Author: Dolly Alderton (narrated by Arthur Darvill and Vanessa Kirby)
Year published: 2023
Category: Adult fiction
Pages: 345 pages
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Location: (my 2025 Google Reading map): UK
Summary: Andy's story wasn't meant to turn out this way. Living out of a suitcase in his best friends' spare room, waiting for his career as a stand-up comedian to finally take off, he struggles to process the life-ruining end of his relationship with the only woman he's ever truly loved.
As he tries to solve the seemingly unsolvable mystery of his broken relationship, he contends with career catastrophe, social media paranoia, a rapidly dwindling friendship group and the growing suspicion that, at 35, he really should have figured this all out by now.
Andy has a lot to learn, not least his ex-girlfriend's side of the story.
Warm, wise, funny and achingly relatable, Dolly Alderton's highly-anticipated second novel is about the mystery of what draws us together - and what pulls us apart - the pain of really growing up, and the stories we tell about our lives.
Review: I am really glad I listened to the audio book of this one. My in-person book group chose it and the narrator's voices, for me, fit perfectly.
Andy is a mess. He drinks too much, doesn't think before he acts, can't get over his girlfriend, has nowhere to live, and basically lacks meaning or direction in his life. But he's mostly a good soul, and that comes through. He just wants to love and be loved and not have a complicated life.
I liked the first half of this book but then got tired of hearing Andy whine about everything. I wanted to shout, "Get a grip! You are 35 years old." His wallowing just got tiring.
Not only do we get two narrators (he for 90 percent of of the book, she the last 10 percent), but in the audio book there are two voices. Andy's girlfriend, a female narrator, gets one chapter so that the reader gets her perspective. That I enjoyed because we get a different perspective on the main character.
Challenges for which this counts: none
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