Grab yourself an emotional support cupcake and settle in while I ramble on about how Alice Oseman is probably the best UK YA  contemporary writer around.
Is anyone doing it quite like Alice Oseman? Sources (and those sources are just me reading a lot of contemporary UK YA) suggest not. Every book she writes is so compulsively readable and so hard to put down.
Alice writes the most realistic teen voices I’ve ever read - well, realistic to me, in my twenties, maybe they don't sound like this anymore! How do you do fellow kids etc. etc.


Our story centres around Georgia, an anxious bean who is starting university and terrified about the overwhelming pressure to have the perfect "uni experience". Talking to people! Joining things! Gross nightclubs! All a hard pass from both Georgia and myself when I first went to uni. Reading about a character who also hates clubs but tries to join in anyway even though she knows she'll hate it was too real, clubs are a noisy sweaty hellhole and I for one plan on never going into one ever again. If you're reading this review/book and haven't been to a club and don't think you'll like it? Honestly, save yourself the trouble. I truly believe that nobody has ever actually had a good time in a nightclub, and anyone who says different is lying.


This is the first book I've read with an Aromantic Asexual protagonist, and I absolutely love that this representation is out there for people to see themselves reflected in a story. Oseman handles Georgia's figuring herself out and knowing who she is so carefully and so well. A lot of the questions other characters ask her are likely questions real Aro-Ace people face a lot, so giving Georgia a voice to respond to these people in turn gives real people reading the book the armour to respond with and the reassurance that they are not alone with their feelings (or lack of).


Georgia is paired with a roommate, Rooney, who is essentially the opposite of Georgia. She's loud and bubbly and seems to make friends wherever she goes. She's a fan of casual sex and going clubbing. Sometimes an unlikely friendship bond can turn out to be just the relationship you need,it's good to be friends with people who aren't exactly like you; you can each bring to the relationship something which helps the other thrive. As much as Rooney is also the opposite of me in almost every single way, I'm glad she knows the virtue of a post-night-out cup of tea. I am a firm believer in that, also in the morning cup of tea, afternoon cup of tea, and that a cup of tea any time solves just about anything.


Pip and Jason went to school with Georgia, and now they're all at uni together. Pip is a lesbian who is ready to spread her wings at university, and Jason is a gentle, nerdy Scooby Doo fan. Close friendships are something that's not always explored in YA books enough, and either focus on toxic friendships or, most often, get sidelined when the romantic interest shows up. It's so important - especially in fiction for teenagers when this sort of thing seems like the most important worry in the world - to show the importance of friendships, of finding someone who will be there for you when other aspects of your life aren't going the way you want, and who you care about enough to be there for in return. It's not always easy when a friendship tries to make a transition, from school to university, from roommates to actual friends, or future relationships such as work colleague to actual friend, or staying friends with someone while one of you is in a relationship, but their importance cannot be understated. You will fuck up, they will too, but the strength is in working through it.


We round off our little core cast with Sunil, my favourite character. A wiser older character who befriends Georgia, offers sage advice and is just unapologetic about his existence. What a gem. I want to be Sunil and also I need a friend like him; I am accepting applications.


The tiny details of worldbuilding in this might be my favourite from an Alice Oseman book yet; Roderick the houseplant, copious amounts of pizza, the live action Scooby Doo films, all excellent. (If anyone is not aware of the delight of the live action Scooby Doo films, I cannot recommend them enough. Sarah Michelle Gellar ones only though.) A main subplot of this book revolves around different Shakespeare plays - and only the fun ones - is so brilliant. I'm a Shakespeare lover, so I really hope this book, in addition to the excellent rep work it's doing, also introduces The Teens to the idea that Shakespeare has some really fun plays.


There's such a lack of books set at university, so this was a really welcome read. Why is this? Why are the only books set at universities I can think of set at Oxford or a fictionalised version of? (You know why). I mean, I do like the "posh people do terrible things at University" trope, but come on now, there needs to be so much more.


Finally, "You're all really out there craving genitals and embarrassment" might be my favourite quote from the book. Or any book I’ve read lately. You need to read this book.

I'm not normally one for literary fiction, I normally like something a little fantastical to be a part of the books I read, and I don't really read much queer fiction, despite being quite gay myself. But there was something really special about Loveless that made it really hard for me to put down.

