As coming-of-age stories go, this is not the most original offering out there. Focusing on the first six-months or so of the new university life of a nerdy, not-that-likable, anti-hero, the book is pretty much all that you would expect: insecurities, alcoholic stupors, self-inflicted "catastrophes", romantic problems, fall-outs and reconciliations with the people (friends and family) left behind at home, etc. It is all too recognisable.

The gimmick here is the protagonist's eventual participation in the long-running BBC quiz show University Challenge, which serves as thread throughout the book, and provides its cringy climax. The title is a catch phrase of the show and each chapter starts with a trivia question vaguely related to the happenings it describes. The 43 chapters are arranged in five sections, called "rounds", and an epilogue.

The only appeal to the book lies, I think, in the telling of this otherwise conventional story. Nicholls keeps a lighthearted tone laced with acerbic wit and self-deprecation that makes the whole experience bearable. Even if the rom-com element of the plot is rather underwhelming, the novel is mildly entertaining. It is however not really clear what point Nicholls is trying to make, other perhaps than that things can only get better, to quote the famous song.