A review by zabeishumanish
Contagion by Amanda Milo

5.0

This is absolutely adorable. It's only adorable because Simmie, our alien, is entirely oblivious about everything. He knows literally knowing about humans or anything off his planet and rather than being pissed Aurora is gentle with him and treats him with respect and kindness. I loved that jokes and humor often went over Simmie's head, but that he never feels excluded from the jokes a human audience will clearly understand. This book is remarkably self-aware which makes reading the alien perspective so delightfully fun.

"That's good," Aurora says, eyes on my throat. It strangely makes her look demure—a thing she is absolutely not. (52)

Simmie being an absolute unit of an apex predator with severe OCD and anxiety is not something I would expect to find so hilarious and refreshing but it absolutely works. The times that Aurora takes advantage of Simmie's terrifying appearance in front of other humans, without Simmie's understanding, is peak humor and great survival skills. The whole book is a single POV, we only ever get Simmie's perspective. While I'm normally a dual POV girl I really like just seeing these events from the alien perspective.

Truly fantastic take on an alien romance. Shockingly good mental illness representation for what is, at least in part, alien erotica.
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