Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - Loveless

Parts of this did bore me, but I give it a high ranking because A) parts were great, and B) it’s the first book I’ve ever read about asexually and aromanticism. Children and adults need more access to books like this so that we can be more understanding of each other and ourselves. This book did a great job of taking me on the journey of trying to understand what an asexual or an aromantic might go through in a heteronormative world. We come in all shapes, sizes, colors, genders, hearts, and brains, and all of it, all of us are normal. Bravo to the writer and the publisher!

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melancholymegs's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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arlaubscher's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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missrosymaplemoth's review against another edition

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4.0

I saw this book on the shelf and became intrigued by the cover and was pleasantly surprised to find that I learned a lot about myself while reading it. I resonated with Georgia’s asexuality and understood her. I enjoyed her friendships and self-discovery. I liked the style of writing, although there were a lot of pop culture references and I am not a fan of that.

My main dislikes were the slow pacing for the first half of the book and the repetitive narration by Georgia- a lot of telling without showing. I felt that the characters fell flat sometimes and could have been better developed, although I loved Rooney; no complaints there. I related to her past relationship trauma and really felt for her.

Overall, this was a pleasant book that made me feel seen. I think this book is miscategorized as YA and seems very firmly New Adult to me. That being said, I would recommend this, but only to older teens and up.

☀️10/20

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laracroft2001's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Nice to see a book with such a diverse range of characters. Exploring their identities and sexualties is something we definitely need to see more of in this day and age and Osmen did an amazing job of describing these characters and the journeys they're all going through as they find their place in the world. As someone in their early 20s this is truly a relatable book

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percys_panda_pillow_pet's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Ever since I read Alice Oseman's Heartstopper comic online, I really wanted to dive into her other works. I was especially excited for Loveless, as there aren't many books out there that focus on an aromantic asexual (aroace) main character.

I'll admit my first impression within the first couple of pages was low. I had a hard time getting into Oseman's writing style, which I found a bit juvenile at times, and had me questioning the placement of the book in my local library (it was in Adult fiction since the main character is 18 and entering college, as well as presumably due to the mentions of drinking). However, it was easy to get into the rhythm of the tone and feel of Georgia's voice as the narrator.

I also felt unsure about relating to the story. I identify as aromantic aceflux at this point in time, but my journey was not typical. Whereas I feel like Alice Oseman, who might've been pulling from her own experience, wrote Loveless with a more common lens. I was also much farther into my journey than Georgia who didn't even know what aroace is at the beginning of the book. However, I held on and found I loved the relationships between Georgia and her friends. The feelings Georgia has about being "broken" or "loveless" are very much relatable and caused some mistiness in my eyes.

Even though I have known about my identity for most of my life before I recently started using specific labels, and though it's been a long while since I entered college, I felt connected to Georgia on a deep level and rooted for her at every turn and twist. I definitely recommend Loveless if you are even a bit curious about the aroace identity. Except for my own personal hang-ups, I think this could've been a solid 5-star book.

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the_true_monroe's review

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is doing wonders. It is a beautiful story overall and the character development is amazing- I love so many of the characters and found myself tearing up at moments of platonic love. But also, having asexuality and aromanticism the forefront of a young adult novel by such a popular author is lifechanging. I was the same age as Georgia when I began to realize I was asexual, and had so many similar thoughts and experiences but I am just picturing the people both (1) younger than her who will be able to find the words for what they were feeling before they get into sticky situations or feel too much self hatred and (2) people older than Georgia reading this who may have been through so much pain and confusion due to feeling like something was wrong with them since they could not feel certain ways. We need more stories like this, not just with an asexual/ aromantic focus but with an emphasis on platonic love and how it is not a lower level than romantic love.

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sophiafaurs's review

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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