One of the biggest appeals of this book was the subject matter, not necessarily a young queer girl going to university and discovering their sexuality, because that's not too uncommon; instead, it's that the book gives representation to asexual and aromantic people. This is a part of the LGBTQ+ community that are often not given a voice, and in some cases are even denied their identity actually existing. My computer has even tried to get me to change aromantic to aromatic.

I know some people who fall into these categories, some of them are people that I love, and it's so good to get to read a book that gives this community a chance to take centre stage.

The story follows Georgia as she and two of her best friends, Pip and Jason, move to Durham University. Georgia has never kissed anyone, and is plagued by this. She thinks that there must be something wrong with her, and really thinks that she should be in a relationship or in love because shes a big fan of love stories, but nothing ever feels right to her. She tries to kiss her 'crush' on prom night and the result is pretty spectacularly disastrous to say the least.

With the help of her friends and her outgoing room mate Rooney, Georgia tries to explore her sexuality and discover if dating and relationships are really right for her. As these are teenagers, there is of course a lot of drama involved, and things don't always go well for the group, leading to misunderstandings, arguments, and break ups.

Despite this, Georgia makes a new friend, the head of the Uni's Pride Society, and learns more about asexuality, and more begins to make sense to her about her life. Now Georgia has to learn to come to terms with her sexuality and her worries about her future, whilst repairing her friendship circle.

Loveless is full of drama and teen angst yes, but it's way more than that. It's about love. And whilst there is a sapphic enemies-to-lovers romance in here, it's not about romantic love. The book makes a big, clear point that platonic love is a real, important thing. The love that you have for your friends is real, and it matters. It might not be the same as love for family, or love for a romantic partner, but it can be just as strong and just as meaningful. This is an important thing for aro-ace people, and it's a big part of Georgia's journey in the book, but it's something that applies to everyone.

The book shows the reader through Georgia how important love is in all of its forms, and that you should never feel ashamed or weird for saying that you love your friends. Friendships can be so powerful and important, and you should be able to tell your friends that you love them dearly. Loveless is about learning to discover your true self, but also learning to not be afraid of your future or trying to force your life to fit the shape that society says it should. It doesn't matter if your life and your love isn't what society demands it should be, what the boring straight cis people would call 'normal'. We're all amazing and wonderful, our lives all matter, and everyone deserves to finds happiness in whatever form that takes.

I'd never read Alie Oseman's work before, but am definitely planning to read more of her stuff now. I'm going to be recommending this book to so many of my friends, especially the queer ones. And I hope that this kind of story becomes more common, that aro-ace people aren't a rarity in fiction, and that their stories aren't about having to 'fit in' or being 'fixed', but them just getting to live their own lives. This is amazing queer content, and I absolutely adored every minute of reading it.

I loved this book so much. It is representative, diverse and challenges stereotypes, even within the LGBT+ community. Each character had their own storyline within the book as a whole and I feel like it was a lovely story that discussed problematic themes throughout as each character worked on their personal growth. It is set during the first year of University and is a brilliant English novel.

It is a good intro to asexual/aromantic (ace/aro) sexual identity which is particularly refreshing to read as there is not a lot of representation in the media - the characters realise how insensitive it is to say "maybe you just haven't met the right person yet" and how it invalidates their experience.

Overall, well recommended!

This book was a breath of fresh air! I love Heartstopper but this is the first Alice Oseman novel I've read. I don't read much YA anymore but this just sounded wonderful, and there was has been so much hype about it.

This book looks at female friendships and relationships, university life and best of all, the main character is aro-ace. I loved learning about this alongside the main character and seeing how how she was supported by a brilliant group of friends. It felt so real and raw. All of the characters were awesome in their own way as well. I can't think of many books where I genuinely loved all of the main characters!

This is a really excellent and absorbing coming=of-age book and I highly recommend it.

This book was everything!!! I love Alice Oseman and this book solidifies the love that I have for her and her writing. Loveless is now my favourite Alice Oseman book but is also now in my list of favourite books of all-time.

I wish I had read this book before I started university, because everything Georgia felt was exactly how I felt during my first year at university and I wish I had had this book to make me see that the things I felt were completely normal.

