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mari1532's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
tense
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
4.5
#23for23 (Learn more: https://www.23for23.net/)
I checked this audiobook out of my library.
Brief Synopsis: Alice is going to have the best summer. Eating great food, working her cozy job at the library, watching television, and spending time with her girlfriend...except she doesn't have a girlfriend anymore. After Alice tells her girlfriend that she's asexual, Alice finds herself no longer in a relationship. With a broken heart, she enters the summer with no thoughts toward anything other than going to work and avoiding people. Then she meets her new coworker, Takumi, and suddenly the summer seems full of terrifying possibilities for Alice.
Thoughts: I loved the romance between Alice and Takumi throughout this book. The way that they care for each other and build a connection with one another was so heartwarming to watch and a joy to read. I also really appreciated Alice's growth within her asexuality and how Takumi and she were able to navigate the meaning of that within their romance.
I also love that the place where Alice and Takumi fall for each other is a library. It's a perfect combination of some of my favourite things romance and books.
The only thing I did not like about this book is Alice's relationship with her best friends, Feenie and Ryan, who are in a partnership with each other. I felt that Feenie and Alice's relationship was a little toxic. They had a lot of history together and I do not doubt that at some point they were very close and had a lot of love for each other. However, when Feenie is upset that Alice is forming a relationship with Takumi being jealous, rather than supportive it rubbed me the wrong way. I also felt that the resolution of that tension was not entirely satisfying.
This is a great romance with asexual representation. I would recommend this book.
I checked this audiobook out of my library.
Brief Synopsis: Alice is going to have the best summer. Eating great food, working her cozy job at the library, watching television, and spending time with her girlfriend...except she doesn't have a girlfriend anymore. After Alice tells her girlfriend that she's asexual, Alice finds herself no longer in a relationship. With a broken heart, she enters the summer with no thoughts toward anything other than going to work and avoiding people. Then she meets her new coworker, Takumi, and suddenly the summer seems full of terrifying possibilities for Alice.
Thoughts: I loved the romance between Alice and Takumi throughout this book. The way that they care for each other and build a connection with one another was so heartwarming to watch and a joy to read. I also really appreciated Alice's growth within her asexuality and how Takumi and she were able to navigate the meaning of that within their romance.
I also love that the place where Alice and Takumi fall for each other is a library. It's a perfect combination of some of my favourite things romance and books.
The only thing I did not like about this book is Alice's relationship with her best friends, Feenie and Ryan, who are in a partnership with each other. I felt that Feenie and Alice's relationship was a little toxic. They had a lot of history together and I do not doubt that at some point they were very close and had a lot of love for each other. However, when Feenie is upset that Alice is forming a relationship with Takumi being jealous, rather than supportive it rubbed me the wrong way. I also felt that the resolution of that tension was not entirely satisfying.
This is a great romance with asexual representation. I would recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual content
kirstenf's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia and Sexual harassment
Minor: Infidelity, Racism, and Sexual content
sapphic_swiftie's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
i won't lie, this book was a bit of a disappointment for me. i picked it up because i was interested in reading a book with asexual rep and also intrigued by the fact that the main character, alice, works at a library (like myself!). as for the representation, overall, i do think that it was well done and definitely one of its greatest strengths! although, i just couldn't ever get really invested in the plot or the charcters and reading a book with a book with eh charcters as a character>plot reader can definitely make a book drag on.
the language/author's style of writing also wasn't my favorite. it just didn't really reflect the fact that most of the characters were college-aged and was instead immature. however, partly because of this, i found it to be a fairly "easy" read. also, there were some well-written cute, romantic moments that i enjoyed. overall, i found this book to be pretty meh and not super memorable.
the language/author's style of writing also wasn't my favorite. it just didn't really reflect the fact that most of the characters were college-aged and was instead immature. however, partly because of this, i found it to be a fairly "easy" read. also, there were some well-written cute, romantic moments that i enjoyed. overall, i found this book to be pretty meh and not super memorable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content
fairy_internet's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia
Moderate: Racism, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Grief
emhunsbaker's review against another edition
funny
informative
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? No
3.5
Hooray for representation! This book has a lovely romance as it's main plot, but with a twist: the main character is asexual, and throughout the novel she and her love interest have to come to grips with what this means for their relationship.
