i love books about college
this was a topic i hadn’t seen explored in books before ( )

Reading the description of this novel, which won YA (Young Adult) Book Prize in 2021, it seemed a perfect fit for prompts in two (of four) reading challenges I have undertaken this year: a book with a character on the ace spectrum (PopSugar Reading Challenge) and a book that features a loving LGBTQIA relationship (Around the Year in 52 Challenge). It was a perfect fit. And I learned a lot about the many shades of sexuality that a younger generation is free to discuss and learn about that would never have been discussed in the allegedly free-wheeling 70s when I was a young adult at “uni”, like the five friends who form the core group of characters in this novel. Pansexuals, gay asexuals, aromantic-asexuals (aro-ace). How wonderful that people who once felt so marginalized and had to hide are able to find others like themselves and to learn to thrive on other loving relationships that don’t involve sex or even romance. The characters were interesting – and each had his or her own verbal tics and quirks that made them come to life: Pip (Felipa), Georgia, and Jason, who had been friends in Kent before university; Rooney, Georgia’s roommate; and Sunil, Georgia’s college “parent” (mentor) – and the storyline was interesting, a coming-of-age novel that explores once hidden and taboo subjects that marginalized people who did not fit a specific societal expectation likely repressed when I was younger because they had no name for it. The exploration of those many feelings and fears was enlightening and credibly rendered through the characters.

Alice Oseman is a YA author and illustrator, so I get that I was not the intended audience, and the things that may have detracted from the overall quality in my view may just be artifacts of a formal education in a different generation. I found the use of the word “me” as subject in the mouths of these university students somewhat off-putting, and it was used by several of these characters. My initial reaction was that students smart enough to get into a university in the UK (where this novel is set) would have been through the rigors of grammar and needed to be proficient in it. Or maybe that’s the way university students speak to each other these days. I would give it three-plus stars, but not a four, bearing in mind that some of the tempering of the rating is because of that grammar issue that, for me, affected the credibility of the characters. ( )

YA fans looking for an excellent portrayal of an ace character will find everything they need in Georgia Warr. Readers are along for the ride as Georgia is just beginning to understand her desire for romance and love without sex as she also navigates the end of high school and the start of college. ( )

Ci sono un paio di elementi che non mi sono piaciuti in questo romanzo: il primo riguarda il modo in cui è stato descritto il personaggio di Rooney, che purtroppo incarna lo stereotipo della persona bi/pansessuale promiscua e della donna che fa solo molto sesso per riempire il famigerato vuoto interiore. Capisco che voleva essere un personaggio funzionale a mostrare che le relazioni sessuali non sono necessariamente le migliori e le più sane (ma va’?), ma non ho apprezzato, sebbene Rooney abbia una sua tridimesionalità e il suo ruolo non si esaurisca a quello stereotipo. È una parte che poteva essere scritta decisamente meglio.

L’altro elemento riguarda la percezione che la storia di Georgia sia un po’ anacronistica. Ho trovato strano che una ragazza di oggi con un’amica lesbica e vicina alle tematiche dell’universo queer non sia mai inciampata nella definizione di asessualità: riesco a dare un senso a questa cosa solo pensando che Oseman (che è nata nel 1994 ed è asessuale e aromantica) abbia attinto a piene mani dalla sua esperienza personale per costruire il percorso di Georgia e che quindi si rifaccia a un mondo nel quale l’asessualità è un orientamento pressoché sconosciuto.

E non me la sento di essere troppo cattiva su questo perché mi è sembrato un libro molto personale: non mi permetto di dire che sia autobiografico, ma mi ha dato l’impressione di contenere molti dei pensieri che sono passati dalla testa di Oseman mentre cercava di capire da chi (non) fosse attratta. Infatti, l’ho trovato un ottimo romanzo per farsi un’idea di cosa voglia dire crescere senza sapere che l’asessualità e l’aromanticismo esistano, finendo per fare un sacco di cose stupide e per ferire anche un sacco di persone.

So che alcune persone si sono lamentate anche della rappresentazione delle persone razzializzate, ma io, da brava bianca, non ho notato niente del genere – ma ve lo segnalo comunque. Banalmente, penso che Sunil, lǝ ragazzǝ indianǝ che per primǝ spiega cosa sia l’asessualità a Georgia, sia lì per omaggiare il fatto che la comunità asessuale indiana sia molto vivace. Ma è più che possibile che mi sia sfuggito qualche dettaglio importante.

In definitiva, è stata una lettura abbastanza positiva, sono contenta che questo romanzo sia arrivato in Italia: speriamo che sia il primo di tanti, visto che in lingua inglese ormai ce ne sono diversi. ( )

Things I didn't like about this book:

1. It felt didactic at times, like the purpose of the story was to educate readers about being asexual and other queer identities. I understand why Oseman felt she needed to be super clear in the text about certain things (e.g. saying that asexuality is a "big, big spectrum with a whole range of different feelings and experiences") because she didn't want to come across as trying to speak for all asexual people. So it's funny/sad to me that there are negative reviews of this book based on readers feeling that Oseman was trying to say all asexual people are like her. To quote one review, "...this book very much makes the reader feel like this is THE ONLY aroace experience." Oseman inserted didactic dialogue to clearly point out that hers is *not* the only ace experience. And yet this negative review has 400 likes. I think the takeaway here is that there will always be this kind of criticism when you're writing a book about an underrepresented identity. The "danger of the single story" will always haunt your reviews, even when you insert disclaimers.

2. There wasn't much of a plot beyond typical friendship/romance drama.

Things I did like about this book:

1. The characters were for the most part very lovable and fun to spend time with.

2. I enjoy a college setting and learning new things about how the first year at university in the UK is different from the US. Is "fresher" a new term to replace "freshman" bc it's genderless? Is getting "college married" a thing at most UK universities? How do you pronounce soc? I know it's short for society, but I still want to say it like the beginning of the word social.

3. There was some really lovely exploration of friendship being just as important as romantic relationships. In other media (e.g. Sex and the City) you sometimes see characters claiming that friendships are equal to or greater than romantic partnerships, but it felt more poignant in Loveless because Georgia is so certain she will never be in a romantic partnership. And I loved when she went all in on a romcom grand gesture for her friend.
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