Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

I’ve been very excited by Dolly Alderton’s debut novel, Ghosts since I heard about it’s release early in 2020. Honestly, it was the cover that drew me in and not much else. I love the art work and knew it was fiction about dating, and that pretty much sold me.

I picked up Ghosts pretty soon after I bought it which is a rarity for me, especially now with a HUGE TBR pile, but something in me couldn’t wait to get in to this story.

Ghosts follows Nina, an early thirties woman who is still trying to find love on dating apps. Half her friends are married with children, and the other half are similarly single. Nina quite quickly meets a man, Max, on Linx and decides to go on a date with him, everything after that turns a little bit ghosty…

First of all, I think the characters and writing of characters in this book was excellent. I haven’t read a book I enjoyed the characters of this much since Queenie. They have their own personalities and quirks, which is difficult to portray in general fiction with such a huge amount of characters and plot to cover. Nina especially I found witty and hilarious, and I enjoyed the dryness of her conversation and monologue.

The pace of this story was absolutely perfect for me. There is something always happening, smooth transitions from chapter to chapter and the writing was just seemless. I loved it.

It’s rare that i enjoy a fiction novel about romance often, but when those aspects of feminism that Dolly sprinkles in are in there, i think it really tips me in to ‘i think i’ll love this book forever’ category. I’ve been thinking a lot about Ghosts since i finished reading, and i still can’t think of any negative thing from my personal reading experience that i can discuss.

I know that this genre and story are not for everyone. There are definitely some trigger warnings, and there were some parts that triggered me. However i saw that completely as the excellent writing that brought that emotion out in me again. I cannot wait to read any more fiction by Dolly Alderton. If you have ever been really affected by being Ghosted, this book can definitely drag up some unwanted emotions.

Overall, i really enjoyed Ghosts. There was very little i didn’t enjoy and i flew through the book much faster than i thought i would. For me, the story had big Fleabag vibes, which i absolutely adore anyway, so it almost felt like experiencing another Phoebe Waller-Bridge.