Dating Disasters of Emma Nash

by Chloe Seager

When a girl learns from an online status update that her boyfriend has dumped her, she embarks on a series of dating and life adventures, chronicling them in her private blog with hilarious results.

• ISBN10: 1335017054
• ISBN13: 9781335017055
• Publish Date: 1 May 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Harlequin Teen
• Edition: Original ed.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

This was hilarious, but as I was laughing, I was also reflecting on some the thoughts Chloe shared with us about being a young woman, being a friend, being yourself, and finding your passion.

Emma thought she had a boyfriend, but then learned her was "in a relationship" via social media. After wallowing in self-pity for some time, she decided to "move on" by finding someone to replace Leon. These dating disasters were quite hilarious for me and quite enlightening for Emma.

• Pro: Emma was a hilarious protagonist. I did get a little bit of a Georgia Nicholson vibe from her, because she was funny, honest, witty, and a little angsty just like Georgia, but she was also her own character in many other ways, and I loved her.

• Pro: The story was quite humorous, but nestled in the jokes were some really frank thoughts about feminism, sex, sexuality, friendship, and romantic relationships.

• Pro: Female friendship for the win! There are multiple examples of Emma and her friends supporting and being there for each other. They often had many sincere discussions with each other, which I think many could relate to.

• Pro: Emma and her mom was quite the pair. They weren't perfect, but there was a lot of affection between the two. There were even moments where Emma admitted how wonderful her mother was, and showed her how much she appreciated her.

• Con: I understand why the author went in the direction she did for the ending, but I was hoping for that AND something else. I wanted a little more closure for one of the "dating disasters".

• Pro: The blogging format worked better than I anticipated. Seager did a great job with each post, blending in dialog, text messages, and tweets with the narrative. And, well, I loved Emma, and really enjoyed reading her thoughts.

• Pro: This was a journey for Emma to get over Leon, but it ended up being a journey of self discovery. She learned a lot from her broken heart and breaking hearts, and was a better version of herself in the end.

Overall: A hilarious book, which had substance and even warmed my heart.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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[layawaydragon]

Dating Disasters of Emma Nash is an easy short read. Has it's funny moments. Emma has her terrible moments. I felt for her friends Faith and Gracie. I honestly liked them more than her, TBH. The ending is nice, a good solid message, but everything before that? Ehhh....

It's set up in journal entries she keeps on a private blog and some tweets. It's not the prolific journaling, but the stopping in the middle of doing stuff, like in the middle of class, and around people like her boyfriend? That feels weird to me. Journaling is so private, I can't imagine doing it out in the open like that!s I liked all the Twitter entries.

It was sometimes difficult to read because I get second-hand embarrassed easily. Like I can't make it through an Office or Parks & Rec. episode. The whole drunken party mess? Oy.

At least, it's very sex positive, talks about clitorial masterbation frankly and realistically in a way I haven't read before. Emma is a sexual being and controls her own sexuality.

Emma's reaction to her first viewing of a penis was memorable.

Her obsession over Leon is disturbing. VERY disturbing. Keeping used bandaids and food wrappers? Talk about serial killer in the making. It's not cute for any gender to pull that kind of shit.

The stalking - online and meatspace- is creepy as fuck.

Her mom is a romantic mess and you can totally see where Emma gets it. (They get better. )

There isn't much else really besides constant blogging, doing terrible in school or ditching, and the bright spot at the end.

I like the ending. Emma finds herself and finally starts listening somewhat to the people around her after learning the hard way. Her mom has a good showing here too.

Not a romantic read if you're looking to swoon over someone. More of a cathartic "I'm not alone or "at least I'm not THAT bad" for teens and a "gods, remember when I was that stupid and pathetic?" for adults.