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A review by oracleofoaks
Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann
4.0
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I picked up Let’s Talk About Love during April as part of my effort to read as many books with asexual characters as I could find. I found this book to be both cheesy and cute. It tells a very compelling story about identity that is chock full of personality at every turn. The romance was soft and sweet and, despite Alice’s very sudden attraction to Takumi, ended up being quite a slow burn relationship which I loved.
All About that Ace
Alice is sure she’s biromantic and asexual, but that doesn’t mean she’s not still confused about her identity. She regularly experiences inner conflict in which she personally identifies as ace but has trouble using that word “asexual” when coming out to others. This was a really cool thing to see represented. I think this book perfectly illustrates the ways in which sexuality and identity can be complicated and scary even when someone is sure of how they identify.
This is not just a book about a character who happens to be asexual—this is a book that is entirely about asexuality. Almost all the things Alice encounters and navigates throughout this story are filtered through her own perceptions of her sexuality. She isn’t sex-repulsed and, at the beginning of the book, is regularly having sex with her girlfriend. However, she describes sex as something she just doesn’t care about or need. There is a lot of aphobia present throughout the book, coming from aphobic people in Alice’s life, well-meaning but confused friends, and Alice’s own insecurities. Alice gets a lot of support and affirmation about her sexuality and these issues are dealt with very well in my opinion, but please be aware that these topics are brought up quite often in the story.
A Rough Start
One complaint I have with this book is that, as a reader, I felt a bit like I had been dropped in the middle of the story. The first scene of the book starts in the middle of Alice’s breakup with her long-term girlfriend. Although I enjoyed skipping a lot of set-up and getting into the story, I also felt like I was missing a lot. The first thing the reader learns about Alice is that she is asexual and it takes many chapters before I felt like I knew anything about the character aside from her sexuality. In addition, there were a lot of inside jokes and references that Alice has with her friends that were never really explained. While these details could have been used to add to the richness of the fiction, they instead made me feel like I was missing out on important parts of the story.
Highlight on Microaggressions
Alice is both queer and black and, although this book does not delve into as much overt homophobia and racism, it is full of microaggressions. I thought it handled these topics incredibly well and in a way that was very realistic to what a lot of marginalized people encounter on a daily basis. I found the queer rep to be very well written. I cannot directly speak to the black representation in the book, but I do know that it is an own voices book written by a black author. All of Alice’s identities are a huge part of the novel and highlighted frequently. Alice’s love interest Takumi is also Japanese-American and his experiences are touched on some in the novel.
“My girlfriend broke up with me because she thought that since I didn’t desire her, I wouldn’t be able to love her, which is not true at all. I am very loving. I cry at the end of romcoms. My favorite movie is Splash. I want someone to give me flowers and take me on dates. I want to fall in love and wear a giant princess dress at my wedding. I want to have a happy ending, too, and all that other magical stuff. I want what books and TV and the world has promised me. It’s not fair that I should have to want sex to have it.”
An Ode to Tumblr
This book seemed heavily influenced by social media and the way diversity is treated on platforms like Twitter and Tumblr. There were times that Tumblr was explicitly referenced and other times that Alice talked about her asexuality in a way that seemed highly informed by how aceness is discussed online. I don’t think this is inherently a good or bad thing. I personally found that it pulled me out of the story, but I definitely think this could connect with a lot of readers who discovered their own identities because of online communities.
Complicated Friendships
I initially loved the strong friendships in this book. Alice moves in with her engaged friends Feenie and Ryan during the summer and their dynamic friendships initially had me smitten. However, throughout the story, their interpersonal drama and lack of communication really got under my skin. I related to Alice’s dislike for confrontation and to a lot of the topics that the trio argued about, but I ended up disliking a lot about Feenie by the time she and Alice finally made up. However, I do think the friendships allowed the author to explore topics that I think are important, such as the jealousy and loneliness that comes when a close friend starts dating, but I wish they had been resolved differently.
The Bottom Line
I highly recommend this book. It wasn’t perfect, but it handled difficult topics in a fun and lighthearted way while still being respectful of the heaviness of the content. It was not only a fun contemporary read, but also a perspective on asexuality that has been missing from YA for too long.
