A memoir about how someone discovers, loses, discovers, and yet again loses love is something that intrigued me to read as a 22-year-old. As a hopeless romantic, wondering how I would find love has been a head-scratcher for almost my whole life. So initially knowing the title of this memoir and having this book be recommended by a lovely Twitter mutual, got me hooked to read this book.
This book follows Dolly Alderton’s journey of falling in love, getting drunk, snoggs every man she encounters at parties, finding a job, being dumped, going to therapy, and generally just a recap of the 30 years of her life revolving around those things.
Finishing this book didn't take too long for me as this was a fun read, it’s a light read, as you don’t have to be actively paying attention on some pages (i.e. recipes & letters from unrecognizable names).
For the most time, I couldn’t relate to her point of view especially at the beginning of the book when she was in her twenties literally just being dumb and annoying (my god I can’t stand her younger self). But I think it’s what makes this memoir have a point, that a person does have their moment of development, and action does matter when it comes to making a decision even at your early age in life. It’s a good thing so that girls and younger women can have a reference of thoughts while picking up this book.
Other than me not being able to stand her behaviors earlier in the book, there are also other things that I don’t like about this book. They’re typically not major but something that I skipped ahead while reading. As I've mentioned before, it’s the food recipes and the letters from the names I don’t recognize. The food recipe was named with something quirky or cutesy which I'm not bothered by, but rather the existence of the food recipe itself. Just why? Why am I reading recipes? As far as I know, I'm pretty sure I didn't pick up a cookbook. I would’ve known if this book was titled “Everything I Know About Cooking”.
The second thing was the letters. OH THE LETTERS. Where did these letters even come from? Oh, it’s from Jack and Emily? Okay, but none of these names necessarily contribute to any of Dolly’s story so seriously, why am I reading this?
Enough of what I disliked, let’s talk about what I liked about this book. I really liked the part where she realized the importance of being selective when choosing a partner to sleep with, as I partly relate to being an abstinent myself. The part where her best friend, Farly, suddenly forgets Dolly’s entire being after Farly gets herself a boyfriend, the jealousy of when a friend slowly and inevitably disappears from your life for a significant other hit too close for me. I also liked the chapter when she declared the things that she learned about love at some specific ages, but I’m also taking those bits of advice with a grain of salt as I don’t agree partly with them. And lastly, from this book, I learned that women do have some sort of existential crisis when they’re nearing 30. (I’m just glad that I have been warned lol).
With that being said, I give this book a 6/10 ⭐️.
What about you? Have you read this book? I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book if you’re easily annoyed reading a person choosing dumb decisions.
