Thirtynothing

by Lisa Jewell

On his thirtieth birthday, Dig Ryan is reunited with his first love, Delilah, after a twelve-year separation, an encounter that does not please Dig's best friend, Nadine, who calls in her own first love, Phil, to help resolve the situation, in a zany novel about friendship, romance, and growing up, by the author of Ralph's Party.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, Audiobook, Contemporary, Humor, British Literature

327 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

LISA JEWELL was born in London in 1968.

Her first novel, Ralph's Party, was the best- selling debut novel of 1999. Since then she has written another twenty novels, most recently a number of dark psychological thrillers, including The Girls, Then She Was Gone, The Family Upstairs and The Night She Disappeared.

Lisa is a New York Times and Sunday Times number one bestselling author who has been published worldwide in over twenty-five languages. She lives in north London with her husband, two teenage daughters and the best dog in the world.

Lisa's Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/LisaJewelloff...

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dig and Nadine are best friends, they shop together, they eat together, they support each other, they spend every Saturday day time withe each other, and both of them are essentially serial monogamists. Each critical of the other, they question the possibility of either of them growing up and settling down, when Dig's first love, Delilah comes hurtling back into their lives and Nadine finds that she doesn't like it!

I'd been seeing Jewell's books all over Goodreads and Instagram so grabbed this when I saw it going for 50p in a charity store. What started of as an entertaining, yet pretty formulaic read, became much more as Jewell's writing, ideas and characterisations truly blew life into this making a very superior romantic / dark(!)-comedy. Not usually the sort of book I read, but I do dabble now and again, but this is a class apart, it's a cliche, but I couldn't out this down and finished it over 2 days! Give me more Lisa Jewell! 8.5 out of 12.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fab guy Dig is - a perfect man! I would go and live with him in his clean apartment any day! And Nadine - what a lovely girl - want her wardrobe! Such a great book with fab characters. Recommended!

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good! I was actually up really late because I couldn't wait to find out what happened! I guessed really early on that Delilah was pregnant. I didn't guess that she'd been raped and had a baby when she was 18 though. Bless her. Her stepfather really did have super sperm. And poor Nadine! That Phil bloke was terrible!! The way he blackmailed her into letting him into her flat, and then trashed the place was awful!.

I was so glad when they got together at the end! They were so cute together. And they're having a baby!!!

Loved it!

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring. Not going to finish. This is an early book from Jewell, so I forgive her. I like her more current books, so I thought I would read everything she wrote, but I have changed my mind. I'll keep to the more recent novels.

[Stina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was even more stupid and predictible than I thought it would be. Ugh.

[Rose 🥀 · Rating 1 out of 5]

The main guy is homophobic, ableist and a pervert bordering on pedophile (this story begins with him sleeping with a 17 year old on his 30th birthday) and the main girl bases all her happiness on whether she is in a relationship or not.

Dig (the main guy) calls Nadine (the main girl) ‘A lush and lovely virgin’.
spoilers: just before he kisses her for the first time, he says she ‘looks so young and vulnerable’.

spoilers: he describes a 12 year old girl as someone who would ‘put a spring in an old man’s step’, calles himself a pervert, and then realises she might actually be his daughter.

TW:
Rape
sexual assault
abuse
grief - giving up a child for adoption
death of parents
suicide

[Boorrito · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lisa Jewell has definitely improved as an author over the past decade because I found this one awful and I've enjoyed her more recent books. 150 pages in and all I wanted was Nadine to get hit by a car or something, not giving a crap if she realised that omg she does love her best friend!!!

Also if you want me to give a crap about your male lead having him go on about 'shirt-lifters' is an excellent way of making sure I hate him.

[Jennifer Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thirty Nothing was published over ten years ago and I’ve read it many times but the book is still as fresh and fun now as the first time I read it. Dig and Nadine have a wonderful, close friendship and I could feel Nadine’s pain as she felt it slipping away, both while they were at school and years later as adults. Delilah was the epitome of cool when she arrived at the school; mysterious and beautiful, immediately popular and Nadine didn’t feel she could compete for Dig’s attention and her insecurities return upon seeing Delilah again.

Thirty Nothing is an amusing book, particularly Dig’s interaction with Delilah’s little dog that Dig ends up looking after. Dig can’t stand the being around the shivering, whimpering dog to begin with but you can see an odd bond develop over time. One of my favourite parts of the book was a drunken answerphone message which involved Dig and his willy.

As well as the fun aspects of the book, there is also a bit of mystery surrounding Delilah – why did she disappear from Dig’s life so suddenly twelve years ago and why is she back now?

The book is written in Lisa Jewell’s light, easy and humorous style and is full of big, unforgettable characters. It’s a story of lost and unrequited love, friendship and discovering it isn’t always possible to go back and recreate what you once had.

[Tree · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's on the high 2 star end...I've just been overly generous with my stars lately.

It's a fun enough book - just not good. It's predictable and I don't see "real" people doing the same things as Deen and Dig, at least for 20 plus years.

[Laura Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt this book was long for no reason and dragged on. It started strong and finished strong but the whole middle was boring and slow. I love Lisa Jewels newer mystery books and this was an older book with a different vibe. Not for me I guess, I’ll keep reading her mysteries though!

