Bonding

by Mariel Franklin

Electrifying, sharp, and darkly funny, Mariel Franklin's first novel, Bonding, is a story of sex, tech, and pharmaceuticals in the tangle of our digital age.

Adrift in her early thirties, Mary is exhausted by an endless cycle of casual relationships and unstable work. When she loses her job, she books a spontaneous trip to Ibiza and meets Tom, a brilliant chemist on the verge of launching a new a drug called Eudaxa that claims to be able to cure the anxieties of modern life. Back in London, Mary runs into the volatile and driven Lara, who has channeled her ambitions into Openr, an innovative dating app designed to revolutionize the industry. Mary and Lara have a complicated past, and as Mary begins working for Openr and falling for Tom, tech and pharma collide with shocking consequences, forcing her to question what love and success mean in a world that is hurtling out of control.

Genres: Fiction, British Literature, Dystopia, Audiobook, Novels, Contemporary, Love

352 pages, Paperback

Published July 22, 2025

Reviews

[gracie · Rating 1 out of 5]

if coming across Zionist propaganda 15% in wasn't enough for me to dnf, then the fact that the writing is mundane and boring should be. I can't go on any longer.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Guardian review convinced me to read Bonding, as is often the way with new literary fiction. Consequently, I had a somewhat unrealistic expectation of how much the narrative would focus on speculative technology, specifically a drug that induces emotional intimacy. Perhaps I should have predicted that it would instead be largely concerned with the close relationships and daily life of the protagonist Mary. After all, it is in the first person. Fundamentally I found Bonding well-written yet underwhelming. I hoped for more from the 'pharma startup invents intimacy pill' concept, which recalls 20th century dystopian sci-fi like Brave New World. The world of Bonding is no way brave or new - Rishi Sunak is stated to be PM, which dates it precisely.

Franklin certainly conveys the depressing atmosphere of smart phone-mediated 21st century existence very effectively. She is particularly adept at showing the horrific soullessness of digital marketing that processes everything fundamental to personhood into content for consumption. The characters also seem convincingly dull and obnoxious. Rather than looking at the wider social implications of the intimacy drug, the narrative gives us meetings discussing the marketing strategy for it. This makes for a claustrophobic reading experience, and can hardly be described as parody given the exaggeration is imperceptible. The cover quotes would also have you believe it's sexy, which I'm skeptical of. If you're looking for a literary satire on technology, I'd suggest Joanna Kavenna's Zed instead. If you want a skillfully written novel about marketing that also has sex scenes, though, try Bonding.

[Denise Ruttan · Rating 2 out of 5]

At first I thought this was going to be an aggressively bisexual love triangle at the intersection of some interesting commentary on tech, relationships and society, so I was excited, but eventually I just found it tedious.

I find people who work in tech tend to have this very spare, unassuming, non-flowery prose which can sometimes sound meaningful without saying a whole lot, which is what this sounded like. It started off with relationships as Mary is let go from another job and vacations in Ibiza, where she meets Tom, and the two form a connection that they rekindle in the UK. Tom works for an experimental pharma company and Mary works in marketing.

Then Mary's friend Lara, a college lover who abandoned her without much commentary, wants to hire her for her new startup, a dating app, and hounds her until she relents. I thought there was chemistry between Lara and Mary as kids but as adults Lara is cold, unlikable, has unapologetic affairs with married men, and definitely creepy. We are supposed to feel like she is viable love interest but she just came across as predatory.

Tom's firm is working on an anti-depressant that turns out to be an incredible aphrodisiac, and the two companies become intertwined as issues with consent and privacy emerge. What the app is really about is very confusing- it's not dating, it appears to be an event planner for drug-fueled rape parties. I guess there's a broader commentary there but I found it grueling to get through.

It basically felt like sitting in a meeting that could have been in an email where people endlessly rehash their mission statement using all the progressive buzzwords.

Which might be interesting if you work in tech but when everyone's also high it doesn't make a more interesting novel.

So sadly, this was very much not for me, and I felt as if I had lost hours of my life to a boring meeting at a sex dungeon.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Jake · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’d read a pretty positive review that described this as a near-future dystopia with powerful things to say about modern Britain a while back and saved it as one to read.

