Lucid: A memoir of an extreme decade in an extreme generation

by Lucy Holden

'In Bath I lay in a field with headphones on, drunk, and staring at an empty blue sky that reflected nothing of the chaos in the world. Below the fields flashed the seaweed-green of a London train and I imagined my former life at the end of it but felt more like it had been tied to the tracks and careered over at 100 mph.'
 
After a wild decade of hedonistic city life that veered violently into trauma, Lucy Holden was thrown back down the ladder to her parents’ house in a pandemic which paused the parties and forced her to ask herself how she’d become who she’d become? Grown-up, broken-down, completely lost, then locked-in – Lucy realises she can’t make it up as she goes along forever and instead has to confront the darkness she’s been running from her entire adult life. 
 
In this raw, hilarious and often emotional memoir about a young woman asking herself how long she has until her act cracks completely, the mental health of a fast-paced world that never sits still is called into question. With charm and wit,  Lucid addresses  what it means to be young in today’s society – and where we can go from here.  
 

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Audiobook, Biography

Audiobook

Published February 3, 2022

Reviews

[Abbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was beautiful, a combination of both heart-warming and heart-wrenching content that made me feel like i was on a rollercoaster. it’s all very Dolly Alderton (I think Lucy and Dolly would get on well) in that the book is introspective, comedic and serious all at once. Lucy’s story broke my heart and mended it again.

this is the book you read when you feel lost and want to find yourself again. it’s so real (obviously) and it felt like a race to outrun trauma, only to eventually face it, and it didn’t gloss over how hard that can be. it made me want to cry and kick and scream. it made me want to dance around with a bottle of champagne in parts, too.

I’m being so dramatic but i loved every second of this autobiography. I’m in love with women sharing their stories to (inadvertently?) help other people. either way, it’s helped me. <3

[Eliza · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started reading this I felt we didn’t need another aspiring journo writing a sub-Dolly Alderton memoir from the grand old age of 32. This does get considerably better as it progresses and covers honestly and eloquently some difficult subjects. Holden doesn’t do herself any favours by focusing on her generation as though it’s exceptional - cocaine, recessions and career paths have long been preoccupations of youth…and beyond. Where her experience is less specific and more universal is where she excels (relationships, broken hearts and coming-of-age/maturing through contemporary rather than generational issues). She is also laugh out loud funny in places (mistaking tobogganists for tobacconists in a dating profile springs to mind). The Everleigh interludes felt like they belonged to another book entirely, even when the acknowledgements clarify the reason for inclusion which is both touching and heartwarming. The title is also an odd choice. I hope Holden continues to live and write with such open-hearted fervour and look forward to her future work.

[ezgi · Rating 5 out of 5]

couldn’t have come at a better time in my life.
as a 21 year old girl with a similar emotional build (and unfortunately similar stories already) this was so validating and left me so hopeful-when i really needed it and was really scared about my future. The chapters on SA will be my bible to go back to in times of need.
rough to get into at the beginning i must admit (but becomes so fast paced around the time Tom is introduced for the ones pushing through) and i know my review is not objective, but who gives a fuck about objectivity?
I really needed this, whole of it and at this point in my life exactly. I just wanna meet Lucy Halton, share a drink, thank her and hug her deeply. This is MY “everything i know about love”

[Hannah W]

DNFed after about 30 pages. Maybe it would have got better but I was feeling bored/mildly irritated.

[Holly Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

sobbed finishing this!!!

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this, at first was a bit eye-rolly with the comparison of the pandemic to a war, thinking it was all a bit maudlin / hyperbolic & self-indulgent, but by the end, I respected how the author chose not to end things 'neatly', with a ring or a baby or a perfect relationship, but honouring her own journey and the ups and downs within it, and the reality of her circumstance as a person still recovering and growing and leaning into herself

memorable moments:
difficult to read section about rape & telling friends
Everest thing
toxic relationships

[Malcolm Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would wne I began to read.

Lucy, a frrelance journalist, share her ups and many downs in a very readable way.
She has had an extrodinary life, so far, with experiences many of us will only have read about.
If you want to learn how the younger generation lives and what they get up to there is no better way than read this.

