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evybird 's review for:
Let's Talk About Love
by Claire Kann
2.8 stars.
[ADDENDUM: THIS REVIEW IS LONG. I had a lot to say. TLDR; The representation is great but I was very bored.
BUT if you think the below enumerated list sounds like something you'd like, consider giving this book a try! I think other people might be pulled in where I wasn't.]
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I so so badly wanted to like this, and I'm very sad to have to give it such a low rating. There is A LOT to like:
1. ASEXUAL, BIROMANTIC REPRESENTATION.
2. POC representation! Both in the main character, her love interest, AND the gorgeous cover.
3. Thus, intersectionality! A biromantic, asexual, black main character. There are definitely unique ways those identities intersect (the hyper-sexualization of black women, combined with being asexual), and this book explores that a bit.
4. A Japanese love interest. Interracial romance!
5. They meet at the LIBRARY THEY BOTH WORK AT :D
6. Exploration of microaggressions. I felt this book brought those up and exposed and addressed them really well, but also pretty casually and subtly.
7. The main character is in college, not high school. Not that there is anything wrong with books set in high school, but I feel YA as a genre lacks college/university stories.
8. The writing style. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I really liked how it brought out Alice's personality. I liked the way it played with parentheses. (To express Alice's thoughts in different ways).
------------
The ace rep. I feel like I should start by talking about this!
I identify as biromantic and asexual, and so I guess I can speak to those parts of the novel a bit (although obviously just from my own experiences, and not for all ace folks). I am NOT however a person of colour, so I can't say the same for those parts of the book (Alice's and Takumi's experiences as people of colour, and Alice's particular experience of the intersection of being biroace and black).
I'm not really up for a super close analysis, and I don't know how appropriate that is? If the author is ace herself, and this novel is ownvoices, I don't want to analyze her experiences of asexuality. BUT if she isn't ace and this novel ISN'T ownvoices, I don't mind as much analyzing those aspects of the novel. Is that fair? (as far as I can tell, the ace representation ISN'T ownvoices, the author isn't ace. PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG).
(I would really like in the future if authors would be more up front about these things. Maybe authors can start including prefaces or author's notes where they say which parts of their own experiences informed the representation, AND which parts were not informed by personal experience.) (as I did with this review! I'm ace, I'm white. I felt fairly obligated to be up front about my perspective.) (Obviously it wouldn't always work, and authors should be entitled to their privacy, but if you're writing a book about an asexual/whatever identity character and you're not asexual/whatever identity, it seems most responsible to me to let your readers know about that).
These thoughts are not meant as criticisms in any way at all! They're just reflections.
But okay, as far as the ace rep went, I felt that it was largely spot-on, and mostly resonated with my own experiences.
Particularly her CUTIE CODE?? Which OMG is going to sound ridiculous, because I feel like people will think that part was immature and too weird. BUT I, TOO, TOTALLY DO THAT THING SHE DOES, where you look at people and categorize them into non-sexual levels of cuteness O.o
What else really resonated?
THIS:
The most jarring element might've actually just been Alice finding out she was ace from a one-on-one with her health teacher. What health teacher knows about asexuality??? And why wouldn't they teach it in class??? But I guess they must be some out there, somewhere. (???)
On a more meta note, I do have to say I'm already getting sick of the ace story of "I don't want to have sex with people so I might as well just give up on romance, why would anyone ever want to date me if we can't bond through sex." This story line has been part of the plot in all the novels with ace main characters that I've read except [b:Every Heart a Doorway|25526296|Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, #1)|Seanan McGuire|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1431438555s/25526296.jpg|45313140] (THE BEST).
I don't know if it's problematic exactly, at least in small doses. But it's not creative, and it feels to me more like something an allosexual person thinks ace people all worry about. (It might just seem that way to me because I personally don't worry about it much. So I tend to just get frustrated with it.)
Actually OK, as a plot line it does feel strangely unsettling to me, but I have trouble articulating exactly why.
I guess I just sure hope that as we move into the future, ace stories don't ALL include the "refusal to try romantic relationships because of being ace" thing.
