Nina is Not OK

This story begins with Nina being ejected from a nightclub, she loses time and we follow her home in the taxi. When she wakes up in the morning she has no idea exactly what happened the night before and it leads to her life and her drinking spiralling out of control.

I knew from reading the blurb that this wasn't going to be your usual coming of age tale. Khorsandi has perfectly captured the slut shaming and victim blaming that has grown in our society despite the rise in the hook up culture, where our young people are encouraged by each other to drink lots and enjoy themselves with whoever they feel like. Those same people who encourage you will be the same people who tear you to strips for your actions... something Nina experiences first hand from some of the people closest to her.

Khorsandi has done an amazing job of writing Nina and her story. Nina has a bravery that isn't immediately evident, a strength that we see later once details of that night are revealed.

I've struggled with writing this review, I just cant seem to find the words that accurately describe my reading experience. How do you put in to words how a book has shaken you. How this book filled me with so much emotion that it leaked out of my eyes. Repeatedly. How this book gripped me so much that I couldn't step away from it, How I wanted more than anything else to reach inside the book and wrap my arms around Nina and tell her that I wouldn't leave her side not for a second, and tell her that she was safe.

I cringed, gasped, laughed, cried and swore my way through this absolute cracker of a book. All I can say is 'wow' and I feel slightly frustrated at being limited to 5*! Huge thanks to Ebury Publishing for asking me to read this. I LOVED it!

A book by Shappi Khorsandi! 'OMG, I must go out and buy it!' I'm sure that will be the screams of many rabid fans. But they might want to take a minute and read the blurb; yes, this book is funny, but it is certainly not a comedy. Khorsandi is a comedian, but she deals with serious issues amongst her comedy, and this is certainly one of these. You thinking of the Shappy your saw at the Apollo or the Fringe, or her regular Radio 4 appearances? Nah. Not quite the same.

Nina, the central protagonist, turns eighteen near the beginning of the book. But everyone drinks underage, don't they? Everyone has a few every night? And a bit of binge at a night club? And, sometimes, a few in the morning?

But that's not a problem, right?

No one else agrees with Nina. Particularly her mum. But then she suddenly whisks herself away to Germany with her second husband and Nina's little sister, Katie. Oh. Okay. So much for support during your A levels. But Nina's an adult, right? She can look after herself, yeah?

But Nina is NOT O.K. Waking up with no memory of the night before. Going down on people in clubs. Having random sex with a guy from the park. Trying to have sex with your best friend's dad?

Nina's world is falling apart, but she still doesn't believe she has a problem. In the end, Alan (her step dad) basically forces her into rehab. Nina actually engages with the programme, and is making realy progress. Despite leaving a week early for exams, she feels ready, and she stays strong when her friends are drinking.

But the troubles aren't over yet. A bomb is dropped over Nina's tenuous hold on life, and she flounders. Are her family and friends enough to pull her out of it?

This was a fantastic book: Khorsandi's debut. It is a coming of age story (like just about every other YA book out there), but it's different. Most YA books have an 'issue' they're dealing with, may it be: having cancer, being gay, being transvestite, being blind, being black, family issues, autisum, eating disorders… Every character has a thing, don't they?

But I've never read a book about a promiscuous alcoholic adolescent. This breaks some boundaries. It goes into things that people don't want to think about, things that scare them. And that what makes it such a good book: it makes you face those things that are frightening. Avoiding them won't make them go away.

Khorsandi has really captured what it is like to be a seventeen/eighteen year old. She has the 'lingo' down, without overuse of slang, and she has the angsty self obsessed pattern of thinking that young adults tend to have. (This is not a slam against young adults; it's just to say: that during a time of change, you have to self obsessed to a degree. You are changing; you should be thinking about you, your life, your priorities.)

Nina's voice is just so realistic. Although I haven't experienced the problems she goes through in this book, I can relate so easily to the feelings behind them. Everyone has a coping mechanism, some are healthier than others, but everybody has that awful voice in your head telling you you're a fraud.

Nina's mum's attitude really surprised me to be honest, but I think, in a way, she'd just had enough. But that wasn't what Nina needed: Nina was not okay, and a quick spell in rehab wasn't going to make everything go away. Her step father was actually the more likable character, and understood her more, which I liked. It shows that step parents aren't always ogres. Everyone is human and, actually, most people are nice if you let them be.

This is a fantastic book, and I would recommend it to any YA reader (including the many many adults that read YA). I'm not sure that Khorsandi's regular fans will be satisfied: this is not the Shappy you are used to seeing. There are glimpses of this in her standup, but this is the real thing.

Shappy has laid Nina bare, and we have a raw, sometimes funny, realistic read. Brilliant characterisation, and I would definitely read another novel by Khorsandi

It doesn’t get much grittier or realistic than this. I am sure this will echo with quite a few readers, especially the ones who can relate to Nina’s life on a more personal level.

The relationship between Nina and her mother is pivotal. She feels abandoned by her mother, is reluctant to accept the new father figure in her life, but clearly dotes on her baby sister. Their plans revolve around what is best for her step-father and her mother.

Apparently being 17 going on 18 also means you can throw someone out of the nest. Like an animal being cast out of the herd. Of course the truth is age is just a number and doesn’t necessarily mean maturity.

Perhaps if Mom had been less involved with herself and her future plans she might have been able to help Nina sooner. In fact she should have asked more questions and been more concerned the day Nina came home in that state in the taxi.

Khorsandi’s story is bold. Unfortunately it is a vivid and true image of our society at the moment. One would think that in the 21st century sexual assault would finally be perceived differently, and the reactions to it should be more about victim support and less about victim blaming. Unfortunately that still isn’t the case. Something which is painfully clear in this book.

Zoe’s reaction is shameful, deplorable and all too common. Instead of questioning the actions of her boyfriend, she sets out to shame her friend. There really is no excuse for putting images and videos of sexual assaults or indecent images of victims online. It should be punished by law and that includes sharing them. If Nina had been under 16 years of age it would be considered to be an illegal offence.

The most interesting part of the story is Nina’s reaction to the events. She is quite willing to accept the global view that as a girl she is just out of control. She is easy, she’s a slut, she’s a whore and hey she is totally up for it. Oh wait I forgot, it is her fault because she had a drink.

Not once does any man/boy say let’s not, because you have had a little too much to drink. No one questions why she is clearly out of control or losing the plot. The combination of a genetic disposition, her family history and the events in the alley are all contributing factors in her downwards spiral.

It takes Nina a long time to comprehend what happened to her. To acknowledge the ugly truth about the events in the alley. To take the blame placed firmly upon her shoulders by others and putting it where it belongs, on the shoulders of the abusers.

I wish I could say Nina’s situation is just fiction and a great idea for a book. It isn’t, this is the reality of sexual assault, rape and abuse in our day and age. A society of people who have no idea what No means, and certainly have no clue that if the woman/man you’re with has not given their consent then you’re committing rape. Unconscious does not mean yes. Being so drunk you have no idea what is going on does not mean yes.

Be prepared for bare truths and no attempt at candy floss cover-ups. It is a book I will be recommending because of the way Khorsandi doesn’t gloss over the truth.
Thank you to Ebury and NetGalley for my copy of Nina is NOt Ok.

This book was a complete rollercoaster. When a book can make you shed a tear, fill you to the brim with rage, and make you laugh and smile, you know that it is well written. I’m going to say now that despite my hatred of spoilers, this review will be the first I’ve written that may have a few mild spoilers in it because I’m feeling pretty damn passionate about this book. I’ll try to keep the spoilers as vague as possible, but will definitely be highlighting the central themes of this book (which you’ve probably guessed from the blurb anyway, but just in case…). So, if you’re wanting to keep this book a complete mystery, please don’t read any further, I’d hate to ruin this book for anyone.

I think that firstly, a lot of people will think “Oh, Shappi Khorsandi, I bet this book is a right barrel of laughs!” Wrong, so wrong. Do not go into this book expecting any kind of light-hearted read, this book is raw and embraces some serious and still worryingly prevalent issues. Those issues? Rape culture, victim blaming & shaming, alcoholism, sexism and the need for feminism, and also the sheer destructive power of social media. How can one person cover all these topics in one book? With a lot of hard work and careful crafting I imagine!

Firstly, let’s talk about Nina. Quite often when the author is a few years older than their characters, they tend to write their characters in quite a juvenile way. I’ve read a lot of books lately, mostly YA, featuring teen characters that I just haven’t been able to connect with because the author themselves doesn’t seem to have a connection with their character. But Shappi Khorsandi so brilliantly depicted Nina and captured what it is like to be at that fine line between child and adult, and the delicacy of relationships at that age. It was so easy to relate to Nina, despite having never encountered the issues that she had myself! I became awfully fond and attached to her, and was taken on a journey with her. She’s damaged, but she’s brave and inspiring, and just quite simply, likeable.

