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A review by mxcopmy
Ghosts by Dolly Alderton
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Ehhh.... The book was not wrong in its entirety. The message behind the story was beautifully rendered and where I can also understand people cherishing it. Also, the parts where Nina was with her family for her father with Alzheimer's were very insightful and painful.
The biggest reason why I sat through the book feeling resentful is because I think there is a complete misconception around the topic of feminism displayed in this story. For instance, Nina is someone who dislikes monogamous, married couples who have children and "hide behind the fact that they have children and can't make time because of it". She also cannot stand women who like dresses, bachelor parties and the colour pink at all. Thereby, throughout the book, the typical "men are trash" conversations are held that I just can't handle. Its just always the same. And yes, Nina's friends really do call her a "feminist" after incredibly awful comments that have nothing to do with feminism.
At the beginning of the book, some things were still somewhat funny & online dating was sometimes relatable, but it went from relatable to unbearable very quickly because of the weird comments.
I also really couldn't tell which parts were meant to be humorous & which were serious? It was really hard to tell from the tone of the writing style. So it could be that all of the above was meant as satire, but then I absolutely could not tell that from how Dolly described it.
The characters were also very superficial. On every theme that came up in this book, I always felt like there was a missing piece of the puzzle (either I am missing the whole puzzle piece to really like this book).
Conclusion: it was really um... nothing for me. But maybe I see it all wrong since the many good reviews....
The biggest reason why I sat through the book feeling resentful is because I think there is a complete misconception around the topic of feminism displayed in this story. For instance, Nina is someone who dislikes monogamous, married couples who have children and "hide behind the fact that they have children and can't make time because of it". She also cannot stand women who like dresses, bachelor parties and the colour pink at all. Thereby, throughout the book, the typical "men are trash" conversations are held that I just can't handle. Its just always the same. And yes, Nina's friends really do call her a "feminist" after incredibly awful comments that have nothing to do with feminism.
At the beginning of the book, some things were still somewhat funny & online dating was sometimes relatable, but it went from relatable to unbearable very quickly because of the weird comments.
I also really couldn't tell which parts were meant to be humorous & which were serious? It was really hard to tell from the tone of the writing style. So it could be that all of the above was meant as satire, but then I absolutely could not tell that from how Dolly described it.
The characters were also very superficial. On every theme that came up in this book, I always felt like there was a missing piece of the puzzle (either I am missing the whole puzzle piece to really like this book).
Conclusion: it was really um... nothing for me. But maybe I see it all wrong since the many good reviews....