Narrated by: Elisabeth Hopper
Published: 9th July 2020
Genre: Young Adult
Content warnings: Sexual content, alcohol dependency
It was all sinking in. I’d never had a crush on anyone. No boys, no girls, not a single person I had ever met. What did that mean?
Georgia has never been in love, never kissed anyone, never even had a crush – but as a fan-fic-obsessed romantic, she’s sure she’ll find her person one day. As she starts university with her best friends, Pip and Jason, in a whole new town far from home, Georgia’s ready to find romance, and with her outgoing roommate on her side and a place in the Shakespeare Society, her ‘teenage dream’ is in sight. But when her romance plan wreaks havoc amongst her friends, Georgia ends up in her own comedy of errors, and she starts to question why love seems so easy for other people but not for her.
With new terms thrown at her – asexual, aromantic – Georgia is more uncertain about her feelings than ever. Is she destined to remain loveless? Or has she been looking for the wrong thing all along? This wise, warm and witty story of identity and self-acceptance sees Alice Oseman on towering form as Georgia and her friends discover that true love isn’t limited to romance.
If you happen to be asexual, then there are not many opportunities in this world for you to feel seen, so that in itself is what makes this book such a gift. With the diversity of her characters and an ability to render them relatable and well developed, Alice Oseman allows readers to be able to find themselves in her books in a way that is authentic rather than gimmicky, and this affirming tale of self-discovery is another fantastic example of that.
There is entertainment and humour mixed in with themes that are really quite heavy bearing in mind the intended audience, but the story would be far less meaningful without that. There is much more to find here than just a teenage girl’s struggle to understand and come to terms with her sexuality; it is also about coming of age, about complicated friendships, and how messy life can get when you are taking those first steps towards independence.
Sometimes it plays out like a comedy, as we see some uncomfortable social interactions which feel like an awkward sex education class, and certain tropes like fake dating make an appearance. That said, it never veers too far in this direction and asexuality is neither devalued or made to seem in any way invalid – indeed this is a celebration of how wonderfully different it is to be ace.
Reading from Georgia’s point of view, there are moments that totally resonate. She is curious and open-minded and that gets her into some interesting situations to say the least, for she is also utterly oblivious to the fact she is ace. And so are her friends. That creates an unusual dynamic and the writing here is clever too, with some of her university classmates trying to figure her out while her parents are giving less than subtle hints about her lack of a boyfriend.
There is something innocent and endearing about Georgia, who is relatively introverted and invests most of her emotional reserves into her friendships as opposed to any romantic relationships. She can be naïve at times and we see that especially around halfway through when things descend into chaos with her friends Pip and Jason, and this is where the plot is at its most intense as Georgia’s world stands on a knife edge.
For the most part this plot is well crafted and while the decision to base it around the first year at university seems inherently simple, it works perfectly. You could also say it has three very clearly defined acts, and Oseman shows an impressive lightness of touch to keep the story moving at a steady pace, but at the same time giving it room to breathe and allowing the themes to be fully developed.
And when there is drama, it comes in spades. The characters are realised so skilfully that you feel wholly invested in the tangled mess they create for themselves. We read in despair as Georgia digs herself a massive hole that threatens everything she holds dear, her journey towards self-acceptance taking a disastrously wrong turn, and are desperate for it all to be resolved.
The main weakness with the plot is with the ending. It may finish on an uplifting note with a heartfelt show of friendship, but it just comes across as a little too sweet and contrived. It is hard to find many moments in Oseman’s books that lack believability, but some of the set-piece that we see in the final act does not hit all the right notes.
Away from Georgia, the three other main characters are brimming with depth. To be able to attend the same university as your two best friends is incredibly special, and together with Pip and Jason she shares a lovely dynamic where they may not have everything in common but whose personalities complement each other so well. Pip is outgoing and outspoken and Jason is one of the nicest guys you could imagine – and both are fiercely loyal.
Asexuality is not the only sexual orientation that is explored in detail here, and that is where the character of Rooney comes in. She is Georgia’s university roommate and the Enid Sinclair to Georgia’s Wednesday Addams. To say that Rooney is larger than life is an understatement, for she is loud and theatrical and devoted to the arts, yet is also chaotic and self-destructive. Her romantic tension with Pip is a ticking time-bomb throughout and leads to plenty of unspoken angst.
The prestige of Durham University shines through well in the writing and there is definitely a sense of place despite the setting not having a huge role other than to facilitate the plot. In amongst everything else, Oseman lends the book and its characters her trademark wit and as usual, her storytelling goes way beyond just choosing a topic or a trope and creating a half-baked plot to accompany it. This depth and realism alongside all the fun parts is what makes her such a great author.
Overall, the ending might be a little sappy but that takes little away from the relevance of this book and how it does more than simply tell a thoroughly enjoyable story. You will get thrust into the drama of Georgia’s road to discovering her true self and those of her circle of friends, and you may even learn a thing or two about asexuality. It is good to know that we are not always forgotten.
The very concept of this book felt so meaningful to me and as expected, a lot of Georgia’s story resonated. I loved the depth we see here and the development of characters such as Rooney and Pip, but aside from the asexual angle my favourite takeaway was the message that platonic love is probably the best kind of love.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
