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A review by wordsofclover
Ghosts by Dolly Alderton
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Nina is 32 years old and after focusing on her career as a food writer/author for the last couple of years, she's finally ready to get back out there and meet someone. With encouragement of her friends, she downloads dating app Linx and meets Max who appears to be the person she is looking for. As they fall into a whirlwind romance, Nina is also struggling with keeping up with her friends who are all getting married or starting families, as well as dealing with the declining health of her dad. And then Max disappears, ghosting Nina and leaving her heartbroken.
I listened to this on audiobook narrated by Holiday Grainger and I absolutely loved it - I was totally hooked on this story and I think part of it is being the exact age of the character and experiencing so many of the same things from friends getting married, starting families and this changing friendships in so many different ways as well as memories of dealing with the torture that is online dating. Dolly Alderton was able to expertly write what it feels like to be a woman in your thirties, someone who is so successful in so many ways yet somehow inexplicably 'failing' in society's eyes because of her relationship status.
I also really appreciated the storyline about Nina's father and his progression into the horrible disease that is Alzheimer's and we see both Nina's heartbreak over slowly losing her father bit by bit with every visit. There were definitely times I felt very frustrated with Nina and her mother over what felt like their impatience with her father when he was clearly confused and not doing so well but it was also a good example of how people experience and deal with a loved one's illness in many different ways.
One of my only gripes in this book is I do find it very weird still being so close to your ex-boyfriend (and introducing your new boyfriend to him first before other friends??), and being his usher/groomslady AND going to your ex's future wife's hen do. Weird weird weird.
I just really enjoyed this and I had a lot of fun listening to it, and really rooted for Nina to find everything she wanted.
I listened to this on audiobook narrated by Holiday Grainger and I absolutely loved it - I was totally hooked on this story and I think part of it is being the exact age of the character and experiencing so many of the same things from friends getting married, starting families and this changing friendships in so many different ways as well as memories of dealing with the torture that is online dating. Dolly Alderton was able to expertly write what it feels like to be a woman in your thirties, someone who is so successful in so many ways yet somehow inexplicably 'failing' in society's eyes because of her relationship status.
I also really appreciated the storyline about Nina's father and his progression into the horrible disease that is Alzheimer's and we see both Nina's heartbreak over slowly losing her father bit by bit with every visit. There were definitely times I felt very frustrated with Nina and her mother over what felt like their impatience with her father when he was clearly confused and not doing so well but it was also a good example of how people experience and deal with a loved one's illness in many different ways.
One of my only gripes in this book is I do find it very weird still being so close to your ex-boyfriend (and introducing your new boyfriend to him first before other friends??), and being his usher/groomslady AND going to your ex's future wife's hen do. Weird weird weird.
I just really enjoyed this and I had a lot of fun listening to it, and really rooted for Nina to find everything she wanted.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia