Millennial Love

Journalist Olivia Petter examines the rules, oddities and worries that shape dating today. Her central puzzle is that, although we have more tools than ever to help us connect, finding a partner often feels harder than it used to.

The book grows out of the Independent's podcast of the same name, which reached the top of the charts, and develops several of its discussions. Petter argues that contraception is a feminist issue, looks at how dating apps have changed our ideas about attraction, and considers why the reality show Love Island offers an unexpected window onto the results of these shifts.

She also turns to smaller, everyday anxieties, including the stress of read receipts, the need to rethink our relationship with pornography, and the meaning of ‘sliding into someone’s DMs’. Former podcast guests, including Munroe Bergdorf, Elizabeth Day and Lisa Taddeo, add their own perspectives.

The book mixes personal memoir with social commentary, making it a useful guide for anyone trying to make sense of romance in the present day.