Reviews with content warning for Car accident - The Romantic Agenda

Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann

12 reviews

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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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victoriapatella's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted 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

3.0

I have never read a romance book like this, and it was refreshing. I related a lot to Joy when it came to hesitance for pursuing a romantic relationship due to the fear of the partner not feeling fully satisfied. I also understand having a person, your person. Someone who understands you so deeply that you don’t believe anyone will ever compare. Someone who you love so much that you feel like any potential romantic partner would always come second to them. I related to this so hard that it was kind of scary reading it because that meant at least one other person also has felt this way. I know I’m going to contradict myself a bit in the next paragraph, but I really appreciated how Joy always spoken her mind, too. She always communicated how she felt, and expected the same in return. She didn’t accept being treated unfairly or having things being left unspoken. I don’t know if it was intentional by the author, but it seemed to me that Joy was on the autism spectrum.

This all being said, I really hate the miscommunication trope. While I do understand using miscommunication to build up angst (and I love me some angst), this miscommunication between Malcolm and Joy lasted the entire book. And I understand it was supposed to be ironic that Joy can clearly communicate with everyone else except Malcolm, but I found the difference too drastic to really be convincing.

When Malcolm and Joy finally have The Conversation, I was still left unsatisfied. I also didn’t see enough of Malcolm and Summer’s relationship to feel convinced they truly belonged together. Maybe that’s the point, but it still felt frustrating to me.

I loooooved Fox though. A boy who is grumpy to everyone except The One? Sign me up. And the silver hair? Absolutely.

Overall, I really appreciated the ace (and possibly autism) representation, I just wish there was less miscommunication.

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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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lchambers394's review

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funny 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

A lovely summery read. I was in a hugeeeeee reading slump and this book brought me out. Joy is very likeable and complex and the other characters stand strongly too. This book is a realistic, heartwarming, light read about love in all forms. Great interesting ace and (perhaps unintentionally) adhd representation . Couldn’t fault it.

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stuckinatimeloop's review

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funny informative 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

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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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mmefish's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.75

I needed something to get me out of reading slump and this one did the trick.
The romance was cute (?) I'm not a big contemporary romance person. I also don't like reading paragraphs describing outfits the MC picked up, or how many followers she has on Instagram, or how beautiful she thought she was. Honestly, I'd say this particular book fits into Chick lit category.
The characters were fine but — being 30 years old — they couldn't communicate for shit.
I appreciated the Ace representation.

P.S. what's up with these names?! Joy, Summer, Fox... and Malcolm.

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vaniavela's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

4.75

Thirty, self-confident and asexual Joy has been secretly in love with her best friend Malcolm for a decade, but confessing it has never been in her options. When he unexpectedly announces he's met the love of his life and invites her on a group getaway, Joy decides it's her last chance to show him exactly what he's missing. But maybe Joy realizes that her crush is making her lose sight of other things, or other people?

I loved the representation. I am not part of the asexual spectrum, but I understand there are many ways people within the spectrum live. I love that we have two black asexual characters who experience asexuality very differently; neither way is better than the other, we should stop invalidating them. I loved seeing this theme foregrounded, especially when Summer, Malcolm, Fox and Joy have the conversation about asexuality. It was nice to see Summer and Fox calmly work to understand about this topic without being offensive or invalidating any of them.

The grumpy/sunshine trope is at its best and I loved it. I loved Fox and Joy's approaches. Fox's grumpiness was so much fun to read and I loved how Joy's personality put him over the edge in certain scenes. The way the consent aspect was approached is also great. Both characters take the time to figure out what each is comfortable with, and this is an excellent example of how consent in a romantic relationship doesn't take the romantic or sexy element out of it. I loved the conversations they had about each other's boundaries and the trust they were building.

As far as characters go, I loved Fox. He's a grumpy looking guy but has the kindest heart. Summer was a literal sunshine, her personality extremely bright and always cheerful. I found her somewhat annoying at times, but it's not personal, so much cheerfulness in one person tends to tire me out. Joy was self-confident and loves herself. She loves the way she is, and recognizes her beauty and talent. I love reading female main characters who love each other no matter what the world thinks. We really need more strong black female main characters. Malcom was difficult to read. He was very controlling about schedules and didn't give others freedom to do what they wanted because if they moved the schedule one minute, he would get upset. Also, not telling Joy about the girl he has been seeing for months, nor any of his other friends, was something that made me feel bad for her. She was supposed to be his best friend; more than half the book we see how he brags about her everywhere, why couldn't he open up to her about all that?

As for negative aspects we have the following. In general, all these characters need therapy. Please go to a session. Another aspect is the timeline. The story literally takes place over the course of a few days, and in that time too many things happen. A problem that occurred due to 10 years of miscommunication solved in five days ? Plus I expected more from the ending. This is one of those types of books where I needed an epilogue with scenes of the characters months or years later. I didn't get it, but I'm not entirely complaining.

Definitely read this if you're looking for a book with asexual representation, fake dating, grumpy/sunshine trope, a self-confident protagonist, and constant puns.

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

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grimviolins's review

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hopeful lighthearted 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

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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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