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itisclara's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
following Georgia during her journey of self-discovery is not only charmingly witty but also gave me a much better understanding of what it’s like to be asexual and aromantic. the perfect book for every teen/young adult.
any_direction's review against another edition
2.0
I hated every minute of reading this book, but despite the insubstantial plot, poor writing, not fully realized characters, and some problematic content, I’m having trouble feeling angry at it. Mostly I just feel sad.
The mere existence of this book feels like progress. When I discovered the word asexually ten years ago, there were no books with asexual characters. The LGBTQIA society on campus said that A was for ally, and truly the only place I could find information was through direct google searches on the internet and even then the info was sparse. I’m not sure if this is the book I would’ve been looking for, but anything would have felt validating, when I, like the main character, had trouble believing asexually was real.
Since the moment I started finding things on asexually, it’s bothered me how much time is spent on definitions. If you pick up this book and you’ve never heard of asexually that’s weird, but you are also perfectly capable of doing a google search. Having characters describe verbatim what every brochure, article, and post say about asexually is obnoxious, and also not helpful. Georgia spends this whole book defining herself by her lack of interest is romance and sex. All efforts to give her personality beyond that feel forced. I found a lot of Georgia’s experiences of asexually relatable (literary had a moment of not being able to read a sexy Shakespeare character sexily enough, though it was Antony and Cleopatra, not Romeo and Juliet), but as Georgia doesn’t seem to have much personality outside of having a crisis of identity these relatable moments made me feel really empty.
I think that if this book was one in a sea of many, it wouldn’t feel so terrible. I could disregard most of this as bad writing, or a book that found me at the wrong place and time. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. There are a handful of other books with ace characters, but none written by as well-known of authors as Alice Osman. As Osman is regarded as a prominent writer of queer literature, this is the book that people are going to be directed to when they come out as ace. That’s perhaps disappointing, but representation has to start someone, and hopefully prominent writers taking a stab at it will pave the way for something better.
Quick petty complaints: 1) this book is set in Britain?. Other reviews say that the university life is accurate, but as an American, I found the amount of drinking without consequences in this book baffling. Also, what’s up with the whole college couple thing? 2) I also don’t know what therapy is like in Britain, but this book had an offhand comment about therapy being bad. Therapists can and, in my experience, have helped me sort through my sexual identity. I think characters in this book could benefit from talking to someone who’s not directly involved in the drama. 3) As an asexual, I don’t need much from people. But I do need everyone in the world to know that just because someone tells you they’re asexual does not make it okay for you to ask them if they masturbate. Rooney and Georgia have this conversation and they’re roommates, roommates have weirdly intimate discussions, but as I’ve had near strangers ask me this question upon coming out to them, I would have appreciated a little more weight being put on how inappropriate it is. 4) I wasn’t going to put this in but it’s been weighing on me. There’s this point where Georgia asks why everyone is so worked up about being a virgin, and it’s brushed off as “you don’t understand because you’re ace lol”. I get this feeling all the time, that being asexual for some reason makes my feelings about sex invalid. Maybe to some extent, but ideas and the emphasis people put on theirs and others virginity is not only weird, it’s dangerous. Further, saying that Georgia doesn’t get it because she’s ace doesn’t just undermine asexuals but the opinions of queer people as a whole. Just because someone isn’t straight doesn’t mean they can’t have opinions on how messed up heteronormative ideals are, and in fact being outside it, gives them perspectives on it that someone inside can’t.
My favorite book with an ace main character is “a ladies guide to petticoats and piracy” by Mackenzi Lee. For better or worse all similarities with this book start and end there. It’s the second in the series, but the series also has good gay and bi, anxiety, and chronic illness rep, so just go read the whole thing!
The mere existence of this book feels like progress. When I discovered the word asexually ten years ago, there were no books with asexual characters. The LGBTQIA society on campus said that A was for ally, and truly the only place I could find information was through direct google searches on the internet and even then the info was sparse. I’m not sure if this is the book I would’ve been looking for, but anything would have felt validating, when I, like the main character, had trouble believing asexually was real.
