Book Review: Everything I Know About Love

Last summer, during a pretty sweaty and long waitressing shift, my co-worker told me she had recently become part of a book club and that she was reading this book about love (?!). She actually specified it was

‘really good for people who are single’ - great.

My first thought was here we go again, and immediately wrote it off as a book I’d never read. For those who know me, my head tends to turn at a good thriller, and you’ll often see me routing through my dad’s old John Grimshaw’s novels. It wasn’t until my best mate Grace, (a very reliant person to get book recommendations from) insisted I read it. I was tempted to look up the synopsis online in case she asked me what i thought, but decided why not, and gave it a read.

Within the first couple of pages i was completely and utterly hooked. Everything I Know About Love, follows the life of Dolly, narrating stories from her first childhood crush, crazy university years and her attempts at navigating ‘adult life’ in the city .This book perfectly recites both silly and serious anecdotes. Alderton masters the art of incorporating everything under the sun, from (terrible) first dates, strange food recipes, renting slightly disheveled flats in London, and being mates with your local corner shop owner.

Although sharing some of her most light-hearted and witty memories, Dolly manages to depict her recollections in an honest way, showing us as readers, that she is not resilient to the loss of loved ones or heartbreak. This particularly captivated me as she did not mollify the hardship she undertook for the sake of comedy, unlike many other authors.

For me, the main moral about this book is self -love, respect and that family and friends play a significantly important part within life. As the reader, the more you delve into this book, the more you begin to realise that female friendships are crucial. The most important message I took away from this book is that the bond between females is undeniably strong, and despite all the nastiness, (occasional) bitching, gossiping and sulking, Dolly Alderton makes you recognise that it is a very true and rare gift.

Izzy x