. Lazy and quite pretentious, in a very upper-middle class, middle-aged white female way.

Memorable short stories that definitely packed a punch.

I really enjoyed Lisa Taddeo's Three Women but felt that Animal wasn't for me so I went into Ghost Lover a little hesitant. I really enjoyed it, though! I did wish that some stories were a little more flushed out but overall, they were very enjoyable.

I am a huge fan of Lisa Taddeo. She knocked me off my feet with Three Women and I may have squeed like a fangirl when I saw she had a new title coming out. That being said, you can still trust this is my honest opinion:

Ghost Lover is a collection of short stories, some loosely tied together by characters who are casually mentioned and who may or may not have appeared in previous chapters, that explores the hard, in your face sexuality that women experience but is rarely acknowledged. Would tastefully pornographic without debasing itself as soft core be a good descriptor? There's a lot to unpack: sex, sexuality, women's obsessions with their own changing bodies, age, relationships, aging relationships...The protagonists are flawed and human and make poor life choices just like the rest of us. There aren't a lot of happy endings, just like the rest of us. That's just how life is sometimes. This book is what you get if Margaret Atwood and Erica Jong had a three way love child with Jay McInerney. It's all raw sexuality, sharp edges, and lush prose.

The only reason I couldn't give it 5 stars is personal opinion. Some stories didn't feel cohesive enough to me, like a movie that cut to the next scene then just rolled the credits. But the use of language more than makes up for any short comings in the storytelling. Read it one chapter at a time. You won't be disappointed.

As a fan of Taddeo's previous works, this collection feels in conversation with them while also being refreshing and new. As always, Taddeo is a talented writer that deals with challenging themes in a way that is accessible. I find her writing hard to put down and wanted many of these stories to last longer! I look forward to future novels by her as I prefer that format to the short stories - but this was still really enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed Animal, Three Women, or is looking to get into Taddeo's work.

A great collection of short stories around dating and relationships. I really enjoyed reading each story, but felt an overall connection among them all. Beautiful writing, couldn't put it down!

Im a big fan of Lisa Taddeo's work and loved Three Women and The Animal. This book of short stories did not disappoint!

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories that discuss topics of female desire, friendship, and aging. I have loved Lisa Taddeo's previous books and I think that these stories are in a similar vain.

My favorite stories were Ghost Lover, Beautiful People and Air Supply. I felt these had the most stand out characters and stories that stuck with me. There were a couple stories like Padua, 1966 and Maid Marian that felt a bit too listless, or at least I didn't connect to them.

Overall, I found this to be a really enjoyable reading experience and I would read more short stories from Taddeo in the future.

My first book to read by this author but definitely not my last! Such a beautifully written novel that made it hard for me to put his book down once I started it. Highly recommend!!

Such a good book, I think people are gonna really love this one. Keep me wanting more the whole way through. Thank you!

Lisa Taddeo is a true queen of the written craft as she proves once again with this new short story collection, centred around dating and modern life.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lisa Taddeo and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book, in exchange for an honest review!

A beautiful collection of short stories.