This is the first time I’ve seen a lead young adult character be an alcoholic too. A lot of young adult stories now feature various issues ranging from depression and anxiety, to sexuality and eating disorders, but never alcoholism. I personally think it’s because alcoholism is not a ‘glamorous issue’. Of course I don’t mean that the things listed before are glamorous, at least not when they are genuine, but it has almost become ‘cool’ to have one of those issues (controversial), whereas alcoholism is still taboo, it’s not the new ‘in’ thing, and it has not been glamorized by society. Alcoholism is raw, it makes you do things you’d never do when sober, it makes you betray your friends and not care who you hurt, it makes you not care about how you appear, and it makes you do things like sick up all over yourself. Definitely not glamorous.

Back to the point I was making before I got side-railed, alcoholism might not be as common as those other issues, but they do exist in young adults, and I hope this story helps people to realize that it is not something to be ashamed of. As we encourage people more and more to be forthcoming and open about their depression, eating disorders, etc. we should be doing the same to encourage people to be open and seek help for their alcoholism too.

Beyond Nina, I felt a certain affinity to many of the other characters too. Even Nina’s mother, or friends that sometimes turned their backs on her, were written in a way that I genuinely felt for them. I could see where they were coming from in their words and actions, and even if I’d like to think I wouldn’t behave that way, I still felt as though I could understand to a degree. I particularly liked how Alan, Nina’s step-dad, grew as a character through the book, but it was all through Nina’s eyes. Step parents are quite often portrayed as the ‘big bad’, it’s great to see Shappi Khorsandi’s take on this.

Of course there were characters I wasn’t so fond of, but not because they were badly written, it was very much intentional. They were so real, each and every time these characters cropped up I was filled with rage, quite simply because you know that there’s so many people like that who do exist. Knowing that this is the kind of person you probably regularly walk passed in the street, who wears a perfect mask but is anything other than a nice person.

Moving on to probably the main reason I have fallen so completely and utterly head over heels with this book, is how it address rape culture, victim blaming, and our need for feminism. I remember very early on in the book, something happened and I was left open-mouthed, “Why was she the only one that was punished, there were two people involved!” (If you’ve read the book then you probably know exactly what part I’m talking about!) I was concerned that this casual sexism, that’s so ingrained into society that most people don’t even notice it anymore, was going to pass by without being acknowledged. But fortunately I was wrong, and a chapter or so later it was pointed out just how ridiculously sexist it was.

I’m not sure I can completely put into words how much this book so perfectly addresses rape culture, especially without a whole review full of spoilers! I feel like I’ll begin rambling on if I try anyway, but please, if you know anyone who still thinks there’s some kind of blurred lines around consent, buy them this book!

Thank you Shappi Khorsandi for such a fantastic book that I truly hope and believe will do wonders for rape culture and victim blaming as I do believe that this actually addresses that ‘blurred line’ where people don’t understand that what has been done to them/what they have done, is rape. I think this book makes it pretty damn straightforward and portrays it amazingly well, whilst offering fantastic character development!

OMG I love this book. It is so raw, honest and hilariously on point. Nina is Not Okay is about a seventeen year old girl with a drinking problem who ends up on a downward spiral who literally goes to Hell and back again.

It does contain some adult themes but Shappi Khorsandi tackles them with tact, truth and a whole lot of sarcasm. A brilliant read.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book. It is without doubt one of my all time favourites.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and Ebury Press.

I can’t say that I’ve ever been through the same stuff as Nina. She’s a seventeen-year-old girl, going to a sixth form college and doing her A levels, like me. However, she likes a drink. Too many drinks. And she is not okay.

I thought this book was wonderful, in that it made me root for Nina, despite how she often put herself in those situations. The first half was painful to read as she was putting herself in danger, the second half was fantastic. She actually realised what she was doing to herself and was determined to stop. The stuff that she went through, that she tried to figure out, that was horrible. And I admire Shappi Khorsandi for exploring themes and events like these. I won’t talk about them because they’re spoilers, but I thought the way she handled them was fantastic.

The characters were lovely. Nina was realistic, Katie was precious, Alan and her mum were painfully real and I could see how much they wanted to help Nina, even though she was refusing it. Zoe was… well, she was confused and stuck. What she did was unforgivable and the way she reacted was shameful and disgusting. Beth was great, so were Trish and Max, and Robbie. The way they they all wanted to help Nina get better was great.

The writing was very natural, it made me laugh, it made me feel what Nina was feeling – sometimes I didn’t really want to feel what she was feeling, but I didn’t have a choice. But there were also little bits of humour added in there, which were good.

And, I recognised a lot of the places mentioned which, although irrelevant and merely a coincidence, is still cool when you’re reading a book and they mention the area you live in.

Nina Is Not OK was gritty and unfortunately, a very realistic reflection of society today. The actions of everyone in response to the things Nina did was disgusting, but natural… normal. If you want a raw and painfully accurate read, then I would definitely recommend this book…

This book was absolutely emotionally stunning. I can't claim to have experienced everything Nina goes through in this book, but the she reacted and dealt with problems (or didn't) felt absolutely. perfect.

Nina is going to sit her A levels this year and get the grades to go to Warwick with her boyfriend Jamie, who's taking a gap year in Hong Kong. They've got their lives mapped out. She just have to get through the next year.

All teenagers drink, right? Especially when their boyfriend hasn't been in contact for weeks. Especially when he tells his girlfriend that he's met someone else and that the new girlfriend is perfect for him. Especially when he won't reply to any of her messages.

Especially when your Dad dies an alcoholic. But that happened when Nina was 9, and everyone uses that as an excuse.

Everyone drinks when they go out, right? And lots of people drink until they can't remember what happened. That's part of the fun, right? People tell stories about you the next day. That funny girl got drunk and did what? Hilarious!

Everyone drinks before they go out, right? And sometimes you just need a drink to get through something. Like a lesson. Or the morning. Or every day.

And when you get so drunk that you go down on a random guy in a bar and the next thing you know you're being shaken awake by a taxi driver, and puking all over your garden wall and your grubby knickers are in your hand and there's spunk in your hair, then that's just another funny story, right ... ?

I absolutely adored the heartbreak, slow realisation and dark humour that is presented in this book. So many people are able to identify with elements of it - it's heartbreaking to think that for some people this may be very close to the truth.

I thought this was a brilliant book about a difficult subject.

17 year old Nina is an A-level student who, like many young people, likes a drink even although she is under age. The problem is the next day she can't always remember exactly what happened the night before.

Then one night when she is very, very drunk she is ejected from a club and separated from her friends and her phone because of her very inappropriate behaviour. She remembers the guy she was being inappropriate with coming out with his friend and they took her down to an alley. The next thing she remembers is 'Alex' and his friend putting her in a taxi then going back into the club. The taxi driver gets her home but there is a huge gap in her memory.

The next day she learns that one of her friends 'got off with' Alex after he went back into the club.

Following this incident things got so much worse for Nina and it becomes clear that Nina has issues that she is unable to fix by herself. She often says she's fine when she's definitely not okay; she has been dumped by her boyfriend who had gone abroad for a year and had met someone else; she misses her dad who was an alcoholic and died at a young age.; Nina drinks far too much. Her relationship with her Mum is a bit strained.

My heart sank every time Nina got herself into a bad situation again and again and she got on a downward spiral. The voice inside my head was saying, "No. Please no. Don't do it! Please, not again, walk away!" Her poor mother and stepfather.

What was so good was that even when she got completely out of control and at rock bottom, I didn't feel the need to judge her harshly. She did some awful things but she always came across as basically a good person and that we do get to see some of that better side.

My emotions were all over the place. Things were looking up when she went into rehab; then the relapse; Jamie the ex-boyfriend appearing again; and then the horrendous shaming when a photo of her appeared on social media. media. My heart sank for Nina. I kept hoping for a good ending but Shappi kept me 'strung out' right until the end. I was so relieved when Nina and her witnesses didn't need to go to Court.

I actually had some sympathy for all the characters in the book, apart from Alex and his friend.

The book is extremely well written and the dialogue believable. It deals with issues of alcoholism, rape culture, slut shaming and victim blaming. I felt as if I was living through every mother's (indeed every parent's) nightmare.

Shappi has written a powerful story.

