Loveless by Alice Oseman
CW: Manipulation, Ace-Phobia, Aro-Phobia, Gatekeeping the Queer Community, Microaggressions, Heavy Drinking
4.5/5
Alice Oseman just ran away with my heart. I had a feeling they would, but I waited patiently. I found this book while compiling my reading list for aromantic books. Unfortunately it was not out in the U.S. yet at that point. So I requested it to Overdrive and was put on the eventual waiting list. I was also made aware of Heartstopper at that time. My plan was to read it after Loveless. While I did stick with this plan, I almost jumped on watching the screen adaptation when I found out. I'm glad I stuck with my plan. All the Heartstopper stuff will be worth the wait. Loveless was always meant to be my introduction to Oseman's work.
Loveless is about Georgia, a Kentish girl in her first year at Uni. She is worried about socializing, having a roommate, and the fact that she's never kissed anyone. Although she has her two best friends from high school with her, when Rooney, her roommate, drags them all into her Shakespeare performance, drama arrives not long after. The good and the bad kind. As Georgia struggles to make sense of her romantic and sexual identities, she makes a lot of mistakes. This is a slow burn love story, in the platonic sense. Found family is key, and it's beautiful.
The representation in this book was top-notch. I appreciated the Pride Soc*. A lot of effort in-universe was put into making sure it was an accepting place for all identities, including questioning. The president of the society introduced me to the term Quiltbag, an inclusive term created by Sadie Lee. The events of Pride Soc had a variety to them so they could accommodate different interests and comfort levels. The characters themselves had a lot of diversity. Amongst others, there was gay rep, ace-aro rep, non-binary rep, and pansexual rep. The main characters were not only racially diverse, but it matters to the characters. No identity is put into the story just for show, it all flows well.
I was going to rate this book at a 4 because the first half of the book felt a little lost. When Georgia's narration would slip into the lists of what she was doing over a period of time, it always felt like that period was longer than it was. However, the second half (after the winter holidays) came through and made me cry a couple of times. They weren't sad tears, not really. It was mostly joy for Georgia that she had this found family, but there was some melancholy for both my time in college and my time studying abroad in England.
This book was sure to make me feel seen as an asexual, but it reached me in more ways too. One is how positive it is about things. Georgia's friend, Jason, has a moment when he jokingly takes high praise. This is something I mean to practice more myself. "Fake it till you make it" works with self love too, not just worldly success. The book is also very sex-positive. I think some people assume that asexuals won't be sex-positive, a stereotype that Oseman thankfully squashed here. The other is the neediness throughout. My favorite movies were referenced, I was thrilled at the cosplay, and I knew exactly what was meant by Roony being like a main character in a world of NPCs. The only thing I felt out of touch with was the TikTok compilations, which made me feel old.
I think Loveless can be good for everyone. It handles emotions well, it presents fleshed-out characters, it knows how to give the reader a selection of memorable scenes, it's validating, it's relatable, and it teaches. To some it will be a good reminder about how to love yourself and those around you. To those who don't know much about aromantic and asexual identities, it will be a great introduction. Alice Oseman is clearly a wonderful writer and I will absolutely be reading more of their work! Hopefully you will too!
*Based on my experience studying abroad in England for a semester, Socs are Societies, another word for Clubs. The book describes the obscure ones as an excuse for friends to hang out together. As I would have to pay a whole year's fee for one semester, I only joined one society. Those students became my main friend group for that fall and were most certainly already a close group of friends. There were some other students in the soc, but that is aside from the point.
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