Good Material: A Read with Jenna Pick

"Good Material" is Dolly Alderton's latest release and like every book she has written, it won me over immediately. The story takes the reader through the various stages of the protagonists's post-breakup journey, with moments of sympathy and a desire to see him pull himself together. Although I didn't always like Andy, it was fun to follow his journey. It was interesting to see how Dolly portrayed the male perspective. Nevertheless, my highlight was when we got an insight into Jen's perspective, the ex-girlfriend. Everything about this book was entertaining and hilarious. Overall, it's a fantastic read!

If you loved the „dear Dolly“ book, you‘ll love this one. This book is about love (like all of Dolly’s books), but not only about romantic love to your SO, but to your friends, to your family and to yourself. This book has two parts, at first your read from a male perspective and it‘s mostly heartbreaking, but also hilarious at times :) all the little jokes and remarks about male friendships, the stand-up comedy scene and modern culture were too good And right at the end the perspective changes to a female one and it felt like an honest chat with a dear (girl-)friend that knows you since ages and just gets you. And again, this part too was about love - to your girlfriends, family, yourself and your own path in life. I loves this book! It took some time for me to get used to the pace of it, but it was worth it. A book, that is as heartwarming as it is sad at times. Made me very grateful for my own friends and loved ones

Funny, witty, kind of depressing at times but also very much relatable - would’ve been a solid 4 star book but then Jen‘s perspective started and I have to give 5 stars. Her side of the breakup changed everything - I love the the realisation that you believed the protagonist for 300 pages straight and made Jen out to be the villain and Andy to be the good guy when in reality that is just not true. It’s a very good representation of humans questioning and hating their ex-partners after a breakup, dismissing the fact that they might’ve done something wrong too. I also adored Jen’s honest thoughts about children, relationships and finding your own way, I feel like it’s something a lot of women can relate to. Great concept, I’ve never read a book quite like it.

it's a well-written relatable book about a man in his 30ies going through a breakup. it was a bit difficult to get into at first (a bit of a drag to be in the head of an insecure failed comedian that has absolutely 0 self-reflection skills). however, i loved reading jen's perspective in the end. i only wished it was maybe 60% andy's pov and 40% jen's, instead of 90/10

Wow. If I had to describe this novel in one sentence, I would say it drastically ripped your heart out and slowly put it back together piece by piece, only to rip it out once again. Essentially, we follow Andy, a struggling stand-up comedy artist in his mid-thirties, trying to work out over several months why his long-term girlfriend broke up with him. Although partly long-winded (which is why it took me 6 months to read it lol), most of the time I was absolutely in awe of Dolly Aldertons capability of using words. It makes you burst out laughing in one second and almost tearing up the next while she even manages to address social issues such as the desire to have children, changes in friendships, misogyny and the fact that some relationships don't work out even if you have found the right partner. Seriously, go read this book.