Loveless

this book did so much for me. I felt so incredibly seen. it made me understand parts of myself that I was still struggling with, and I found parts of myself I'd already come to terms with and had accepted and it just felt liberating to read about it, because it just made me feel understood.

rooney's speech to georgia near the end was everything I had hoped for. it's everything I hope for in my own life and it was definitely my favourite part of the book.

the book isn't perfect. some of the dialogue made me cringe a teeny tiny bit. but it wasn't enough to rate this book any less than 5 stars.

I've made so many annotations to look back on because of stuff I related to or just thought was funny. this was well-written, lovely and I cried a little.

thank you.

as an aroace person myself, i was more than disappointed by this book. as others have said, this book portrays georgia's experience as being THE aroace experience, which is neither true nor possible. also, the title of the book is literally loveless but loveless aros and aplatonic aros are not even mentioned in passing. the big theme of this book is ‘‘platonic relationships are just as important as romantic relationships'', completing ignoring the existence of people who don't feel platonic love either. it falls into the stereotype of ‘‘i might not feel romantic love, but don't worry, i'm still human as i DO feel platonic love'' like no, aro people don't have to ‘‘make up'' for their existence in any way. we're fine just the way we are, even if we don't feel love at all; be it romantic, platonic, familial, or any other kind. also, alice oseman has a history of negative bi and pan rep, as witnessed in i was born for this and now this. facepalms

very much not for me, but i appreciate a lot of what this book does for the exploration of sexuality and the pressures put on us to “figure it all out” by a very young age. as a queer who still doesn't quite understand how to identify, i really felt seen. just wasn't a fan of the blatant ignoring of university responsibilities (or lack of mention to the absolute shitshow that typically is navigating your first year of higher education). thought that might've made it feel more authentic and relatable