I loved it.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very difficult book to write a review for, I didn’t enjoy the book but to be honest about my feelings feels insensitive due to the highly personal nature of the content within it and also due to the content gauging my enjoyment levels of this book also feels the wrong method to use to decide whether I liked it or not, but I’m going to give it a go. The book was advertised as being about “an extreme decade in an extreme generation” and a lot of generalisations were made that this was an account of what it is like to be a woman growing up in my generation. This may be an account that many people do resonate with but it definitely isn’t a universal account and thankfully it isn’t something I identified with.

On the whole I didn’t like reading the book and rarely for me throughout most of the first half I wanted to add it to my DNF pile but my stubbornness to complete the book held through. I found it a slog to get through, however some sections I found more engaging than others and there were several chapters which were excellent such as the one about coercive control. I also liked that the final 25% of the book was more self-reflective resulting in conclusions being drawn linking earlier events to later behaviour.

The overall tone of the book is melancholic, it is very introspective and I’m not sure it would have even been possible to write a book as personally revealing as this without the tone being this way. I struggled with the writing style quite a lot as the tone made me feel anxious and depressed and it made reading the book difficult at times. I think that this can be read as a criticism but also potentially a strength, the content in the writing was obviously inducing stress and anxiety within the author and she successfully conveyed that in her writing which is a difficult thing to succeed at.

It's difficult to review this book because it really needs to be reviewed as a whole piece which I have tried to do within this review, there were times during the first 75% of the book when I found her decisions infuriating but the final reflective and revealing 25% was very good and led to explanation and understanding of why some of the previous choices had been made.

[Hannah Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Lucy's tales in disbelief. The hedonism, the dangerous amount of alcohol consumed, the terrible relationships. Just when you think things must get better the dark days just kept on coming. Internally I was screaming at her to do something and to get away from these awful men. I was utterly relieved when Covid provided Lucy with a reason to reflect and reset. Finally she has some lightbulb moments and seeks professional health. The revelations are moving, and sadly not unique to Lucy.

If, like me, you had a taster of crazy non-stop working and drinking in London this memoir will bring back memories. Not all of them happy. But there are light-hearted passages as well as the darker ones. I laughed at Lucy's descriptions of her time in the nudist village. Her inter-generational friendship with her tutor Everleigh through their letters is very touching.

As you would expect from a journalist this book is very well written, and packs a punch.

[Carly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A difficult book to review. While I thought it was over-long and a little self indulgent, it was an interesting insight into someone's life. I can't say I agreed with all the decisions she made, but I definitely feel a lot of the same stressors and it was comforting to read about someone else's response to them. It did manage a great job at feeling like a full story without wrapping things up neatly with a bow, and the writing itself was of a high quality. At its core it feels powerful and honest and I can't criticise it for that.

[Khara Burch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very emotional, follows the author through her turbulent 20s and how much she still relies on her parents well into her 30s. Shares her failed friendships, relationships and ups and downs as she chases jobs and opportunities around London, and ends up finding herself plonked in her family home in lockdown. Would highly recommend!!

[Cait Gormley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am the kind of person who would happily spend a whole night sat around in a pub listening to the stories of a stranger's many break ups. If you are not that kind of inherently nosy person, you may not enjoy this memoir.

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting insight into one person’s chaotic 20s. I read it because it was on offer, and I wanted to see if I had missed out on anything, having followed a more conventional path in my own 20s. I’m now thoroughly content that the grass is/was not greener on the other side!

[Ashleigh Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5?

I did like it and found lots of it very relatable (heavy drinking, not having a clue on direction, and bouncing between awful relationships), however it was quite slow/repetitive and I won’t lie I got a little bored of it

[liza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cracking

[Sam Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved all except the ‘my generation’ filler bits - felt a bit wishy washy and generalising when it mostly could have been replaced by ‘people i know’

[Rav E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess u have to have main character syndrome if you're writing a book about yourself. It is quite entertaining but it's full of sweeping generalisations.

[Lily Beaumont · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great memoir, very honest view of the challenges of being a young adult in recent years.

[Cemrenaz Hazine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything i know about lovela karsilastirilmamali ondan cok daha zor okudum pek sarmadi bi de bazi yerleri tetikleyici rahatsiz ediciydi