The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann
CW: Discussion of Sex, Drinking, Discussion of Racism, Mentions of Slut-shaming, Student Debt, Described Panic Attack, Discussion of Acephobia, Mental Illness, Unhealthy Relationships, Discussion of a Deadly Car Accident, Grief
3.5/5
Whenever you need a book about asexual characters, Claire Kann is there to deliver! She writes for all ages, body types, and romantic identities. Although she mostly writes romance, she does dip into other genres, as she does with The Marvelous. As you can guess from the title, The Romantic Agenda is a romantic novel. This one features a body-positive black woman in her 30s who knows exactly where she stands with her asexuality. The book was not my favorite of Kann's, but since she sets the bar high, I believe it was still a worthwhile read.
The Romantic Agenda takes place over a weekend vacation to a cabin. Joy, 2nd in command of a night club, is in love with her best friend since college, Malcolm. As her boss, he books a vacation for them, his crush, and the ex of his crush, which he tells Joy about at the last minute. Malcolm is a control freak, but the vacation unfortunately and repeatedly diverges from his plans. Joy chooses to go along, with every intention of declaring her undying love. What she didn't count on was Fox, a grumpy carpenter with a heart of gold. He suggests that Joy take up a fake relationship with him to make Malcolm jealous. With Malcolm's crush (Summer) in mix, what could go wrong?
As I mentioned before, this isn't my favorite book. Any romance that occurs over a weekend feels far-fetched or immature for me. The fake dating aspect helps it some, but most of the books I enjoy that include that trope take place over months. The fact that it falls into the far-fetched category instead of the immature one also helps. I can deal with a lack of realism more than I can deal with annoying characters. The characters were mostly very good and complex in just the right ways. Unfortunately, despite it being intentional, the unhealthy relationship between Malcolm and Joy unnerved me. There were certain aspects, such as a difference in desire for children, that should have allowed Joy to move on years ago. Overall, it was the unrealistic relationships that detached me from the book.
Thankfully, the characters and the world building kept the book balanced. Summer came off as ditzy and too chipper at first, but grew on me as the story progressed. In truth, she seems to be overcompensating for her anxiety by being a people pleaser. I wanted to not like Malcolm because of how difficult he was being, but I couldn't fault him in the end. He is just as lost as Joy is. Fox is perhaps the most surface-level character, mostly driving the plot along, but I could still understand why Joy falls for him in this book. As for Joy, she made an excellent main character. She had realistic flaws and a rich backstory. Her confidence in who she is was fun and intriguing to read. Along the way, the itinerary of the vacation and the cabin setting allowed the audience to really get to know the characters.
The Romantic Agenda features two characters that are ace and in their 30s, Joy and Malcolm. Due to the pair having met in college, the audience gets to experience what this identity has meant to both of them for a large chunk of time. Joy also explains that her discovering her relationship to sex was different from those around her in high school. This is something none of Kann's other books have explored. Fox and Summer are both allosexual (they experience sexual attraction to others), so there are moments throughout the book where Joy and Malcolm can discuss what asexuality means to them, how they both have different relationships to sex and attraction. I won't spoil the specifics, but I appreciate the focus on how each ace person relates to that identity in their own way. If you read several of Kann's books you'll get a grasp on it, but if you are to read only this one, I'm glad you'll get to read about that.
Kann's books mean a lot to me thanks to their ace representation. Ace main characters are few and far between, but thanks to authors like Claire Kann, Alice Oseman, and Rosiee Thor, it is getting better. Keep reading and hopefully they'll keep writing!
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