A review by sarahscoffeecup
Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann

funny hopeful lighthearted

• 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

 The first chapter destroyed me. I was warned early on that the first chapter hits home with asexual people because many of us have had this experience. The story opens up with a breakup scene, where Alice’s girlfriend leaves her because she’s asexual. 

 

Personally, I wasn’t expecting this chapter to destroy me because I had never been broken up with because of my asexuality. However, I had this conversation with an ex. Verbatim. I didn’t know I was ace at the time, but he my lack of sexual attraction was apparent, and it hit his pride. 

 

After the first chapter, I feel like the book kind of slid downhill slowly for me. Yes, her asexuality was very relatable and that’s the whole reason I wanted to read it. So, good on Kann for bringing us an asexual character. However, the plot itself was dull. 

 

Alice meets Takumi in the library she works at and he’s the most adorable character. Takumi was the shining light of this novel because Alice got on my nerves sometimes. I don’t want non-ace people thinking that all ace people are like Alice. 

 

She’s obsessed with cute things, which isn’t a bad thing. However, the way Kann describes this obsession is annoying. She has a Cutie Code, which she uses to rate how cute things and people are. She says the word cute way too often. Alice is sweet, but she’s kind of annoying. 

 

Takumi on the other hand is a wholesome as hell character and I loved him from the first sentence. Feenie is a great character as well, being Alice’s best friend who adores fighting. The side characters, in my opinion, were more fleshed out than Alice’s character. 

 

Another thing that drove me up the wall was the use of parentheses. There are phrases wrapped in parentheses on each page and it was very distracting to read. Honestly, the way Let’s Talk About Love was written kind of reminds me of Wattpad or fanfiction; I’m not sure it was ready for traditional publication. 

 

Or maybe I’m just being picky because this is young adult fiction, and I am no longer a young adult. There’s a sliding scale of writing styles aimed at this audience, and I enjoy literature from one side of the scale. Maybe this book is just on the opposite side. 

 

Either way, this book has great asexuality representation and an okay plot with terrific side characters. If you like young adult romance, you may like this book.