Dolly Alderton’s book ‘Everything I know about Love’ is a vital read for any girl between the age of 17 and 30, and, I imagine, still a fantastic read for people that fall outside that age bracket.
Being an avid listener of ‘The High Low’ podcast by Dolly Alderton and Pandora Sykes I knew that as soon as Dolly Alderton’s book was out, I wanted to read it.
Gripping and effortless
Everything I know about love encompasses stages of Dolly’s life from childhood to date. Dolly Alderton is only 29, and I think the fact that the stories are spread over 15 years, not 40, (like a lot of memoirs) is what makes this book such a gripping and effortless read.
Dolly tells tales of meeting boys virtually on MSN through to meeting up with guys in person from Tinder. She talks about falling in love, falling out of love, breaking up, and being broken up with. However, the book is so much more than her relationship with boys – it’s about her relationship with herself and her best friends.
The book is written in such an honest way, it leaves you relating to the situations, whether you see them in yourself, or someone you know.
Friendship
The book highlights the value of friendship. It follows the ups and downs of Dolly’s friendship between her and her best friend Farly. Reading it, you realise the importance of appreciating your friends and the memories you make with them, as these are the people who will always be there.
Reading it is a refreshing reminder for anyone growing up that there is no right or wrong time for things to happen in your life. Dolly describes times when it seemed as if she was being left behind; her friends moving out, and Farly getting engaged at 25 – ‘she said nothing would change and yet everything changed.’ Nevertheless, as the book progresses, it makes sense. This change is simply natural and doesn’t jeopardise female friendship, in fact it is what makes it stronger. If, despite the changes in your individual lives you can continue to rely on each other, each stage of your individual life apart can simply be seen as a strengthening of your friendship.
@dollyalderton ‘s Everything I know about love is as big hearted, honest and generous as any book I’ve ever read. A journey to self awareness, with the lightest of touches. Funny, poignant and heartbreaking … what a talented writer! pic.twitter.com/BqFbrOKezS
— Susan Levey (@openmind54) February 1, 2018
Rod Stewart
The book portrays growing up as an adventure, and when, at times it seems that things aren’t going as planned, it is these times that combine to make you who you are. I found it not only entertaining but reassuring when I read about the time that Dolly hosted a failed Rod Stewart themed house party, and the time she paid £200 to get a taxi to a house party that the guy she fancied was at. For me, these stories are a reminder that your twenties are the years you can get away with doing stupid things (and that these things become less acceptable as you get older). Now is a time that shouldn’t be taken for granted and instead used to do the stupid things that, if nothing else, will provide you with some great writing material.
The conclusion that you draw from the book is that despite when growing up it’s easy to feel that you aren’t enough, that is wrong. In fact, the most important thing to realise is that you are enough, and you need to truly believe that.
Dolly successfully combines a huge amount of hilarious nutty stories and compiles them into a book of honesty and truth that is most definitely worth a read.