Anyway. Moving away from that weird analysis.
------------
I also liked Alice's character! I think she will be hit or miss for people. She's pretty immature in a lot of ways, and has a lot of concerns I didn't quite understand (wanting to major in Netflix, for example. Or denying the support her parents want to give her for further living expenses). But she seemed genuine, and like a real person. I felt the writing style really brought her character out, too.
------------
That all makes it sound like I loved this book! But unfortunately despite ALL THOSE ENUMERATED THINGS, I was just really really bored the whole time.
Alice's problems basically add up to:
- She has a huge crush on a boy she works with but oh no she's ace, they'll have to just be friends.
- Her best friend is super upset she's spending time with someone else.
- Her parents want her to go to law school and she doesn't want to.
The way this plays out is through basically just an entire novel about Alice hanging out with Takumi, having small arguments with her friend Feenie, and avoiding phone calls from her parents and siblings. FOR 300 PAGES.
And okay, I get that all of these are valid issues that someone might have, and are very relatable, BUT unfortunately none of them add up to something I want to read a whole book about.
Where is the plot?? By page 100 all that had happened was a bunch of conversations with Takumi, along with a lot of telling about how Alice finds him unbearably cute. Honestly, I found he didn't have much personality and was a pretty boring character. I could tell they both liked each other a lot, but as a reader I didn't feel the chemistry.
------------
On a different topic, I also had a lot of problems with Feenie, Alice's "best friend."
In my opinion, Feenie is a possessive, manipulative, awful friend. We were clearly supposed to have sympathy for her and see her side in their argument but I just couldn’t stand her.
The following contains very minor spoilers, I guess, for things that happen in their friendship. I almost didn't spoiler-tag it but decided to play it safe.
If you (as Feenie does), and then you (as Feenie does); and then you get mad at your friend for continuing to spend a lot of time with a new friend, when you were being passive aggressively mad at her for the above (as FEENIE DOES)---YOU ARE NOT CORRECT IN THEN getting mad at her for
Alice is allowed to make other friends! She’s allowed to spend time with other friends, ROMANTIC OR OTHERWISE, ESPECIALLY when Feenie has been a jerk. UGH. That plot line was just frustrating, and every time it came back up I kept getting upset and mad in a totally unenjoyable way.
How the heck is it that we’re supposed to feel any kind of good feelings for Feenie, and like their friendship at all? She’s a manipulative, possessive, emotionally abusive monster.
The plot just seemed to imply we were supposed to feel Feenie was at least partly right in being angry at Alice, that Alice was partly responsible, and that
But honestly, if you have a friend like Feenie, who is possessive and who gets passive-aggressively angry for extended periods of time, DON'T PUT UP WITH THEM. Get away from them. Or talk to them and tell them that their behaviour (as a whole, not for the single incident) is hurting you.
Probably, my problems with Feenie were somewhat because they related a bit too close to personal experiences. (I guess in other words her behaviour was triggering to me, in that it upset me badly, beyond the pages of the book).
Probably my problems with Feenie are also part of why I was bored--they kept pulling me out from being immersed.
So I don't think everyone will feel she was a bad friend, which is fair, too.
------------
Anyway!! Overall, no matter how awesome the representation in a novel is, if I'm bored the whole time, I just can't rate it highly!
For the levels of boredom it put me through, and the anger at the stupid friendship, I wanted to give this book 2 stars. But I had to give it 3 and add some extra points, because the representation is just really awesome, and this book does a lot of really excellent things.
-------------
In the end, if the list I started out with sounds like something you'd be into (WHO WOULD SAY NO TO THAT LIST), I'd say go for it! Give it a try. There is a lot to like, and maybe you'll be pulled in where I wasn't.
Basically I think everyone should at least try this book, and see if it's your cup of tea?
But if you're still struggling by some ways in like I was, maybe bail! It doesn't really get more plot that what it's got, and Alice's character remains what it is. What you see in the first 50 pages is pretty much what you get for the rest.
I'm looking forward to future books from Claire Kann!
