Today is my stop of the Tour the World in 30 Books blog tour and I’m so excited to be part of this amazing blog tour focused on so many great diverse books!

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About Tour the World in 30 Books

  This is a blog tour hosted by Sammie @ The Bookwyrm’s Den in support of her local public library’s diverse book drive. The CCPL is a small, rural library in an area with a high poverty rate, where people rarely have the means to travel. However, the library doesn’t believe that should stop people from learning more about the world around them, so they’re running a diverse book drive through the month of September in an attempt to bring the rest of the world to the county instead. With a focus on MG and YA books, the CCPL aims to expose especially its young patrons to new and diverse perspectives and cultures.

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  The book I will be focusing on today is Loveless by Alice Oseman. I have so many feelings about this book! Loveless is one of the most raw and personal books I’ve ever read, while still balancing the deep messages with lots of humor. This book has great #ownvoices representation into how it feels to be Asexual and Aromantic. But you don’t have to be Aro-Ace to relate and enjoy this book! These are the five reasons why I love Loveless by Alice Oseman. 

  First off, what is Loveless about?

Symposis and Book Cover (courtesy of Goodreads)

  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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  Before I discuss my thoughts I think it’s important to explain the terms I’ll be using throughout this post in case you don’t know about it. 

What do words like Asexual and Aromantic mean? 

  In general, the term Asexual refers to people who may have little to no interest in having sex, even though most desire emotionally intimate relationships.

  But Asexuality (or Ace/Aces) is under a spectrum and there are many ways people can identify under it like Aromantic, Demisexual, and Grey-A. Aromantic people experience little to no romantic attraction and prefer friendship or other non-romantic relationships. Demisexuals only experience sexual attraction after they first form a strong emotional connection with a person. And Grey-A or Grey-Asexuals are people who identify somewhere between sexual and asexual.

  I know this is a simplified explanation, but if you want more detailed information, you can check out the links at the end of this post.

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  Now down to the five reasons I love Loveless!

The Main Character/Narrator 

  Georgia Warr is probably one of the most relatable characters I’ve ever read. I was able to relate to her so much in the story. So many of her thoughts, actions, and experiences were almost word for word how I would feel and act. It happened so much so that it kind of creeped me out at times because I was like “Did Alice Oseman read my mind?” It made me emotional because I felt validated when realizing other people in the world felt similar to me.

  She is introverted and socially anxious but loves reading about romance and is a bit of a hopeless romantic, which is something I relate to very deeply. She is someone who loves the IDEA of romance but not the reality, which is contradicting and yet complex as well. These feelings cause so much confusion for her and are a big part of her internal conflict, which was so well written. It felt so raw and personal, as though I was reading someone’s diary or that Georgia was secretly speaking to me.

Other Characters

  Even though Georgia Warr is definitely my favorite character, I love all the characters. The Shakespeare Society crew was so much fun!

  I loved the dynamic between everyone. With Georgia having the introverted anxious energy, Rooney with the extroverted chaotic energy, Pip’s dramatically funny remarks, being short with an angry personality, Jason’s calm and balancing presence, and Sunil’s fun but an empathetic and caring personality all worked very well together.

  Out of all the characters, I feel like I’m a mixture of both Georgia and Pip because I’m introverted and am also a short, dramatic person.

Aro-Ace Representation

  Since people in the Ace Community are underrepresented in media and fiction, any story about or by an Ace person can be turned into being called THE Ace experience, but it shouldn’t. This story is an #ownvoices book, which means it’s written by someone who is also Aro-Ace and based on the author’s own experiences, but Oseman’s experience is AN Ace experience, not ALL Ace experiences, which I think is important to make clear.

  I do think this story is a great representation of how it can feel to be Ace, which is so important for people to read. This book is especially important for teenagers in high school because that’s when the peer pressure of being cool and starting to date is so heavy. Not everyone feels that way or wants those things. I think it’s important to acknowledge that and make it known that it’s okay and that there isn’t something wrong with you and you’re not broken.

  There were so many moments that could be relatable for Aces.

• Georgia feeling like she was missing out and that there was something wrong with her after she admitted that she has never kissed anyone by age 18.
• Her realization that what she thought was her crush was just some guy that she found most aesthetically pleasing and nothing more.
• When she was looking around in a club for someone attractive that she could try to kiss and couldn’t find anyone that she was attracted to in that way.
• That moment Georgia got a Tinder account looking for anyone she found sexually attractive but swiped left on every single one.
• When Georgia felt like there was something wrong with her because it was so hard for her to feel things that seemed so easy for everyone else.

  All those moments can definitely be relatable to at least some extent for other Aces including Grey-A and Demisexuals which is the group I relate to the most.

  Even though I don’t identify myself as an aromantic asexual, I do relate to a lot of moments throughout the story including many of the examples above. I especially related to any scene involving her not being sexually attracted to strangers and being confused with how easy it was for others to do so. There were a lot of situations where I really understood Georgia’s thought process, or it was something that I have thought of as well.

  Although I didn’t relate to when she had trouble having romantic feelings for people she cared about, since I do experience romantic attraction, those experiences were very eye-opening and educational for me. It helped me understand how someone who doesn’t experience romantic attraction might feel, which is why I think this is such an important book for people to read.  

Fanfiction/Romance References 

  I loved all the references to fan fiction and how Georgia mentioned her favorite tropes and other things fictional romance-related because I love those things, too. Honestly, I totally would want to be friends with her cause then we can bond over our love of fictional romance.