[T. Rosado · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 Stars

I read one of Jewell's earlier releases last year (The Truth About Melody Browne, circa 2009) and absolutely loved it. I decided to go back even further to one of her first releases (Roommates Wanted, circa 2000) and now this one. What I've realized about this author (at least with these three books), she writes with a lot of detail (great) and story development (also great.) At the same time, some scenes will drag on with extra exposition and/or prolonged narrative. Sometimes it works for me and sometimes it slows the story down. I enjoyed Thirtynothing, but I did find that there were times that a scene would go on just a tad too long. There weren't unnecessary scenes, simply some lengthy scenes.

All that to say, I enjoy this author's attention to detail, her story and character development, and overall story arcs. The slower moments due to the "extra" prevents me from rating it any higher. This was much better than Roommates Wanted, not as wonderful as Melody Brown, but still an enjoyable read. A friends-to-love romance with wit, poignancy, and fun main characters.

[Heather Littman · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️ Picked up at the end and I enjoyed the last 1/4 of the book, but the beginning and middle were a bit slow for me.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love Lisa Jewel books. Love them! I hated this book with every fiber. I hated every character. They were awful, stupid, immature, low life and it took all my being to finish this Predictable story. I will have nightmares about Phil and the detailed description of him and Nadine having sex in a garage with stray cats peeing on them. After that I’m supposed to feel bad for her not being Dig’s girlfriend? And Dig is suppose to summon up cute? A small bird man with a unibrow? The consumption made my brain hurt too. Barf. This was not a romance story and these people are not likeable. Ugh. I’m going to go back and read her books about kidnapping and hoarding to get the bad taste out of my mouth left by this one.

[Amy Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start by saying that I love Lisa Jewell as an author. This book wasn’t one of my favorites but it was enjoyable. It’s an easy read with characters that are easy to like and a story line that was easy to follow. This is the perfect follow-up book for when you’ve just read something that was so intense and riveting that your blood pressure was spiked the entire time and you desperately need a brain and soul cleanse. Or for when you’re hanging out and just want a book you can jump in and out of. If you go into it with that expectation, you’ll be pleasantly pleased. If you’re looking to be blown away, you might be disappointed.

[Tracy Stephens · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an old Lisa Jewell book. The version I have was published in 2009. 2009 me probably would have liked this but in 2021 this just wasn’t for me. I disliked all of the characters I felt they were very immature and childish. I also really disliked Jewell’s writing in this. Again it felt like immature writing. Her newer books are so much better. The story was just so predictable I could see where it was going straight away. I would not recommend. Stick to Jewell’s latest works.

[Fatma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa jewell does characters sooo well! I loved this book so much, it was the book that kept me up at night reading and broke my heart at times, made me cry, made me laugh and overall she writes pain so well.

Highly recommend for a day in bed kinda read - something that will make you feel all the feels!

I think most romance books has a certain trope that they follow, and it’s a cutesy romantic thing or sexual even - but this book is different there is depth to their feelings and life situations and it really explores how love can grow and sustain itself across different life situations. But also the other end of it, how it can absolutely blind you, or destroy you or even how you can mature in love too.

So much to ponder over and appreciate in this book.

[Fabulous Book Fiend · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: aww it was so nice to be reading some Lisa Jewell again. This is one author where I haven't managed to catch up with her back catalogue yet and so I find myself downloading the audio books of the older novels, or even the ones I have on my shelf waiting to be read, and I absolutely devour them! I loved the fact that I could hear this author's voice even in one of her earlier books, as this is one of my favourite authors, it was reassuring to see that her voice hasn't changed much over the years, even if the kind of novels she writes are now worthy of being part of the Richard and Judy book club!

Dig and Delilah are classic characters. They were once exceptional friends and this could have developed into something more that developed over time and as they grew up, but didn't. There are so many many misunderstandings in this book and this is the major linchpin around which the story takes place. I loved their story. I loved hearing about where they are now and how they used to be then. I particularly like that fact that we get to see things from both of their points of view-I love when a book gives me the opportunity to do that. There are twists and turns a-plenty in this novel and nothing is ever as it seems. There is also some real love and some real drama. There were a couple of painful scenes that I found either difficult to take or found myself deeply cringing as I read them.

I like that fact that we have these two characters as our main subjects. Delilah is a classic female over analyser and worrier. She is brilliant because she really sin't sure what she wants when it comes to life, or when it comes to men but she really knows what she doesn't want. This makes her totally relatable and I really wanted to be able to jump into the book and offer her some advice! Dig is also someone I would have liked to have given a good talking too but in a sit down and listen kind of way. He has his life a little more sorted but it still hung up on a fantasy from hsi younger years that he doesn't seem to realise will never come to fruition. He provides a lot of comedy moments in the book and these come right from the opening chapter so be prepared to laugh and gasp along with Dig's antics!

I so enjoyed this book and it was great to go back and read something that I'd wanted to for a long time! I like the fact that Lisa Jewell has combined real life drama and love with real comedy and OMG moments. Her writing makes sense and is totally relatable whilst still offering some escapism and a world to really get lost in. If, like me, you have some Lisa Jewell back catalogue to catch up on then what are you waiting for?

