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A review by puddicure
Strange Love by Ann Aguirre
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
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
TL;DR: This is, quite honestly, one of my favorite comedic romance books I have ever read. This book has everything: fake dating, politics, drama, death games, a talking dog, tenderly-blossoming affections, and most importantly, steamy mutual exploration of alien bodies.the highlight? M/F scissoring. This boy’s got HOLES! Queer reader approved, highly recommended. Audio narration is good. Check your local library apps.
Anyway. As a preface to my full review: I’m a lesbian who withers at awkward comedy, and ‘miscommunication as a plot device,’ at least in a romanic context, usually gives me hives. As a result, I can only stomach romance in small doses, usually in dramatic contexts, and preferably, slathered in the more palatable sauce of genre fiction.
So when I checked out this audiobook from Hoopla, I expected very little, especially with the way the summary describes her love interest as “awkward, adorable, and alien as hell.”
What I found here was a veritable delight of shockingly good scifi. Like, I cannot emphasize enough how skillfully Aguirre fleshes out this little corner of the galaxy, the aliens that live there, and the tech at their disposal, all without dropping a ton of technical terms on you at once. Both Beryl and the reader are reminded time and time again, and to comedic effect, that this is an alien planet and an alien culture; and to the credit of the log line, that DOES make her new alien beau come across as quite awkward, mostly because he genuinely doesn’t understand and/or misunderstands a lot of the intent in her behaviors and turns of phrase. (While I’m on the subject: in the first few chapters, where the language barrier is dealt with via alien tech, was the moment I sat up and said out loud: “oh. This is good.” And it sets up SO many good jokes.)
Now onto the part of the story the summary doesn’t really touch on: the ceremony for being able to become mates is, basically, the fucking hunger games. And Beryl is a tiny human competing against other aliens who all have natural weapons to deter giant predators. It absolutely rules.
I won’t go too much into it, because I don’t want to spoil the delightful experience, but hive intrigue and politics also start to come into play, and it really cranks up the stakes.
Lastly, I have an audiobook specific compliment for the voice the narrator does for Snaps- their delivery really punches up his limited dialogue, and made me even more endeared to him than I would normally be. He’s a very good boy.
As far as if I’ll read the sequel…eh. The character they introduced who is the main character of the sequel didn’t get enough screentime for me to really care much about him. I might listen someday in hopes of these characters showing up, though.
Anyway. As a preface to my full review: I’m a lesbian who withers at awkward comedy, and ‘miscommunication as a plot device,’ at least in a romanic context, usually gives me hives. As a result, I can only stomach romance in small doses, usually in dramatic contexts, and preferably, slathered in the more palatable sauce of genre fiction.
So when I checked out this audiobook from Hoopla, I expected very little, especially with the way the summary describes her love interest as “awkward, adorable, and alien as hell.”
What I found here was a veritable delight of shockingly good scifi. Like, I cannot emphasize enough how skillfully Aguirre fleshes out this little corner of the galaxy, the aliens that live there, and the tech at their disposal, all without dropping a ton of technical terms on you at once. Both Beryl and the reader are reminded time and time again, and to comedic effect, that this is an alien planet and an alien culture; and to the credit of the log line, that DOES make her new alien beau come across as quite awkward, mostly because he genuinely doesn’t understand and/or misunderstands a lot of the intent in her behaviors and turns of phrase. (While I’m on the subject: in the first few chapters, where the language barrier is dealt with via alien tech, was the moment I sat up and said out loud: “oh. This is good.” And it sets up SO many good jokes.)
Now onto the part of the story the summary doesn’t really touch on: the ceremony for being able to become mates is, basically, the fucking hunger games. And Beryl is a tiny human competing against other aliens who all have natural weapons to deter giant predators. It absolutely rules.
I won’t go too much into it, because I don’t want to spoil the delightful experience, but hive intrigue and politics also start to come into play, and it really cranks up the stakes.
Lastly, I have an audiobook specific compliment for the voice the narrator does for Snaps- their delivery really punches up his limited dialogue, and made me even more endeared to him than I would normally be. He’s a very good boy.
As far as if I’ll read the sequel…eh. The character they introduced who is the main character of the sequel didn’t get enough screentime for me to really care much about him. I might listen someday in hopes of these characters showing up, though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Kidnapping, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Drug use
To start: this is erotica. Hot, graphic alien/human sex is had multiple times in the book.
Kidnapping: Beryl is mistaken for someone else, and that accidental kidnapping is the backbone of this story premise.
Violence: I mentioned the hunger games aspect of the Choosing. People die in this competition. Only one or two are lingered upon, to my memory. Several are injured.
Drugs: There is a party late in the book where alien party drugs are being used.