Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - The Romantic Agenda

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann

10 reviews

ashylibrarian's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.25

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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative 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? No

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

Fake dating was my favorite trope for a while & I hadn’t read any books with it in so long until this one! This also really felt reminiscent of a 90s romcom with the messiness and goofiness of that era, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Joy has loved her best friend Malcolm forever, but when he divulges that he’s found “the one” in Summer, she is understandably heartbroken. Joy and Malcolm met at the lgbtia+ club at school, with him teaching her what asexual meant & her realizing that it described her feelings about sex! Joy always found comfort in the fact that they shared this experience, and sort of closed herself off to the possibility of finding companionship or romance with anyone else. She had become comfortable with her and Malcolm’s dynamic and never questioned it or pondered if she could pursue romance.

Fox (Summer’s bestie) was a lovely love interest for her, and after they pretend to fall for each other during a weekend away, Joy begins to ruminate on new, surprising possibilities! I loved the build up to their romance and how Fox not only called Joy in (when it came to the unspoken issues she had with her friendship with Malcolm), but he also invited her to consider a life beyond Malcolm. It wasn’t about “oh you just haven’t found the right person,” which is an aro/acephobic thing to assume; it was moreso, “You’re too close to see that he doesn’t feel the way you do, and that’s not okay for him to use you for constant emotional labor.” I am sure there’s a more eloquent way to frame this, but I really admired that Fox was brave and compassionate in presenting this information to Joy.

This was such a lovely story to read, and I will absolutely be checking out more of Claire Kann’s work!

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zydecovivo's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring 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? Yes

4.75

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takarakei's review against another edition

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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

3.5

ACE main character(s)
MC is in love with her bff
kind of a blind date set up (sort of)

It was actually interesting to read a nonfiction book about ACE representation (by Angela Chen) at the same time of reading this. I think that really informed my own ability to understand Joy as a main character. This book reminded me of that movie 27 dresses (only in the like pining after someone kind of off limits and then falling for someone unexpected). The pining over Joy's bff was a bit much at times, and while I did really like the eventual ending it felt a bit convoluted. I cannot speak to the ACE representation myself and if it was done well (and every ACE person's experience is unique), but there were many things echoed from the nonfiction read in this book, so it seemed well done to me...

3/5🌶️

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rickireadss's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

i loved so much about this!!! i loved how kann used joy and malcolm to show how asexuality is a spectrum and is not the same for everyone. i learned a lot about asexuality in this and just loved that! joy’s character was AH-MAZING!! she was hella confident, hilarious, and just so cool. and FOX?!?! i love that white man 😌 he was so grumpy and every “hmm” he did had me panting like a pavlov dog 🥵🤭 i do wish we had more of their relationship rather than it just being at the end, but i loved everything we got to see at the lake house. i will say that malcolm and summer could just f*ck off. i don’t like either of them - i didn’t hated malcolm more so.

⚠️: acephobia/arophobia, panic attacks/disorders, racism, mental illness, car accident, death of friend, religious bigotry

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the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I loved the diverse asexual representation in this book! Both Malcolm and Joy showed unique aspects of the spectrum of asexuality. I also loved how autism-coded Joy is, and I really related to a lot of her experiences with being 'too honest'.

I like the dynamic between Fox and Joy, as it is PEAK grumpy x sunshine. This being said, I didn't feel invested in the plotline with Malcolm because he never seemed to be an appealing character to me. Like I can't see why she is so into him, which undercuts a lot of the plotline.

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amberinpieces's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.25

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kylieqrada's review

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

4.5 ⭐️s. Vibes. Just... vibes. JOY IS MY BLACK ASEXUAL GODDESS AND SHE MEANS EVERYTHING TO ME. This book is so important and you need to read it. I had minor authorial voice/pacing issues with it, but they pale (PALE I SAY) in comparison to how much I love seeing an adult ace romance. I feel so seen its painful. READ THE THING.

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churrosmom's review

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emotional funny 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

4.5

Disclaimer: I received an eARC from the publisher through Netgalley.

4.5 stars. It is pretty hard for me to write a review because this book is really different from anything else I've ever read. This is a beautiful and funny unconventional romance novel about Joy, a Black asexual woman who is hilariously weird. Joy is in love with her best friend since college, Malcolm, a Black asexual man whose exes all felt threatened by Joy and Malcolm's very queer platonic best-friendship. The plot centers around a weekend cabin trip Malcolm plans for Summer, his very very bubbly white friend who he hopes to launch a relationship with using the trip. Malcolm invites Joy along to accompany Summer's ex, Fox. This situation is definitely as emotionally fraught for Joy as it sounds.

The author did a beautiful job of writing such complex characters who struggle and grow in their character arcs and their relationships through the course of this book. I am not ace but I really loved how the author portrayed the nuance and complexity of ace identity through Joy and Malcolm, who have very different relationships with romance and sex. I also absolutely loved Joy--she was witty and weird in the best way. Though she never identified as such, she definitely seems neurodiverse, and I loved how REAL she and her emotional responses felt.

I would definitely suggest readers go into this book with an open mind--it doesn't really follow any of the heteronormative romance tropes or storylines, and I feel like it centers Joy as a character and her character growth above the plot of the romance/relationships. The book only covers the beginning of the actual "romance," but it is done so tenderly and beautifully. Of course, there is still a HFN/HEA.

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foreverinastory's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

5.0

Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I loved this so much!!! I need more Ace romance books ASAP!

The Romantic Agenda follows thirty year old Joy. She's been in love with her best friend, Malcolm, for as long as she can remember, but he's never returned her feelings. When he tells her he's met the love of his life, Joy is crushed. Reluctantly, she agrees to a weekend getaway with Malcolm, Summer and Fox. Malcolm has asked her to keep an eye on Fox and this has Joy curious. The more time she spends with the grumpy Fox, the more she likes him.

This book was so fun. I loved being in Joy's head. The way her anxiety manifests was so relatable. Her hyperactivity and effervescence were so much fun to read. Joy made me feel energized every time I would pick this book up. It was so easy to fall in love with Joy and enjoy her story.

I loved that there's two asexual characters in this! We get to see that while both Malcolm and Joy are asexual, that means different things for their attitudes towards sex. Many times it's felt like all ace characters are written the same and they shouldn't be because the spectrum is so vast. But I think as more stories are written that center ace characters and voices, we'll truly see the diversity of the community shine through.

This book was so romantic. I loved it so much. The grumpy and sunshine trope is at it's max in this one and it was so good. I loved watching Fox and Joy grow closer. Fox's grumpiness was so much fun to poke at and I loved how Joy would easily get under his skin. Not only did I enjoy the romance, but I really loved the in depth look at Joy and Malcolm's friendship and how it had evolved to be something that was holding both of them back. I'm glad they took the time to figure out what they needed from each other and how they needed to make new boundaries.

Overall, I 1000% loved Claire Kann's adult debut and I hope she writes more adult romances like this one! I can't wait for her next book.

Rep: Black asexual cis female MC with anxiety, Black asexual cis male side character, white cishet female side character, white cishet male side character, BIPOC female side characters.

CWs: Mental illness (anxiety), panic attacks, cursing, acephobia/acemisia, alcohol consumption. Moderate: discussions of sexual content/behavior, racism. Minor: car accident.

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