Scan barcode
perpetually_reading_'s review against another edition
3.0
Stars 3.5
Description- Loner is a humorous and heartfelt exploration of new adulthood.
Lona kills her days 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 inexplicable, debilitating 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.
I want to start by making it clear that I did not finish this book. I know, I know… who starts a review like that but I wanted to be transparent. I tried so many times to start this novel, I mean… I did receive it as an ARC from NetGalley years ago, but something about Lona didn’t resonate with me and I just couldn’t push through. I would like to try again so day, and when I do will re-review.
Description- Loner is a humorous and heartfelt exploration of new adulthood.
Lona kills her days 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 inexplicable, debilitating 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.
I want to start by making it clear that I did not finish this book. I know, I know… who starts a review like that but I wanted to be transparent. I tried so many times to start this novel, I mean… I did receive it as an ARC from NetGalley years ago, but something about Lona didn’t resonate with me and I just couldn’t push through. I would like to try again so day, and when I do will re-review.
starness's review against another edition
5.0
Great read! Fun, observant, witty and tragically SO relatable. Lona is a art school drop out looking for meaning in her life instead she spirals into an existential crisis and decides doing nothing is more her jam, anything to avoid people and awkward social situations. Most of her time she spends avoiding any real conversations about feelings or talking about why she dropped out of her uni course. I enjoyed this book so much and even though nothing significant happens that’s precisely what I loved about it, it’s all about LONA I loved every inner thought and her way of expressing them just made me feel all her feelings! Also loved all the pop culture references. A refreshing new voice, so good!
textpublishing's review against another edition
The following book reviews have been shared by Text Publishing – publisher of Loner
'Georgina Young's fresh voice and careful writing about everyday characters made me feel instantly at home. Read Loner and feel seen, feel hope and be entertained—whatever your age. Young shines.’
Alice Bishop
‘I loved this razor-sharp, whip-smart, exquisitely funny debut.’
Nina Kenwood
‘Reading Loner was like reading about a younger me: going to art school, dating the wrong people, living in my first sharehouse, making questionable hair decisions, fallouts with friends, going to pretentious hipster cafes, getting lost in Chadstone, waiting for the delayed Pakenham-line train, experiencing my first love and heartbreak, and worrying so much about seeming cool and unbothered. Loner is a convincing snapshot of what it is like to be a young artist and not knowing what the hell you want to do with the rest of your life.’
Frances Cannon
‘Loner is a very clever, unconventional and hilarious coming-of-age story. I loved it!’
Eliza Henry-Jones
‘Georgina Young made me squirm and swoon and sigh as I fell head over heels for the exquisite paradoxes of her protagonist. Lona wonders why she can never say exactly the thing she means—lucky for us, we have Young, and she articulates all those things with smarts and humour and grace. This is a book to push into the hands of everyone you know, especially those who ever had trouble knowing themselves.’
Kate Mildenhall
‘A compassionate and clever story for dropouts and screw-ups. Georgina Young has bottled the fears and feelings of every young woman who has had to learn to stop hiding inside herself.’
Brodie Lancaster
‘A portrait of a particular state of mind at a particular time of life.’
Age
‘Wry, funny and witty…A grown-up version of Daria.’
Big Issue
‘Lona is a relatable and engaging character, socially maladroit but funny and spirited...Loner canvasses the various dramas of friendship, romance, and family with insight and wry humour.’
Australian Book Review
‘An enjoyable romp…that relishes in the complexities of interpersonal relationships.’
Farrago
‘This book has humour in unexpected places.’
3CR
‘Loner is a smart and funny novel that perfectly captures the uncertainties and awkwardness of being a young adult… Georgina Young’s protagonist, Lona, is smart-alecky, wry and ever so relatable.’
Big Issue
'Lona examines the minutiae of her life and the people in it with sharp clarity, endearing honesty, dry humour and a vivid peppering of literature and pop culture references, laying bare the contradictions of her existence...This debut novel is memorable because of the spiky, intelligent, honest, witty, exasperating and endearing voice of Lona. Cleverly written, in short sharp chapters, it captures the false bravado, the awkwardness, the misunderstandings, the inability to say how you feel: it is a snapshot of what life is like for so many late teens and 20-somethings, who are beset with anxiety, aimlessness, unable to move forward or move back. The novel leaves you wanting Lona to see, in the best possible way, that she really is on the path to become her full creative, idiosyncratic self.’
Judges’ comments, Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2021 (shortlisted)
'Georgina Young's fresh voice and careful writing about everyday characters made me feel instantly at home. Read Loner and feel seen, feel hope and be entertained—whatever your age. Young shines.’
Alice Bishop
‘I loved this razor-sharp, whip-smart, exquisitely funny debut.’
Nina Kenwood
‘Reading Loner was like reading about a younger me: going to art school, dating the wrong people, living in my first sharehouse, making questionable hair decisions, fallouts with friends, going to pretentious hipster cafes, getting lost in Chadstone, waiting for the delayed Pakenham-line train, experiencing my first love and heartbreak, and worrying so much about seeming cool and unbothered. Loner is a convincing snapshot of what it is like to be a young artist and not knowing what the hell you want to do with the rest of your life.’
Frances Cannon
‘Loner is a very clever, unconventional and hilarious coming-of-age story. I loved it!’
