Looking for love didn't have to be factored into my schedule in the way I'd dreaded – I could do it while watching TV.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1)

Importance: Throughout Ghosts, Alderton explores the manner in which online dating changes the rituals of looking for love. While Nina is initially enamored by the ease the app provides, the same distance that makes searching for a partner accessible facilitates ghosting culture. After months of dating, Max ghosts her and metaphorically deletes her from his life like she is an instant message. The dating app allows him to disappear without confronting Nina, he can end their relationship with ease, while watching TV.

It's all about the passage of time which I used to find moving and I now find terrifying
-- Nina (Chapter 2)

Importance: The author utilizes this quotation to introduce the narrator’s anxiety about aging. Throughout the novel, Nina wrestles with being an adult, facing her parents’ mortality, and coping...