Nina is defnitely not OK!

I finished this book an hour ago, and I am sitting here still trying to process the roller coaster of emotions this book brought out of me. I felt so much while reading this - contentment, embarrassment, anger, laughter, and the ending brought tears out of my eyes, both happy and sad at the same time. There has only been one other book that made me sob the way this one did (here's looking at you Marley & Me!)

I always say that any book that can produce these types of emotions while reading is a great book. The author, Shappi Khorsandi, introduced me to the world of Nina being not OK, grabbed me and wouldn't let go. Anytime I had to step away from the book I would wonder what was coming next. When it seemed like the story was over, another speed bump would occur.

Nina's story starts right off the bat with an event that propels Nina into a downward spiral. She was already heading there, but this guarantees her free fall. We are invited into her world where we all can see her alcoholism, and we await for the rock bottom to hit for her to realize it as well. We see how her family (mom, stepdad and stepsister) react to each event that occurs, and how her friends and schoolmates act as well. Whenever you think Nina's story can't get worse, somehow it does and it is heartbreaking to read.

I highly recommend this book for all my adult friends - I love that in the Acknowledgements the author says that 2 people are not allowed to read this book until they are 53 (kids??) But be warned - this book is raw. It is gritty. It will make you feel every emotion under the sun. And it is amazing.

WHAT I THOUGHT

Nina Is Not OK is an astounding novel. I’m sobbing as I write this, the kind when you can’t see and snot runs down your face, the kind of sobbing you get when a book reaches into your body and rips out your guts and your heart. This is definitely one of my reads of 2016. Nina is a complicated and painfully real character and I instantly sympathised with her. It’s clear from the start that she has an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. I drank a lot, many years ago though nowhere near as much as Nina. I could see shades of who I used to be in her though which gave me a very emotional connection to the book. The book turns out a lot darker than I expected in the final chapters and I really didn’t see what was coming. Well done to the author to knocking the wind out of me. Nina Is Not OK is fantastic. Highly recommended.

Shappi Khorsandi, a comedian, wrote this book, Seriously? A comedian. Wrote. This. Book!

I don't want to give too much away, but this is a must read! Nina is seventeen, lives with her mother, and step father in London, and is struggling with alcoholism, and past abuse. She also feels abandoned by her mother and has a hard time accepting her step father as a father figure.

As the mother of teens, this book shook me to the core! It was a powerful portrayal of what can happen when a teen, who thinks "hey, everyone has a drink every now and then, right?", spirals out of control.

This book was absolutely brilliant. I think this is the first 5 star book I've read in a long time and is definitely the best read of the year so far, which may be difficult to understand due to the touchy subject matter. However, that is the reason it makes it so highly rated in my opinion.

The big plot drive in this is not one I'll spoil (which I'm not saying lightly as it is a majoir issue in society) because I want you to feel the emotions I felt when I read this and not realise how deep and sad this book will go until you read it for yourself.

We're following a young girl, called Nina, taking her A levels at college and drinking a bit too much. Nina was such an emersive protagonist and one who's emotions really projected on to me. Everything she felt, I believed I felt, of course to some degree. She was not only funny, but incredibly emotional to read from and at times I couldn't help but have tears stinging my eyes. I think it's the way she said it. Like a real girl.

Nina's friends, family, tutors, antagonists and everyone else in this novel felt so real that it was scary, especially with some of the situations happening.

Nina's voice was so full on and expressionable; the author literally said everything that was on Nina's mind (I say the author because Nina didn't really express her feelings) which made it more unbearable and heartbreaking when the book took a dark turn and at times, I had to put it down and take a break from the heartache this novel made me feel. In saying that, the writing and the book in general was absolutely absorbing! I pretty much flew through it! And I just don't know how the humour was still managing to be hilarious even when terrible things were happening, but it did, and that is certainly a skill.

At first, I wasn't sure about the gaps in the story, but it made sense, aligning symmetrically with Nina's party hard, forgetful, wild lifestyle, so this added character to the writing style and I appreciated it as it mirrored perfectly what Nina must have been feeling.

Some names were hard to keep track of as there were quite a few side charters, but the confusion never lasted long and there was a particular scene that I felt shouldn't have been rushed as much as it was, but was still satisfying.

I've never heard of the comedian/author, Shappi Khorsandi, before, but if she writes more books as powerful as this, or has already done so, I'll be eager to check them out!

Overall, I've got to say that this was totally an unexpectedly powerful read and one I urge others to read because it deals with disturbing issues that people should know about and do something about.

Originality ♥♥♥♥
Quality of Writing ♥♥♥♥♥
Plot ♥♥♥♥♥
Setting ♥♥♥♥
Character ♥♥♥♥♥
Overall ♥♥♥♥♥

This is one of the most tear-jerking books I’ve read in a while. Enough to reduce me to tears on the train home from work, NINA IS NOT OKAY is a touching journey about alcoholism and self-control. 17 year old Nina is an alcoholic. One night she is so drunk she comes home from a night club with her panties in her hand – and no memory of what happened to her in the moments before she was bundled into a taxi by a man who later starts dating her close friend Zoe. The rest of the novel focuses on her discovering that she has a problem that needs to be sorted in order for her to stop sleeping around with men. In her toxic state, Nina tries to fill the gap in her life by spending her nights with strangers – but it never works. All the lives of those closest to her is threatened by her abuse of alcohol and to move on, everyone has to learn that Nina really is not OK. Trying to puzzle together the pieces of that night, Nina is has a lot to learn about herself and others. The best thing about this book was that whilst it was graphic at times, it was so real and gritty – I felt for all of the characters as they all have issues of their own, however small or big. At times I couldn’t stop crying at bits when Nina began to turn over a new leaf and understand how her relationships with other people had been teetering on the edge. This book talks about the importance of family and friendship, and about how some people need the right support to heal again.
This book very much made me think of Holly Bourne’s AM I NORMAL YET? It explores the ‘fallen teenager’ narrative and both are just as eye-opening as each other. So if you liked Holly Bourne’s book, then I think NINA IS NOT OKAY is that next heart-breaking read for you. 5 stars.

I have always lived Shappi Khorsandi's stand-up comedy and her autobiographical title "A Beginner'so Guide to Acting English" was hilarious and tender in equal measure so I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to read "Nina is Not OK" before publication. There is little I want to say about the plot, which unfolds gradually as if one were getting to know someone new, but the tone of the book is absolutely authentic and there were times that I wanted to climb into the book and give Nina a hug. Inevitably this led to some heart to heart conversations between myself and my daughter who is very close to Nina's age and gave me an even greater inight into the intolerable pressures of being a young woman in the twenty first century. I fervently hope that this title will be released on audio book as, read by the author, it would be an absolute treat. So buy a copy of this book for yourself and, while you're there, buy one each for your family and friends too, particularly if they have children in their teens and early twenties. The recipients will love you and, who knows, you might save a family, a relationship or even a life.

this could easily be a TV series. Well written characters and a compelling story that rides the highs and lows of Nina's life. This book will always be relevant, always be a cautionary tale.

I've closed the final page on Nina is not OK and there are so many things Im feeling and so many things that I want to say that it's almost overwhelming.

I want to talk about everything in this book but I can't because I would never want to spoil this amazing piece work for anyone else.

First of all, please don't be discouraged by the first few pages. The writing style is conversational, from the point of a 17 year old girl called Nina. It took me a couple of pages to settle in but once I did there was no going back.

I went through such a rang of emotions while reading this: shock at Nina's self destructive behavior. I smiled at her humor. I admired her friend Beth and the powerful positive effect she had on Beth's life. I felt such anger, both for her and towards her at various points.

‘You’re supposed to be a feminist, Beth!’ ‘I am, doesn’t mean I have to think everything you do is OK. It’s not OK because you don’t feel OK about it.’

Like Asking for It by Louise O Neill, Nina is not OK delivers powerful messages on alcoholism, sex and slut shaming. All topics that highly relevant right now.

Nina realises that it sometimes takes the people around you to face you and tell you, no you are not OK. You have a problem. You need help. Like most people Nina denies that anything is really wrong until her entire world comes crashing down around her.

"I’m a different person when I’m drinking. Sounds mad, because it clearly is me, but it’s not me. I want to stop. I want to be able to just drink normally and have fun."

She begins to realise she is not just another teen whose had a few too many on a night out. She wakes up to the fact that she is caught in cyclone of destructive behaviour.

But does that mean the world will turn on its axis to suit is just because we sort ourselves out? No?

