Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Loveless by Alice Oseman

56 reviews

sophieamreacher's review

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emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Sweet, a little cringey, very YA but I enjoyed it, I wish I had read this when I was younger. 
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kiryomi's review

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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

5.0

Confused kids in college dorms, disillusionment, Pride Society, Scooby Doo, and multiple sexuality crises. That’s the essence of this book. Some may assume it is about a girl who believes she is loveless until she gets swept off her feet by her perfect lover and escapes into a fairytale romance. That’s not what this is. This is the emotional story of a girl who is loveless and learns to be okay with it.

Romantic love is idealized and prioritized in our modern day world. People tell you there is someone out there for everyone, that you need to settle down and eventually find the one. Soulmates, star-crossed lovers, the one, the terminology changes but the idea remains the same. Georgia Warr, at eighteen, hasn’t had her first kiss or gone on a date or had sex. She’s determined to find the divine romance she reads about in fanfiction. Until she doesn’t. She has a friend help her scope out possible partners, but none of them appeal to her. Surrounded by her lovesick queer friends, she is the odd one out. She feels lost.

This book is very important. Aromanticism and asexuality are topics that are not discussed nearly enough; this story is voicing things that must be said and representing the community. 
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librarymouse's review

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emotional funny 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

5.0

I kept having to put down this book and take a moment because every one of Georgia's milestones in discovering her aro-ace identity were nearly beat for beat my own. I feel so lovingly, astoundingly, kind of uncomfortably seen by this book, and by Alice Oseman.
Her wonderful additions of mentor characters at different stages of their self acceptance journeys was everything I wished for (and still wish for, tbh)
I love this book. I knew, going into it, that I was not alone - not the only ace or aro-ace person in the world, but after reading this book, I feel less alone in a far more profound way.
I want to try going dancing now, again, with friends and without the weight of sexual or romantic expectations like Georgia. I think I'd like it too.
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maddiearthur's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

3.75

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proza's review

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challenging emotional funny informative inspiring reflective 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

4.0

This book was a really enjoyable read.
It's safe to say that my AroAce self-discovery experience is not exactly the same as Georgia's, but they are quite similar in many ways and there were so many aspects of it that felt so relatable to me, and reading those parts made me feel seen and valid.
This book also provided me with the vocabulary I needed to express my feelings and my desires, and for that I am very greatful to Alice Oseman.

Now I'll go over the other parts of the book.
The general plot – while predictable at times – was enjoyable. All main characters were extremely likeable, and they each felt like their own individual people with unique personalities.
I feel like Oseman used the first-person perspective remarkably well; Georgia's narrated the story using her own voice and it made me understand her perspective and motives much better.
That being said, the story is fast from perfect. I felt like most of the problems and obstacles that Georgia went through were resolved much too quickly and easily (one example would be
how Jason forgave her way too quickly and seemed to forget she ever hurt him after her apology
), and that other characters reacted to things in a way that felt out of place for them.
Another problem I think I need to  cknowledge is that the book only presents one AroAce experience , and I think that it doesn't clarify the fact that there are other ways to be aromantic or asexual well enough. It is important to remember that there are infinitely many ways to be AroAce, and that all of them are completely valid.

Overall, I think that while it has many flaws, it is a very good book that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and I am glad to have read it.
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maple_dove's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective relaxing 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

4.25

This book is so good.

Loveless follows Georgia Warr (She/Her), a first-year in college with two best friends. She yearns for a romantic relationship like the movies. However, she will find that that is not what she really wants.

What I liked/loved:
  • The aroace rep. I like that Georgia is an aroace character which doesn't hate the idea of romantic or sexual relationships (initially). Not everyone aroace person is repulsed by the idea of romance or sex and with the heteronormativity many of us live in, even aroace people can get confused on what we actually want.
  • The non-romantic, but full-of-love relationships. Love is often characterized as something solely romantic. This book challenges that falsehood, and I'm all for it.
  • Discussion about LGBTQ issues. Always.
  • Character arcs where it reveals people are not always as they seem. People often have more depth than we can perceive first glance.
  • Georgia Warr. She's quiet and awesome. A great combination, no matter what society says. 💛

What I Didn't Like
  • There was nothing I could particularly point as "flaws." Loveless is amazing. The characters feel so realistic and real.

