I really struggled to connect with these 2 characters. They felt like stroppy teenagers rather than late 20s. Good to see demisexual and queer representation but I dragged myself through reading this and felt too old for this book despite being in my early 30s. Beth and Serena sounded identical in the writing. This felt like a sex (or lack of) chat with no real substance or plot. I think so much more could have been done with this concept but it fell flat.

Worth the read! If for the sake of ‘something different’ alone tbh.

I usually love dual POV novels but thought this one felt a tiny bit repetitive. Nooothing wrong with that, but I guess it was more of a ‘true pov’ than I was expecting like it felt like recounting the facts.

Anywho- I still appreciated the way the way the book brought up navigating the relationship itself. As someone who once dated their roommate lol I smirked at some of the stuff that was brought up and some of the references.

I felt like it was a good cleanse read for in between longer series.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

DNF at about 10%. The amount of dialogue and the opening scene wasn’t compelling to me. The characters seem alright, but I wasn’t connecting with any of it.

This book is about two queer friends navigating their sexualities and relationships.

I thought I'd love it, but unfortunately just couldn't really get into it. I definitely appreciate the demisexual rep, and the care with which the author tried to address queerness through multiple lenses, as well as the complexities of female friendships. But the writing style just didn't work for me. I liked that this was written as humourous and lighthearted, instead of being heavy and trauma focused as queer lit often is -- because queer joy should be represented too. But I feel like in that process, the book became a bit too kitschy maybe? The conversations felt a bit overdone and overexplained, and lacking some depth. I think overall it just felt tonally confused and that made it hard for me to really care about the story or the characters, even if I was rooting for them in principle.

This book was hard for me to get into. The dual POV wasn’t something I was expecting and it made it difficult to attach to either character. I wish it was a singular POV from Beth, it would have given more weight to her frustrations with her friend and Beth’s growth through the book. Not a bad read, but not one I’m going to revisit again.

On a positive note, I loved how the demisexual representation was done. It’s rare to see a romance that considers an aspect of asexuality with grace and care.

That’s What She Said
By Eleanor Pilcher
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Category: Self Discovery

They say never become roommates with your best friend, in that it doesn’t always end well.

The storyline is something different from other books. I liked that the book didn’t end up as a friends-to-lovers, as I had gone into this assuming it would. I enjoyed that both relationships were a type of queer relationship. Overall, I didn’t quite vibe with the book. I’m just not into following along on someone’s ‘sexual awakening’. I feel like at points in the story there was too much, and other times not enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the Advanced Copy.

An entertaining and wonderfully British read on close friendship and demisexuality that was just the right amount of cheesy and over-the-top.

I appreciated the excellent representation - I've read a few books featuring broadly asexual characters yet none who were explicitly demisexual, examined in such a personal way and how it affects all relationships in the life of main character Beth. Despite focusing on what can potentially be a serious topic, the narrative remains light-hearted at the same time without painting either Beth's or outgoing sex-positive BFF Serena's lifestyles as better or worse.

Although there are romantic themes and storylines throughout, most of the focus remains on the close opposites-attract friendship - a refreshing take considering the themes of opposing sexualities and related experiences.

I enjoyed the humour so much I ended up finishing this faster than expected. As a British person living in the US I appreciate this didn't appear to be awkwardly edited for American readers, keeping it relatable and often slightly nostalgic throughout. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a light-hearted yet informed read on demisexuality and female friendship.

Cheers to NetGalley for the eARC!

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. Yay for queer-platonic relationships! Boo for being too handhold-y and having two PoV characters that read exactly the same.

I will be posting on my Instagram closer to the publication date as well. Instagram.com/noellereadsbooks
4.5 stars ✨
Thank you to NetGalley, Eleanor Pilcher, Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC!
That's What She Said is written from the dual POV of best friends Serena and Beth. It all starts out with Beth's "sexual odyssey" into exploring her demisexuality and fear of sexual intimacy. This journey takes Beth on many paths including a tantra retreat (one of my favorite parts of the book). All the while, Serena is facing her own struggles with running to sexual intimacy and away from emotional intimacy. This journey is not without its ups and downs. Their friendship will be tested and new relationships will form. Overall, this book is a great look into demisexuality, and I recommend you check it out.

Thank you to Eleanor Pilcher, NetGalley, and Harper Collin’s for the ARC read of this book, all opinions are my own.

That’s What She Said follows two women as they flourish out of the early twenties lifestyle into a more adult life. Beth and Serena are two best friends who met in college and live together in London. I feel like their relationship is very true to a natural relationship progression and shows the good and the bad of adapting into a more people conscious way of living, I actually see a lot of the same growth and development between them that I saw between my best friend and I as we grew and that very much helped me connect with the book.

I will say this book has probably touched on relationships and their development more honestly and naturally than any other book I have read. You get to see the MCs struggle with conflict resolution, communication breakdowns, and selfish thoughts preventing them from being the best person they could be for their best friend. It felt natural and like a situation you would see in every day life.

The storyline was good. I enjoyed watching how two people who view intimacy differently grew and learned through the book. The authors touches on everything you could think would happen in this type of relationship, also showing the right way and wrong way to go about it.