"Booze sits its arse down in your life, pretends to be your friend, then trips you up, kicks you and throws rocks at you. You push it away; it runs back at you harder and knocks you over. You barricade your door against it, and it’ll climb in through the window. If you promise yourself you won’t drink, it’ll laugh at your promise, drag you screaming to the ground and batter you unconscious."

Trouble was like a domino effect when it involved Nina. But it took such bravery for her to face and tame her 'dragons.'

Shappi Khorsandi should be extremely proud of this book. She didn't just emulate the teen experience she utterly embodied it in this book. The writing is raw, honest and utterly gripping. It's been one of my favorites of 2016 so far.

I look forward to reading more from this author.

Firstly, thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication, in order for me to provide feedback.

This isn't the style of book that I normally choose to read, but after reading 4 thrillers in 2 weeks I needed a bit of a break and a different genre to refresh myself! I have seen Shappi on stand up shows on TV so thought I'd give her book a go.

I'm going to post my review with as few spoilers as possible so forgive the vagueness when referring to certain events within the book.

When I started reading I was a bit put off by the immediate crudeness of Nina. And by the way she narrated the story, I didn't click well with the way she spoke and her general tone. However, a few pages in and I was hooked. Nina is an acquired taste. And as the book progresses the character development that we see is wonderful. I felt like I was coming to know and understand Nina. Whilst I didn't agree with a lot of what she did, I could completely understand it. And had bucket loads of sympathy for the girl who was far too hard on herself (a symptom of the disease I suppose).

This is not a trashy, comedy filled, chick book. This book actually addresses a couple of incredibly serious and devastating issues which are so common, and so horrendous. But Shappi manages to address these issues without draining the reader. I'm sure we've all read books dealing with abuse, addiction, murder etc that feel like they are draining your energy and you feel so sad whilst reading the book. The type of book where every page is sobbing on your shoulder about how "life is like this every day for someone" and you feel terribly low every time you read them. This book (as I said) addresses issues that would normally be handled in the above way - but Shappi managed to handle it in such a way that you don't feel drained, you feel deeply for Nina and what she is experiencing but actually this is a very accurate representation of how these situations are. It is handled with sympathy and directly rather than over dramatising it.

I have never before been so hooked by a book within this genre. I was even thinking about sneaking downstairs at 1am last night to read a bit more because I kept thinking about Nina.

I have to give 5 stars to the author for tackling such delicate subjects head on. Anyone who has been through a similar experience will no doubt feel as appreciative as I did that she didn't mess around. She called a spade a spade and Nina's doubts (the usual doubts) were also described in detail. That IS how people feel after an event like that. Exactly how it feels, trying to find a way to take the blame and spiralling out of control to try to gain control but ultimately losing it. I am really grateful to Shappi for handling it properly and with respect.

Nina was definitely NOT ok. But the book was absolutely brilliant.

After being ditched by her love-of-a-life-time boyfriend, Nina’s life unravels at great speed, helped along by excessive amounts of alcohol and injudicious sex. Her family and friends are worried, but Nina assures them that she is OK and in control – she just needs another drink. She can’t possibly be an alcoholic (like her father was) as she is only 17, and at 17 you can’t possibly have a good night out without a drink or two … or three … Eventually, even Nina has to agree that she has gone too far, and she has to reluctantly accept help. For a while things are looking up, but the past comes back to bite her – viciously. The book is written in the first person, narrated by Nina. The language is definitely teenage-girl, (copious amounts of “babe” etc), with lots of swearing, that might put off some people. However, it comes across as very authentic: in my mind I can imagine some of my ex-pupils coming up with the same sentence structures. The swearing is not so much explicative or used against people, but as part of a natural language using the words as adjectives and adverbs, which I feel much more at home with. This is a very serious story about alcohol and sexual abuse told with such empathy and wit that it does not overwhelm the reader. I have read several books recently with similar distressing themes, but this is the only one that has left me with a triumphant YES! to human spirit. Nina is a cow for much of the book, but because you are inside her head, you can see her redemptive features alongside the self-destructive behaviour and self-loathing. Shappi Khorsandi’s empathetic approach is outstanding, and by the end of the book you are cheering for Nina all the way.
This is a story about how one’s self-image is dictated by the world around, about the strains that social media place on young people. It is about accepting responsibility, belief in your own self-worth, and about making others do the same. It is also a book about friendship: what makes a really good friend, and what makes a toxic one. It stresses that sometimes friends do horrible things, that, for former friendship’s sake, require understanding, even if not forgiveness. I have always enjoyed seeing Shappi Khorsandi’s comedy routines, and now I am also hooked on her writing. This is a remarkable book that deserves a very wide readership – as a cautionary tale, and as a celebration of human determination in the overcoming of adversity.

An amazingly insightful book with a main character, Nina, who tore at my heartstrings. Everything has gone wrong for poor Nina: her father died of alcoholic pancreatitis when she was little, her Mum has a new life with a new partner, and her beloved boyfriend Jamie has decided to take a gap year in Hong Kong before university, then dumps her long-distance when he meets someone else. Like many young people, Nina likes a drink - or many, and it is starting to leave black holes in her memory and mess up her life. This story depicts an avalanche of ill fortune and bad judgement but told in such a deft way that our sympathies are kept very much on Nina's side, as we learn how very badly people can behave. Will Nina be the ultimate victim? Or will she learn to live with herself and others, and take another path? I thought this story was brilliant and that it should be read by everyone. It shows how damaging low self esteem can be and how it is possible to take a new direction in life. With cyber-bullying and revenge porn contemporary issues, it is highly relevant to growing up today and it is one I would want to share with my teenaged children, It is a gem of a book. Shappi Khorsandi has a magic muse.

Wow! Absolutely stunning. Best coming-of-age story I have read in ages. Gripped me from page one and I tried to make time whenever possible to read this.
Nina is 17. Nina is an alcoholic. Nina wants to feel wanted. Performing an inappropriate sexual act with a random guy in a nightclub isn't the way to go about it, but when Nina starts drinking she turns into "the worst version of herself". Nina is so out of it that the time between being thrown out of the nightclub and getting home by taxi with her knickers in her hand is a total blur. But that night is going to be pivotal for Nina, as she follows a self-destructive path, going through denial and self-blame, before accepting that she is not ok.
Told from Nina's first person perspective, this was raw, seriously hard-hitting but incredibly insightful and very authentic. The author did an amazing job of not only tackling subjects such as alcoholism, the harmful use of social media and today's culture of victim blaming but she also explores bereavement, friendships, first loves and stepfamilies and doesn't shy away from the topic of young people exploring their sexuality.
Considering the topics covered, this was surprisingly full of humour. Some of the dialogue between Nina and her friends Beth and Trish was absolutely hilarious. Probably not a great surprise to many, as Shappi Khorsandi is a well-known comedienne in the UK. She has created a gripping and emotional story while keeping it totally real. The character development was fantastic. This book dealt so realistically with so many issues facing young people today, it should be required reading in secondary schools and colleges and on the shelves of any parents with teenagers.
Some of this may be uncomfortable reading due to the subject matter and the author certainly doesn't mince her words, but to me, it made this even more powerful and realistic. Absolutely perfect! One of my favourite books this year. Would give it more than 5 stars if I could.
Many thanks to Random House UK, Ebury Publishing for my ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

We first meet a paralytic and drunk Nina when she is humiliatingly thrown out of a nightclub after performing a lewd sex act. She passes out with no memory of what happens until she is in a taxi home clasping her knickers in her hands. What happens on this night has nightmarish repercussions for Nina as her life begins to spiral out of control.

Nina had a volatile alcoholic dad whom she loved but died when she was 9 years old. Now at 17, she cannot stop drinking, but thinks that it is not a problem. However, her life is a car crash after a series of mortifying drinking incidents and sexual encounters take place. Her living arrangements at her best friend Beth's home come to an end with Nina's unpardonable behaviour with Beth's father. Nina is taken to a Rehab centre by her mum who is at the end of her tether. Nina has no choice, she has burnt all her bridges with friends and family.

As it happens this is the best thing that could have happened to her. Her stint there makes her acknowledge the depth of her problems and develop some strategies to cope which include AA. She is not perfect, and has a minor relapse but picks herself up to begin again. That is until a female friend of hers posts a damning video of Nina having sex outside of the nightclub which she cannot remember. Nina's life becomes unbearable and she wants that drink. Fortunately this time she is well supported and she has more of a handle on her life. This allows her to do what she needs to do and gain some measure of control over her life.

