A book off my pre-teen’s stack. She asked me if it would be “okay” for her, so I agreed to read some of it first, curious myself as I’ve never read a book with an asexual character before. Having started, I kept reading to the end, even though it was rather long. The short chapters (some only a page or two!) were just right for my abbreviated attention span right now (still recovering from the car accident). I suggested my daughter read it when she’s older- there’s plenty of frank discussion on sexuality. (Nothing shocking or offensive, but I think it would make her uncomfortable right now for sure).
The main character is Georgia, who at the end of high school is somewhat dismayed to have never kissed anyone. She loves the idea of romance, but when it comes to experiencing it, nothing works for her. Has she just never met the right person yet? She’s determined to find love while at college, in spite of never having had feelings for anyone before- male or female. Her two best friends are at the same college, and she gets assigned a roommate; soon the four of them are often together, attempting to put on a Shakespeare play. Things get messy and complicated when Georgia rather unwisely decides to use her friends to experiment with her ability to feel attraction. Her roommate and her friend Pip seem to hate each other at first, but just can’t admit they really like each other. It’s not until Georgia comes across a group of LGBTQIA students that she starts to realize that not feeling attracted to anyone might simply be who she is. And that it doesn’t at all mean a diminished life, or one devoid of love, because her friendships can be just as strong and supportive as any romance.
It’s a good story with some nice points about relationships and being considerate of other people feelings (by showing how badly it goes when you’re not). But it kind of dragged on for me. Several parts where other characters explained things to Georgia, felt like an info dump. I didn’t mind too much though. The incredibly short chapters made it easy to dip in and out of this book, which was just what I needed right now.
Borrowed from the public library.