[ADDENDUM: THIS REVIEW IS LONG. I had a lot to say. TLDR; The representation is great but I was very bored.
BUT if you think the below enumerated list sounds like something you'd like, consider giving this book a try! I think other people might be pulled in where I wasn't.]
------------
I so so badly wanted to like this, and I'm very sad to have to give it such a low rating. There is A LOT to like:
1. ASEXUAL, BIROMANTIC REPRESENTATION.
2. POC representation! Both in the main character, her love interest, AND the gorgeous cover.
3. Thus, intersectionality! A biromantic, asexual, black main character. There are definitely unique ways those identities intersect (the hyper-sexualization of black women, combined with being asexual), and this book explores that a bit.
4. A Japanese love interest. Interracial romance!
5. They meet at the LIBRARY THEY BOTH WORK AT :D
6. Exploration of microaggressions. I felt this book brought those up and exposed and addressed them really well, but also pretty casually and subtly.
7. The main character is in college, not high school. Not that there is anything wrong with books set in high school, but I feel YA as a genre lacks college/university stories.
8. The writing style. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I really liked how it brought out Alice's personality. I liked the way it played with parentheses. (To express Alice's thoughts in different ways).
------------
The ace rep. I feel like I should start by talking about this!
I identify as biromantic and asexual, and so I guess I can speak to those parts of the novel a bit (although obviously just from my own experiences, and not for all ace folks). I am NOT however a person of colour, so I can't say the same for those parts of the book (Alice's and Takumi's experiences as people of colour, and Alice's particular experience of the intersection of being biroace and black).
I'm not really up for a super close analysis, and I don't know how appropriate that is? If the author is ace herself, and this novel is ownvoices, I don't want to analyze her experiences of asexuality. BUT if she isn't ace and this novel ISN'T ownvoices, I don't mind as much analyzing those aspects of the novel. Is that fair? (as far as I can tell, the ace representation ISN'T ownvoices, the author isn't ace. PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG).
(I would really like in the future if authors would be more up front about these things. Maybe authors can start including prefaces or author's notes where they say which parts of their own experiences informed the representation, AND which parts were not informed by personal experience.) (as I did with this review! I'm ace, I'm white. I felt fairly obligated to be up front about my perspective.) (Obviously it wouldn't always work, and authors should be entitled to their privacy, but if you're writing a book about an asexual/whatever identity character and you're not asexual/whatever identity, it seems most responsible to me to let your readers know about that).
These thoughts are not meant as criticisms in any way at all! They're just reflections.
But okay, as far as the ace rep went, I felt that it was largely spot-on, and mostly resonated with my own experiences.
Particularly her CUTIE CODE?? Which OMG is going to sound ridiculous, because I feel like people will think that part was immature and too weird. BUT I, TOO, TOTALLY DO THAT THING SHE DOES, where you look at people and categorize them into non-sexual levels of cuteness O.o
What else really resonated?
THIS:
"In middle school, she had pretended to have a crush on Patrick Furlong so she would have someone to talk about, too."YUP.
The most jarring element might've actually just been Alice finding out she was ace from a one-on-one with her health teacher. What health teacher knows about asexuality??? And why wouldn't they teach it in class??? But I guess they must be some out there, somewhere. (???)
On a more meta note, I do have to say I'm already getting sick of the ace story of "I don't want to have sex with people so I might as well just give up on romance, why would anyone ever want to date me if we can't bond through sex." This story line has been part of the plot in all the novels with ace main characters that I've read except [b:Every Heart a Doorway|25526296|Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, #1)|Seanan McGuire|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1431438555s/25526296.jpg|45313140] (THE BEST).
I don't know if it's problematic exactly, at least in small doses. But it's not creative, and it feels to me more like something an allosexual person thinks ace people all worry about. (It might just seem that way to me because I personally don't worry about it much. So I tend to just get frustrated with it.)
Actually OK, as a plot line it does feel strangely unsettling to me, but I have trouble articulating exactly why.
I guess I just sure hope that as we move into the future, ace stories don't ALL include the "refusal to try romantic relationships because of being ace" thing.
Anyway. Moving away from that weird analysis.