I loved being in Georgia’s head and seeing her discover who she was throughout the book. Georgia discovering that she was aromantic asexual and her seeing that that was a normal thing, and that she was not ‘weird’ for not wanting to be in a romantic or sexual relationship with someone had me feeling very emotional. Honestly, the whole book had me laughing and crying with Georgia, Rooney, Pip, Jason and Sunil and I just wanted to be part of their friendship group.

I absolutely loved Rooney’s character. Rooney and Georgia’s friendship was so beautiful to read about and I loved how they were so different and yet so similar to each other. I loved that this book did have a love story and that was the love that grew between Georgia and Rooney, as it showed that you don’t need romantic love to fall in love with someone else.

‘Loveless’ is a book that will stay with me for a long time and is a book that I recommend that everyone should read.

Georgia has never been in love, never had a crush on anyone - so when she heads off to university she is determined that her (love) life will change. After all, she's been reading romantic fan fiction for years, there's someone out there for everyone, right?

With best friends from home by her side, even though not in the same halls of residence or college, Georgia prepares to take on the challenges of uni and the acting world. Her new roommate eagerly takes on the challenge of helping Georgia - but as her romantic plans cause havoc among her friends, she starts to evaluate exactly what she wants from life.

This is a witty and considered coming of age novel about identity, friendships and family.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review - thanks so so much to Netgalley for sending this to me! Loveless was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I’m so unbelievably grateful to have had the chance to review it.

Check out my video review on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmhx-dvwnpY

Loveless follows university fresher Georgia, who’s always felt like the odd one out among her friends. She’s never been kissed or had a romantic relationship, and going to uni seems like the perfect time to try and change that - but as Georgia starts her first forays into romance, she discovers that romantic love isn’t as appealing as movies, books and fanfiction has made it seem… and that maybe she doesn’t want those things at all.

As with most of Alice Oseman’s novels, Loveless is more character driven than plot-driven. We follow Georgia and her friends - some old, some new - as they immerse themselves in university life and begin growing into themselves, discovering new interests and figuring out who they are. I adored the way this book depicts university life, particularly its willingness to embrace the messy side of being a student, tackling issues like the drinking culture, mental health and inevitable drama that so many people face. The first year at uni is such a complex time in many young people’s lives and I thought this book handled it beautifully, unafraid to engage with the idea that not everyone’s cut out for constant parties, and that everyone finds their niche. It was raw and honest, but also showed off the fun side of things - and I feel like that’s so great. A lot of UKYA, in my experience, tends to skew young - so having a book that talks about the realities of university in a well-rounded and realistic way strikes me as something that’ll be so valuable for teens to read.

My favourite thing about this book was its centralisation of platonic connections. At its core, it’s very much a love letter to Georgia’s friendships, complete with a huge public display of love towards the end that reminded me of the grand gesture you’d usually see in a romance. It was soft, vulnerable and beautiful, and I adored the way that the complexities of the relationships were highlighted and explored. I was so touched that I started crying at 3am while reading it. I genuinely don’t know how to explain how moved I was by Georgia’s intense, passionate adoration for her friends. They truly are the most important people in her life and she doesn’t shy away from making that clear and telling them how much they matter. It was absolutely wonderful to see, and the bonds between everyone in this book were so tangible and perfect even under times of stress. I think the connection between Georgia and Rooney in particular might be one of my top 10 bookish friendships of all time. They’re iconic - no one is doing it like them.

I feel it’s important to mention that this book is a coming out novel centred around an aro/ace teen, and as an allosexual/alloromantic reviewer I can’t speak for the representation itself, which I understand to have received mixed reviews from aro/ace readers. I can only say how pleased I am to see this sexuality represented, especially by such a beloved author, and that I hope it makes its way into the hands of someone who needs it. Georgia’s journey of self-discovery isn’t devoid of difficulty, and she often experiences self-doubt and struggles to accept herself - but I liked the humanity of her struggles, and I appreciated reading about a character who doesn’t have everything totally figured out by the end, because it’s a lot more common than people think - I know plenty of people who are still reevaluating themselves, their sexuality and their feelings about it way into adulthood.

