Introduction
Loveless by Alice Oseman is a beautiful story centered around asexuality as well as the journey of discovery that comes along with that. It was published 9th July 2020 and is set mostly within Durham university and the areas surrounding the campus. Alice Oseman is a well established author who has released many books surrounding the LGBTQ+ and explored the many different types of people within that group.
Storyline/ plot
Our main character is Georgia, who is 18 years old from a small town within the UK. We first meet Georgia at her sixth form leavers party attempting to experience her first kiss but that idea turns out to be just as bad as it sounds.
After the embarrassment of her leavers party Georgia sets off to Durham to move into her university accommodation before her term starts, which seems scary but is helped by her two best friends from home attending the same university. Georgia soon comes to terms with the fact she will have a roommate although through time Georgia and Rooney blossom a beautiful friendship full of love and support.
Throughout the book we see Georgia try to experience everything your typical university first year student would, clubbing, dating, signing up for extracurriculars, which all seem to be as difficult as each other to achieve. But, the hardest part of all of this: Finding out who she really is.
Georgia has always read about love, seen love, but never been in love or even really wanted to be in love. Of course she has felt love for family and friends but, never in a romantic sense and never ever, has she felt genuinely attracted to anyone. Which sparks the difficult journey of self discovery towards her asexuality/ aromanticism. Making friends along the way Georgia although at points feels lonely, is never truly alone.
Writing style
Alice Oseman is an author that really can execute teenage characters, in a way that feels like teenagers. It is refreshing to read characters that act their age but not in a cringey, over dramatic, stereotypical way. It was nice to see each character go through their own separate problems but bind together to create solutions. Alice Oseman is also very good at writing LGBTQ+ stories in a respectful and understandable way that can also educate at the same time.
Pros/ cons
Overall I thought this book was a really beautiful book to read, it is a really lovely, powerful story that is possibly a comfort to many young people who can relate with any of the characters, as well as a good educator to anyone who may not understand the things some of these characters are experiencing. The scene setting was really nice and definitely felt as though you had a clear picture in your mind of where the story was throughout. I Loved the dynamic of the characters and the way they could all team together no matter their status. I personally do not have any cons. I thought the plot was fantastic and really shed light on something that we do not see often being portrayed in the media.
Conclusion
I personally gave this book 4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this book and the characters. I felt like the age of the characters was really well reflected in their dialogue, their attitude and their behaviors. It was also really nice to be able to learn more about asexuality, as it is something I hadn’t had the opportunity to really learn much about. I also really liked the depiction of university life and the transition from living at home and how a lot of students deal with that change.