This novel authentically captures the experience of alcoholism in a young girl and how her life disintegrates. It paints a picture of the unedifying face of social media and the crucifying implications it has on a vulnerable young woman. I could not help but engage with Nina as her life falls apart and marvel at her efforts to address her issues. Shappi Khorsandi is proving that she is a talented writer who can write about important contemporary issues. She does a remarkable job with Nina's character development throughout the story. A highly recommended and riveting read. Thanks to Random House Ebury for an ARC.

NINA IS NOT OKAY by Shappi Khorsandi

“My name is Nina and I’m……..”

Nina (almost eighteen) is out clubbing with her best friends; Beth and Zoe. The night doesn’t end well. Nina, gets so drunk that after being spotted by the bouncers thanks to her outrageous behaviour with “someone called Alex” she’s thrown out into the cold. She can remember the bouncers physically lifting her up and tossing her out, but has an alcoholic black-out on the subsequent events. Her mother is woken by the taxi driver and asked to help him get her out of his cab.

Nina starts her day with a quick drink before school, followed by “more sips” during the day and then if she’s out the sips turn into shots and pints until she blacks out.

She’s quick to find reasons for drinking: her dead (alcoholic) father. Her mother remarrying and having a settled and happy life with Alan who Nina is quick to write off and boring. And then she has another perfect excuse: ex-boyfriend Jamie who has moved to Hong Kong to live with his father and fallen in love with a girl called Marcia.

When Alan takes a promotion in Germany, Nina moves in with Beth and her dad Max, so that she can carry on with her A levels. This “calm environment” comes crashing down at her eighteenth birthday party.

The first half of this book is hard to read. Shappi Khorsandi uses Nina to relate her “episodes” in minute graphic detail. I cringed at the language and descriptions of Nina’s descent into regular alcoholic voids, but then we get to see her change thanks to intervention by her mother.

Instead of writing my usual summary of how I liked the characters and how the book’s impact on me I want to do something completely different and it is this:

I hope that this book is bought and circulated in every school library in the country and in fact, all libraries throughout the country. It’s not just for teenagers or parents of teenagers – because it’s told by Nina herself, helps explain how alcohol can affect not just the person drinking but all those surrounding her.

I hope that Shappi Khorsandi is invited to schools to promote the book by explaining to pupils how drinking – although legal, is possibly one of the worst drugs anyone can consume. I hope that she can explain how alcoholics don’t just damage themselves but ALL those surrounding her; family, friends, casual acquaintances and complete strangers.

And finally I hope that she can explain that once you say the words “My name is …… and I’m an alcoholic” there is no turning back, it becomes a lifetime commitment to staying sober and yes, there may be struggles in this commitment, but the physical and mental changes far outweigh these struggles.

This really is one of the most powerful and outstanding books of the year. A must read!

Treebeard

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

This incredibly brilliant debut novel by Shappi Khorsandi has left me slightly breathless. A disturbing and brutally frank account of a young 17 year old girl battling alcoholism, A levels, boyfriends and growing up at the same time. Told with frank and graphic honestly and with the author's wonderful self-deprecating humour, this story deals with living with an addict, the fall out and the shame. Totally gripping and heartbreaking and also thought provoking. 5 stars.

I am so excited about this one...This is going to be big ... big !

Sometimes an author can get writing about troubled teens so wrong. For instance, characters are written to be way too angsty and antagonistic with explicit, and sometimes laughable sex scenes, and using a barrage of crass language just for shock value can really be a turn off for a mature reader; or writing in too literary 'a style', again may put off its intended Teen/YA audience by boring them half to death with preachy dialogue.

Shappi hits it right on target every time with just the right balance of crude, lewd behaviour from its rebellious, antagonistic (inwardly desperately confused and unhappy) teen for both an Adult and Teen/YA reader to want to read.

We first encounter Nina, in a seriously drunken state, in a taxi with her knickers in her hand. Nina cannot remember very much at all after being thrown out of a club for giving a 'blow job' to someone at the bar.

I only intended to peruse the blurb to find out about the book. I finally put it down two days later after I'd finished it.

Nina was like watching a car crash, I wanted to look away but just couldn't do it, I had to keep watching as she spiralled into a never ending whirling dark hole.

At times I thought out loud 'no Nina don't ...oh too late you did', and 'O.M.G. I can't believe you just did/said that'

The second half does ramp up on the emotion side with things becoming rather more darkly disturbing. That said, 'Nina Is Not OK' is full of hope, forgiveness and surviving to maybe screw up another day, but luckily Nina has some great friends and with support from people who love her hopefully Nina Will Be OK. With wit and humour laced throughout, with one or two cringe worthy laugh out loud moments, and considering the subject matter, Shappi has written a positive uplifting tale about an out of control teen learning to live with, and respect herself and to not allow others to treat her so badly.

In 'Nina Is Not OK', Shappi's writing style is full on hectic and I wondered if she could sustain the pace without it becoming monotonous, but she did and it didn't. It was brilliant and fabulously written and I loved it !

I know it's probably not going to be for everyone due to the sexual content and bad, very bad language and lewd situations but because of the seriousness of the subject matters involved including, slut-shaming, alcoholism, and social media bullying, to mention just a few, it's one I'd wholeheartedly recommend for anyone who is or ever was, or just needs a reminder of just how difficult it is to be, a teen.

Favourite Character: I absolutely loved the 'too honest for anyone's good' Trish, the hopelessly tactless 'stand-by' friend of Nina's

Least Liked Character (understatement !) : ALEX !

OMG, what a fantastic book this is. I read this in one sitting, I couldn't put it down. I loved it. Many thanks to the author and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

We've all had the odd night out where we've drunk too much and our memory the next day is a little hazy. But for Nina this is happening all the time. Nina is an alcoholic and she's only 17.

Nina's father was an alcoholic and she's heading in the same direction although she would deny this and say she just a teenager who likes a drink. She's well known at college for her drunken exploits until one day she can't piece together the previous night and neither can her friends.

This book takes the reader on a roller coaster of emotions. You find yourself smiling at some of the fun things, perhaps nodding as certain things may trigger memories of what some of your college friends were like. The reader may even get annoyed at some of the things Nina says and does but your heart also breaks for her.
This book is so well written that I read it in just over a day. In fact if I'd not had to get up at 530am I would have read through the night to finish it. The characterisation is phenomenal and I urge you all to read this book. I was a fan of Shappi's stand up comedy but with this book she's shown another talent she has.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, Ebury Publishing and the author for the chance to review.

This was a very hard book for me to read. It's also one I am struggling to review. But I am going to do my best as I believe that this is a brilliant book. It's hard for me as all the way through I was saying and thinking "there but for the grace of god...". I did the whole binge drinking thing at Uni, the drinking getting harder after a relationship breakdown and I missed an entire term of lectures due to alcohol and stuff. I was never as out of control as Nina though and the things that happened to her didn't happen to me but, for me, this book brought back emotions and also the odd flashback to, lets just say, some interesting behaviour. Why am I spouting all this here in my review? I guess it's to illustrate how real this book is, how real the emotions are, the stories are, how sordid behaviour can be real. How lives really can turn upside down so easily. So, Nina is legless and gets thrown out of a nightclub for "performing a lewd act" The bloke she performed it on leaves with her and then we fast forward to see Nina arrive home in a taxi, knickers in hand, throwing up as she stumbles to her house. She remembers being kicked out of the club but the bit between that and getting home has gone. Having already upped stakes in the drinking game since first love Jamie moved away and fell in love with someone else, this mostly blurry night is the catalyst that sees her take it to the next level and indulge in a whole load of dangerous behaviour which starts to concern both family and friends even more. Will they be able to help her in time, before she does irreparable damage, or worse? This book is gritty. It's also quite graphic and definitely pulls no punches. It's realistic and it's emotional, very emotional. I sobbed. I would have bawled my eyes out had I not been reading this in public. With hindsight I wish I knew what effect it would have on me before I started cos I would have timed it better. But I started and was powerless to put it down. I had to read on, however inconvenient. I had to know what happened to Nina. I've spouted enough doom and gloom. One thing this book also had was humour. Lots of really great humour and banter, especially between Nina and her friends. Not surprising considering the author is a comedienne, but it was injected perfected into all the right places. Ensuring that the book never became too heavy but at the same time not being disrespectful to the subject matter which totally deserves to be handle with great respect. And, lets face it, when the chips are down, we Brits do like a good bit of humour to get through things! Characterisation was spot on. I especially liked the way that Zoe's change was portrayed. As if she was going through a similar thing to Nina with respect to the degeneration of her individual personalty but as they were, shall we say, not exactly friends, they couldn't help each other which would have been ideal for the both of them. As it was, one was the cause of some of the other's pain. I switched allegiance to and fro Nina's mum as I didn't agree with a lot of what she did/said etc but then, what does the manual say? How are you supposed to act? What are you supposed to say? She did come across as doing her best for ALL her family though and that's the right thing I think.
I read another similar book soon after this one and there were some great parallels between the two. Each was unique and distinct but both had similar messages, one of which was regarding wanting the unavailable and focusing so much on what you can't have that you are in danger of missing out on what you could have. This applies very well in this book with respect to quite a few of Nina's relationships. If you are worried that another "celebrity" has written a book, please do not let this influence you. I know it does some people, but this book is great. It really is. I for one am really glad I read it as, for me, it did lay some ghosts to rest. But even if you don't have the same connection as I do, I think you'll still get something from what has easily gone straight into my top ten 2016 (out of 172 so far). I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Nina Is Not OK ....... The title of this book says it all, Nina is definitely NOT OK !!!
Nina is a 17 year old girl who has been dumped by her boyfriend, who immediately finds a new girl and has left Nina traumatised, feeling unloved and drinks until she is paralytic drunk and thinks that it is normal teenage behaviour. OMG, at times I was squirming with embarrassment for Nina, at her dangerous behaviour and wanted to shake some sense into her.
Nina Is Not OK is a disturbing and often uncomfortable read that will keep you turning the pages just to see if Nina is Ok yet.
A brilliant, thought provoking and powerful book, which is also very sad as it is so realistic and happens way too often.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Ebury Publishing for this great ARC.