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a close call whether to give this book 2 or 3 stars. If you've never read anything by this author before, then you'd probably give it 3 stars. However I have read quite a few of Lisa Jewell's books and (especially compared to some of her later novels) this feels quite clunky. Enjoyable yes, but the characters are very clichéd and there are a few holes in an overall quite predictable plot.
Both main characters come across as quite immature and over the top, some of their decisions and choices were in fact quite unbelievable.
The character of Phil, for example, is just a plain caricature, I don't believe in a million years that Nadine would ever get back with someone like him, no matter how much she had been in love with him before or how many drugs are involved.

[Marisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The liner notes compared Jewell to Nick Hornby, perhaps because of all the dysfunctional characters. I found the characters' actions hard to believe; their motivations for doing rash and unbelievably foolish things were weak.

[Olivia · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.4⭐️

It’s When Harry met Sally but add in one of the most frustrating miscommunication storylines and the “oh he/she would never love me”.
I appreciate the idea but the execution just wasn’t it for me.

[Hannah Onoufriou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, fluffy rom com set in the 90s. Perfect holiday read 👌

[Sharon Mariampillai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing Read

This was an incredible read. In this book, Dig and Nadine have been best friends for 15 years. On his 30th birthday, Dig meets his first love, Delilah after 12 years. Nadine is super jealous about her nemesis, Delilah coming back into Dig’s life, and asks her first love, Phil, out on a date. Will Dig get his first love after 12 years, or what? I thought the story was amazing. I thought it was an amazing story about friendship and love. I thought that the characters were interesting and unique. I think Nadine was my favourite because she is relatable. I thought she was fierce. She made radical decisions whenever it was about Dig. I thought she was written brilliantly. I thought Dig was another great character. I thought he was funny and unique. His inner monologues were some of the funniest things I have listened to/read. I thought the narrator told the story perfectly. I thought the ending was sweet. I am happy that it was a happy ending. I cannot wait to read more Lisa Jewell books in the future. Overall, an amazing read.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fourth book I've read by this author and I must say, I've enjoyed them all. This is perhaps the most light-hearted and predictable of all of them. But it was perfect for listening to on audible while I walked these hot summer mornings and it kept my mind off the heat. Digby & Nadine are childhood sweethearts who grow up to be best friends as adults. You know from the very beginning they're going to end up together but watching them get there is all the fun. First they have to get past their respective long-lost loves who show up out of the blue and appear to be bound to break them up before they realize they are meant to be together. I didn't add a spoiler alert because, unless this is the first book you've ever read, AND you've never seen any movies, you do realize they'll end up together as soon as you meet them.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story I enjoyed. Quick cute. But the characters alway about drove me mad. They act som immature at times. Nadine does get better as time goes on but I still could not see her as an adult. Dg just has his moments of immature beahiviour and thoughts but not as extreme as Nadine. But I cant take a story seriously for an adult book, acting like this is a ya (maybe NA). I hated that behavior then and more so now so certain thoughts and actions grated on me more than they maybe should.

I started this as an audiobook. HUGE mistake. NArrator was terrible and almost DNFed this over it. But once I started on the physical copy, it got better.

[Melinda Kant · Rating 1 out of 5]

I chose this book bc it was on the staff recommendation shelf on my most beloved favorite used book store. From the very first chapter, Dig the main character/love interest wakes up on his 30th birthday having slept with a 17year old. That should have been the tall tell sign that this book should have been put down yet I persisted on reading how two people continued to make the worst decisions possible to sabotage themselves. Anyways 1 star bc pedophilia should not be normalized in media.

[Kirstie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very year 2000 and it shows how much Jewell has grown as an author

I found it a slog at the start but it grew on me. It’s a bit chick lit but not painful by the end. I quite liked the characters and although the ending is predictable it was nice to see the journey. I did find myself speed reading though

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute story with a lovely (although predictable) ending. I still think Dig is really stupid for not realizing how much he was hurting Nadine and ruining their friendship because of idiot Delilah. And I still think Delilah was a selfish turd both as a child and as an adult, regardless of the negative events in her life. I loved Nadine the most and thought she was a catch from the beginning. I think this had the least amount of characters out of any Lisa Jewell book I've read but I still enjoyed it. And Helen Duff as narrator is simply the best - when anyone else does a Lisa Jewell novel, it's just not as good.

[Catherine Dyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Lisa Jewell, and while I didn’t hate this book, I didn’t love it either.

I thought the two main characters were *mostly* likable but made some stupid decisions that were just annoying to read.

Despite that, the book (as always) was written well! And I really did love what the author did with Delilahs character! Honestly I think I liked her more!

[Sarah Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are looking for a rainy day read that is predictable and light-hearted then this fits the bill. It was a bit longer than it needed to be but there are a few very funny laugh out loud moments that made it worthwhile. I definitely prefer Lisa Jewell’s later novels.

[Jane Shrubsall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too predictable from the begining. Very small twist at end but not enough to rate book any higher