A hilarious read for anyone who grew up in the 90s/00s having to deal with that scratchy tone of the dial-up; for those who would jump straight onto MSN to talk their friends as soon as they got home from school, and when grown-up, would spend evenings staying out late, drinking in random houses at house parties with people you don't know. You'll be nodding your head at every page turn.
Everything I know About Love is not fiction, it's the story of the early life of Dolly Alderton, growing up in the 90s in the suburbs of London with dial-up internet and MSN as the best way to communicate with friends. It then moves on to drinking late into the night, taking risks, falling in love with the wrong people; hangovers that last days but you still just carry on drinking. Dolly describes feelings of inadequacy, pleasing people just to be liked and finally finding freedom.
I really think anyone who grew up in this era will find parts of this book they can relate to, even if you weren't as reckless as Dolly.
I loved this book so much that I really was hooked after the first few pages. Here's one of my favourite first paragraphs -
"For some, the sound that defined their adolescence was the joyful shrieks of their siblings playing in the garden. For others, it was the chain rattle of their much-loved biked, hobbling along hills and vales. Some will recall birdsong as they walked to school, or the sound of laughing and footballs being kicked in the playground. For me, it was the sound of AOL dial-up internet."
TRUE THAT!! I can 100% relate to this. Who else is the same??
In case you didn't know already, Dolly Alderton is a 29 year-old UK journalist who has written for The Sunday Times, Marie Claire, Grazia, Glamour + more, covering a range of topics from love, dating and sex, to celebrities, feminism, books and TV.
Dolly described her book on instagram the day it was released, and I just wanted to share it with you as it's the best description and I just really want you all to read it!! I obviously can't describe it any better than the author herself -
"it's a book about love, but it's not really about men. It's about growing up in the suburbs and growing up on the internet. It's about not being about to face the reality of life and, instead, escaping into fantasy. It's about women and drinking recklessness and tribalism and long nights and high adventure. It's about shame and inadequacy and feeling like you're not enough. It's about feeling left behind. It's about falling in love with a job. It's about dancing in the kitchen and eating fried egg sandwiches and getting hangovers and being uncool in Camden Town and mice infestations and corner shop and prank texts. It's about needless drama and bad decisions; people-pleasing and validation-seeking. It's about loss and saying goodbye and accepting change. It's about growing up with friends and being in bad bands with friends. It's about learning to ask for help. It's about finding a home at last and it's about finding freedom too. It's about gratitude. It's about the last decade of my life. It's a love story. It's everything I know about love." - Dolly Alderton (Instagram)
Everything I Know about Love by Dolly Alderton, published by Fig Tree (Penguin UK) is available now. You can buy a hardcover version from Amazon UK* for £6.49.
I received this book from Fig Tree via Netgalley. All opinions are un-biased and my own.
*This is an affiliate link meaning I will gain a small profit if you buy from it.
Did you grow up in the 90s/00s too? What are your best memories of this decade?
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