Given the plot outline – Nina is a 17-year-old who is sure she doesn’t have a drinking problem; even though she does things she regrets while drunk; even though her father was an alcoholic; even though she needs to carry drink around with her to make it through the day at college and even though she is lost and drifting after her boyfriend met somebody else on his gap year – I was expecting something bittersweet, with a lot of arguing with parents and, towards the end, a new romance to replace the shallow ex. Boy was I wrong…This book has laughs, it has totally believable teen characters (complete with teen reasoning) and it has, I think, a pretty good idea of what it is like to be young today. And then it has a scarily graphic depiction of what it is actually like to be an alcoholic before you are old enough to vote. We are not spared the vomit, the lost hours and the downright risky sexual behaviour. We suffer the slut-shaming, the gossip and the rigours of rehab along with Nina: we experience the love for a little sister which keeps Nina plugging away at her recovery and we feel the support of best friend Beth. This is pretty immersive stuff and I really loved it.

I think what impressed me most about this novel is just how well Khorsandi puts us in the place of such a young woman. I guess it should always be easier for an author in their forties to write about characters twenty or thirty years younger than for someone in their twenties to really know how it feels to get old. One is writing from remembered experience and the other from, at best, good research. But it is rarely as accurate as this – the best and, for sure, the worst of a very young woman learning how to live with her particular demons.

To drink to this level, to stay this fucked up, you need focus and determination and stacks of willpower. If it wasn’t so awful, I’d insist on a medal.

Seventeen-year-old Nina has a drink problem, although she’s not going to acknowledge it any time soon. We meet her being thrown out of a nightclub after giving a guy a blow job by the bar. She’s lost her friends but the guy and his mate come to look for her and walk her down the road to an alley. Sometime later, Nina’s in the back of a taxi.

I clutched my knickers in my hand. They were nice ones. Part of a set from Topshop. Thank God I’d retrieved them. I wanted to put them on but I couldn’t move. Why were my knickers in my hand? Did I fuck one of them? Both of them? Oh dear God no! Shit. No condoms. Not good. The gluey tang of spunk was in my hair.

It doesn’t occur to Nina that she’s been raped. When she returns home, her mum pulls her out of the taxi – alerted by the driver after Nina fell asleep and he couldn’t wake her. The following morning, Nina’s mortified at the thought of her six-year-old sister seeing her and her mum lectures her about her ‘party animal’ behaviour, comparing her to her dad who was also an alcoholic.

Nina’s finding life particularly difficult of late after her boyfriend, Jamie, left to spend a year in Hong Kong with his dad. He went promising to message every day and then nothing. Eventually he let her know he’d met someone else. Nina’s not taking it well, sending emails to him that veer from total hatred to declarations of undying love. And then he posted pictures of himself and his new girlfriend on Facebook.

Beth had said, ‘Well, that’s a kick in the cunt.’ But it hadn’t been like that. It had been like a thousand kicks in the cunt and a giant fist around my heart squeezing until it burst, again and again and again.

Nina’s friend, Beth, is a feminist. She disagrees with Nina’s attempts to put Jamie’s new girlfriend down, refuses to let Nina be slut-shamed for giving a guy a blow job in a club, and thinks glossy magazines are ‘trash’. She’s a good foil for Nina’s thoughts about pretty much everything. Their other friend, Zoe, is completely gorgeous and really nice. That is until she begins dating Alex, the guy Zoe gave a blow job to.

Throughout the novel, Nina continues on a path of self-destruction, drinking more and more and sleeping with a range of guys in a variety of scenarios. Khorsandi writes without judging Nina although, of course, society has conditioned us to. It’s very difficult to read some of the situations Nina finds herself in and not blame her for failing to keep herself safe. Again, this societal construction wouldn’t apply if the sex of the protagonist were reversed and, as the novel progressed, I found myself increasingly angry at the men who didn’t acquire enthusiastic consent from Nina or, when they did, failed to give any consideration as to how intoxicated she was.

Khorsandi doesn’t shy from putting Nina in a whole range of plausible scenarios in terms of her abuse of alcohol, her sexual encounters, and the role that social media plays in teenagers lives. This is a complex, gripping look at a young woman struggling to come to terms with who she is and how society treats females who go against the virginal, nice girl stereotype they’re expected to conform to.

Khorsandi’s a comic so expect some laughs along the way too, although I found that some of the parts that were supposed to be funny – and a teenager would probably laugh at – I couldn’t find amusing: they were just too close to a reality that I find horrifying in my late 30s.

The book’s so compelling that I found myself having to finish reading it in a taxi queue at 1.15am following a trip on the last train home from London on which I usually fall asleep. I highly recommend it whatever age you are but I really think Nina Is Not OK should be handed out on Freshers’ Week and taught in schools as part of sexual consent classes. Not only is Nina Is Not OK a great read, it’s an important one too.

Nina made me cry.
I cried for her addiction to alchol.
I cried for the bad decisions the alcohol made her take.
I cried for her 17 year old self who lived thorugh the lowest point of her life after life had seemed so good.
Shappi telles the story of Nina with empathy and sympathy.you see her world as it exists for her, knowing that she is living in a very unsafe way, yet she doesn’t recognise it. She takes a very long time to realise that not everything that happened to her was her fault, but that her lifestyle led her into dangerous situations.
This book should be read by all 16/17/18 year old girls. So many these have chosen binge drinking as a way of life and are headless fo the dangers of that lifestyle.
The book is honest and it pulls no punches.

Wow. Nina is not ok and neither was i by the end of the book. Its hard hitting, totally believable and that makes it scary. As a mum to three girls i hope they never behave in this way or suffer as Nina does however i could sadly see myself as a teen in some of the pages. Its a definate 5* from me.

This book was incredibly intense. Nina's descent into alcoholism and her struggle to get herself back together are incredibly well depicted. At times, it almost felt like watching a trainwreck knowing that something awful was about to happen but unable to stop it. While Nina's actions seemed incomprehensible at times, they were never out of character. I could feel her shame and her desperation coming through in every chapter of the novel.

Besides the wonderfully developped Nina, the novel also offers a nicely characterized supporting cast with people you can emphasize with when Nina puts them in awful situations but can also disagree with and shake your heads about when they themselves make difficult to understand decisions.

Nina is 17 and lives in London where she also goes to college. Nina is sociable and chatty plus she also enjoys a drink. Follow Nina for a year in this first person narrative.

The writing style of this novel was simply a pleasure to read. Shappi writes her novel in the same voice as she uses on her stand-up comedy routines on television. Reading her book, you can imagine Shappi performing the content as a monologue on stage. However, Nina can perform too, especially after a drink and you can’t forget how she got that mess on her hair.

The story starts as a jolly tale with a lot of wit. For example…

It’s not jealousy, it’s not. Just fucking infuriating. Why do guys go mental over tall, skinny women with blonde hair? Why do girls like Zoe get watches on second dates and I get pictures of dodgy men’s cocks?

