Genevieve Novak

When do you stop starting over? The sparkling new novel from the author of No Hard Feelings. Getting over someone is not that difficult. All you have to do is focus on every negative thing about them for the rest of your life until you forget to stop actively hoping for their slow and painful death, then get a haircut ... Serial monogamist Marnie is running late to her own identity crisis. After a decade of twisting herself into different versions of the ideal girlfriend, she's swearing off relationships for good. Forever. Done. No more, no thank you. Pretty inconvenient time to meet Isaac: certified dreamboat and the only man who has ever truly got her. It's cool, though, they're just friends, he's got someone else, and she has more important things to worry about. Like who she is, what she wants, and what the hell she ever saw in the love(s) of her life in the first place. Flanked by overwhelmed new mum Nicola, terminally single Claud, and eternal pessimist Kit, Marnie reckons with the question: who are we when we're on our own? 'Crushing stings with truth and aches with hope. I loved it.' Jessica Dettmann 'A sharp, funny and biting exploration of a classic millennial existential crisis ... with some genuine laugh-out-loud moments' Books+Publishing 'A sexy, complex, bittersweet dark chocolate souffle of a book: airily paced, tartly funny, and with a romantic centre that's just gooey enough' Clare Fletcher 'Bingeable, sharply written, and hilarious, Crushing had me hooked from the first page. This book is filled with love, rage, and wisdom, and reading it felt like having a wine with a best friend.' Victoria Brookman, author of Burnt Out Praise for No Hard Feelings: 'Funny, biting, vulnerable and unflinching, Novak's novel is like an ocean dip: a bit salty, very refreshing' Lauren Sams 'No Hard Feelings is clever, funny and surprisingly sweet, and Penny captured my heart' Toni Jordan 'Wry and witty' Saturday Age

Hungover, underpaid and overwhelmed, this isn't where Penny expected to be as she reached her late twenties. A sharp, smart and witty look at adulting.Fleabag meets Sorrow and Bliss with a splash of Dolly Alderton. I exist on validation from emotionally unavailable men, biscuits, and cheap wine, and it's easier to get off with Max than a Tiny Teddy. Penny can't help but compare herself to her friends. Annie is about to become a senior associate at her law firm, Bec has just got engaged, Leo is dating everyone this side of the Yarra, and Penny is just ... waiting. Waiting for Max, her on-again, off-again boyfriend, to allow her to spend the night, waiting for the promotion she was promised, waiting for her Valium to kick in. Waiting for her real life to start. Out of excuses and sick of falling behind, Penny is determined to turn things around. She's going to make it work with Max, impress her tyrannical boss, quit seeing her useless therapist, remember to water her plants, and stop having panic attacks in the work toilets. But soon she's back to doomscrolling on Instagram, necking bottles of Aldi's finest sauvignon blanc, and criticising herself with renewed vigour and loathing. As her goals seem further away than ever, she has to wonder: when bad habits feel so good, how do you trust what's right for you?