Reviews tagging 'Outing'

Loveless by Alice Oseman

10 reviews

ohmage_resistance's review against another edition

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hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I was actually surprised I liked this as much as I did, since I don't read much contemporary YA. didn't expect to get this emotional/engaged in it, but it totally worked for me. I didn't relate to her as much as I would have thought (I honestly probably related the most on the being new to college part), but that's a valid experience.

I'm not surprised this book is as popular as it is for a-spec rep. I does an excellent job portraying the experience of someone coming into terms with their sexuality. It does tend to emphasize one particular type of experience (ie. being sex/romance repulsed, being aro ace, being very into romantic media). This is mostly because this is the way Georgia is, and the character we see discussion their a-spec identity the next most often is also similar to that. But it is mentioned that these things are spectrums. Georgia (as well as the book) also came across as a bit sex negative at times (not just sex repulsed) and I wish there was more of an effort to disprove that.

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theaceofpages'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

"I was really quite lonely, and I wanted to be loved. Was that such a bad thing? To want an intimate connection with another human? I didn’t know."

This was a bit of a tough book to rate. I can tell why some people hate it, but I loved it.

So. First from a technical aspect. I can tell why some people don't like this book. The writing is a little frustrating at times. And the pacing was a little annoying. It started off kind of slow and repetitive. Until she realised she was ace. Then it picked up! I liked the pacing in the middle of the book but then the end felt rushed. And the ending was not the greatest?
I'm happy Georgia found happiness but it felt too neat, but at the same time incomplete? I don't know if that makes any sense.


The representation however? So good! And I think that this is exactly why the book is so popular. That confusion and desperation to feel like you belong. That's you're normal. A lot of her feelings and emotions are definitely high school me. Although I went the opposite route and told myself that I didn't want a relationship because I needed to work on myself as it's not fair for someone to have to deal with the wreck I was. But that the right person would come along eventually and if it happened, it happened. So I never really went through that "oh my goodness I need to find someone" experience. Despite that, I still related to her. And both those experiences simply stem from a lack of representation. I'm glad people can at least find things online and in books now, even if it's still not taught in schools. But yes. Seeing someone who's emotions are the same as mine in a deep level for the first time is great, even if they manifest themselves differently! But I do also think that this is where a lot of the hate comes in from ace readers.  One of the biggest complaints about the book I've seen is that it doesn't represent their experiences. I'm pretty sure it was clear that there are multiple experiences through other characters, especially Sunil's explanations! And they are also not aro and Jess is aro but not ace, so there's that.  I've also seen that some people are unhappy with how other identities are represented. I mean, I kind of get it, but all the characters are well-developed. We also need to remember that the book focuses on an aroace person - and a lot of us have a lot of confusion about why romantic and sexual love are placed on such a pedestal and are such a focus for some people. That being said, I loved the focus on friendship. It's so often underplayed and represented as lesser, even though it can be just as if not more powerful than romantic love.

I feel like Georgia is the type of person who would actually look up what asexual means so I feel like her discovery was a bit drawn out. I would have loved it if she had found the term, panicked, and then tried to convince herself that nope, she can have those things! She got got on my nerves a bit at times, but it's okay. Her cousin seems cool. I liked that that was a way to show how verbally aggressive parents can be. Although, again, why does no one in this book seem to do any research? I love Sunil! Can we please have more about them? I just resonated so deeply with a lot of what they said. I just want to be their best friend and give them a big hug. I definitely preferred them to Georgia. I'd LOVE a book about them. And how they learned to accept themselves. And about how they help others accept themselves too. It's sad that everyone uses he/him pronouns though (although they are okay with either)
 
Be aware that this book contains a lot of internalised aphobia (as well as some external aphobia, including from parents and LGBT spaces) and can be rather painful to read at times. I had to take breaks to process at times.

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arlingtonchamberofgay's review

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hopeful informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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luananki's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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

i’m so incredibly happy i finally read loveless. this one was my first book with an aro-ace mc and i’m very grateful for that because i needed it.
i don’t know how to put my thoughts into words but it was a big relief to read georgia’s thoughts about sex and how alone she felt with everything but also how she questioned if some of her thoughts were even related to her being ace because same!!
i appreciate the setting - very glad to read more books where the characters are in university because the world is missing more of that. i also appreciate all the other characters. they all played such an important part in the story and i was able to relate to most of them at least the tiniest bit. 
i could list all the things i appreciate about each of them but i’m gonna leave it at that. this also protected me from falling into a reading slump so yay to that!!

