loner by Georgina Young

Forty-Sixth book of 2020

Reading period: Jun 08th 2020 – June 08th 2020

Summary

Set in Melbourne, Loner is a humorous and heartfelt exploration of new adulthood. Lona kills her days by sneaking into the dark room at her old art school to develop photographs. She kills her nights DJ-ing the roller disco at Planet Skate. She is in inexplicably, debilitatingly love with a bespectacled Doctor Who-obsessed former classmate, and in comfortable, platonic love with her best friend Tab. Lona works hard to portray a permanent attitude of cynicism and ennui but will her carefully constructed persona be enough to protect her from the inevitable sorrows and unexpected joys of adult life? Loner re-examines notions of social isolation experienced by young people, suggesting sometimes our own company can be a choice and not a failing.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Text Publishing Company to send me a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Rating

Review

I like the choice of narration; it looks like different diary entries. You don’t have the usual chapters but more a theme about Lona’s life in the past or the present.

So there is only one point of view, but I would have like a more general point of view for some parts as sometimes Lona’s point of view isn’t enough and miss depth.

During the whole of the book, we can see that she feels aimless. This common, especially when you are her age, and it’s a good thing to read about this in a book. Also, she talks about having anxiety; nevertheless,
she doesn’t evolve through the book, and I didn’t see real anxiety as some people can suffer daily.

This book will be available the 19th Feb 2021.

Liz.