'Required reading for every person dating' Beth Ashley | 'Brilliant... has revolutionised conversations around love and modern dating ' Shahed Ezaydi | 'So well-researched and insightful' Radhika Sanghani | 'An important feminist voice and a spectacular writer' Sofie Hagen | 'The best sex and dating writer since Candace Bushnell Gigi Engle

Swiping, situationships, love-bombing, ghosting, healing... Dating is hard. Why has making connections never felt so simple, yet keeping them has never been so complicated? Sex and dating journalist Rachel Thompson has spent the past decade investigating how we seduce, perceive and treat each other in our post-dating apps era. Written for all, but with particular care for marginalised communities, this book explores questions such as:

Why are our odds of finding someone compatible 1 in 562? What does ‘the spark’ actually mean from a scientific perspective? How does technology warp our communication, standards and self-esteem? Why are we becoming more sensitive to rejection? What does real emotional availability look like?

Weaving Thompson's personal anecdotes with expert research and interviews with real people, mental-health professionals and sociologists, this book is a rallying cry for radical intimacy and a key resource for protecting your wellbeing and establishing healthy communication and boundaries: paving the way for love beyond the algorithm.