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_kael_'s review against another edition

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emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

5.0

PoV: Main character (Georgia)
Focus: Romantic & Sexual Orientation/Identity, Friendship, Self-discovery

Probably spoilers/could give bias:
the plot is nothing new, but
it's interesting for the aroace (aromantic and asexual) perspective. I heard from the ace community that it has good representation. If this is one way of what it means to be ace, then it seems validating and makes you feel seen and heard. Though I can see why some people think it is more aro than ace. I think it's a good intro for the aroace perspective, but it is just one perspective, not all. Since, like I hear, it is a spectrum.

 
The plot is spearheaded by Rooney. I didn't think she'll be a major part of the book at 1st TBH, but it made sense. Maybe it was written that way bc that's what Georgia first felt too. Even if the main character is kinda passive, the writing is still very interesting. Her thoughts, emotions, etc. It gives a new perspective.
  The characters seem realistic in a way that you feel like you can pass by them on the streets. The average day-to-day person. 
I wish I could know more about Sunil and Jess though. I also found Georgia's cousin interesting. 
Warning for some people, the short story at the end of the book could be not for some since it has sexually explicit content. It is nice that there are aro ace resources at the back. I have only checked the AVEN one and thought it was really helpful in explaining some things :)

I laughed, liked/loved a lot of parts and lines from the book, and found some parts sad too. Sometimes it brings up sad memories. I found it a light and heartwarming read majority of the time still. I was surprised at how thick the book was at first, but I found it such a page turner :DD When I open the book, I feel immediate immersion. I think I annotated the entire book lol. I also loved the friendship topics of this book. Friendship goals. I wish everyone thought like that too. I would recommend this book to people so that they can understand asexuals more. ^^

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dezembrluft's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted 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


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nikexistiertnik's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

it took me a little to get into the book, mainly because i didn't expect it to mention fanfictions that much and because i wasn't the biggest fan of the writing in the beginning.
BUT i loved the story and i started to enjoy the writing more the further the story progressed!
the characters were realistically portrayed and even though some of their interactions frustrated me, they didn't seem unrealistic or anything, so it was mostly frustrating in a "aaaaaaaaaah i know that's how people act and how i would sometimes behave but PLEEEAAASE talk" way
i loved the fact that alice shows the importance of our modern resources for people's sense of identities,
like having ellis as an older aro-ace character who didn't have the same possibilities as georgia, just because she grew up in a slightly different time
and one of the problems that many bipoc lgbtqia+ people face, which is that lgbtqia+ spaces are often predominantly white (and also cis).
i am a little sad that sunil was introduced as a non-binary character with a "he/they" pin on their jacket, meaning that he uses both he/him and they/them pronouns, but then sunil was only referred to as "he" by the other characters (mostly georgia). i know "he" is the preferred pronoun in that case, but i just kind of wished it would've at least been addressed when he DID talk about his identity.

also, i was kind of taken aback by how much alcohol they consumed - i know they're in university and that's kind of normal then, but i didn't particularly enjoyed that.
all in all, i still really loved the book and i enjoyed the ending SO MUCH, i was constantly shrieking, screaming, smiling, crying, and i just HAD to finish the last bit without further interruption even though i MASSIVELY have to pee now.
and i think reading it helped me a lot, because firstly, i learned some stuff about myself, and secondly, this morning, i couldn't bring myself to get up, but now i actually want to, and i think finishing the book plays a major part in that.

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foreverinastory's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thank you to Pride Book Tours, I Read YA and Scholastic inc for the physical ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Loveless is the story of Georgia. She's never been in love, but she wants to. She's determined to make University her fresh start. With her best friends and her roommate on her side, she knows she'll make it work this time. But when her romance plans wreak havoc among her friends, Georgia doesn't know what to do. Then new terms are thrown at her - asexual, aromantic - and Georgia is more uncertain of her feelings than ever.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I feel like my initial review came off more negative than I intended it to so I'm editing it for clarity. This book is very readable. When I grabbed the UK audiobook I was planning to listen to it over the course of two days or so, which is slower for me than normal, but I've been super busy lately. However, once I started it, I marathoned the first 80% without stopping. I only finally turned it off to go to sleep, and I immediately finished it first thing the next morning.