As someone who identifies on the asexuality spectrum it is nice to feel seen and represented in a book. It felt thoroughly explained and was never used as the butt of a joke or given any negative connotation. This includes when some a fight happens and not nice things are said, but spoilers, darling.

All in all I loved the basics of the book, the four stars come in where it was just not the type of writing style I enjoy. I like a little more action and excitement but this was an absolutely lovely coming of age novel but with very little excitement.

“That’s What She Said,” by Eleanor Pilcher follows the friendship of Serena and Beth. Two friends who are total opposites, but you know what they say, opposites attract. Beth, a demisexual is taken on a wild ride by Serena who is looking for an article to write. Through a bunch of crazy antics, the reader falls in love with both characters. You grow to appreciate the difference in narratives, and I loved seeing the growth and change.

One thing I struggle with, and this is me as a reader, is when books make current day references. I think it forces the book to stay in a very constrictive category. The references made sense, and were funny however. Like we all understand, the Bridgerton references, and if you don’t… stop reading this review and get on Netflix!

I really appreciated Eleanor’s style it was very conversational and I appreciated how each character had their own voice.

I generally really enjoyed this—Pilcher does a great job capturing the complexities of female friendships, being in your 20s and just not knowing what tf is going on. Serena and Beth are really good, nuanced characters, who you love but also want to shake at times, I appreciated the way Beth’s sexuality was handled; I was nervous about where it was headed but I thought Pilcher took great care with it. The writing gets a little juvenile/messy at times but I sped through this read.

First, thank you to NetGalley, Eleanor Pilcher, and Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon for an ARC of this novel. Opinions are my own.

I don't usually do a description as I find the book synopsis are better than what I could offer, but this novel follows the lives of its two protagonists as they deal with sex, relationships, and friendship, all with a slightly queer twist on what you would expect. Beth is demisexual and Serena is a bisexual commitment phobe who has unresolved family issues that make relationships difficult for her. Throughout the novel we see both characters placed into situations to force them to grow and become comfortable with themselves.

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time - and absolutely the book that made me laugh the loudest and hardest. In fact, I rarely laugh out loud when reading books, i usually just acknowledge the humor in my head. For this novel, however, I laughed out loud multiple times and particularly during the "Guy" scene (no spoilers, but look forward to this scene).

Beyond that, I found both main characters to be really well drawn and I appreciated the juxtaposition of their character traits - against each other and with respect to the plot. I think the author did a fantastic job addressing demisexuality, asexuality generally, and queerness through the multiple lenses. I found the handling of the subject matter to be very thoughtful and respectful, while putting both Beth and Serena in uncomfortable situations. It never felt as though the situations were plotted in a way to make fun of the main characters, but to allow us to see the humor in the situation along with their feelings. I also felt that the relationships between Beth and Serena was "natural," for lack of a better word. The inevitable conflicts felt earned/did not feel contrived, which is not always the case in these types of novels.

In all, this is a very thoughtful, hilarious look at dating somewhat off the beaten path and with a queer lens and I felt as though it was exceptionally well done.

The premise seemed really interesting, and I was looking forward to reading about a Demi character. But, the execution fell short for me. I didn't particularly enjoy the writing style and felt kind of bored while reading. I didn't connect with the characters as much as I would have liked, and struggled just to finish this book. Was rooting for it, but just not for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC.

DNF. Made it about 10%.

I really didn't enjoy the style. I felt like the characters were a bit cartoonish and it just didn't read well for me. The entire hen party was obscure and didn't really make me want to spend anytime with the characters any further.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

4.25 ⭐️ thank you NetGallery for the eARC!!

“Lately, it wasn’t so much that I wanted to try sex, so much as I wondered if I would ever be able to have a relationship, or even date, if I wasn’t necessarily willing to have sex,” (56).

Serena and Beth were such lovely characters to get to know. I felt all of their frustrations, love, and care the pair felt for each other. Beth’s sexuality was such an interesting read, especially from my ace-spec lens. Their relationship was an excellent balance of love, but also stress that living with close friends can occasionally have. I quite enjoyed this read, and would definitely recommend picking it up.

What a super readable, relatable, and interesting read. The 'sexual odyssey' journey that we get to follow felt so real, I kept forgetting I was reading fiction! The journey that we follow through both povs felt like old friends. I can easily see this turned into a super entertaining and intriguing television show. Overall, an easy 4.25! The only slight miss for me was a couple Serena moments that made me cringe. Will definitely read more Pilcher in the future!

The cover got me! I needed to know what this novel was all about. It was sort of a sexual awakening and close look at friendship with self discovery mixed in. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I thought this book was pretty good. The premise was very interesting. A women in her 20s who is still a virgin and decides she wants to loose it and her friend who is very sex positive and tries to help her achieve this goal. I feel like the story overall was good but it did not wow me in any way. I still had an enjoyable time reading it though.

Beth is 28 years old, demisexual, and a virgin. When her curiosity in regards to sex starts to increase, her sex-positive best friend Serena sets a course for Beth's sexual odyssey. "That's What She Said" focuses heavily on Beth's sexual awakening, but perhaps even more importantly, it charts the complications of female friendships in your 20s. Beth and Serena are both complex and relatable characters with very real flaws. My three-star rating boils down to not being a fan of the writing style. I found that conversations and character feelings were often over-explained, where they could have been easily intuited.