Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Gespenster

Reading Ghosts felt like experiencing an existential crisis. I enjoyed some of the relationships in the story - especially Nina and Lola's friendship - but the characters felt overwhelmingly jaded. I can't fault the book for feeling like a very 'real' portrayal of life, expectations and growth. However as a story it was exhausting to read.

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emotional funny reflective fast-paced

3.5

~Short Synopsis~

Nina George Dean is in her early thirties. She's a successful food writer, she has a new flat in central London and she is surrounded by her loving friends and family. But as she watches her friends get married, start families and move to the suburbs, she can't help but feel like she's getting left behind. Nina is confronted with a whole host of new challenges she wasn't expecting - dating apps, drifting away from her friends and her Dad's worsening health. Maybe her 30s won't be as fun and carefree as she expected.

~Review~

I definitely didn't expect to like this book as much as I did but that being said, I also had some issues with it.

Nina is a fairly relatable protagonist (if not a bit pessimistic but aren't we all) and I feel Alderton really captures the essence of a woman that feels something is missing from her life. There were times when I had a literal knot in my stomach because I was really feeling Nina's pain. I think that is a sign of a successful protagonist. I also have personal experience with watching someone decline from dementia so I could definitely relate to what Nina was going through with her dad. I've seen a few reviews that criticise Nina for wallowing in her pain and to be honest that was one of the most realistic things about the character for me - we all wallow in self pity, no matter how self-actualised we are.

Some of the plot was fairly predictable and I was hoping that Alderton was going to shock me by not going in the direction I expected, but alas. I especially felt this with the neighbour arc, I knew it would go in that direction but there was some part of me that hoped I was wrong. But call be professor Trelawney because I was spot on. I felt there was just no need for it to resolve like that (I won't spoil but if you've read it, you'll know). I am also yet to read a book that shows dating apps in a positive light...although, personally, I do despise dating apps with my entire being so that might have something to do with it.

I would put this in the category of 'if you like Bridget Jones then you'll like this'. It's not as funny or as warm hearted as the Bridget Jones books, but it is definitely the first book, that I have read, that I think deserves to be in that category.

Overall an enjoyable read but I don't think I'll read it again (3.5/5)

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