  The theme of Shakespeare throughout the novel with the Shakespeare Society was also something I enjoyed. The characters acting out scenes from Shakespeare’s plays was lots of fun to read. 

  What I think was most important about all the romance references was to show how much of it is always around us both in the media and in real life. So much so that it was extremely hard for Georgia.

  It made her feel like she was missing out on the most idealized type of relationship that made so many other people around her happy since she would never have those types of feelings. To the point where she tried to force herself to try to do those things and like people she really didn’t have those types of feelings for in order to “fix herself” because she was terrified of being different.

  That was a very real take on how at times romance can be around us constantly and it’s conditioned in us from a young age that we are supposed to want or enjoy romance ourselves. But that’s not true, for some people those things aren’t important to them, or wouldn’t make them happy.

  Personally, I do relate to wanting to not be alone and being terrified of never feeling the feelings other people have that make them so happy. But since I do experience romantic attraction, I think I would totally love Jason because he was such a sweetheart that I want to give a big hug to. If Georgia wasn’t Ace or actually did desire a romantic relationship, I would have wanted her to be with him.

  But that’s not what this story is about which is actually a nice change from the usual “friends to lovers” storyline that happens so often.

Themes of Friendship

  The theme that sticks most to me the most is the friendship! I loved how this story focused more heavily on friendships rather than romance.

  Loveless’s main theme is that platonic love is just as or even more important than romantic love which I think is such a beautiful thing. This book is proof that you don’t need to have romance in order to have an interesting and satisfying story. Despite the title, Loveless was still fun and didn’t feel like it was lacking in the love department. It had all the main aspects of a romcom except with friendship instead of romance.

  I loved the different types of friendship Georgia had. With Pip and Jason being her long-time friends who have known her the longest, with her new friendship with her roommate Rooney, and with Sunil being a mentor-like friend that Georgia needed. There was so much platonic love in this book and I loved it so much. This book made me just want to hug all the people I platonically love and make sure they know how much I appreciate them.

  So those are the main five reasons why I love Loveless so much!

Tour the World in 30 Books Tour schedule:

September 1:

Sammie @ The Bookwyrm’s Den – Introduction, Paola Santiago and the River of Tears

Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads – Dating Makes Perfect

September 2:

Lauren @ Always Me – The Epic Crush of Genie Lo

September 3:

Toya @ The Reading Chemist – Felix Ever After

September 4:

Michelle @ Carry A Big Book – Sharks in the Time of Saviors

September 5:

Shenwei @ READING (AS)(I)AN (AM)ERICA – The Astonishing Color of After

September 6:

Maria @ A Daughter of Parchment and Paper – Patron Saints of Nothing

September 7:

Bri @ Bri’s Book Nook – True Friends (Carmen Browne)

September 8:

Bec @ bec&books – Lobizona

Jorie @ Jorie Loves A Story – diverse TTT

September 9:

Sienna @ Daydreaming Book Lover – Loveless

September 10:

Kerri @ Kerri McBookNerd – Raybearer

September 11:

Noly @ The Artsy Reader – The Name Jar

September 12:

Jacob @ The Writer’s Alley – Forest of Souls

September 13:

Keri @ Are You My Book – The Tea Dragon Society

September 14:

Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight – The Space Between Worlds

September 15:

Melissa @ Ramblings of a Jedi Librarian – Girl in Translation

September 16:

Livy @ Shelves of Starlight – Clap When You Land

September 17:

Crystal @ Lost in Storyland – American Born Chinese

September 18:

Lili @ Lili’s Blissful Pages – A Wish in the Dark

September 19:

Leslie @ Books Are The New Black – The Poppy War

September 20:

Noura @ The Perks of Being Noura – Love From A to Z

September 21:

Crini @ Crini’s – A Pale Light in the Black

September 22:

Rachelle @ Rae’s Reads and Reviews – Dear Haiti, Love Alaine

September 23:

Dini @ DiniPandaReads – Wicked As You Wish

September 24:

Madeline @ Mad’s Books – Spin the Dawn

September 25:

Tessa @ Narratess – Brace Yourself

September 26:

Kimberly @ My Bookish Bliss – Truly Madly Royally

September 27:

Rena @ Bookflirting 101 – Anna K: A Love Story

September 28:

Susan @ Novel Lives – Burn the Dark

September 29:

Arina @ The Bookwyrm’s Guide to the Galaxy – A Song of Wraiths and Ruin

September 30:

Maya @ Awesome Reads – Jackpot

Library Wish List Links:

Hardcover books are preferred, but not required, if anyone asks.

Blog tour book wishlists:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3A68Y0WPKN944

Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/wishlists/WCD650

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/wishlists/a745073e127380f9801a59a39ff7b960a5e9c70e

If someone orders a wish list book from Bookshop, please send a message to sammie@thebookwyrmsden.com so the book can be removed to avoid duplicate purchases, as I do not believe the site automatically removes the book from the list.

Other ways to donate:

Amazon book idea wish list: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3OWBBXXOXVS2K

Monetary donations: PayPal to orders@caseylibrary.org

Gently used or other new book donations mailed to:

Sammie Betler

Casey County Public Library

238 Middleburg St.

Liberty, KY 42539

*Book donations are used at the discretion of the library.*

Asexuality Resources:

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/trvr_support_center/asexual/

https://www.asexuality.org

http://www.whatisasexuality.com/intro/

https://time.com/2889469/asexual-orientation/