I realised quite soon into this book that I was perhaps not the target demographic. But I thought it’s good to read things outside your normal range and I tried to look beyond this.

Unfortunately… the main character was entirely lacking in personality and seemed only to provide downbeat “takes” on contemporary society. None of these were new or interesting. They were the classic ‘millennial’ observations about the difficult parts of life, which certainly feel like they’re on the rise, that you can read about in the press or online. Many of these topics have been, and continue to be, well covered by journalism. Themes such as grooming gangs, the impact of social media and apps on dating, widening social attitudes to sex and relationships. This is not to say these topics could never be the foundation of a good novel… it’s just that in this case, it was a car crash. Perhaps the author may have benefited from trying to combine less of them in this book and spent more time thinking about the characters, pacing and plot.

In terms of the style, it read like a cross between a listicle of ‘reasons why life in London in your mid 30s is shit’ and actually just scrolling LinkedIn. The heavy emphasis on marketing and the business side of tech/dating apps/pharma made it painful reading and all the ‘witty’ snaps about marketing made you feel like you were reading an industry magazine.

Drier still were the characters. None of whom felt like real people you might meet or even hear about in London in 2025. The ‘chemistry’ between the main character and her ex that caused her to continue to invite her into her life despite her repeated abuse was entirely impalpable. The romance between our lead and her boyfriend was a bit more believable but somehow managed to take up the first half of the book to get us to buy it.

This dusty pacing meant that it was not until well over half way through that we got our ~~shock~~ revelation about the mysterious drug at the heart of the plot. From here we spiralled towards a sensationalist finish that ended with perhaps the worst and most cringeworthy final passage ever written. 2 stars because I finished it. 1 star for the reviewer who wrote the review that duped me into reading it lol.

[Sean McCormack · Rating 4 out of 5]

feel completely drained by this, which is good possibly?

[Nadia McVey · Rating 2 out of 5]

for a book about sex drugs and the state of the world i sadly thought this was v dull

[beans]

DNFed at 55%.

I went into this book expecting a bisexual love triangle with some interesting conversations on identity and online dating. If these things do happen, they do not happen within the first half.

I found that the book just kinda throws you in with little explanation or world building. I didn't really have a proper grip on what was happening ever and that was a bit difficult for me to get into the book.

I found the tone of this book to be a bit lackluster and things just didn't really grip me in any way. I'm sure this will be a fantastic read for someone else, but I just don't think it's for me.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me an advanced copy.

[Sam S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never left a review on Goodreads before but I loved this book so much, I can't stop thinking about it. It's not a straight up thriller, so you'll be disappointed if that's what you're expecting. It's also not specifically about drugs (although the way she explores the drug is fascinating). I actually think it's been slightly miss-sold by the publisher. It starts off almost like an autofiction, Rachel Cusk-style realistic account of the writer's life and then travels into more and more fascinating and unexpected territory. The realistic part is necessary as it's taking on sex and relationships both close-up and on a large, data-driven scale and how they are changing, insidiously, for our generation. I will say this feels very real, almost too real - in a good and slightly terrifying way. It reminds me of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World but looking forward into the next century. I like writers that have the courage to take on controversial ideas and the author does that and then some. It's also well-written, engaging and funny. If you're interested in ideas as well as character and plot this book is well worth your time. Giving it 5 stars because I think it will divide readers and I want to balance out the ones who are just looking for a thriller or a more generic book about relationships.

[Eden Gatsby · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This book had a lot to say about society, British culture, dating apps and mental health and it did it in an intriguing way, although it took a bit too long to get there for me and none of it really felt very convincing. The majority of this book is about relationship building and introducing us to our main character. I would say what I came for (the content about the drug and side effects) didn't really start until about 70% of the way through. That's when I finally felt interested and like this book was going to say or do something. The drug and its impacts were SO interesting that I'm really disappointed there wasn't more revolving around it, rather than the lead up to it. Ultimately a let down that could have been something much better with some heavy cuts to the first half.

[holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

not really sure why i pushed to the end of this, i think i just wanted to know what the big reveal would be.. i wish i didn’t. working in pharma, i was so intrigued by the premise of this, but it’s both equal parts completely unrealistic (the ABPI code of practice does not exist in this universe 🤣) but also trying SO hard to be on the nose and current. the writing style was also just a no from me it was very much “and then this happened and then this happened and then this happened”. sadly can’t recommend.

