Review of 28 Disastrous Dates: A (Mostly True) Humourous Memoir

[Emily Meadows]

[Following is a volunteer review of "28 Disastrous Dates: A (Mostly True) Humourous Memoir" by Poppy Mortimer.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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If you are looking for a laugh-out-loud memoir about a woman who has been there and done that on the dating scene, look no further than 28 Disastrous Dates: A (Mostly True) Humourous Memoir by Poppy Mortimer. Poppy grew up in northern England and then lived in Australia and Los Angeles, California. The 28 dates that Poppy documents take disastrous to a new level. Some of the dates she went on were with men she met online, while others were with men she met in person.

As someone who has also experienced the dating scene, I found myself empathizing with (and laughing at) the crazy situations Poppy found herself in. Despite creating a rule for herself that she would only go on one-hour dates with new men, she found herself on many first dates where the car ride alone was 2-3 hours. When things went wrong, as they always did, they went terribly wrong. And while not universally true, one of Poppy’s learnings is that men on online dating sites lie: they lie about their height, their weight, their professions, their diets (carnivore versus vegetarian), etc. Note: I am sure that some women lie on dating apps too, but this book focused on the male species.

I enjoyed reading this book; it was very well-written. Poppy got her MFA in creative writing in Los Angeles, which is what allowed her to spend a few years in California. Every chapter of the book felt like a complete short story with excellent character development and detailed scenarios. Poppy spent time after each date reflecting on what went wrong. This helped her get more clarity about the type of man she wanted to find.

There wasn’t anything I didn’t like about the book. It was exceptionally well-edited and easy to read. The content felt original. If there was anything the author could do to improve the book, it would be to add a table of contents at the beginning. This would allow readers to have a map of Poppy’s dates, chapter by chapter.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. It made me laugh out loud multiple times, and it was written very well. As I mentioned above, I didn’t find any errors in the text. I would recommend this book to anyone who has experienced the dating scene or to anyone looking for a comedic memoir to read.

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28 Disastrous Dates: A (Mostly True) Humourous Memoir
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