#to make them hurt/comfort and then get together aka end their conflict. which. oof.

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads // twitter thread

This Doesn’t Mean Anything

NA contemporary romance about a sex-repulsed girl starting uni and meeting an upperclassman who hangs out in the same study room and coffeeshop as she does

struggling with her asexuality, new friendships, and harassment

#This Doesn’t Mean Anything #aroaessidhe 2023 reads #well. #I was overall enjoying the first half of this! then it went to shit lol #for one. WAY TOO LONG. but also feels like scenes would be very short then skip to the next day #I liked how the first half of the book was just developing the relationship as a friendship. #there’s a conflict at 50% and they literally are terrible to each other for almost the entire rest of the book #also the conflict of why they can’t get together feels manufacured. #he feels like he (21) is too old for her (18) and while i’m like…yeah I understand that im iffy about it too; #as the reader we know they’re going to get together anyway. so it just feels stupid. and made that way just to cause a conflict. which lasts #too long. #2) #then men are SO overprotective to the point it’s kinda. not creepy exactly but like why the fuck can none of these women go anywhere without #a dude accompanying them? the MMC even. when she tells him to leave her alone (because he rejected her) he’s still being all protective and #and calling her sweetheart like I started to actively dislike him. it’s like. borderline manipulative ‘nice guy’ #THEN it threw in a SA at 80% or whatever which. a) can we not SA our ace characters and b) is just not handled well. it feels like an excuse #to make them hurt/comfort and then get together aka end their conflict. which. oof. #3) #‘i was looking up why i dont want sex and i saw the word asexuality but couldn’t find much else maybe the GSA could help’ #you can’t use info-not-on-the-internet as a plot excuse when. there is endless info about that on the internet? I don’t think this is set in #2005? also she doesnt even go ask the gsa #while her sex repulsion is a significant part of the book actual references to asexuality are extremely brief and half of it is shoved into #the last chapters. and it’s almost entirely her being self hating and the LI affirming her #anyway I can see the INTENTION is good here; the quality of writing just makes it all bad #like maybe these things are the author's experience and that's fine. the way it's written is uncomfortable. #i can tell all the 5* reviews are people who have never read an ace book before. i promise there is better #i think there’s gonna be a companion sequel about her roommate being aroace which. I don’t have super high hopes for writing-wise but I gues #guess I'm interested