Book Review: Loveless by Alice Oseman

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Synopsis:

The fourth novel from the phenomenally talented Alice Oseman – one of the most authentic and talked-about voices in contemporary YA.

It was all sinking in. I’d never had a crush on anyone. No boys, no girls, not a single person I had ever met. What did that mean?

Georgia has never been in love, never kissed anyone, never even had a crush – but as a fanfic-obsessed romantic she’s sure she’ll find her person one day.

As she starts university with her best friends, Pip and Jason, in a whole new town far from home, Georgia’s ready to find romance, and with her outgoing roommate on her side and a place in the Shakespeare Society, her ‘teenage dream’ is in sight.

But when her romance plan wreaks havoc amongst her friends, Georgia ends up in her own comedy of errors, and she starts to question why love seems so easy for other people but not for her. With new terms thrown at her – asexual, aromantic – Georgia is more uncertain about her feelings than ever.

Is she destined to remain loveless? Or has she been looking for the wrong thing all along?

This wise, warm and witty story of identity and self-acceptance sees Alice Oseman on towering form as Georgia and her friends discover that true love isn’t limited to romance. 

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My Review:

Alice Oseman returns with her latest novel Loveless. This story has diverse characters, an intriguing plot and wit.

It’s a coming-of-age story that follows Georgia through her journey of self-discovery and coming to terms with the fact that she is different from everyone else. I’ll be honest in saying that I didn’t know much about ace-aro before I read this story.

Each character feels fully fleshed out, and by the end of the book, you feel like you actually know them as people. Georgia’s feelings about the university and not knowing anyone I found really relatable.

I loved the different friendships within this novel, and the journey through their first year of the university together. Georgia has some great friendships with Pip, Jason, Rooney and Sunhil. The characters aren’t perfect, and they make mistakes and hurt each other but you know characters are well-written when they leave a lasting impression on you. When the characters have conflict, I was desperate for them to fix it.

The main plot of this story is Georgia’s discovery of her sexual orientation. It showed how conflicted she was about it, and the pressure she was under to have her first kiss. Her story is emotive to read, and I really wanted to scream at her friends sometimes when they were banging on at her about it. On saying that, I was really annoyed at Georgia when she chose to use Jason to help her on her journey of discovery but as I said she isn’t perfect, she makes mistakes and spends time trying to fix them.

Loveless is a beautifully written book, and Oseman is a masterful writer. I always look forward to what comes next.

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