Since the moment I started finding things on asexually, it’s bothered me how much time is spent on definitions. If you pick up this book and you’ve never heard of asexually that’s weird, but you are also perfectly capable of doing a google search. Having characters describe verbatim what every brochure, article, and post say about asexually is obnoxious, and also not helpful. Georgia spends this whole book defining herself by her lack of interest is romance and sex. All efforts to give her personality beyond that feel forced. I found a lot of Georgia’s experiences of asexually relatable (literary had a moment of not being able to read a sexy Shakespeare character sexily enough, though it was Antony and Cleopatra, not Romeo and Juliet), but as Georgia doesn’t seem to have much personality outside of having a crisis of identity these relatable moments made me feel really empty.
I think that if this book was one in a sea of many, it wouldn’t feel so terrible. I could disregard most of this as bad writing, or a book that found me at the wrong place and time. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. There are a handful of other books with ace characters, but none written by as well-known of authors as Alice Osman. As Osman is regarded as a prominent writer of queer literature, this is the book that people are going to be directed to when they come out as ace. That’s perhaps disappointing, but representation has to start someone, and hopefully prominent writers taking a stab at it will pave the way for something better.
Quick petty complaints: 1) this book is set in Britain?. Other reviews say that the university life is accurate, but as an American, I found the amount of drinking without consequences in this book baffling. Also, what’s up with the whole college couple thing? 2) I also don’t know what therapy is like in Britain, but this book had an offhand comment about therapy being bad. Therapists can and, in my experience, have helped me sort through my sexual identity. I think characters in this book could benefit from talking to someone who’s not directly involved in the drama. 3) As an asexual, I don’t need much from people. But I do need everyone in the world to know that just because someone tells you they’re asexual does not make it okay for you to ask them if they masturbate. Rooney and Georgia have this conversation and they’re roommates, roommates have weirdly intimate discussions, but as I’ve had near strangers ask me this question upon coming out to them, I would have appreciated a little more weight being put on how inappropriate it is. 4) I wasn’t going to put this in but it’s been weighing on me. There’s this point where Georgia asks why everyone is so worked up about being a virgin, and it’s brushed off as “you don’t understand because you’re ace lol”. I get this feeling all the time, that being asexual for some reason makes my feelings about sex invalid. Maybe to some extent, but ideas and the emphasis people put on theirs and others virginity is not only weird, it’s dangerous. Further, saying that Georgia doesn’t get it because she’s ace doesn’t just undermine asexuals but the opinions of queer people as a whole. Just because someone isn’t straight doesn’t mean they can’t have opinions on how messed up heteronormative ideals are, and in fact being outside it, gives them perspectives on it that someone inside can’t.
My favorite book with an ace main character is “a ladies guide to petticoats and piracy” by Mackenzi Lee. For better or worse all similarities with this book start and end there. It’s the second in the series, but the series also has good gay and bi, anxiety, and chronic illness rep, so just go read the whole thing!
absarokamw's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
haylee_reads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Loveless was really cute! I thought it was really well done for a coming of age story. It was filled with love and had a big focus on identity, belonging, and being proud of who you are. The topic of different sexual identities was done with so much care and was really informative, if that is not something one was previously familiar with. I enjoyed how this was set at their first year of college, it felt so relatable. I really liked Georgia as a character, and all of the side characters were also well fleshed out and nuanced. I am really frustrated with the sheer amount of Harry Potter references, though.
boudreauxr's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
brooksdac's review against another edition
medium-paced
5.0
Alice Oseman just gets me, this book feels like she peered into my soul and transformed it into a work of art.
nancyboy's review against another edition
4.0
as someone on the acearo spectrum, i feel so represented in this book. alice oseman thank you so much for writing this <3
nancyboy56's review against another edition
4.0
as someone on the acearo spectrum, i feel so represented in this book. alice oseman thank you so much for writing this <3