The representation was realistic, especially with the main character's rants to her therapist about what being ace feels like. Her experiences seemed true to an ace identity, but aren't often shown in media without it being a joke or a thing that makes a character deviant.
Lastly, while being ace is the driving force of the main character's conflict, it's not the only defining factor of the character. She has a personality; she has depth; she is human.
This book is very much a romance novel, but the asexual character and the experience of asexuality shared within the pages are so important.
The representation was realistic, especially with the main character's rants to her therapist about what being ace feels like. Her experiences seemed true to an ace identity, but aren't often shown in media without it being a joke or a thing that makes a character deviant.
Lastly, while being ace is the driving force of the main character's conflict, it's not the only defining factor of the character. She has a personality; she has depth; she is human.
This book is very much a romance novel, but the asexual character and the experience of asexuality shared within the pages are so important.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Bullying, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Sexual content
Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, and Toxic friendship
longlost's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-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
"Margot lowered herself down next to Alice, slowly, as if she were dealing with a scared animal. "Have you gone to a doctor?" she asked. She traced her delicate fingers over Alice's shoulder, curving towards her spine. It tickled, but Alice didn't show it.
"I don't need to." Number one, she thought.
"Were you abused? Is that it?"
"No." Number two.
"Are you saving yourself for marriage?"
"I hope that's a joke."
"It was," Margot admitted. Her sad smile burned in the corner of Alice's eyes. "Then what? Tell me. People don't just not like sex without a reason. It's kind of not natural, don't you think?"
This book. This book is so important. The only thing stopping me from rating this book 5 stars entirely is my own discomfort with some of the characters in it, which I'm not 100% sure on whether it's something that personally upsets me because of my own experiences, or whether it does genuinely send a concerning message.
First thing's first: the asexual representation. I'm unsure if the book is own voices, but as an asexual person I felt that the ace community and experience was treated with incredible respect and remains nuanced - I particularly appreciated the discussions between Alice and Takumi, and Alice and her therapist, that show us what asexuality means to her. Outside of the community itself I often see asexuality boiled down to "doesn't have sex ever" with no other characteristics outside of that, and seeing Alice as a character who had her own wants and limits and feelings on sexuality and romance was incredibly refreshing. Takumi was also a sweetheart - my fondness for him was helped by the fact that, honestly, I wasn't that invested or empathetic towards Feenie and Ryan, which we'll get into later.
I'm not an expert on romance by any means, but the one Claire Kann gives us here was very cute. I appreciated that Alice and Takumi have genuine conversations about their needs and wants in their relationship, and the fact that it wasn't as simple as one might hope it would bee.g. when Alice asks him out in the car and his response is less than ideal. The fact that Takumi later acknowledges that he hurt her and makes an effort to make it up to her really cemented my fondness for their relationship.
A big reason of why I finally sat down to read this book was because the author was a person of colour - as a white person with little experience in intersectionality regarding race, it was really an eye-opener to see the discussions between Alice and Takumi and Alice's own reflections on the racism they experience, and how her being black ties into her also being a queer woman.
The only thing I disliked about this book was the handling of the relationship between Feenie, Ryan and Alice. Throughout the book it's framed as a positive thing and shown that they overcome their relationship problems, but the way both Feenie and Ryan treat Alice throughout the middle of the book honestly reminds me very much of my own experiences with abuse. When Alice states that she feels left out of their friendship due to Feenie and Ryan often ditching her to be together(which is shown in the book as them leaving her alone at a party without a word, soon after which she is sexually assaulted by a random partygoer) she is treated like her frustration is unreasonable when she 100% has the right to be upset, especially after what she experienced after her friends left her without a word. One passage in particular that made me uncomfortable to read:
"I don't need to." Number one, she thought.