...But as the story progresses and Nina turns 18, serious issues are raised, notably alcoholism and sexual consent. There is great social commentary in this novel, which is Shappi’s first and I found the language used was spot-on for how teenagers talk today. I found this book both enlightening and entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and felt privileged to enter another world. You can escape into a world of youth and lots of drama.

Nina is NOT OK is a lovely down to earth drama which is easy to relate to and features ordinary people like the girl next door. I like the way Shappi built her supporting characters, they were a balanced mix of girl friends, boys and middle aged adults. The spread of Nina’s girl friends reminded me of that great sitcom on television called Some Girls which ran for 3 series between 2012 and 2014.

I think this book will appeal to both genders and all ages. I am a 57 year old man and I found this novel refreshing with all the social observations woven into the storyline. It is all about being human and making mistakes. There is a little bit of Nina in all of us, from making poor choices from time to time, enjoying a drink and getting sexual urges. This exploration of human nature with all it’s highs and lows plus some wonderful character development, made this book such a joy for me to read. The quality of writing is first class and I really engaged with Nina. It was a treasure to see the world through her eyes and this book creates a milestone of understanding about alcohol and sexual urges. It will help readers understand how some people can so easily become an alcoholic and how easy it can be for them to relapse, time and time again. Thanks to Shappi for writing a top class novel that I will vote the top score of 5 stars.

There are lots of books and movies out there that glamorise addiction, even unintentionally. Nina is Not OK is not one of those books.

Having worked in the field of addiction I was unsure about how I'd find this book, as so often inaccuracies frustrate me, and recovery is made to look very easy. Impressively I found none of this in Nina Is Not OK.

Nina is 17, her father is dead, her mother is married to a new man and has a half sister, Katie aged 6. Nina loves Katie in an adorable way, but she struggles with her relationship with her mother and step dad, Alan. This, combined with the fact that Nina's boyfriend has dumped her for someone he just met prove to be too much for Nina. She descends into a world dominated with alcohol and sex with men she just met. Nina is consumed by anger and the only way that she can cope with this is to drink herself into oblivion.

Despite her awful treatment of her family and friends they stick with her, eventually showing her the tough love that she needs and taking her to rehab. While the author doesn't go into a lot of detail about her time in rehab, what is there is in my experience, fairly realistic. Once out Nina attempts to put her life back together, she throws herself back into her A-Levels and rebuilding her relationships with her friends and family. Without alcohol to skew her thinking she is able to come to terms with things that previously consumed her and with the quiet and steady support from her 12-step sponsor she begins to rebuild her life.

The author, Shappi Khorsandi, writes a painfully accurate portrayal of alcoholism. It isn't sensationalised or overdramatised. I would think that the author must have experience of alcoholism in some form or other.

I think that Nina is Not OK is a good book for anyone to read, but for those with family or friends who struggle with addiction it is good insight into the thinking that goes on in the addicts mind, and how powerless they are over their addiction. I couldn't help but wonder while reading whether this would be a good book for people in early recovery to read. I think Nina is Not OK would be a good book to give to someone in active addiction, especially a young person, but I don't think that someone in early recovery should read it due to the risk of being triggered. There is also frequent reference to a rape that some readers should be aware of.

I received a copy of Nina Is Not OK from the publishers via Netgalley in return for an honest review.

What a story, at times uncomfortable reading and made you stop and think Oh My God No!!
As a mother of a daughter of a similar age it made me wonder how I would deal with a young adult who behaved as Nina did. Dealt with a lot of issues of today's young especially social media. A good gritty read, feel there definitely could be a sequel.
Many thanks to NetGalley for giving me a chance to read it.

<i>Nina is Not OK</i> is Shappi Khorsandi's first novel but after finishing this book I have to say I really hope that we'll be seeing more from her in the near future. As a protagonist, Nina is charming, self-deprecating and self-destructive. Nina is not always likeable as a character--as evidenced by how much she often hates herself--but there is something alluring and enigmatic about her. We desperately want her to succeed and to emerge victorious from all her trials. As readers, we follow Nina through many triumphs but even more struggles and somehow Khorsandi manages to maintain a levity in her writing, even when dealing with sensitive and difficult subjects.
Due to some mature content I would be reluctant to recommend this book to anyone under 17/18 but, much like Louise O'Neill's <i>Asking For It</i> I'm sure this book will find it's way into the hands of many teenagers who will love Nina as much as I did.

I don't think there's many people who don't know someone who has been near to or in the same position as Nina. She is a young vibrant teenager who is quite happy with life until her boyfriend goes on a gap year to Hong Kong. She is devastated when she finds out he has found another love and her life starts to spiral out of control. She drinks to excess and soon realises she can't stop, she will do anything for a drink. She finds herself befriending people she wouldn't normal mix with and even having sex with them, Her friends try to help but realise that there is only one person that can help Nina and that's herself. I was very moved by this book and think there's a message in it for all of us. Thank you very much for the ARC.

I started out hating this book, but after finishing it, I definitely get why everyone praised this one so highly. I thought Nina was super judgemental for the first half of the story. She was fat-shaming, slut-shaming and overall being bitchy about literally everybody. I honestly didn't get why anyone would rate this so highly as they do on goodreads. I thought I was missing something. Then the second half of the book kicked in and I got it. Nina became a better person and she realised she had a problem with alcohol. Then she found out she was raped and thought it was her own fault because she was being promiscuous. Khorsandi dealt with these issues beautifully and I think she's a very promising author.

When I saw the name of the author, I thought this book was gonna be utterly hilarious.

This book is hard hitting and covers things that go on behind close door's...real life stories. At one point I thought I was read a documentary based book as the book is so absorbing..I forgot that Nina was a fictional character.

Brilliant read...5 stars! !

Nina is a 17-year-old ‘A Level’ student at the local college. She lives with her mother, stepfather Alan and 5-year-old sister Katie, whom she adores. She is bright, bubbly and friendly until everything suddenly changes. Her boyfriend takes a year out to live with his father in Hong Kong and she misses him dreadfully. She starts to drown her sorrows with alcohol, so much so that one night she is thrown out of a nightclub for committing a lewd act, taken into an alley by two grown men then later on bundled into a taxi and sent on her way home. The taxi driver knocks her front door because he cannot wake her up and needs help to remove her from his taxi. Propped up against the wall of her house, she spews up and her mother is left to take care of her. The next morning she wakes up not remembering anything about what had happened after she was thrown out of the club. Her life descends into chaos with more binge drinking and casual sex, her grades suffer and she gets into more and more trouble at home. She is a loose canon, totally out of control.

I tried very hard not to be judgemental about Nina’s behaviour. I’m a very light social drinker and never once in my entire sixty-six years of life have I been drunk. But I was horrified by her self-destructive and dangerous behaviour. I was gripped by her story and very soon I was really rooting for her. Until the age of nine, she had bourn witness to her father’s unpredictable and drunken behaviour. Then he died and she was devastated. I lost my father when I was ten-years-of-age and I know that is a very impressionable age. As the story developed, thankfully Nina had good friends and family to support her and get her the help she needed. If she hadn’t I dread to think what would have happened to her. As the story and particularly her character developed I began to really like her as she had many endearing traits, including honesty, generosity and compassion. I literally couldn’t stop reading on, turning the pages eagerly, as I cared more and more about Nina and what may happen to her. Her new boyfriend Robbie was also an amazing character, as was her best friend Beth and Max, who was Beth’s father. I even warmed up my opinions towards Alan who really stepped up to the mark. These characters were filled with empathy and could see how Nina needed help and support and was not a just a total ‘write off’. She wanted to take control of her life so that she did not end up like her father. She was ashamed of her behaviour when she was under the influence of alcohol and had the determination to try her very best to see herself through rehabilitation, following AA’s ‘Twelve Step’ plan with the support of a dedicated sponsor.

‘Nina is Not Okay’ is the incredible story of Nina’s coming of age. It is a thought-provoking story, sometimes very dark and threatening and with graphic scenes of sex, violence and over indulgence. Told in the first person by Nina herself, this story was riveting. It taught me such a lot and made me more aware of the problems and stigma of alcoholism, especially in young people. I would like to thank NetGalley and Ebury digital for my copy of this novel, sent out to me in return for an honest review. I recommend this book to you as an excellent read both for adults and young adults. It’s a 9.5/10 from me.

Oh My Goodness! This is one very powerful and thought provoking book which had me gripped by the throat all the way through. It left me reeling.
I find it difficult to believe this is a work of fiction and feel the author must have some personal experiences to draw on which made this no holds barred story of teenage alcoholism so damn realistic.
It hits hard, way below the belt and is shocking, brutal and very sad. It paints a very realistic story of what it’s like to be a teenage girl in thrall to drink, using it as a prop, knowing time after time the lure of getting drunk is going to suck you in and spit you out vomiting and shame filled.