------------
I also liked Alice's character! I think she will be hit or miss for people. She's pretty immature in a lot of ways, and has a lot of concerns I didn't quite understand (wanting to major in Netflix, for example. Or denying the support her parents want to give her for further living expenses). But she seemed genuine, and like a real person. I felt the writing style really brought her character out, too.
------------
That all makes it sound like I loved this book! But unfortunately despite ALL THOSE ENUMERATED THINGS, I was just really really bored the whole time.
Alice's problems basically add up to:
- She has a huge crush on a boy she works with but oh no she's ace, they'll have to just be friends.
- Her best friend is super upset she's spending time with someone else.
- Her parents want her to go to law school and she doesn't want to.
The way this plays out is through basically just an entire novel about Alice hanging out with Takumi, having small arguments with her friend Feenie, and avoiding phone calls from her parents and siblings. FOR 300 PAGES.
And okay, I get that all of these are valid issues that someone might have, and are very relatable, BUT unfortunately none of them add up to something I want to read a whole book about.
Where is the plot?? By page 100 all that had happened was a bunch of conversations with Takumi, along with a lot of telling about how Alice finds him unbearably cute. Honestly, I found he didn't have much personality and was a pretty boring character. I could tell they both liked each other a lot, but as a reader I didn't feel the chemistry.
------------
On a different topic, I also had a lot of problems with Feenie, Alice's "best friend."
In my opinion, Feenie is a possessive, manipulative, awful friend. We were clearly supposed to have sympathy for her and see her side in their argument but I just couldn’t stand her.
The following contains very minor spoilers, I guess, for things that happen in their friendship. I almost didn't spoiler-tag it but decided to play it safe.
If you
Spoiler
ditch your friend at a party to go have sexSpoiler
get mad at your friend for leaving the party without you (NOT being mad because you were worried, but because the friend had the GALL to DO SOMETHING WITHOUT YOU)Spoiler
leaving-the-party thingSpoiler
spending ALL her time away from you!Alice is allowed to make other friends! She’s allowed to spend time with other friends, ROMANTIC OR OTHERWISE, ESPECIALLY when Feenie has been a jerk. UGH. That plot line was just frustrating, and every time it came back up I kept getting upset and mad in a totally unenjoyable way.
How the heck is it that we’re supposed to feel any kind of good feelings for Feenie, and like their friendship at all? She’s a manipulative, possessive, emotionally abusive monster.
The plot just seemed to imply we were supposed to feel Feenie was at least partly right in being angry at Alice, that Alice was partly responsible, and that
Spoiler
it was great that they went back to being friends and Alice apologized.But honestly, if you have a friend like Feenie, who is possessive and who gets passive-aggressively angry for extended periods of time, DON'T PUT UP WITH THEM. Get away from them. Or talk to them and tell them that their behaviour (as a whole, not for the single incident) is hurting you.
Probably, my problems with Feenie were somewhat because they related a bit too close to personal experiences. (I guess in other words her behaviour was triggering to me, in that it upset me badly, beyond the pages of the book).
Probably my problems with Feenie are also part of why I was bored--they kept pulling me out from being immersed.
So I don't think everyone will feel she was a bad friend, which is fair, too.
------------
Anyway!! Overall, no matter how awesome the representation in a novel is, if I'm bored the whole time, I just can't rate it highly!
For the levels of boredom it put me through, and the anger at the stupid friendship, I wanted to give this book 2 stars. But I had to give it 3 and add some extra points, because the representation is just really awesome, and this book does a lot of really excellent things.
-------------
In the end, if the list I started out with sounds like something you'd be into (WHO WOULD SAY NO TO THAT LIST), I'd say go for it! Give it a try. There is a lot to like, and maybe you'll be pulled in where I wasn't.
Basically I think everyone should at least try this book, and see if it's your cup of tea?
But if you're still struggling by some ways in like I was, maybe bail! It doesn't really get more plot that what it's got, and Alice's character remains what it is. What you see in the first 50 pages is pretty much what you get for the rest.
I'm looking forward to future books from Claire Kann!