Representation: Black and Asian characters
Trigger warnings: Racism
Score: Six points out of ten.
Find this review on The StoryGraph.

Let's talk about Let's Talk About Love. I wanted to read this but put it off so I never got around till now. I picked this one up a few days ago and read it. I glanced the blurb, thinking that I would enjoy this book. That was until I saw the low ratings and reviews. When I finished Let's Talk About Love, I was underwhelmed.

It starts with the first character I see, Alice, living her hedonistic life with a minuscule portion dedicated to work when her partner, whose name I forgot, broke up with her since the relationship wasn't fulfilling enough. She spends her life alone after the opening pages save for when she meets her friend, Feenie sometimes. Even though Let's Talk About Love is enjoyable with its quick chapters, unfortunately, the negatives outweighed the positives, forcing me to lower its rating. I couldn't connect or relate to any of the characters. Alice is 19, but uses terms like 'Cutie Code.' Really? I don't think any 19-year-old in this world acts this way. There was no chemistry between Alice and Takumi, so I didn't delight myself in reading that. It's not clear if Let's Talk About Love is authentic.

To summarise, Let's Talk About Love initially looked promising, but after reading it, I only found it to be a dissatisfying reading experience, and you'd be better off reading any other romance story other than this one. ( )

Non sapete quanto mi dolga scrivere che ho trovato un romanzo con una pessima rappresentazione dell’asessualità (e dell’adolescenza, che, sebbene sia un fenomeno meno raro, non è meno irritante).

Il romanzo inizia con la nostra protagonista, Alice, che viene mollata dalla sua fidanzata, Margot. Il motivo? Alice non ama e non fa sesso come piacerebbe a Margot. Dove sta il problema? Alice non ha detto a Margot di essere un’asessuale biromantica e, nella sua mente, inizia subito a lamentarsi della scarsa comprensione della (ex) fidanzata.

Ora, per ricevere comprensione bisogna anche mettere le altre persone nella posizione di poter comprendere: non stiamo parlando della vicina di casa, che deve farsi i fatti suoi, ma della tua ragazza, che trova un pelo strano il fatto che tu non voglia essere toccata durante il sesso. Vuole sapere perché, vuole capire, ma Alice niente, tace e inizia a sentirsi la vittima della situazione. Irritante come poche.

Avrei accettato una roba del genere se a un certo punto del romanzo avesse fatto autocritica o se un personaggio le avesse fatto notare che era stata ingiusta, ma niente. Siamo nel tipico romanzo YA dove i personaggi non si evolvono, ma arrivano allegramente immutati alla fine.

Alice, infatti, è la tipica ragazza tutta cuori&fiori che mette a dura prova il mio aromanticismo e che finisce per incontrare il bellimbusto di turno, Takumi. Quest’ultimo è privo di qualsivoglia difetto (fisico o caratteriale) e finirà per essere il cavaliere dalla scintillante armatura che accetterà Alice per quello che è (senza parlare di niente, ovviamente, sia mai che in questi YA si mostri come affrontare una sana e costruttiva discussione sui propri desideri ed esigenze).

Poi tutta la negatività è rivolta contro l’ignara Margot, ma il personaggio che spala merda sull’asessualità in questo romanzo è la migliore amica di Alice, Feenie. Però è la migliore amica, quindi, be’, è giustificata, poverina, è che è fatta così, apre la bocca e lascia andare… ma dove? Ma come? Ma cosa? Ma anche no, diamine! Sa che Alice è asessuale e poco incline a fare sesso e il suo consiglio per capire meglio i suoi sentimenti verso Takumi è comunque portatelo a letto. Sul serio? Ma che razza di amica è?

Boh. Il libro non si becca l’infamia di una stella solo perché ci sono anche alcune parti interessanti (come il dialogo con lo psicologo che ho postato anche qui sul blog) e qualche riflessione importante qua e là, ma – a essere sincera – non credo valgano la pena di sorbirsi tutto il resto… ( )

Black college student Alice is firmly attached to her asexual identity, but her orientation doesn’t stop her from falling for handsome library worker Takumi. Should she tell him the truth about her lack of interest in sex? On top of all this relationship tension, Alice’s best friends are mad that Alice no longer spends all her time with them and her domineering parents are insisting that she prepare for law school, even though she’s about as interested in the legal profession as she is in sex.

This young adult novel (surprisingly) grew on me. Once Alice stops rating people’s looks according to her insufferable Cutie Code, she becomes an appealing (if slightly childish) heroine. I found myself rooting for her and Takumi to reach an understanding. This novel may not be exactly realistic, but it is fun. ( )

I'm finally DNFing this at 40%. I'm really sad to because HOLY CROW ASEXUALITY, but I'm actually finding it super uncomfortable to read. I don't know if this is OwnVoices or not, but Alice's character is tremendously all over the place and there have been several moments where I've wanted to add in my own explanations because I'm sure anyone reading this who's not ace is getting some conflicting messages. The relationship didn't seem like it was going to be particularly healthy, and Alice is, quite frankly, more annoying than she's meant to be. All this talk about plumbing. I really hope that didn't turn into a "oh you're asexual? you just haven't met your person yet!" kinda thing, because let me tell you...

I'm sad about this. I'm ace, and there are so few books out there that represent us, and I really wanted this to be something I could recommend left and right. But I've been trying since January to get further, and I think it's time to cut my losses. Everyone's experience is different, but I really feel that the messages put forward here aren't the most productive and that people might take away an understanding of asexuality that doesn't accurately reflect all of its nuances. ( )

This book was not it for me. I was looking forward to adding a copy of this to my classroom library or recommending it to others, but this was not it. The writing style, combined with the main character's very cutesy and immature voice was not engaging, nor relatable. She seemed more around middle-grade/12 - 13 years old as opposed to a 19/20 year old in college. This was concerning as well given that the love interest (Takumi) is a college graduate, and demonstrates similar moments of immaturity, and a lack of understanding of consent. Not for me, would not recommend. At the same time, I respect that the book exists, so I did not want to give it one star. ( )