Nina is a 17 year old student, her late Dad was an alcoholic whose death was drink related. She has some good friends, a loving Mum and an adorable little sister Katie whom she loves to bits, she gets good grades at college and she likes to party. But when she parties, boy does she let rip, when the drinks in the wit’s out so they say and she gets into some truly awful situations because she’s just far too blotto to be sensible.

The first true love of her life has recently dumped her and she’s in bits. But its ok ‘cause she can go out and get drunk and have a good time and forget all about Jamie. Trouble is she forgets all about common sense, safe sex and what’s appropriate and what’s not and she ends up blind drunk getting thrown out of a nightclub for giving a total stranger a blow job in public. A few hours late she finds herself half-conscious in the back of a taxi, her knickers in her hand, vomit all over herself and spunk in her hair. She has practically no recollection of what happened after leaving the club. The next day overwhelmed by shame and remorse she swears she’ll never drink again ….. but of course she does!

There are some graphic sex scenes, lots of swearing and its down and dirty and shocking and I think it should be essential reading for any young person who’s ever drunk so much they can’t remember the night before, or who is likely to.

That’s probably more than you’d think! I’m a 50 something woman who, horrifyingly, can relate far too closely to some of the awful things that take place in this book and I could relate to Nina so well I felt 17 again reading it, though not always in a good way. It took me right back to my teenage years when alcohol was my prop, and I felt every bit of shame and embarrassment that Nina felt, in fact it took me back to a very dark place I thought was far behind me and brought some deeply buried memories to the fore.

Believe me you never forget stuff like this and you don’t want to carry it around with you all your life you really don’t, This is a trip down memory lane it would be far better to never have to take. So please don’t let yourself get in this situation. I was crying when I read parts of this book and I’m saying please Nina, please don’t. But she did, I knew she would, she’s an alcoholic just like her Dad and really she just can’t say no.

If you’re in your teens or 20s and like a drink, read this book. If it helps save one single young person from getting in a similar situation it will be great, if it doesn’t stop them perhaps it will give a few good pointers as to how they can break this terrible cycle of self destruction. Oh and it’s a blindngly brilliant read too. There are some laugh out loud funny bits, even in the midst of all the drama and vomit spattered sex scenes and the characters are all so wonderfully real.

A fantastic , thought provoking , coming of age novel dealing with life as a teenager . Nina is a typical teenager .. But is she ? Spiralling out of control with alcohol at the forefront of her mind , this book shows how fragile teenagers can be and the dangers that can transpire . As a mother of a daughter who has just turned 18 it made for a shocking but very interesting read . . An easy 5 stars . Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my arc in exchange for an honest review

Nina is falling apart. This book shows us how far she is falling -- at times it's hard-hitting and difficult to read.

Both Nina's behaviour and the way she is treated are abhorrent and a sad reflection of the modern times we live in.

Well-written, funny and heart-breaking all in one sentence, Nina is Not OK is an insight into how a teenager's life can spiral out of control.

I was keen to read this book as I find the author rather amusing as a stand-up comic. Often I find that this humour does not translate into the written word. Happily this wasn't the case with Nina Is Not OK - Shappi Khorsandi can write!!

MetLineReader rating 4*. I received an advance copy from Ebury Press in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story begins with Nina, a 17 year old girl struggling with the break up from her boyfriend Jamie and the way she deals with it is by the use of alcohol and lots of it. Except Nina is not dealing with it and she's spiralling out of control and fast! She's becoming an alcoholic, she just doesn't know it yet. In the months that follow, Nina continues to struggle, her family, college life and her friendships are all affected, she does things that no self respecting girl would do if she were sober, she just needs a wake up call to see that.

This is a story which tackles a lot of issues and evokes a lot of emotions, it's funny in places but mainly it's heartbreaking and I just wanted to take Nina home and mother her!

It's the first book I have read by this author, it's beautifully researched and written and I would highly recommend it.

Thank you to Random House UK Ebury Publishing for the approval, I will post my review on Goodreads, Amazon and Twitter.

This is a debut author and I can honestly say she has done an amazing job with this story. It is not for the faint-hearted as the story involves alcoholism and teenage sex in detail.

Nina is a very troubled young girl and she hides behind alcohol. She can't see it as being a problem for her, and this comes out as anger not only towards her mother, but others as well. Alcohol gets Nina in a lot of trouble, and the path she ends up going down in this story actually shows how brave she is.

As I said, this is not an easy read due to the content throughout. But give it a chance, I promise you won't be disappointed. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and look forward to seeing what the author does next.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book that will stay with me for a long time. The characters are so believable and realistic that you can't help getting completely engrossed in their lives. I can't stop thinking about them even after I finished reading the book. The story is full of humour and compassion, and written in an easy style that makes you keep turning the pages. This is certainly more than just a coming of age story, as it is also about courage, friendships, families and much more.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC.

WOW!! I really do have to give this one ALL THE STARS!

I came across a friends review of this book and after reading her review and the book description I wanted to read this book immediately!

The book opens as seventeen-year-old Nina is being marched out of a club by a bouncer. Her best friends, Beth and Zoe are still inside, while she's outside so drunk she can barely stand. Some time later she arrives home by cab, with her underwear in her hand, shocking her mother with the state she's in.

When she awakens the next morning, she's relieved that she is in her own bed fully clothed. However, she has no memory of how she got there. This isn't the first time Nina has drank so much she's blacked out, with no memory of what happened. Although her memory is almost blank she feels deeply ashamed at the little bits she does remember. Her mother is also not impressed and is losing patience with her, though she tries to be understanding as what's happening with Nina. What's happening with Nina is not unfamiliar to her.

Nina's father was also an alcoholic. One minute a happy drunk and the next he was yelling and throwing things. Her childhood was chaotic. After he passed away her mother got some help and eventually met and married Alan. He is a quiet man that Nina finds boring but grudging admits he's a good father to her little sister Katie.

Nina is trying to get over her recent break-up with ex-boyfriend Jamie. The break-up was out of the blue and Nina is still trying to make sense of it. And drinking seems to help her forget about it, at least for a little while.
When her step-father gets a job in Germany, they are all to go live there for a year. Nina is livid and refuses to go with them. It's decided she will stay with Beth and her father while they are gone.

Nina's drinking gets worse and she's making some dangerous choices. Everyone is worried about her but Nina thinks she's fine. But one night things go way to far and even Nina knows it. She's taken to rehab. It takes time but she realizes that she does have a problem a huge problem and that she needs help. That the people in rehab truly understand.

For awhile things are okay. Nina works the AA program. "One Day at a Time" becomes her mantra. New Year's Day though, Nina's world explodes. Angry and ashamed she doesn't think that she can make it through this.

Some readers may have a hard time liking Nina. She can definitely be hard to like sometimes. I'm in no way shaming her, as many addicts can be hard to like. Nina is an addict, an alcoholic. Generally addicts in the throes of their addiction don't treat people very well. They will often lie and manipulate in order to get what they want. Nothing is ever their fault etc. I feel like the author definitely succeeded in showing how a teenage addict could act.

There were many times that I loved Nina too. Her relationship with her sister, Katie is beautiful. Katie brings out all of the softness in Nina. Nina does not like six-year-old Katie to see her drunk and feels terrible when she's hung-over and grumpy with her.

**Warning** There are some brutally honest and graphic descriptions of situations that may upset and/or trigger some readers. However, I didn't feel like the author was trying to sensationalize these situations but trying to show the reality of what was happening in Nina's life.

Literally painful to read at times. The writing is authentic and accurate. The author tackles so many of the issues that our children are going through today. Drugs, alcohol, sex, school pressure, social media, relationships and more. I really became more and more emotionally invested into Nina's character as well as some of the other characters as the book went on.

This is definitely one of best books I've read lately. I loved so many of the characters, they were so well developed. The author is also a comedian and although there were many dark issues in this book, there were also some incredibly funny parts too.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ebury Press and Shappi Khorsandi for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Well Nina is definitely NOT ok!

Well Nin a is definitely NOT ok!

What a roller coaster of emotions in this book. I was by turns sad, horrified, scared and worried as Nina's life spirals out of control into addiction. Written with compassion, humour and pulling absolutely no punches this is a raw account of a life gone so wrong. Well researched, well-written, brutal in it's honesty, this book is incredible, a week after finishing it I am still shocked, hurt, worried and upset for Nina.

5 massive stars and straight on to my list of top books this year.