Book Review: Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

Summary

Nina Dean encompasses what every thirty-something woman would deem successful. She is a published author living in a luxurious apartment in north London and has incredible relationships with her friends, family and even her ex-boyfriend (Weird or not weird?). The only part of Nina’s life that feels incomplete is having a partner. She has tried her best at meeting new people but seems to find the same kind of jerk every time she starts dating. Nina is on the edge of giving up on dating, the apps and finding a partner all together…until she meets Max. One perfect scroll later, her and Max meet up at a pub and the rest is history.

Nina Dean may have finally met the perfect man. After initially meeting on a dating app, Nina meets up with a surfer-looking dude with the wit and charisma of a businessman, Max. Nina and Max immediately hit it off on their date and began seeing each other over the next few months. Everything is going incredibly well between the lovebirds – so much in fact that Max even says, “I love you” first. Nina is over the moon. Every part of her life feels complete. She tries to reach out to Max to hang out after the “I love you” and he doesn’t respond in a timely manner. He’s usually busy at work so she lets it slide. After a few days of radio silence, Nina starts to get concerned. She thinks something may have happened to Max until she finally realizes…she’s getting ghosted. By her own boyfriend. After he said “I love you”. What happens next? How does Nina go on? Besides her own boyfriend ghosting her, she now has to deal with her Dad’s Alzheimer’s and how her childhood friend has been distancing herself from Nina. Read Ghosts for yourself to see how Nina tackles all the chaos in her life – one ghost at a time.

Review

Have you ever read a book where you think, “Wow. This hits way too close to home” but in the best way possible? Dolly Alderton wrote the novel equivalent of a romantic comedy with Ghosts. The beautifully constructed tale of Nina’s relationships, career and family has moments that every reader can relate to in some way or another. Whether it’s the difficult reality of dealing with a sick loved one or the inevitable distancing of long-time friends, there are lots of situations presented in Ghosts that many people have faced in their own lives. 

Besides the difficult parts of the book, Alderton’s Ghosts literally made me laugh out loud at the absurd commentary from Nina, the situations that she got herself in and the charming yet cringey story. I have definitely had moments where I’ve felt like Nina Dean – I think we all have. It’s been a while since I have found a book that is so incredibly relatable to any reader, whether you’ve been the one ghosted or the one ghosting. The premise of Nina getting “ghosted” is just one small aspect of the larger story – the story of how to deal with life in a humorous and honest way. Sometimes life can get so ridiculous that all you can do is laugh. Having a man say, “I love you” and then ghost you may be one of those moments. 

Yasi Agah

Yasi Agah websiteYasi Agah LinkedinYasi Agah Instagram

Yasi Agah is a born and raised Californian living out her dreams in New York City. She loves to read, write, listen to podcasts, and teach yoga. Becoming by Michelle Obama makes her cry every time she reads it.