[Cassie E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lerner-esque. Yet another novel about millenial ennui, sex, and brain rot, this time with the addition of pharmaceuticals. A little on the nose at times, but I enjoyed!

[Siobhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. I work in tech and look for fiction that reflects some of my experiences. The ideas in the book were good, and familiar to anyone in tech. However the characters felt like vehicles for the ideas, not like fully fleshed people, so I couldn’t empathise with them and didn’t care about their fates. There were even full conversations that were fairly irrelevant explainers for the reader.

Also, there were issues with the point of view that broke the fictive dream. Most of the book is in 1st person (including about the first 70%) but there are chapters in 3rd that the narrator could not know. Not that you can’t ever move from 1st person to 3rd, but it’s got to work, and this didn’t.

I’m sure other people will love it, but it wasn’t for me. If it had been through a few more drafts it would have been much better.

[Lotte Horrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was going Belinda Blinked - business with pleasure

[Mackenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted this to be great but it was just meh. I’m not the biggest fan of characters so alienated from themselves they can’t even describe or process what they are feeling and doing…this book has a lot of interesting ideas and phrases but it’s not enough to reproduce modern life in a book, one must also try to make meaning.
I liked how the author makes sweeping statements about society. Yes! I did not connect as much to the characters and what happens to them in particular. Boo! I wish the book had cared about its characters as much as HOW WE LIVE NOW.
Some very interesting POV choices which I appreciated. Hated the ending.

[Amy Kaufman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Annoyed. Annoyed by the emotionless narration. Annoyed by the loathsome Lara. Annoyed at a book that purports to have big ideas but says nothing. Annoyed that Zadie Smith gave this a rave and I believed it!

[Ceri Shorton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly… what was this book? It felt like it was trying to cover a lot of big topics all at once, but in the end didn’t really land any of them. The FMC, Mary, was completely flat for me—I never found myself rooting for her the way I think I was supposed to.

Some of the other characters and their storylines were a little more engaging, but overall this was kind of a messy ride that didn’t do much for me.

💬 Lands at 2 stars—ambitious in scope, but with no real payoff.

[pauline · Rating 1 out of 5]

I regrettably had to add this book to my DNF pile - it was just too slow paced for me to continue with and I didn't enjoy the writing style it was much too dense for my liking.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for a review.

[Nia Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, I breezed past it, I copied several quotes.. That is until I reached the last several chapters where it became apparent the narrator was never going to take accountability or show any sort of integrity or self-respect. It was genuinely hard to read her continuously going back to Lara and continuously staying complacent in everything around her even down to rape? I suppose that is the entire point of the book, or at least that’s the author’s intention that I’m going to hope for. I do wonder if the narrator had a stronger personality (she reads very flat and dull, I only remembered her name from reading other reviews) if I would have been able to extrapolate her stance on anything being told. I’ve read books with gloomy almost dull characters like those from a Sally Rooney book but even in those books, I understand the message and I can see the characters’ POV regardless of if I agree with their line of thinking or not. But here, the characters felt disengaged and without any sort of self reflection.

Overall, as a young, single, black woman, it was hard to gather what the intended message was by the end. I do know for sure, fuck Lara lmao.

[Sofia Svensson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lite hysterisk, lite obehaglig. Bra emellanåt. Men alltså åh. Jag orkar inte med huvudkaraktären. Och ibland känns det bara som ett försök att beskriva samtiden utan story..

[Brendan Ng · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not quite sure what to say about this one.

[Jessie Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

a wild turn of events in the last 15 mins

[Vanessa Eller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never expected a book about a bisexual love triangle, drugs, alcohol, Ibiza and sex parties to be the most boring thing I’ve read all year.

This book was draining, but I’m beginning to feel that way about all social commentary these days so maybe that’s on me.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cautionary tale, but maybe too late, considering our immersion into online lives and social media.

[Jeff Krane · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started strong but was ultimately disappointing. Some interesting ideas about social connection in the current era but struggles to incorporate those ideas into a compelling story.