"Were you abused? Is that it?"
"No." Number two.
"Are you saving yourself for marriage?"
"I hope that's a joke."
"It was," Margot admitted. Her sad smile burned in the corner of Alice's eyes. "Then what? Tell me. People don't just not like sex without a reason. It's kind of not natural, don't you think?"
This book. This book is so important. The only thing stopping me from rating this book 5 stars entirely is my own discomfort with some of the characters in it, which I'm not 100% sure on whether it's something that personally upsets me because of my own experiences, or whether it does genuinely send a concerning message.
First thing's first: the asexual representation. I'm unsure if the book is own voices, but as an asexual person I felt that the ace community and experience was treated with incredible respect and remains nuanced - I particularly appreciated the discussions between Alice and Takumi, and Alice and her therapist, that show us what asexuality means to her. Outside of the community itself I often see asexuality boiled down to "doesn't have sex ever" with no other characteristics outside of that, and seeing Alice as a character who had her own wants and limits and feelings on sexuality and romance was incredibly refreshing. Takumi was also a sweetheart - my fondness for him was helped by the fact that, honestly, I wasn't that invested or empathetic towards Feenie and Ryan, which we'll get into later.
I'm not an expert on romance by any means, but the one Claire Kann gives us here was very cute. I appreciated that Alice and Takumi have genuine conversations about their needs and wants in their relationship, and the fact that it wasn't as simple as one might hope it would be
A big reason of why I finally sat down to read this book was because the author was a person of colour - as a white person with little experience in intersectionality regarding race, it was really an eye-opener to see the discussions between Alice and Takumi and Alice's own reflections on the racism they experience, and how her being black ties into her also being a queer woman.
The only thing I disliked about this book was the handling of the relationship between Feenie, Ryan and Alice. Throughout the book it's framed as a positive thing and shown that they overcome their relationship problems, but the way both Feenie and Ryan treat Alice throughout the middle of the book honestly reminds me very much of my own experiences with abuse. When Alice states that she feels left out of their friendship due to Feenie and Ryan often ditching her to be together
“I think I’d say yes. Just to see. I think I might have a serious squish on him.”
“The fuck is a squish?” Feenie sucked her teeth, shaking her head. “You know what? I don’t want to know. It seems like you’re romantically attracted to him, so there you go. Grand Mystery solved. I hereby resign from my love-coaching duties.”
alongside:
“We went upstairs. You actually left the party. That is not the same thing.” [Feenie] looked Alice right in the eyes. “I’m not going to apologize for having sex with my boyfriend when you fucking jumped ship the first chance you got because you couldn’t stand being alone for thirty minutes. Miss me with that bullshit.”
This is the kind of behaviour Feenie continually displays for Alice's transgression of simply leaving the party without them after she was sexually assaulted by a random guy at a party after they left her. Granted, we aren't given a scene where Alice tells them this happened, but it makes them extremely unsympathetic regardless. She's not even visibly angry with them for it, and this is still how she is treated. And despite her defense of the fact that she left Alice alone to be with her boyfriend, she later uses the fact that Alice is spending so much time with Takumi (partly because they, her friends, are gaslighting and belittling her half the time she's at home) and "replacing her" against Alice when she's entirely aware of Alice's conflicting maybe-romantic feelings towards him, which should justify their time spent together by Feenie's logic.
Ryan's better in the fact that he doesn't give Alice passive-aggressive comments like 50% of the time until their reconciliation, but he also tries to frame it that Alice's hurt if unjustified and that it's unfair of her to spend time with someone else without them, which is the same thing they do to her.
alongside:
“We went upstairs. You actually left the party. That is not the same thing.” [Feenie] looked Alice right in the eyes. “I’m not going to apologize for having sex with my boyfriend when you fucking jumped ship the first chance you got because you couldn’t stand being alone for thirty minutes. Miss me with that bullshit.”