My only real sticking point with this story ties into its status as a ‘coming out’ book. There’s a lot of focus on Georgia educating herself about the LGBT community, as she meets characters with different gender identities, sexualities and labels. Again, this is great - even a fleeting mention of an underrepresented sexuality can be awesomely helpful for readers, even if it just leads them to Google an identity they’ve never heard of and educate themselves further. My issues was that it did sometimes feel a bit inorganic, like the characters were reading out a list of identities from a dictionary. It was kind of clunky at times and felt a bit out of place, slowing down conversations and pacing. However I am aware that I’m coming at this book from the perspective of an older, adult person who’s been involved in the queer community for years and is very familiar with these definitions, so my perspective on that may be different for younger community members who are encountering certain identities for the first time and have never previously had the words to describe themselves or had the opportunity to learn about these identities before

Overall, I found Loveless to be a beautiful, powerful and highly emotional read. It had me totally hooked, staying up till 3am and racing through the story, sobbing like a baby because I was so connected to the characters and so proud of where they ended up. Alice Oseman has reasserted her status as a god-tier author for me, and I continue to be awestruck by how amazing her books are.

There are so many things that I loved about this book - the diversity, the inclusion, the representation, the friendships, the different types of love and the value we place on them (platonic love > romantic love). The author manages to present the narrative in a way that doesn’t feel stereotypical or harmful but is a gentle exploration of sexuality and will hopefully allow aro/ace brothers and sisters feel like their voices and experiences are being shared in the same way that the rest of the rainbow has been increasingly represented in the mainstream. It felt like a love letter to the community, and a celebration of everything that our rainbow siblings add to the tapestry of life - and a reminder that sometimes our most important relationships are with our friends. This book is a fabulous LGBTQIA book, but also an incredible book for all YA’s exploring the issue of discovering and embracing your own identity. You’ll (platonically) fall in love with Georgia and her friends as they journey through their first year of uni (also shout out to the backdrop of Durham uni - my alma mater, which provoked strong memories)

‘Loveless’ tells the story of Georgia, a girl who has never been in love. When she starts university, she swears it’ll be a brand new start, finally managing to find the person of her dreams. However, reality was so much different to that, and she finds herself heading down a pathway she never expected.

It’s not a surprise to those familiar with this blog that I was reading yet another book by Alice Oseman, adoring her storytelling since the release of Solitaire, so the minute this title was available on Netgalley, I immediately requested it. I went in with high expectations, and came out with so much more.

Georgia makes for an incredibly three-dimensional character, Oseman’s writing talents making it impossible not to picture her and inhabit the centre of her mind. She guides you beautifully through the story, tripping over her mistakes on occasion but you sympathise with her; you understand why she makes the decisions she does and you resonate with her.
Pip was another brilliant character, adoring her enthusiasm and wishing everyone could have their own personal Pip to carry around with you. It’s impossible not to smile along with her, loving every interaction between her and Georgia and highlighting the power of true friendship across the pages.
Jason was a quieter character, yet Oseman has a talent for ensuring every character is crucial to the story. Not once did he fade into the background, his importance to the story highlighted in his interactions with the two girls and still being an important part of the plot line.
However, my personal favourite character was Rooney, who develops the most throughout the novel. You witness her character progresses from page to page, watching her story unravel and form into an almost new character. There’s elements of Rooney left by the end of the story, yet you can’t help but adore her: She’s certainly not who I expected her to be.

The main theme of this novel is friendship, which is extremely highlighted as the story progresses. I’ve never read a novel with such strong relationships between the characters, adoring every situation and interaction between the four of them, and never wanting the story to end. As someone who knows very little about asexuality, aside from the definition, this was an incredibly enlightening read. It’s extremely educational, and so important for the LGBT community. There’s so little representation out there, especially within the Young Adult genre, and so I’m deeply appreciative of Oseman for writing this story and sharing Georgia’s experience.

Overall, I deeply loved this novel. Once completing it, I was fighting the urge to start from page one again, and I highly recommend it for any fan of YA Contemporary, or anyone who knows very little about asexuality in general. A beautifully written novel that I hope will become a staple within the YA Romance genre.

***I was given a copy of this by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Georgia isn't really sure how she feels about love. It's the central plot to all the fanfics she reads, it seems to be the central plot to everything, to be honest. She's a massive romance fan, and she thinks she'd like to fall in love. The reality, however, doesn't seem to be quite so enticing. Loveless follows Georgia through the tumultuous time that is the first year of university- finding your feet, finding your people, finding your self.

