Don't Believe the Swipe: Finding Love without Losing Yourself

Love Mandy's writing and all of her past books. In lots of ways this was a really practical and lighthearted read about dating. It was enjoyable and did give me a laugh at times. I hate to say this, because I think Mandy is a fab writer, but some of Don't Believe the Swipe was a tad too cheesy or gimmicky for me. I didn't connect with it as much as Mandy's previous books and felt it lacked a bit of heart.I felt that the message was a little negative at times, exhaulting women as warriors in the dating pool, equipping them for the inevitable battle they will face against the disappointing, narcissistic and passive army of men out there.This is a read for heteronormative folks, with a female audience who have become jaded by dating. It was a lot of pro-woman messaging (which is fantastic!) with a hint of anti-man (not so fantastic) and had a touch of ' be warry of dating' (which was on point at times, but discouraging).I found that I connected with the last 2 chapters. They had more heart in them and felt alot more stripped back of the memes and cutesy language.

Absolute gem. At first I thought it was just an echolalic expression of noughties tv shows but the advice is priceless. The advice keeps you on the right track whilst dating, takes you thought the steps from online to meet ups, and at the same time the author fosters your self-esteem and keeps you sane and grounded. I was hatfished the other day - I just smiled and knew my fellow Don't believe the Swipers would be behind me, nodding knowingly,

Brilliant read. Sums up perfectly the modern day dating minefield. Would definitely recommend reading this whether you're single or not.

A true reflection of the modern day dating fiasco! The good, the bad and the crazy! Well worth a read if you're Single!

Most importantly, I found this book hugely comforting. For the reviewer who said it was negative in tone, I'd be curious to know what her dating experiences have been. Mine are largely reflected in this book: ghosting, bread crumbing, love bombing to name a few. I find it bewildering that online dating is such a struggle and that so many men behave so badly!! I agree with the author that it's like The Hunger Games out there - it's barbaric.The big take away from this book is to treat yourself with respect and not let your self-esteem be reliant on the arbitrary behaviour of men. This can be difficult to do in a society where you can be often pitied for being left to wither on the shelf, sprouting mould. These people fail to recognise that you could have been married by now if that was your ultimate goal, but you haven't yet found someone who wanted to spend your life with.The other thing I like about this book is the author isn't in her twenties or early thirties. I find those books harder to relate to, since there many more options to meet people in real life when you're that age and a lot of people your age are still single too.There were a couple of things that stopped me from giving it five stars: there are several references to God, which won't mean much if you're not religious; I don't agree with the concept that 'everything happens for a reason' and the implication that with a bit of therapy we can all love ourselves and be fully independent (for people struggling with mental health issues, it's not always so easy).Overall I found this book to be uplifting, comforting (it felt like a warm hug) and helpful.