Amanda Romare: Half of Malmö consists of guys who dumped me

Half of Malmö consists of guys who dumped me and became one of the most talked about titles in Sweden in 2021. It was also made into a Netflix series that has reached one million viewers. The novel's sequel, Judas, was released in 2026. We look forward to the author visiting Nordic Literature Festival on April 19.

In Sweden, four out of ten adults live alone. That means there should be three million single people in the long country, and thus a huge number of potential partners for those longing for love. Yet no one wants to be with the main character in Amanda Romare's dark and entertaining debut novel, Halva Malmö bestaar af killar som dumpat mig.

“I will always love you” is a phrase that the main character, Amanda, never seems to hear, despite having tried everything. She has dated guys above her league, in her league and below her league, swiped on Tinder and checked up on people in town. She has dated lawyers, scientists, bartenders, engineers, store clerks and carpenters. She has been both submissive and dominant, but remains single and alone. She even has a hard time getting to “second base”. Her friends have the same problem and together they try to understand the equation of being single in the twenty-first century.

In the novel's sequel, Judas, Amanda has finally found love. They are deeply in love and have even moved in together. In other words, everything should be perfect, but unfortunately doubts are never far away - especially when ghosts from the past move in next door, their sex life goes into overdrive and her boyfriend accuses her of wanting to control both his weight and his psyche. For twelve years, Amanda has been looking for love, but she increasingly realizes that her boyfriend persona is not as wonderful as she had imagined. Instead, she increasingly appears as a controlling, manic dictator. And when the situation suddenly becomes serious, the relationship is put under even greater pressure. And what is really most important - friends, family or love? Judas is an entertaining relationship novel that moves just over the edge.

We meet Amanda Romare in conversation about relationships, single life and dating, together with journalist Anne Dorte Lunås.

Amanda Romare is an author and writer. She debuted with the novel Halva Malmö byst af killar som dumpat mig (2021), which has sold over 100,000 copies and was adapted into a film by Netflix. This spring, she is currently working on her second novel, Judas (2026).

Anne Dorte Lunås is a journalist at Adresseavisen and currently hosts the podcast "Anne Dorte &". In 2024, she won the Trøndere Journalist Award for the podcast "Rått Parti".