I know everyone else has already said it: but this is truly a masterpiece of a book. It absolutely blew me away, quite honestly. The nuance and depth of this novel is truly remarkable, I was amazed at how well-developed each of the characters were, and how all the different themes were so fantastically explored.

Loveless is a breath of fresh air, in a lot of ways. It's the first YA book (at least to my knowledge) that has an openly ace-aro character. In terms of representation, that's pretty massive! But more importantly, it doesn't half-arse the representation. This isn't lazy representation, nor is it rushed. Georgia takes a long time to work out who she is, and how she feels about that, and that's really important to see. We'd like to think that it's all rainbows and glitter, but it isn't always. It can be really tough, and really lonely. Furthermore, it made me think a lot more about things that I, as an alloromantic ((hyperromantic lol)) person have always taken for granted: college marriage, for example! Love songs! This stuff really is impossible to escape hey?! And Georgia never says, hey I want all of this abolished. Georgia loves love. She just also wants room for her.

In terms of being a breath of fresh air, Loveless also portrays something that is often ignored, but very common: that university is actually really bloody difficult! Not even the academic side of it so much, as the suddenly being in a new world, trying to navigate a million different things at once. Georgia doesn't have the best time at uni, at least not to begin with, and that's okay. I am so glad that this book exists, for that narrative alone. As well, it was kind of refreshing to see an honest portrayal of a UK uni. YA tends to be dominated by US uni stories, and as much as I love reading that, it was really cool to see something that captured the particular quirks of UK universities.

As I mentioned previously, this book is wiiiiide- as in, it covers a whole ton of things. It looks at casual sex in a really open way- not instantly dismissing it as a bad thing, but equally exploring how it can be a self-destructive act. Acephobia was really clearly shown, and I LOVED the way that Sunil handled Lloyd- but also I really like that Lloyd was included, because there are, sadly, SO MANY Lloyds out there. We need to be talking about them, and this book did that so well.

Almost all of the characters (I will discuss the one exception in a minute) are really really well developed and explored- they all have their own stuff going on, and each one feels so realistic. It's really easy to kind of reduce this to there being a range of different identities, which of course I loved, but there's so much more to it than that. I really felt like I got to know (almost) every single one of the characters: I hurt for them, I understood them, I felt happy for them.

Mistakes were made, sometimes pretty colossal ones. None of the characters, especially Georgia, were made out to be perfect. They did some rubbishy things, often to each other! But they learnt and they grew. Maybe more importantly, they learnt and grew together, and not overnight. There wasn't instant forgiveness, and that felt really important to me. People were allowed to be hurt and to feel their feelings, just like in real life, and just like in the most genuine and important of friendships.

Okay: my biggest gripe with this book, and the one thing that, unfortunately, does prevent it from being a 5* read for me. is that I think Sunil could have been explored more. I really liked the way that the intersection in his sexuality and ethnicity were discussed- but their gender identity felt really brushed aside. It was mentioned like once, and I think Jess used the pronoun 'they' for them once, but aside from that, the pronoun used was always 'he'. It would have been so so great to have more alternation of pronouns, and I do feel let down that Sunil's gender identity felt completely erased, especially when other characters and their identities were so well explored. And I think it leaves me wondering just how to feel about this book, when it did so so well in sooo many areas, but let me down in an area that's particularly important to me personally.

On the other hand- towards the end of the book, there's a conversation of (if unnamed) queer platonic love, kind of vaguely alluding to relationship anarchy. Georgia fears being forgotten, and another character makes it clear that's not going to happen. And like, wow? I spend so much of my time talking about representation, but somehow I forgot how it felt, to see something that's integral to who you are represented so well. To be reminded that that's okay, that you're not broken. I don't want to take up time and space talking about how this felt to me personally, but- it was massive. And now I want to buy a physical copy, so I can give it to everyone I want to better understand me, and how I feel about love, albeit from a kind of opposite perspective. (And if anyone would like to talk about how this fear feels as a hyperromantic person, and the importance of queer platonic love for the same, I'm down for that. I know I can talk about how it feels to me far better now I've read this book.). Thank you, Alice.

A last point- I feel like this book could attract negative attention for 'do people really talk like that?!'. But oh my god, YES. We do! Having a deep conversation and summing it up with 'mood'? MOOD. Here for that. Love that for us. Legit.

