As a fan of Dolly Alderton’s other works – namely Everything I Know about Love and Ghosts – I was incredibly disappointed to discover that this book did not live up to its title.
Andy, a middling comic who is in love with Jen is thrown a curveball when she breaks up with him upon their return from holiday, although what seems like a complete surprise to Andy seems to have been a long-time-coming for Jen.
Framed as a story that would interrogate the two perspectives of the same relationship, told from the perspective of the guy, I thought this would be a fun take on a classic rom-com trope. Alderton’s writing is fresh, sarcastic and real, and I thought telling the story from Andy’s perspective would be a new way of experiencing her voice. I don’t know if I was right or wrong in that assertion because her voice was completely lost in a plot that never seemed to get started.
What could have been a fresh, new take ended up as 345 pages of listening to Andy’s ‘woo is me’ attitude, showcasing the neediness and self-absorption for which Jen left him without the satisfaction of him trying to sort himself out.
I know it’s not fair to blame a reading slump on one book, but slogging through this was a tough way to come into the last few months of 2024.
While this book is now laying in the ‘donate’ bag, I would still recommend her other two works. As an Alderton fan, all I can say is, ‘I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed’ (okay, maybe a little mad – 345 is a lot of wasted pages).
2% Rating: 3/10
Recommend? Nope nope nope
Re-Read? Never
Time: 1:34