Let's Talk About Love

November 13, 2017
College student Alice Johnston, 19, is in the closet—sort of. Her friends and family know that she is bisexual, but what they don’t know (and what Alice isn’t really ready to tell them) is that she’s also asexual. Alice is hurt when Margot, her roommate and girlfriend, breaks up with her, but she isn’t surprised. Giving up on love seems to be the best solution until Takumi enters the picture. Registering an unprecedented “black” rating on Alice’s “Cutie Code,” Takumi makes Alice’s heart beat faster than normal, and their developing friendship allows Alice to slowly begin to reveal things about herself, her friendship with Feenie and Ryan (her now-engaged best friends from high school), and her family. Debut novelist Kann thoughtfully tackles what it means to be asexual and gives Alice a platform to discover who she is and what it means for her relationship with Takumi. Asexual readers will appreciate the visibility, and those—like Alice’s ex—who know poorly understand it, will gain a better sense of what love without sex can look like. Ages 13–up.

February 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-Alice's first year at college did not go the way she planned. First, her parents kept pressuring her to declare prelaw as her major, then her best friends changed plans at the last minute and got an apartment off campus for themselves. By the end of the year, she's still undeclared, and her roommate-turned-girlfriend turned ex-girlfriend has reenforced Alice's fears that no one will stay with her once they find out she's asexual. When she shows up to work one day to meet the beautiful and sweet Takumi, Alice is blown away by her feelings toward him but terrified of being hurt again. This story, originally published online, is undoubtedly, but not heavy-handedly, focused on Alice's sexual identity. While side story lines add some depth to Alice and offer up a diverse cast of supporting characters, they are mostly underdeveloped or tangential. Alice's relationship with her best friends Feenie and Ryan, who are a couple, alternates between charming and troublesome. They, along with a few others in Alice's life, are often unfairly or aggressively demanding of her, but the book rarely addresses it as more than overzealous love. Despite that, Alice and her struggle to grow while maintaining her identity are heartfelt and real. Alice is black, biromantic, and asexual, and her relationship with Takumi is genuine and fun. VERDICT A light, enjoyable asexual romance with outstanding representation. Recommended for any teen collection.-Amy Diegelman, formerly at Vineyard Haven Public Library, MA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 Recently dumped, Alice Whitley prepares for a not-so-great summer. She's working at her local library and living with her best friend, Feenie, and Feenie's boyfriend, Ryan. Then she meets Takumi, and he totally breaks Alice's Cutie Code (her internal barometer for how cute someone is). Takumi leaves her tongue-tied and flustered. Alice thinks she's sexually attracted to Takumi, which is momentous because Alice identifies as asexual. She's never felt sexually attracted to anyone beforeit's why her ex-girlfriend dumped her. This is overwhelming for her, so she goes to therapy to sort out her emotions. Amid all of this, her parents are pressuring her to declare a pre-law major, and they refuse to pay for any other career path. In the end, it's a happily-ever-after, but the journey is tantamount. Readers will fall in love with Alice's (sometimes immature) personality and cheer her on as she comes out to Takumi. Though it lacks discussion on the full spectrum of asexuality, this is a timely, nuanced, and diverse debut.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2018
African American college student Alice, biromantic and asexual, finds herself magnetically attracted to handsome coworker Takumi at her summer library job. Besides questioning the nature of that attraction, she reexamines other aspects of her identity and future plans (her ambitious parents add pressure to the latter). A cast of supportive friends and accessible, often humorous prose recommend this refreshingly diverse intersectional romance.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)