This is definitely a "bookstagram made me do it" purchase, but even before the pandemic hit, I decided I wanted to read books I wouldn't normal reach out for and this one was definitely a hit.

My own personal prejudices made me think this book would be vapid and rom com style, but it had a fair bit of depth to it and it was, on the most part, relatable. There were instances of things being a bit over the top with some characters who were a bit too much. This is not necessarily bad and did provide a lot of comic relief and without those moments the entire book would likely be very depressing. I think these moments of comic relief, particularly the scenes between Nina and Lola, are very akin to the schadenfreude moments that they use in their relationship when things are getting too serious or sad. 

There's a whole slew of characters that can be seen to span different stages of the stereotypical relationship and expected natural progression, and by doing this I found that Dolly Alderton managed to show that this isn't the idyllic sort of life that people not part of it expect. This was highly effective as having one character diss these moments in life would have just made the character pessimistic and unlikeable. And that isn't to say that the protagonist, Nina, is perfect. Far from it. Yet her being part of a large cast of different people provides balance for the reader.

With all that said, there is one subplot

the italian neighbour ugh

that I absolutely despised and think is unecessary. It's the sort of storyline that would be part of a book with a classic happy ending, which I have to say is not what is found in this book, and it feels incredibly out of place. 

Definitely a worthy debut piece of fiction from a prolific non-fiction writer. I will consider picking up more of her work in the future.