Dating Disasters of Emma Nash

March 1, 2018
If Adrian Mole had been a teenage girl, he would have been Emma Nash. Two months after her boyfriend stopped speaking to her, Emma gets a social media notification: "Leon Naylor is in a relationship with Anna McDonnell." Emma could have sworn Leon was in fact dating her. Now that she thinks of it, all the signs of a breakup are there, except that Leon (who is assumed white) forgot one important thing: to actually break up with Emma! What's a girl to do? The white English teenager starts a blog charting her painfully awkward dating woes as she tries to find someone who will help her forget Leon (chucking his used Band-Aid that she keeps under her pillow would be a better place to start). Misguided attempts at moving on lead to one boy disaster after another. Is dating to forget the right thing to do? What's so important about having a boyfriend anyway? Emma and her friends (white lesbian Faith and dark-skinned soccer player Steph) question society's rules for girls, but there's an uncomfortable subtext about the sacredness of virginity that might leave some young feminist readers recoiling. Loaded with Briticisms and told primarily through Emma's hilariously angst-y blog posts, Seager's debut is an epistolary novel for the technological age.Bawdy, irreverent, and embarrassingly truthful. (Fiction. 13-18)

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2018

Gr 10 Up-British teen Emma has a melodramatic meltdown when she learns that her boyfriend Leon (who seems to have been completely avoiding her for months) is now publicly dating pretty, athletic Anna. Emma takes to her bed in despair, stops bathing, and wallows in her own misery. Attempts by mom and friends to help Emma move on are for naught. Emma tries dating tech geek Laurence, but his silence puzzles her. Dates with overly amorous Greg are unsatisfying but serve to temporarily reignite Leon's interest. It's only when Emma starts looking outside of herself that she begins to see what is really important and focus on personal growth beyond hormonal attachment. The novel is written entirely in blog format, which some readers might find tedious. The British colloquialisms might also be distracting for some others. References to a marathon masturbation session ring true to young adult experience and makes this more appropriate for older teens. VERDICT This slightly funny novel has some appeal for its audience; an additional purchase for large collections.-Susan Riley, Mamaroneck Public Library, NY

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2018
Grades 8-11 Emma Nash has been ghosted. At least, that's what her friends tell her as she wallows in the loss of her boyfriend, a boy whose used Band-Aid she might be keeping under her pillow. Forced to leave the safety of her bedroom, Emma decides with the help of the internet that she might be able to find a new relationship. But she quickly learns finding true love, even with the help of social media, isn't easy. This story is a truly funny, painfully honest look at a bad breakup. First-time author Seager isn't afraid to explore potentially touchy topics a teen girl would be obsessing over with a kind of self-awareness that comes off both as believably young but never condescending. Reminiscent of Paula Danziger and Ann M. Martin's Snail Mail No More (2000) and Lauren Myracle's TTYL (2004), the blog format allows for a steady, quick pace, even when Emma goes on a one-track rant. Seager's novel captures a very specific teenage era yet still feels timeless.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2019
When sixteen-year-old Emma finds out her boyfriend is seeing someone else, she tries online dating and records her cringeworthy experiences on her private blog. Seager's debut novel--related anecdotally through Emma's blog posts, messages, and tweets--is thoroughly engaging as witty, angsty Emma tackles relationships, friendship drama, and family problems with the help of the internet (and a lot of British humor).

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)