Overall: yeah, this book did let me down, and I still don't know how to reconcile that. I definitely want to posit that clearly here. Buuut, it also did so many things right. Please read it.

This book is incredible. The writing style completely captivated me from the very first page until the last one. I have never read a book where I've felt so seen and understood in ways I never thought I would. I loved every character and how they all came together and interacted and honestly, the way that grief is portrayed throughout blew me away. It was like someone had lifted my exact thoughts and written them down. It's so rare to get a book focusing on the asexuality/aromantic spectrum, nevermind an own voices one, and this book encompasses just how important it is for people to see themselves in media to understand its okay to be themselves. I adore this book so much it is a new favourite always and forever. I could go on forever about how much I loved this.

Loveless is a fantastic read and Alice is great at writing really authentic teen voices. It's amazing to see an asexual and aromantic protagonist and to see so much ace-rep in a book. It is also incredibly informative in a way that is perfectly interweaved into the narrative but still allows the reader to learn so much about asexuality. I really enjoyed the fact that it looks at great friendships and how these can be even stronger emotional connections that romantic ones. I loved it and would definitely recommend it to readers aged 14+.

I received the arc copy of this from. Netgally in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Netgally and Harper Collins for sending this my way.

Loveless is about Georgia in an inner journey to get to know herself while starting university and being away from home feeling homesick and confused about her sexuality, lucky for her, she's not alone which for me was the best part of her self discovery adventure!

Absolutely loved the friendships in this book. It makes me so happy every time I see good true friendships in YA books. I'm tired of seeing of seeing only horrible people, mean hypocritical rhetoric is just a cheap way to introduce drama into any story. Here Alice Oseman show us how is done!

I like that we get more than enough explanation of her new discover sexuality, I think a lot of people seem not to be familiar with those therms particularly as the book is cater to younger audiences. Also there is a list of places to get more information at the end of the book which I always find very helpful.

I think my only complain about the book was that because Georgia was really into romance, fan fic, books, films, I got tired of it, because I find most romantic comedies (some mention in the book The notebook, About time) sexist, and quite toxic mistaken romance with stalking or manipulation. I know that we needed to be put in her shoes so we could understand her misconceptions and how she felt pressure by her own fantasies fuelled by society to have a boyfriend or at least to be kissed.

Note: I can't talk about the representation of Aro/ ace at all as I'm not a member, but I liked seeing people online talking about it and they feel utterly happy that they saw themselves there. The author talk from own experience and there's nothing I can't critique about that.

I adored this book. This is the first novel that I have read by Alice (have read and enjoyed the Heartstopper series) and now intend to catch up on previous titles.
I instantly liked and believed in the characters and wanted to learn about their student life at Durham University. I have learned from this book and have used it to inform myself more about asexuality/aromance.

This was a really sweet and important YA contemporary about asexuality

I've had mixed experiences with Alice Oseman in the past but I really enjoyed this book.

You don't see a lot of contemporary books which focus on asexuality. So it was nice to read this book. Hopefully, asexual and aromantic people will feel seen by this book.

I obviously can't comment on the representation, but I felt like I related to a lot of the general comments and thoughts Georgia had about her sexuality.

I loved the writing. It was a very sweet but also realistic story. It was very real and British. It wasn't cheesy at any point. It was incredibly messy, which is accurate of most teenagers lifes at uni

I wasn't fond of two of the main characters, pip and Ronney. I found them quite annoying and irritating.

The other main issue I had with this book was the audiobook. It was incredibly quiet and slow. I ended up listening to it on 3x speed which is faster than I normally do. I could also hear someone turning pages throughout which was annoying.

However, the actual story was really lovely. It was a very refreshing and honest read. I highly recommend

Alice Oseman just gets it. Effortlessly capturing a teen voice this is just as compulsively readable as her other work. The four main characters will each carve a special place in your heart and as usual with the lead characters you can’t help but root for Georgia as she explores what it means to have never had a kiss. Or sex. Or even a crush.

This is, I feel the most important of her novels as this explores a little mentioned part of the sexual and romantic spectrum. Being aro/ace isn’t often a subject of fiction as it literally isn’t very sexy, and you would assume publishers are afraid the topic won’t sell to a YA audience.

