Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Good Material

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Good Material by Dolly Alderton

13 reviews

virgcole398's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It was hard to get through the first 30% of because of Andy. I didn’t like him but he had some nice character development towards the end. Jen’s POV was the best part of the book! So relatable! I wish there were more of her POV than Andy’s.

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bookshelfmystic's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Besides not being British, and being slightly less familiar with Instagram than our protagonist, I got the sense that I was the exact audience for Good Material. 30-something millennials living in 2024, like myself, will find it highly relatable. Who among us hasn’t thought “I’m too old for this” while swiping on dating apps or drinking next to undergrads at a college bar? Andy finds himself in this position, suddenly, as the unexpected dissolution of his five-year relationship shines a spotlight on his life at 35. He must grapple with how his age affects his new singlehood, his career, and his friendships: “Thirty-five is the youth of middle age,” he claims, desperately, as he sinks deeper into post-breakup malaise while his friends align their calendars to schedule a lads’ night out months in advance.

Though Andy is heartbroken, he’s still on the search for good material for his comedy shows. He has the fortunate misfortune to find himself in a series of hilarious situations (many self-inflicted), which his droll British self-deprecation makes even funnier. But we start to see a change in him as he reaches rock bottom and finds a path to healing. That’s what makes this book feel so complete: not only is it funny, but it’s got a really clear character arc that never needs to tell the reader “this is when I started to feel better.” We see Andy’s growth like we’d see a friend’s growth, as they slowly come out of the darkness and find themselves again.

Andy’s finally back on his feet by the time he

writes a comedy show about getting over his breakup and invites his ex to watch it, with absolutely no pretense of trying to get back together with her or make himself look like the good guy

. He’s finally figured out some truths about his relationship and himself, and we get to see that play out so satisfyingly.

Interestingly, in the book club for which I read this book, opinions differed on the

concluding chapters being told from Jen’s point of view. I thought it was unnecessary and actually took away from Andy’s story of growth. Her narration resolved some plot points and revealed some twists that we wouldn’t see otherwise – like Jen posing as Tash and Avi forging the letter from Julian Assange – but to me these conclusions seemed too neat. I thought the story felt more human before we knew both sides, since each of us only ever really gets to live our own story.

But some of my book club friends thought Jen’s chapters were the best part, especially getting to see Andy’s flaws from the outside. My book club is entirely made up of women, and we certainly felt some commiseration when she reveals the breaking points that led to their relationship ending – Andy’s fragile ego and self-centeredness were definitely tied up in his masculinity. After our discussion, I could see their point, but I still feel that the book would have been more satisfying if Dolly Alderton had found a way to reveal some of that side of Andy without switching points of view.

Besides that minor criticism, I found the book thoroughly enjoyable and highly readable. It’s a great light read with some fulfilling emotional depth.

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issyd23's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Really Good, Actually is the better breakup book. Wish we got more of Jen’s perspective Andy was intolerable and not as funny as Maggie from Really Good 3🎭

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sydapel's review

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emotional funny reflective

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Right off the bat, I'm going to say that this isn't going to be for everyone. You do have to commit to listening to the narrative voice of an insecure, emotionally immature, slightly alcoholic man in the chaotic throes of heartbreak who does and says things that will probably make you frustrated and slightly triggered. Dolly Alderton's prose is very readable but Andy is a difficult character to spend about 75% of the book with. However, you have to know Andy's story to know Jen's. And the sucker punch of the 25% of the book that is Jen's made me feel so understood and validated that it made everything worth it for me.

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lauracollins096's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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madelinedalton's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I'm a HUGE Dolly Alderton fan, and I hate to say that this is my least favorite book of hers. When reviewing a book, I often find myself thinking that it could be saved "if we had spent more time with x character" or "if the narrative had been restructured in x way", but that's not the case with Good Material. The execution was absolutely perfect for the concept--it's just a 4-star concept and not a 5-star concept, in my opinion. What prevents it from being a 5-star concept is that the reader is inevitably going to feel displeased and apathetic watching a 35-year-old man wallow in his own misery for six months. Not even an ending as stellar as this one could fully erase the feeling one gets from spending ~300 pages in the land of male mediocrity.

If the novel had never flipped to Jen's perspective at the end, I would've given it 2.5-3 stars and relegated it to the land of "go girl, give us nothing" lit fic, but Jen's perspective skyrocketed it to a 4.

While Andy is absolutely a mediocre and frustrating white man, he is still somewhat likable and relatable, and I think that's essential to making the novel work.

The strength and power in Jen's ending would have been undercut had Andy been a complete loser with no redeeming qualities. Instead, you can understand why Jen would have dated somebody like him. I think the 90/10 rule she talks about really drives this home. It would be hard to believe that Jen herself is a smart, likable character who is going after what she wants had she dated a complete buffoon. Instead, she dated a likable yet deeply flawed guy, and it was a necessary chapter in her growth journey.

I've seen two main criticisms of this book: that it's about a stand-up comedian and yet it isn't funny, and that Andy's voice reads like a whiny Millennial woman rather than a man. While I wasn't laughing out loud for most of it, I don't think that is a bad thing? I went in expecting a break-up novel rather than a stand-up set, and that's what I got. Y'all need to stop judging something just because it wasn't what you expected lol. As for Andy reading like a Millennial woman, I truly could not tell you if he did or not because I am neither a man nor a Millennial (I'm 25). I also don't think it's productive to generalize "how men talk" or "how women talk"--in fact, I think it helps the story that he's not exactly what everyone expects a man to sound like while also exhibiting many patriarchal traits without realizing it. It makes him a more well-rounded character, which makes him bearable to read about even while he's making terrible decisions.

TLDR: I enjoyed this because I'm a huge Dolly fan and I love anything that pokes holes in the idea of a "nice guy", but it's not as great as her other books.

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gemin1reader's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad

3.5

This book is really well written and it makes some really good points about generational differences, relationships, break-ups and Dolly Alderton just really gets people, I think! Buuuut…I didn’t actually enjoy the process of reading it that much. Like the majority of the book is a man feeling pitiful about getting dumped and I had to force myself to finish it.

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bella_cavicchi's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

4.5 stars. About halfway through GOOD MATERIAL, I was worried. Not because it isn't well-written (Alderton always delivers on that front) nor because it isn't funny (it has the makings of a rom-com all over it), but because I couldn't figure out why Alderton—my queen of acknowledging and celebrating the lives of single women—had written this particular book about a 30-something man grieving a hefty breakup.

But then! You reach the last third of the book, and the perspective shifts, and it all starts to make sense. To structure it this way is a risk, but it pays off. The perfect companion to another book I read recently and loved: Amy Key's ARRANGEMENTS IN BLUE, for both invite us readers to think about life where marriage is not the end goal.

Highly recommend.

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albon's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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mgcalder's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Admittedly maybe not the right time for me to read this book but I found the main character insufferable. Writing is good but the story is average.

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