Let me start with the one thing that really annoyed me first. Sunil (he/they) is a nonbinary Indian side character, who is also Georgia's college parent. They introduce their pronouns pretty early into the book. He is wearing a sticker that says (he/they), Georgia notices this. She never once uses they pronouns to refer to Sunil, only ever he. As someone who is gender expansive and uses multiple pronouns, this really bothered me. Sunil does not indicate to Georgia a preferred pronoun set between the two, so she should really use both or ask. She does neither and uses he all the time. Y'all if someone uses multiple pronouns and they don't tell you to only use one: MIX IT UP! Use them all! You can use whichever set is listed first, but for the love of shit, don't only use one unless you are explicitly told to. I know this is addressed in the US edition, but something still does not sit right with me about this situation. This was my main point of frustration with the book, but it did not keep me from loving the shit out of Sunil. They deserve their own book. He is the most precious out of all the side characters.

We see Georgia's experiences and acceptance of her sexuality, and this is only ONE experience of a very large spectrum. It's never talked about in the book but there are different attitudes towards sex: repulsed, neutral and positive. Georgia is a sex-repulsed character. If you are neutral or positive, this book might be harder to relate to. Before Georgia hears the words asexual and aromantic, she tries to put herself into romantic and (consensual) sexual situations to see what will happen. All of these experiences end with her being repulsed by them. It was so important to show this experience on page and I'm glad we're finally getting such deliberate on page exploration of asexuality and aromanticism. Seeing Georgia go through all of these experiences, come to accept her asexuality and aromanticism and realize she's still a whole person capable of loving people was such a powerful narrative.

Georgia had so many relatable quotes and thoughts. I definitely laughed at some of them because they're the same things I've thought before. We are SO asexual. There were times it was harder for me to relate because our sex attitudes are different, but she always felt like a realistic and sympathetic character. I felt sad about all the drinking she did when she didn't really seem to want to. There's nothing wrong with pushing your boundaries or doing things to fit in. I hope that society gets better at letting people be their whole selves and that the societal pressures of social drinking and other situations becomes less prevalent. This is not meant to be a criticism of Georgia and her actions but rather the environment that made her feel like she didn't have choice.

I'm really glad this book exists and now it has finally published in the US it will become more accessible to people. I'm especially thinking of young queer teens who are questioning or don't even know asexuality is a thing. We need more ace and aro icons. We need more education about these experiences and more media that shows them. I would really love to see more sex positive asexual stories.

I loved all of Georgia's friends. Rooney was precious. I'm a fan of pansexual rep. Though I know other pan reviewer's have had issues with this rep (see: Melanie's review). Rooney was such a fun character and I really enjoyed seeing all her antics in this book. I wish we got a deeper understanding of things going through her head. But from what we do see, I was very empathetic to her. Rooney has trouble letting people in and can be very guarded about her emotions. That was 100% relatable for me.

I really loved the ending where Georgia does all these actions to show her friends how important they are to her. Georgia has learned from her mistakes and will continue to be better. Also I head canon Rooney and Georgia have a QPR especially after what Rooney told her about how she's never leaving Georgia behind, that part had me in my feels. Seeing all of her friends come through for the Shakespeare society was so much fun. I loved seeing their mash-up play and watching all of their chaotic practices. There was so much sexual tension between some of these characters 👀. IYKYK.

Overall, I had a ton of fun with this book. I want more stories like this where we see a group of friends fall more platonically in love in each other. I want more platonic grand gestures. I want more asexual MCs and their found families.

Rep: white British aroace questioning cis female MC with anxiety, Latina-British lesbian female side character, white British supposedly heterosexual cis male side character (I very much read him on the ace spectrum), Indian-British gay asexual nonbinary side character, white British bisexual aromantic female side character, white British pansexual questioning cis female side character, various other queer side characters.

CWs from the author: internalized amisia, verbal amisia, deliberate amisic attitudes, accidentally amisic attitudes due to ignorance/lack of knowledge about a-spec identities, frank discussions of sex and masturbation, two brief incidents of exclusionary attitudes, references to past emotionally abusive relationships, references to past bullying.

Additional CWs from me: alcohol consumption, cursing, homophobia/homomisia, sexual content (discussions, off page sex between side characters), alcoholism, mental illness (anxiety), misgendering (non-use of multiple pronouns for a character who uses multiple pronouns). Moderate: bullying/peer pressure, outing, transphobia/transmisia, lesbophobia/lesbomisia, gaslighting, toxic friendship, toxic relationship, vomit, biphobia/bimisia, drug use, misogyny.
 

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lilly_anne's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.75


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anne152's review against another edition

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challenging inspiring reflective 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

5.0


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