Dumped Actually

By Nick Spalding.

A novel about lost love and coping with the aftermath of being publicly dumped. Oliver ‘Ollie’ Sweet is a journalist and lives up to his name. He really is very sweet and perhaps a little bit wet at times. The novel begins with a day out with Ollie and his girlfriend Samantha at a amusement park where Ollie has big plans to propose. And it all goes down hill from there. Samantha publicly humiliates him by saying no and we launch into a very depressed time for Ollie, trying to understand where he always goes wrong with girlfriends past. There is even a very bizarre meeting with a suicidal man in a flip flops at the top of a car park which leads to an unlikely but funny friendship between two lost souls. So launches ‘Dumped Actually’ his column in a online website and through advice sent in by his readers, we follow him through many hilarious events in an attempt for him to get over Samantha and finally find himself. Ollie soon finds himself being the centre of attention of hundreds and thousands of readers, whether he likes it or not. Does his chance at being happy depend on love or actually finding himself?

I have read a few of Nick Spalding’s novels in the past and they never fail to disappoint. It is totally refreshing to read a romance novel in the eyes of the male protagonist and Ollie ended up reminding me of a female Bridget Jones. Nick Spalding has a fantastic way of making scenes sparkle with humour. His way of writing with inner thoughts and sounds bring together perfect imagery that will have your sides splitting with laughter. i literally couldn’t stop chuckling throughout this novel. There were so many moments so cleverly written that were just unbelievably funny. It really is a great, light hearted read.

Ollie is a little bit of a push-over but I think that was intentional and Spalding needs to give his personality room to grow and for Ollie to get his own backbone eventually. Sometimes his reactions to events were a little bit predictable but overall it was a sweet and funny story. It would have been nice to see his relationship grow with Wimsy a bit more, and perhaps for a new love interest to have been staring him in the face. I thought perhaps, he might get that with Rachael his boss, but I was left a little disappointed.

A fast-paced read, perfect for escaping and having some laugh-out-loud moments, this novel really is great, Booklovers. Pick up your copy from the 16th July.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.