When it’s done as well as this it will. Destined to become a lot of uncertain teens favourite book. Ever.

I loved Loveless. Alice's fantastic ability to create vivid and sympathetic characters really sold it for me; I found myself empathising at times with all of them, but especially Sunil & Georgia. I just wanted to give them all the biggest hug. It's particularly poignant for me as I've had all these insecurities that she explores in my undergrad and even now in my MA course, 5 years later. As a bisexual, I was surprised how often I related to Georgia's feelings and I am so glad that Alice wrote this book - more representation of how special and important friendships are, and banishing the concept that romance is the endgame of life is what I would love to see in more YA books.

Yet again Alice has made a book that moved me, and I feel like this book really played to her strengths as an author; she's great at writing compelling and unique friendship groups that feel vivid and real and diverse. I think the book also had a great setting, that felt like a relatable university town (I've never been to Durham though!) and I loved the medley of Shakespeare plays. I would also love a sequel - maybe following Sunil, as I felt he had a lot of backstory developed that we didn't get a chance to explore. This is definitely one of my favourites, and I can see it being one of my comfort reads.

"Loveless" reminded me of "Fangirl" by Rainbow Rowell only a lot more British and Queer.
There was so much in Georgia's university experience I recognized: the binge drinking culture, the societies, the desperation to make friends, the sensation that you are not enjoying "the best years of your life" in the right way no matter what you do, the pressure to make memories and be partnered up, the exhaustion and insecurity that comes with being young and not yet knowing yourself.
Alice Oseman gave us a group of friends where there is only a cis straight male, no girl ever spoke unflatteringly of her own looks or anyone else's, several asexual characters exist as well as dozen of beautiful queer people that showed us how race can impact your experience, that discrimination can come from any place, that there is more to love than sex or sexual attraction and that friends matter and family members don't deserve blanket excuses for bad behavior.
I'm so happy to have read a YA book about an ace-aro character and more than that I like that a book that is so sex-positive. There were mentions of female masturbation, girls talking openly about sex and their experiences and expectations, characters that survived abusive relationships and were shown to still be reeling with the consequences, people sleeping around and others waiting for a committed relationship, some that liked sex above all and others that placed a lot more value on slowly getting to know someone else and I loved seeing that instead of just teenagers being characterized as horny and boys being called studs at the same time the girls they slept with were called something very different.
On the most technical part of the book, there was also a lot I liked: the episodic nature of the chapters and the chapter titles, the mc's voice, and her monologues that gave us some of the most beautiful quotes in the entire book.
I think this might be someone else's favorite book but it wasn't that for me.
In its entirety I found the book predictable and drawn out. I saw the crush coming a mile away, the sex-positive, kind, roommate that takes you under their wing was a cliché that made me see red, Georgia made me wish she was hit by a car as often as she made me like her and Rooney felt like a mix of the tortured romance hero and disaster lesbian and I only liked one of those things.
That being said, I would watch the hell of this miniseries because I do believe that stories like this matter.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Children's and YA for this DRC.

This gets a well deserved 5 stars. SO engaging, I'd never read an alice Oseman novel before but I loved the writing styles, the characters, the story and all the (realistic and relatable) twists and turns, and (from my view as a gay man) a nuanced portrayal of asexuality. I dont usually cry at books but I unashamedly shed a few tears over this one.

I can finally admit that I see what all the hype is about when it comes to Oseman’s writing and I already plan on reading her other titles that have been on my TBR list for a while now. The writing of this book was so good and I found myself racing through the electronic pages, but this isn’t the only reason why I loved this book. This book does such a fantastic job at educating me in a topic and subject that I didn’t know all that much about, while also giving me an incredible story to captivate me at the same time.

The struggle to identify who you are is something that everyone can relate to, but others struggle more than others, especially when it comes to acceptance and having to confront people and yourselves. This book does such a good job in so many ways, at not only bringing to light a sexuality that isn’t talked about much, making it more normalised and bringing more attention to it within today’s society. This book is the perfect example of why I love reading books that are about topics and people that are relatively new to me, as I get to discover and educate myself! I didn’t know much about asexual and aromantic sexuality, but not only did this book do a good job at explaining what those are to me but it also encouraged me to do my own research and educate myself.