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A review by kozakxx
Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir by Dolly Alderton
2.0
I finished this a while ago and the longer it sits the more I feel certain I didn’t really like it. I did not find this book to be worth all the acclaim, and I had such high hopes. I loveeee women’s stories and coming of age stories and I’m always looking for someone else to tell me what love is all about but this fell short.
First, the recipes and emails are annoying and pretentious. Felt like she needed to meet a character number quota and I hatedddd the emails especially, it felt like I was sitting with her alone in a room while she did random long stand up bits in the middle of a story about love and growth.
Early on in the book she says something along the lines of “I’ve always thought everything, even my morning breakfast, is so important that everyone needs to hear about it” and it was so clear through her writing that this is true, which had me rolling my eyes. Even her clear abuse of alcohol is disguised as quirky fun 20s goss that everyone NEEDS to hear about for at least half the book. I did appreciate her love for the women in her life but to me it was a sweet story of friendship that did not need to be an entire book :/ Ngl tho i was living for the story of Farly’s life okay does SHE have a book? Queen
Anyway I was actively annoyed by Dolly’s self absorbance and that she spends so much time detailing the selfish and unhealthy attachment styles of her youth but never truly revisits them as an adult in a meaningful way. From jokes and small comments you can infer that she regrets some of her actions or mindsets from her 20s, specifically how she navigated jealousy and change in friendships, but for a book so centered on growth (structured through year by year comparisons of what she’s learned about love each year she ages) she really doesn’t show much growth in so many areas of her life.
It picked up around the end, though, which I appreciated. It’s so much more interesting to hear her talk about the perspectives her 30s has given her rather than how hilarious and quirky and interesting she was in her 20s.
:((( idk
First, the recipes and emails are annoying and pretentious. Felt like she needed to meet a character number quota and I hatedddd the emails especially, it felt like I was sitting with her alone in a room while she did random long stand up bits in the middle of a story about love and growth.
Early on in the book she says something along the lines of “I’ve always thought everything, even my morning breakfast, is so important that everyone needs to hear about it” and it was so clear through her writing that this is true, which had me rolling my eyes. Even her clear abuse of alcohol is disguised as quirky fun 20s goss that everyone NEEDS to hear about for at least half the book. I did appreciate her love for the women in her life but to me it was a sweet story of friendship that did not need to be an entire book :/ Ngl tho i was living for the story of Farly’s life okay does SHE have a book? Queen
Anyway I was actively annoyed by Dolly’s self absorbance and that she spends so much time detailing the selfish and unhealthy attachment styles of her youth but never truly revisits them as an adult in a meaningful way. From jokes and small comments you can infer that she regrets some of her actions or mindsets from her 20s, specifically how she navigated jealousy and change in friendships, but for a book so centered on growth (structured through year by year comparisons of what she’s learned about love each year she ages) she really doesn’t show much growth in so many areas of her life.
It picked up around the end, though, which I appreciated. It’s so much more interesting to hear her talk about the perspectives her 30s has given her rather than how hilarious and quirky and interesting she was in her 20s.
:((( idk