My rating: 5/5 stars

“I am my own universe; a galaxy; a solar system. I am the warm up act, the main event and the backing singers. And if this is it, if this is all there is – just me and the trees and the skies and the seas – I know now that that’s enough. I am enough. I am enough….I am whole and complete. I will never run out. And I am more than enough.”

Everything I Know About Love

In ‘Everything I Know About Love’, Alderton shares her adventures and lessons on life from her teenage years into adulthood. Written in short essays, she captures the essence of girlhood, female friendships, love, adulting, and more. 

Reading this felt so familiar, Alderton and I clearly suffer from the same level of deep nostalgia. Many chapters left me feeling wholly seen and understood, had me laughing out loud manically and tearing up silently. I really enjoyed the exploration of “change”. The change that comes with settling into adulthood – the changes in friendships, in priorities, in relationships. The struggle that comes with navigating those changes and the adjustment to a new normal of sorts.

“But little did I know how much work it takes to sustain that kind of intimacy with a friend as you get older – it doesn’t just stick around coincidentally”.

This book is chaos and adventure; it’s escapism until it’s not. It’s a journey of coming to terms with the life that is yours; the person that you are. It is an understanding of the love that exists within you, around you, the one that you create for yourself. It is being brave enough to look in the mirror and love the person staring back at you

I want to read everything Alderton writes, forever and I’m excited to check out the 2022 adapted tv series!