This is the kind of behaviour Feenie continually displays for Alice's transgression of simply leaving the party without them after she was sexually assaulted by a random guy at a party after they left her. Granted, we aren't given a scene where Alice tells them this happened, but it makes them extremely unsympathetic regardless. She's not even visibly angry with them for it, and this is still how she is treated. And despite her defense of the fact that she left Alice alone to be with her boyfriend, she later uses the fact that Alice is spending so much time with Takumi (partly because they, her friends, are gaslighting and belittling her half the time she's at home) and "replacing her" against Alice when she's entirely aware of Alice's conflicting maybe-romantic feelings towards him, which should justify their time spent together by Feenie's logic.
Ryan's better in the fact that he doesn't give Alice passive-aggressive comments like 50% of the time until their reconciliation, but he also tries to frame it that Alice's hurt if unjustified and that it's unfair of her to spend time with someone else without them, which is the same thing they do to her.
Alice: “You two spend a lot of time together without me.”
Ryan: “That’s different. We’re engaged.”
Alice: “So I’m just supposed to sit around and wait for you both to remember I exist?”
Ryan: “Of course not, but you shouldn’t edge us out. You’re the one making it as if it has to be him or us.”
Feenie's behaviour throughout their argument made me so uncomfortable to read, and when they do eventually reconcile she turns it around so that Alice is the one apologizing for her hurt while Feenie chastises her for ever believing that Feenie and Ryan don't care about her when it was Feenie and Ryan's own actions that led Alice to be upset. While I really enjoyed the rest of the book and thought it was very well written, this aspect was just so upsetting to me that I found it hard to empathise with Feenie and Ryan's characters, and to feel like Alice was in a safe and healthy friendship with them.
However I wouldn't say that this makes the book a no-read - there's a lot more to the story besides Alice's friendship with them, and I can't say that my discomfort isn't driven by my own personal experiences with abuse and may be seen as completely different by anyone else reading. The ace rep is very well written, and the author weaves her own experiences as a black woman into the narrative in a way that really shows the microaggressions black people face on a daily basis and is worth the read IMO. While the behaviour from Feenie and Ryan and how it was justified in the text made reading this book harder for me, the rest of the story was still enjoyable and I don't regret having read the book.
Feenie's behaviour throughout their argument made me so uncomfortable to read, and when they do eventually reconcile she turns it around so that Alice is the one apologizing for her hurt while Feenie chastises her for ever believing that Feenie and Ryan don't care about her when it was Feenie and Ryan's own actions that led Alice to be upset. While I really enjoyed the rest of the book and thought it was very well written, this aspect was just so upsetting to me that I found it hard to empathise with Feenie and Ryan's characters, and to feel like Alice was in a safe and healthy friendship with them.
However I wouldn't say that this makes the book a no-read - there's a lot more to the story besides Alice's friendship with them, and I can't say that my discomfort isn't driven by my own personal experiences with abuse and may be seen as completely different by anyone else reading. The ace rep is very well written, and the author weaves her own experiences as a black woman into the narrative in a way that really shows the microaggressions black people face on a daily basis and is worth the read IMO. While the behaviour from Feenie and Ryan and how it was justified in the text made reading this book harder for me, the rest of the story was still enjoyable and I don't regret having read the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Infidelity
GRAPHIC: Acephobia: Alice faces acephobia from her girlfriend in the very first scene. Racism: As a black woman, Alice faces racism throughout the story. Sexual assault: Alice is sexually assaulted at a costume party. Toxic friendship: Alice's relationship with Feenie and Ryan is treated uncomfortably, as detailed in the above review. MODERATE: Sexual harrassment: There are a few scenes in the book where Alice is unwillingly hit on. Sexual content: Asexuality is discussed in regards to sexual feelings. Alcohol: There's alcohol at a costume party, and Alice drinks a bit when spending time with Takumimaple_dusk's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.0
I love that the platonic love between Alice and Takumi was explored first, and for a long time, before the romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Acephobia/Arophobia
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual harassment
There is a lot of talk about sex. So probably 13+waterlilyreads's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia
Moderate: Biphobia, Misogyny, and Sexual content