I picked up Let’s Talk About Love during April as part of my effort to read as many books with asexual characters as I could find. I found this book to be both cheesy and cute. It tells a very compelling story about identity that is chock full of personality at every turn. The romance was soft and sweet and, despite Alice’s very sudden attraction to Takumi, ended up being quite a slow burn relationship which I loved.
All About that Ace
Alice is sure she’s biromantic and asexual, but that doesn’t mean she’s not still confused about her identity. She regularly experiences inner conflict in which she personally identifies as ace but has trouble using that word “asexual” when coming out to others. This was a really cool thing to see represented. I think this book perfectly illustrates the ways in which sexuality and identity can be complicated and scary even when someone is sure of how they identify.
This is not just a book about a character who happens to be asexual—this is a book that is entirely about asexuality. Almost all the things Alice encounters and navigates throughout this story are filtered through her own perceptions of her sexuality. She isn’t sex-repulsed and, at the beginning of the book, is regularly having sex with her girlfriend. However, she describes sex as something she just doesn’t care about or need. There is a lot of aphobia present throughout the book, coming from aphobic people in Alice’s life, well-meaning but confused friends, and Alice’s own insecurities. Alice gets a lot of support and affirmation about her sexuality and these issues are dealt with very well in my opinion, but please be aware that these topics are brought up quite often in the story.
A Rough Start
One complaint I have with this book is that, as a reader, I felt a bit like I had been dropped in the middle of the story. The first scene of the book starts in the middle of Alice’s breakup with her long-term girlfriend. Although I enjoyed skipping a lot of set-up and getting into the story, I also felt like I was missing a lot. The first thing the reader learns about Alice is that she is asexual and it takes many chapters before I felt like I knew anything about the character aside from her sexuality. In addition, there were a lot of inside jokes and references that Alice has with her friends that were never really explained. While these details could have been used to add to the richness of the fiction, they instead made me feel like I was missing out on important parts of the story.
Highlight on Microaggressions
Alice is both queer and black and, although this book does not delve into as much overt homophobia and racism, it is full of microaggressions. I thought it handled these topics incredibly well and in a way that was very realistic to what a lot of marginalized people encounter on a daily basis. I found the queer rep to be very well written. I cannot directly speak to the black representation in the book, but I do know that it is an own voices book written by a black author. All of Alice’s identities are a huge part of the novel and highlighted frequently. Alice’s love interest Takumi is also Japanese-American and his experiences are touched on some in the novel.
“My girlfriend broke up with me because she thought that since I didn’t desire her, I wouldn’t be able to love her, which is not true at all. I am very loving. I cry at the end of romcoms. My favorite movie is Splash. I want someone to give me flowers and take me on dates. I want to fall in love and wear a giant princess dress at my wedding. I want to have a happy ending, too, and all that other magical stuff. I want what books and TV and the world has promised me. It’s not fair that I should have to want sex to have it.”
An Ode to Tumblr
This book seemed heavily influenced by social media and the way diversity is treated on platforms like Twitter and Tumblr. There were times that Tumblr was explicitly referenced and other times that Alice talked about her asexuality in a way that seemed highly informed by how aceness is discussed online. I don’t think this is inherently a good or bad thing. I personally found that it pulled me out of the story, but I definitely think this could connect with a lot of readers who discovered their own identities because of online communities.
Complicated Friendships
I initially loved the strong friendships in this book. Alice moves in with her engaged friends Feenie and Ryan during the summer and their dynamic friendships initially had me smitten. However, throughout the story, their interpersonal drama and lack of communication really got under my skin. I related to Alice’s dislike for confrontation and to a lot of the topics that the trio argued about, but I ended up disliking a lot about Feenie by the time she and Alice finally made up. However, I do think the friendships allowed the author to explore topics that I think are important, such as the jealousy and loneliness that comes when a close friend starts dating, but I wish they had been resolved differently.
The Bottom Line
I highly recommend this book. It wasn’t perfect, but it handled difficult topics in a fun and lighthearted way while still being respectful of the heaviness of the content. It was not only a fun contemporary read, but also a perspective on asexuality that has been missing from YA for too long.