This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.
My Review:Title: Let's Talk About Love
Author: Claire Kann
Published by: Swoon Reads, Tantor Audio
Release Date: January 23, 2018
Format: Audiobook, Kindle Book
Narrator: Adenrele Ojo
Pages: 284
Length: 9 hours and 5 minutes
Genres: Contemporary, LGBT, Romance
Potential Triggers: View Spoiler »
Source: Libby
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2023 Audiobook Challenge, Lenoreo's 2023 Backlist Reader Challenge, Lenoreo's 2023 COYER Chapter 1, Lenoreo's 2023 Diversity Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository ✩ Libro.FM ✩ Chirp
My rating:
Blurb: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.
3.5 stars — I absolutely loved the ace representation in this book, even if it isn’t the same flavour as what I experience. There were many moments where I understood what Alice was feeling, and I both hurt for her and was annoyed with her.
On the surface, I feel like I totally should have connected with Alice, and not just because of the ace thing. She loves cute things and aesthetics, and is just kind of kooky and weird. But I just…didn’t. I mark this book as new adult just because I personally categorize based on the age of the characters (and the general life experiences they are dealing with). This was definitely a young new adult, which I don’t actually mind because I remember what I was like in my University days, and I know we all age at different paces.
But for some reason Alice’s issues — with her parents, with her best friends, with her burgeoning romance — just really struck me as young. So definitely go into this one expecting more of a young adult vibe. The way she reacts to the things she’s dealing with, it just often felt childish. I’m not sure if it actually was, but it just didn’t translate well to me. Honestly, I just couldn’t connect with Alice. Sometimes she really did feel like the selfish asshole she called herself, and I think it was supposed to be more nuanced than that. It’s like I was just missing a link to the whole of who she was…to the subtleties. It was a bit of a bummer, b/c I really *wanted* to love this book, but in the end it was just okay.
I both read and listened to this one, and the narrator was okay. I’d definitely give her another try, her pacing was good.
So yeah. Just not quite the match I was hoping for.
Leave a Reply