Eliza Henry-Jones
‘Georgina Young made me squirm and swoon and sigh as I fell head over heels for the exquisite paradoxes of her protagonist. Lona wonders why she can never say exactly the thing she means—lucky for us, we have Young, and she articulates all those things with smarts and humour and grace. This is a book to push into the hands of everyone you know, especially those who ever had trouble knowing themselves.’
Kate Mildenhall
‘A compassionate and clever story for dropouts and screw-ups. Georgina Young has bottled the fears and feelings of every young woman who has had to learn to stop hiding inside herself.’
Brodie Lancaster
‘A portrait of a particular state of mind at a particular time of life.’
Age
‘Wry, funny and witty…A grown-up version of Daria.’
Big Issue
‘Lona is a relatable and engaging character, socially maladroit but funny and spirited...Loner canvasses the various dramas of friendship, romance, and family with insight and wry humour.’
Australian Book Review
‘An enjoyable romp…that relishes in the complexities of interpersonal relationships.’
Farrago
‘This book has humour in unexpected places.’
3CR
‘Loner is a smart and funny novel that perfectly captures the uncertainties and awkwardness of being a young adult… Georgina Young’s protagonist, Lona, is smart-alecky, wry and ever so relatable.’
Big Issue
'Lona examines the minutiae of her life and the people in it with sharp clarity, endearing honesty, dry humour and a vivid peppering of literature and pop culture references, laying bare the contradictions of her existence...This debut novel is memorable because of the spiky, intelligent, honest, witty, exasperating and endearing voice of Lona. Cleverly written, in short sharp chapters, it captures the false bravado, the awkwardness, the misunderstandings, the inability to say how you feel: it is a snapshot of what life is like for so many late teens and 20-somethings, who are beset with anxiety, aimlessness, unable to move forward or move back. The novel leaves you wanting Lona to see, in the best possible way, that she really is on the path to become her full creative, idiosyncratic self.’
Judges’ comments, Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2021 (shortlisted)
bestdressedbookworm's review against another edition
5.0
I can relate. There are some books that just hit every nerve.
hayleyyyreads's review against another edition
4.0
feeling very Seen which i Do Not Like.
lona is a very compelling character but i feel like i would dislike her immensely if i met her in real life which is not great considering she is literally me.
also the finnikin of the rock reference made my day
lona is a very compelling character but i feel like i would dislike her immensely if i met her in real life which is not great considering she is literally me.
also the finnikin of the rock reference made my day
bookshelfbybee's review against another edition
4.0
It took me a little while to get through this one - not because it was boring or slow, but because I was in an apparent reading slump and it didn’t necessarily latch onto me. I didn’t LOVE this novel, but I did enjoy it. I also adored the short, sharp chapters.
In the beginning, I loved that everything was non-descriptive; there’s that favourite band, that pub, the TV show on ABC about this... just enough to keep you interested, and not quite enough to stop you from thinking Lona’s life might be yours too. Then, as the story progressed and as Lona opened up more to herself and those around her, things became more specific; Ryan Reynolds in the movie about aliens, the two-bedroom unit in Carnegie, the train station at South Yarra. I don’t know if that was intentional by Young, but it was clever.
I’m not entirely sure how I feel about Lona’s attitude. Does she not care for the things other people like and looks down on them for it, or does she just not care for them? I wonder about Lona a lot; she’s written in a way that makes her seem simultaneously pretentious and judgemental, self-aware and empathetic. She is very complex, and I enjoyed that. Similarly, Young materialised in Lona’s emotions so many things that I feel myself, but sometimes can’t make sense of.
This book doesn’t end in a neat bow, but it’s not supposed to; Lona’s life, like ours, is messy and incomplete and constantly changing. Neat bows are rare and it’s important to remember that.
When to Read - If you’re looking for an atypical read with an interesting protagonist.
In the beginning, I loved that everything was non-descriptive; there’s that favourite band, that pub, the TV show on ABC about this... just enough to keep you interested, and not quite enough to stop you from thinking Lona’s life might be yours too. Then, as the story progressed and as Lona opened up more to herself and those around her, things became more specific; Ryan Reynolds in the movie about aliens, the two-bedroom unit in Carnegie, the train station at South Yarra. I don’t know if that was intentional by Young, but it was clever.
I’m not entirely sure how I feel about Lona’s attitude. Does she not care for the things other people like and looks down on them for it, or does she just not care for them? I wonder about Lona a lot; she’s written in a way that makes her seem simultaneously pretentious and judgemental, self-aware and empathetic. She is very complex, and I enjoyed that. Similarly, Young materialised in Lona’s emotions so many things that I feel myself, but sometimes can’t make sense of.
This book doesn’t end in a neat bow, but it’s not supposed to; Lona’s life, like ours, is messy and incomplete and constantly changing. Neat bows are rare and it’s important to remember that.
When to Read - If you’re looking for an atypical read with an interesting protagonist.
tanaz_masaba's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this book! Loner is one of those timeless stories about growing up, identity and adjusting to the different changes life throws at us as we move from being naive teenagers to a young adulthood. The writing was eloquent and charming, and I absolutely loved how well developed all the characters were. Would definitely recommend this,
hellosarahlou's review against another edition
4.0
I feel very seen! A nice read, love the short, sharp dialogue and chapters (and the front cover artwork!).