Favorite Quotes:

In the end, that was the problem with romance. It was so easy to romanticize romance because it was everywhere. It was in music and on TV and in filtered Instragram photos. It was in the air, crisp and alive with fresh possibility. It was in falling leaves, crumbling wooden doorways, scuffed cobblestones and fields of dandelions. It was in the touch of hands, scrawled letters, crumpled sheets, and the golden hour. A soft yawn, early morning laughter, shoes lined up together by the door. Eyes across the dance floor.

"Anyway, you're only eighteen, you've got so much time--" I started to say, but didn't know how to continue.
[...]
It was something that adults said all the time. You'll change your mind when you're older. You never know what might happen. You'll feel differently one day. As if we teenagers knew so little about yourselves that we could wake up one day a completely different person. As if the person we are right now doesn't matter at all.
The whole idea that people always grew up, fell in love, and got married was a complete lie.

Friends are automatically classed as "less important" than romantic partners. I'd never questioned that. It was just the way the world was. I guess if always felt that friendship just couldn't compete with what a partner offered, and that I never really experience real love until I found romance.
But if that had been true, I probably wouldn't have felt like this.
[...]
I had been so desperate for my idea of true love that I couldn't even see it when it was right in front of my face.

"Actually," I said, trying as hard as I could to keep the irritation out of my voice, "I'm not really interested in getting a boyfriend."
"Oh, well," she said, patting my leg again, "plenty of time, my love. Plenty of time."
But my time is now, I wanted to scream. My life is happening right now.

"You're OK with--with just being friends?" I asked.
He smiled and took my hand again. "'Just friends' makes it sound like being friends is worse. I think this is better, personally, considering how terrible that kiss was."
I squeezed his hand. "I agree."
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ju_harue's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted fast-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

Gostei bastante desse livro, dos personagens, dos assuntos abordados, das relações.
É tão importante existirem livros assim, que abordam e representam os mais diversos tipos de gêneros, identidades, sexualidades, raças. E Alice faz isso com um primor sem igual, com tamanho respeito e simplicidade que espero que cheguem a cada vez mais pessoas, principalmente ao público alvo mais jovem, para mostrar que há muito mais, há muito além e sempre, sempre há amor, da forma que for
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emily_mh's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

I think when a book means so much to you it’s hard to give it an adequate review. Like Mr Knightley said, “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” This book stared into my very soul and made me understand myself in a whole new way, and it gave me so much hope for my future. I laughed and cried and was rendered speechless. I felt like I WAS Georgia. 

Rep: aroace MC, lesbian British-Colombian SC, nonbinary asexual gay South Asian SC, pansexual SC, ace SC, bisexual aromantic Black minor character 
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teslis's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

I do really think that Alice Oseman's books are speaking to me right now. 

This books is about a girl who has never got a crush and is in a world full or romance trying to figur out who she is. I absolutely loved to read about a Ace/Aro character who is trying to figur out life. I think my own identity "crisis" plus the "answers" I got from this book can have been a part of giving it such a high score. Some of the parts of Georgias thinking have been similar to my own, but not all! With that I want to clarify that this book helped me figur out more of my self, I might not be Aro/Ace like her, but I know that it can variate over time and thats okay. This book gave me perspective and I really realised how important it is to value friendships, but also one self.

"Loveless" is a book worth reading, I'm really happy I read it. It helped me and hopefully helps others too!

Took me 8 hours and 36 minuts. 
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tbd24's review

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emotional lighthearted tense slow-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

3.5

fun little YA about finding out you’re ace and also starting university and friendships. There were little things i could be persnickety about but I don’t feel like it because overall I had a nice time reading this.
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