#35 [2024/CBR16] Good Material by Dolly Alderton

I was seeing Good Material by Dolly Alderton all over the place. It felt like the "it" book of 2023, and I immediately had FOMO. This was my first book by Alderton. I started reading it under the impression that I was reading a romance novel. I'm not sure how I came to that conclusion, but I assume it had something to do with the cover and the advertising. As I read, I kept expecting the main character to either get back with his ex or for the real romantic interest to show up. And it never happened, which may have impacted my reading enjoyment. But looking back without my unrealistic expectations, this was a well-written story with flawed, interesting characters. Alderton does a good job of exploring different points of view in a painful breakup. 

Andy has just been broken up with my his long-term girlfriend, Jen. He is struggling and making questionable decisions left and right. Sometimes this is funny to read, and sometimes it's just painful. He drinks too much. He obsesses. He stalks Jen on social media. His job as a comedian is a struggle. Things just aren't going well.

At first Andy moves in with his best friend, but his best friend's girlfriend is good friends with Jen, and they are busy with their family. After a pretty hilarious episode where he tries renting a houseboat, Andy rents a room from an odd old man. This obviously isn't close to what he had living with his girlfriend, but it's an acceptable situation given his current circumstances.

Andy's friends try to be supportive, but none of them are actually good about sharing their feelings. Also, they're in their 30's now with a lot more going on in their lives. Often times it was hard for them all to get together, and Andy felt guilty about sharing too much of his misery with them.

Although Andy was sometimes trying, I could relate to him. I remember struggling after a breakup. Trying to find myself and feel better about myself, I can see with hindsight that I was either acting without purpose or with a misguided yearning that wasn't making the situation any better. Sometimes you just have to wallow for a bit before you can move on and focus on yourself and what you want without your ex.

Near the end of the book, we hear Jen's perspective of the break up, which adds a lot of nuance to the story. Andy had his own narrative in his head the entire book, but his hurt and misunderstanding created an unfair image of Jen and what she was doing.

On the whole, this was a well-written, interesting novel--although it is not a romance. Recommended.