Book Review: Good Material by Dolly Alderton

A good book makes you feel all kinds of emotions, taking you on a roller coaster ride without knowing what you’ll witness next. Good Material by Dolly Alderton was one such book. 

Good Material by Dolly Alderton

It made me laugh (like really laugh out loud, not like a smile), cry (there really were some emotional points in the book that made me cry ugly tears), smile, and most importantly, made me feel warm. The story, which revolves around two main leads, Andy and Jen, is mostly written from the male POV, where Andy talks about the aftermath of his breakup with Jen, his now ex-girlfriend, whom he dated for around 4 years. The months that follow his breakup are talked about in detail and the author takes us through Andy’s journey of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. 

Even though we don’t get much insight into the backstories of the side characters, Jane and Avi (Jen and Andy’s best friends), the book makes for a decent read. I found the standup sequences a little too slow, but since there weren’t many, it was easy to get back into the main story. 

Without too many heavy words or complex structures, the writing does a good job of explaining the mental state of the protagonist. A comedian by profession, Andy does make you chuckle in places, making you actually wonder if he’s good at his job. 

The factor of relatability was evident as we’ve all been through a breakup at least once in our lives. I felt like I was peeping into someone’s life and seeing him go through the worst phase of his life. There were moments where I just wanted to give both Andy and Jen a warm hug and tell them that it’ll all be okay (sounds cliche, but sometimes cliche is all you want to hear!)

I finished it in record 2 days, after a long dry period (where I was unable to read beyond 20-25 pages). 

I’d rate it a good 4.4/ 5 and would definitely recommend it to people who like reading books on breakups, nostalgia, drama, and domestic fiction. 

Thank you for taking me out of a dry spell, Dolly Alderton! This was one very good read and I enjoyed it thoroughly!