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stephsbooktalk 's review for:
Good Material
by Dolly Alderton
Thank you so much to Penguin Random House/Knopf for an advance copy of the book!
Thank you so much to PRH Audio for the complimentary audio!
This book will be published in the US on January 30th.
This is my first Dolly book but she has come highly recommended by several friends. I would classify this book as a literary romance. It is not a straightforward romance because there really isn't a romance that has a start, middle and end. We are starting right at the end.
"Why would you choose to fantasize about a woman who doesn't want to be with you? That's not the function of fantasy. Tug yourself to Cleopatra, for God's sake, go wild."
"That's the point, her wanting to be with me is my wildest fantasy right now."
As I mentioned about this book starts at the end of a relationship. I found this to be so refreshing to see not only how does one work through a break up after being with someone for several years but it is told primarily through the MALE's point of view.
I have not been in a break up for several, several years but I found myself relating so much to the actions and thoughts that Andy was doing. You literally have to change everything in your life after a break up. It was so interesting reading Andy’s journey and seeing the male perspective of it. Granted I know that this was written by a female but it really made me wonder, is this what happens to a male’s brain after an end of a relationship? I love that he did have his small group of friends that he would go out with but yet felt relatable that he still felt alone.
I am one of those readers who always want a happily ever after for couples in romances. But in this case, I think both characters were just not good for one another in the end. I just didn't see the two together once I learned about each of them.
I thought it was so smart of Dolly to add at the very end a dedicated space that we got to see Jen's point of view. I was not expecting it at all but I guess I should've when I saw there were two narrators listed. I think having those chapters really helped completing the full circle of the book. I felt like Jen was going through the motions of being in a relationship because she felt like she *had* to be in one. I thought her paragraphs about freezing her eggs was relatable because of those outside societal pressures telling her that is what she should be doing.
One thing that had me itching for more at the end is that this stops in the timeline on January 31, 2020 and both Andy and Jen have these big plans that include traveling but we all know what happens less than 2 months later. SO I really am curious what lies next for the two. Please Dolly give us an update on these characters!! I need to know how they survived the pandemic!
I paired my reading with the audio and I thought Arthur Arvill did a wonderful job as Andy. He sounded like a believable bloke who is a stand up comedian. It felt like a believable narrator. Vanessa Kirby had a short section as the narrator and she is a new name to me. I later found out that she is in fact an actress so of course she did wonderful!
PS – THERE IS KARAOKE!
Memorable Quotes:
”You are locked in a prison of your own nostalgia. You need to let go of the past.”
“It’s like I was off sick from life for a while, and sometimes it’s nice to be off sick. Sometimes it’s nice not be a thing, in the world, trying so desperately to be a person. Here’s what I’m getting at: I don’t know if I really want to move on, because the further away I get from the pain, the further away I get from her.”
“You don't let go once. That's your first mistake. You say goodbye over a lifetime. You might not have thought about her for ten years, then you'll hear a song or you'll walk past somewhere you once went together - something will come to the surface that you'd totally forgotten about. And you say another goodbye. You have to be prepared to let go and let go and let go a thousand times.”
“I tried to remember what I thought my life was going to feel like and without him. I had no idea what this was going to feel like, and it turned out to be just as bad as being in the wrong relationship.
Thank you so much to PRH Audio for the complimentary audio!
This book will be published in the US on January 30th.
This is my first Dolly book but she has come highly recommended by several friends. I would classify this book as a literary romance. It is not a straightforward romance because there really isn't a romance that has a start, middle and end. We are starting right at the end.
"Why would you choose to fantasize about a woman who doesn't want to be with you? That's not the function of fantasy. Tug yourself to Cleopatra, for God's sake, go wild."
"That's the point, her wanting to be with me is my wildest fantasy right now."
As I mentioned about this book starts at the end of a relationship. I found this to be so refreshing to see not only how does one work through a break up after being with someone for several years but it is told primarily through the MALE's point of view.
I have not been in a break up for several, several years but I found myself relating so much to the actions and thoughts that Andy was doing. You literally have to change everything in your life after a break up. It was so interesting reading Andy’s journey and seeing the male perspective of it. Granted I know that this was written by a female but it really made me wonder, is this what happens to a male’s brain after an end of a relationship? I love that he did have his small group of friends that he would go out with but yet felt relatable that he still felt alone.
I am one of those readers who always want a happily ever after for couples in romances. But in this case, I think both characters were just not good for one another in the end. I just didn't see the two together once I learned about each of them.
I thought it was so smart of Dolly to add at the very end a dedicated space that we got to see Jen's point of view. I was not expecting it at all but I guess I should've when I saw there were two narrators listed. I think having those chapters really helped completing the full circle of the book. I felt like Jen was going through the motions of being in a relationship because she felt like she *had* to be in one. I thought her paragraphs about freezing her eggs was relatable because of those outside societal pressures telling her that is what she should be doing.
One thing that had me itching for more at the end is that this stops in the timeline on January 31, 2020 and both Andy and Jen have these big plans that include traveling but we all know what happens less than 2 months later. SO I really am curious what lies next for the two. Please Dolly give us an update on these characters!! I need to know how they survived the pandemic!
I paired my reading with the audio and I thought Arthur Arvill did a wonderful job as Andy. He sounded like a believable bloke who is a stand up comedian. It felt like a believable narrator. Vanessa Kirby had a short section as the narrator and she is a new name to me. I later found out that she is in fact an actress so of course she did wonderful!
PS – THERE IS KARAOKE!
Memorable Quotes:
”You are locked in a prison of your own nostalgia. You need to let go of the past.”
“It’s like I was off sick from life for a while, and sometimes it’s nice to be off sick. Sometimes it’s nice not be a thing, in the world, trying so desperately to be a person. Here’s what I’m getting at: I don’t know if I really want to move on, because the further away I get from the pain, the further away I get from her.”
“You don't let go once. That's your first mistake. You say goodbye over a lifetime. You might not have thought about her for ten years, then you'll hear a song or you'll walk past somewhere you once went together - something will come to the surface that you'd totally forgotten about. And you say another goodbye. You have to be prepared to let go and let go and let go a thousand times.”
“I tried to remember what I thought my life was going to feel like and without him. I had no idea what this was going to feel like, and it turned out to be just as bad as being in the wrong relationship.