[Maggie Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introspection, but there's only so much I want to hear about the emptiness of the internet world

[Neal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I am too old to be the intended audience of this book. I did not like, nor could I relate to any of the characters (not helped by the fact that there was pretty limited development of the characters). Also, the shifting narrative viewpoint seemed a bit random and sometimes it would take a few seconds to notice the change in the narrator. Also, the writing/description was a bit overdone. Again, it could be that the book was intended for people much younger than myself and with a different set of values and experiences.

[Sacha Vietoris · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half of the book was really interesting, unfortunately the latter half had me zoning the fuck out

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary, recently fired from a marketing job in a startup, books a flight to Ibiza. She meets Tom, a chemist working on a novel drug supposed to induce intimacy, called Eudaxa.
Mary's ex Lara offers her a job at her startup, a dating app called Openr.

The book explores the intersection of pharmaceuticals and technology in a society in which corporations aim to solve the problem of human disconnection in a world that is increasingly alienating to us. It has a lot to say about our modern life, which I found intriguing, but it is uncomfortable. Many characters are downright unlikeable, which is the point, a lot of it plays out in the circle of London entrepreneurs who are painfully unaware of their privilege- which is the point.
It was definitely an interesting read, I would recommend it if you like a blend of dystopia, literary fiction, and social criticism.

Thank you very much to FSG books for an advance copy of this book!

[Sharondblk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sad girl book. I love a book about Millennium women whose jobs are unsatisfying, whose relationships are not going well and whose lives are seen through a very digital lens. Probably because, while a Gen X-er, I feel a lot of these things. This is the story of Mary - Mary who drifts through life letting tings happen to her. Everyone in this book is in marketing, even Tom who the blurb says in a chemist. the blurb does this book a disservice, and a lot of the negative reviews here seem to be because people expected a certain kind of book, and got, instead, a book about hopelessness and marketing.
I really liked the first half of the book, the second half gets a bit wobbly. The plot (such as it is) tries to pick up about three quarters of the way through and and takes a turn for the very weird.
The books starts in first person, and then some of it third person because people are telling their stories to Mary, and then some bits are in third person just because it suits the plot. This seemed like a weird choice, and maybe this book needed another draft or two.
Despite all this, I enjoyed it and couldn't put it down. I'll be interested to see what Mariel Franklin writes next.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a free e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

[andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the advanced digital arc.

this one is out on July 22, 2025.

--

had high hopes for this one as i do with most fiction with a tech theme. i'm not super sure how i feel at the end of this. it's bleak and i guess it's supposed to be.

mary is our main character. i genuinely do not like mary. she's equal parts boring and dense and at the crux of the story she's downright a villain, imo. i think she was poised to be a relatable sad girl, just trying to make it throughout the day living in late-stage capitalism.

anyway, mary starts working for lara, her ex-girlfriend and a person that mary acknowledges in the beginning is a bit of a sociopath. the start-up is called openr and it's a dating app like no other. i'm not really sure that openr established much of a difference between its obvious competitors, but there was some generally interesting conversation here about dating apps and manipulation tactics - fake profiles created to present the possibility of their efficacy to make you buy more swipes, etc.

the real toothsome part of the story is mary's relationship with tom, a chemist working on a drug called eudaxa. to be clear, for those of you who have read brave new world, eudaxa is basically just soma - it creates relaxation and euphoria, but when taken in large doses it creates a loss of inhibitions, sexual and otherwise. this is truly harrowing - girls being dosed beyond their limits so that men can groom them and rape them. and naturally, a company that's invested in profits doesn't care about the negative outcome of their drugs as much as they care about their profits.

i had quite a few problems with this one. at the end of the book, mary seems dense and uncaring about eudaxa's negative side effects... even though... she's seen it in action. it essentially handwaves sexual assault/rape.

another problem this book had was with rampant fatphobia. i feel uncomfortable about a white woman writing a pakistani man as a nerdy, unsexed, and "fat" man that feeds drugs to a girl until they have sex while she's under the influence and there's absolutely no discussion about why that's morally reprehensible. our main character has sex with him after that? like? then, later on in the book, an incel teenager that likes hitler memes is being described as fat. not one fat person in this book isn’t evil.

so idk, it's a no from me, dog.