Isn’t It Nice We Both Hate the Same Things
  • Published: 5 August 2025
  • ISBN: 9781761340116
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 432

Isn’t It Nice We Both Hate the Same Things

Formats & editions
Tr. Paperback
5 Aug 2025
EBook
5 Aug 2025
Audiobook
5 Aug 2025
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A moving and insightful Australian novel that examines the complexities of friendship in your thirties - and celebrates the unique bond of best friends. Ideal for fans of Dolly Alderton and Zoë Foster Blake.

'For so long we'd been on the same path together. But somehow, along the way, I turned around and Genevieve kept going.'

Charlie, a prime-time radio producer in her early thirties, has always had a big group of friends – until she left her husband, and they all sided with him. Now she finds herself floundering in a sea of awkward run-ins and silent group chats. When her best friend Genevieve starts moving on with her life, too, Charlie realises how few significant people she has around her, and what a lonely place that can be.

Dreading the prospect of returning to her childhood home for the anniversary of her father’s death, she busies herself by seeking new friendships – book clubs, pub crawls, team sports, the works. But Charlie’s determination to surround herself with unfamiliar people forces her to confront her insecurities. What kind of life does she want? And who does she really want to spend it with?

For fans of Dolly Alderton and Zoë Foster Blake, Isn’t It Nice We Both Hate the Same Things is a bitingly witty yet moving take on the struggles of maintaining relationships and creating new ones as an adult – a story that ultimately celebrates the importance and complexities of best friends.

Praise for Jessica Seaborn:

'Fast-paced and funny'
'Jess Seaborn’s writing is a warm hug from the first page to the last'
'Compulsively readable, extremely interesting, and at times, laugh out loud funny'
  • Published: 5 August 2025
  • ISBN: 9781761340116
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 432
Categories:

About the author

Jessica Seaborn

Born and raised in Brisbane, Jessica Seaborn lives in Sydney and works as a television and film publicist at Stan. Prior to this, she worked at SBS, Allen & Unwin and HarperCollins. Her writing has been published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Sunday Life, the Daily Telegraph and Body & Soul. In 2020, she was accepted into Curtis Brown Creative where she completed the first draft of her debut novel, Perfect-ish, which was published by Penguin Random House Australia in 2023. She lives in Western Sydney with her partner and a 50 kg bull mastiff named Boof. Isn't It Nice We Both Hate the Same Things is her second novel.

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Praise for Isn’t It Nice We Both Hate the Same Things

Relatable, witty and full of heart.

Bridget Hustwaite

Heart-wrenching and beautifully observed, Isn't It Nice We Both Hate the Same Things is for anyone who's ever felt left behind while everyone else is surging ahead. Jessica Seaborn captures the disorientating loneliness and gritty hope of life after marriage with aching honesty and razor-sharp wit.

Natalie Murray

A ridiculously relatable story of 30-something friendship — fresh, funny and full of heart.

Amy Lovat

Moving, funny and original, this is both a character-driven comedy about who gets what after a couple splits – not just the assets, but the people – and a deep study of loneliness, grief and growth.

Clare Fletcher

An honest and heartfelt novel about the importance of surrounding yourself with people who bring out the best in you.

Michelle Upton

A novel that explores the chaos, sadness and gravity of the most untold love story – friendship breakups – with laughter, empathy and a depth of emotion that will stay with you beyond the final page.

Karina May
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