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A review by sophiesometimesreads
Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann
funny
inspiring
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
This book was an emotional rollercoaster got me and I related to Alice in a lot of deep and personal ways. Some may say this is poor ace representation as it doesn't reflect their experience, and not relating to Alice's experience is valid, but this book felt like Kann took my experiences and put them down on the page, so I thought it was good. Though I do believe that, even if representation is scarce, one character of a given identity doesn't need to reflect every single individual experience with said identity, and this book reflected one of the many.
Alice was quirky, funny but imperfect, as most 19 year olds are. I feel a lot of people who said she was immature for 19 probably forgot what being 19 is like, because it's actually still quite young. She's still figuring out herself and her life, and taking comfort in the things she likes whilst doing so.
This book portrayed therapy in a positive way, which was good, and I also liked how Takumi took some time to really understand what Alice meant when she said she was asexual. He was also imperfect and I think that's realistic, as a lot of people haven't heard of asexuality before and need to take some time to understand experiences outside their own and might say the wrong thing in good faith whilst doing so.
I thought Feenie and Ryan were a bit harsh on her, though I could see their POV as I've been in a similar situation before. This could have been resolved a bit better though, without Alice taking all the blame for it, because I think her feelings and experience was also valid (they did ditch her first!).
Though I did enjoy this book overall, there were a few little things that I didn't like as much. I don't know why Takumi had to be so much older than her, it seemed irrelevant to the plot and I always find teen/mid-20s pairings a bit iffy given the mentality differences generally present between these ages and stages of life. It didn't ruin the book, but it was something I noticed. I also would've liked to see how their relationship developed a bit more after the getting together stage, and see Alice explore what that meant for her identity. The side characters could've been developed a little more, too.
In saying this, I did enjoy the book overall and thought there were a lot of good things about it. I thought the ace rep was good, the writing was engaging and easy to read, and the characters were fun. It was also able to address fairly heavy topics whilst also managing to be overall a lighthearted and fluffy read.
Alice was quirky, funny but imperfect, as most 19 year olds are. I feel a lot of people who said she was immature for 19 probably forgot what being 19 is like, because it's actually still quite young. She's still figuring out herself and her life, and taking comfort in the things she likes whilst doing so.
This book portrayed therapy in a positive way, which was good, and I also liked how Takumi took some time to really understand what Alice meant when she said she was asexual. He was also imperfect and I think that's realistic, as a lot of people haven't heard of asexuality before and need to take some time to understand experiences outside their own and might say the wrong thing in good faith whilst doing so.
I thought Feenie and Ryan were a bit harsh on her, though I could see their POV as I've been in a similar situation before. This could have been resolved a bit better though, without Alice taking all the blame for it, because I think her feelings and experience was also valid (they did ditch her first!).
Though I did enjoy this book overall, there were a few little things that I didn't like as much. I don't know why Takumi had to be so much older than her, it seemed irrelevant to the plot and I always find teen/mid-20s pairings a bit iffy given the mentality differences generally present between these ages and stages of life. It didn't ruin the book, but it was something I noticed. I also would've liked to see how their relationship developed a bit more after the getting together stage, and see Alice explore what that meant for her identity. The side characters could've been developed a little more, too.
In saying this, I did enjoy the book overall and thought there were a lot of good things about it. I thought the ace rep was good, the writing was engaging and easy to read, and the characters were fun. It was also able to address fairly heavy topics whilst also managing to be overall a lighthearted and fluffy read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia
Moderate: Racism