I read Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann in June for Pride month, although of course I bought it months ago. Official book summary:
Alice had her whole summer planned. Non-stop all-you-can-eat buffets while marathoning her favorite TV shows (best friends totally included) with the smallest dash of adulting--working at the library to pay her share of the rent. The only thing missing from her perfect plan? Her girlfriend (who ended things when Alice confessed she's asexual). Alice is done with dating--no thank you, do not pass go, stick a fork in her, done.
But then Alice meets Takumi and she can’t stop thinking about him or the rom com-grade romance feels she did not ask for (uncertainty, butterflies, and swoons, oh my!).
When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn, and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library employee badge (close enough), Alice has to decide if she’s willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated—or understood.
I was excited to read this book about a biromantic ace girl of color who worked in a library (so me!). Alice is super into Tumblr and pop culture, to boot. I did enjoy reading this book, but I didn't love it as much as I thought I would. I did feel somewhat seen, but since the protagonist was a 19 year old college student who swooned and interior-monologued like a fanfiction character written by a teenage girl who read exclusively 2000s chicklit and 2010s tumblr posts, I felt more distracted and annoyed by the verbiage (it makes Meg Cabot books look like scholarly texts). All that stuff kept pulling me out if the story. It is so very internal. Also, there were not nearly enough scenes set in the library. Literally just like three.
It bugs me that the summary says Alice's ex-girlfriend broke up with her because Alice is asexual, because she actually dumped her because she felt Alice wasn't attracted to her and didn't truly love her since she didn't enjoy sex with her. Alice couldn't bring herself to tell her she's asexual. Some GoodReads reviewers said that the ex's high sex drive and need for a fulfilling sexual relationship was written about in a slut-shamey way, but I didn't pick up on that. I do agree a lot of the issue would have been resolved if Alice and her ex had sat down and talked about their views of sex and how un/important it was to them. That's what you do as adults. Anyway, that part of the book is at the beginning and fairly short. The book does tackle misconceptions about asexuality. Said GR reviewers also pointed out how weirdly Alice's attitude/experience towards arousal and sex was written about, to the point of being incorrect. I did not notice that initially, but I think they are right.
Alice's friend drama was of the annoying if-they-just-talked-to-each-other-it-wouldn't-be-a-big-deal variety, which was dumb. I felt her best friend Feenie was too harsh and unkind towards Alice and was much more in the wrong than she was. It also annoyed me how controlling Alice's parents and significantly older siblings were and how they were dead-set on her becoming a lawyer when she wasn't interested in it at all. I hate stories like that. Being the baby of her much older family explains Alice's naivete and immaturity, however. They and Alice's friends were always trying to make Alice's decisions for her. It makes sense in that context.
The love interest part was fine. Takumi was adequately swoon-worthy and their relationship was cute. I got kind of annoyed with how much Alice got all deer-in-the-headlights around him and clammed up or ran away, but to be fair I did the same stuff around that age whenever I encountered my crushes. Due to the way Alice's and Takumi's relationship was written (aka through Alice's romcom crushy lens), I was confused when Alice said she wanted to date Takumi instead of just being friends; their relationship felt quite romantic to me, so I thought they were already sort of together. I certainly have never taken care of a male friend when he was sick, or cuddled with him under blankets while watching a movie, nor have they ever cooked for me. I'm not sure how sustainable their relationship is, since it's based on Takumi continuing to be fine with no sex, but whatever. I know there are asexual/allosexual couples that have made it work. I found the cutie code silly to the point of being annoying.
Overall, while I found the writing annoying and the characterization somewhat lacking, I am glad I bought and read it. I do wish I had this book when I was 19. This is an #OwnVoices book (the author is also Black, although I don't know if she's ace), and I liked the way race and microaggressions were talked about. 4 out of 5 stars, because I liked it a lot more right after I finished reading it, haha
Cover notes: I like that the colors are supposed to be of the asexual flag, although there is not enough gray. I would have made the model's top gray, or made the background gray and kept the top white. I like the font and purple color of the title. What are those bangs, though?
Score: 4 out of 5 stars
Read in: June 28
From: Target
Format: paperback
Status: keeping
Trigger warnings for this book: sexual harassment, attempted sexual assault, acephobia, aphobia, controlling parents/family members, a character takes a picture of another character while they're sleeping without their consent, racism mentions, discussions of sex, lust and arousal. That's all I can think of
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