Tag Archives: Alice Oseman

Loveless

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In this day and age, romance seems to just be a part of everyone’s everyday life. This is the case for Georgia Warr, the main character of the book Loveless by Alice Oseman. Written in 2020, and published under Scholastic Press, this book follows her as she tries to make her way through her first year of university life, with only her two best friends, Pip and Jason, by her side.

The book itself opens with her at an after-prom party, where we learn very quickly that she has never had a crush on anybody, and is quite frankly scared of the idea of intimate romance. After a disastrous event involving her thought-to-be crush, her favorite jean jacket, and a bonfire, Georgia is left to question whether she will ever find someone she actually loves. When she gets to university, she discovers that she is roomed with a girl named Rooney, who she instantly idolizes. The way that she is able to socialize and flirt with other people with seemingly no effort at all has Georgia at a loss. She also meets her “college parent,” Sunil.

Georgia is desperate to learn Rooney’s ways, and they end up bonding over a shared love of theater, and especially Shakespeare. This leads to her, Rooney, Pip, Jason, and Sunil forming a Shakespeare Soc of their own. 

We follow Georgia as she manages her friendships, relationships, and eventual realization of being aromantic and asexual. 

Widely regarded as very good aro/ace representation, I have seen many people recommend this book. It helped me personally learn more about how different people identify and go about the world, and even realize some things about myself. All in all, this was a very good read that I highly recommend you check out if you have the time.

Loveless by Alice Oseman is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

BOOK REVIEW – Loveless by Alice Oseman

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(NO {major} SPOILERS! Spoilers will be indicated!) 

Alice Oseman. She’s coming back to steal my heart after Heartstopper. 

This book was aromantic and asexual representation done perfectly. 

If you were to ask me what book I’d recommend to become a new, coming of age, teen-audience type of movie, I’d choose Loveless by Alice Oseman. Without a doubt. 

You may know Alice Oseman as the creator of Heartstopper, a cute LGBT comic that later adapted into the Netflix series of the same name. In addition, she created this  pull-on-your-heartstrings masterpiece. 

Loveless is a coming of age, coming out story of theater girly, Georgia and her small group of friends who desperately try to save their club, the Shakespearean Society, by putting on a strange play. Accompanied by love triangles and corners and plans to find love (ooh, that’s rough), and incredibly strong opinions on Scooby-Doo, this is definitely one of my Top 10 books!

Best of all, it contains my favorite trope: the main character realizes that platonic friendships can be better than romance! 

This book made me cry in my pillow because I felt so understood. 

This book made me see the world through the eyes of a few of my friends. 

This book made me realize that LOVE DOESN’T HAVE TO BE ROMANTIC. 

WHY ISN’T THERE MORE REPRESENTATION IN BOOKS?!?!?

Although there were moments where I wanted to throw the book across the room out of disgust and/or “why why why,” overall, I feel like my entire perspective on life changed. Skimming the book again, maybe it’s because Oseman didn’t shy away from topics that are normally not explored in your typical young adult novel. 

Maybe it’s because there were so many lines that resonated with me (spoilers in the next paragraph). Maybe it’s because I realized that friendship is something I could romanticize. 

(SPOILER) I think what hit me the hardest was the fact that near the end, Rooney, our main character’s best friend, says something like: although we’re not romantic partners, I love you. We’re friends, and this is something that I will commit to until the end of time because I LOVE YOU. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH I NEVER CRIED HARDER AT TWO IN THE MORNING. Rooney also says something like: I’m scared to lose any of my friendships because THEY ARE MY ROMANTIC PARTNERSHIPS EVEN THOUGH WE NEVER HAVE ROMANCE BECAUSE THEY ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTNERSHIPS I’LL EVER HAVE. 

Loveless was quite possibly the only book to make me sob, make me laugh, make me question my life, and change my perspective… on everything. Everything possible. I love my friends. 

Loveless by Alice Oseman is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Book Review: Solitaire by Alice Oseman

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Tori Spring enjoys blogging and sleeping… and that’s pretty much all she enjoys these days. Tori, a sixteen-year-old Year 12 student, is a chronic pessimist with few friends and little to no sources of happiness.

But when she follows a trail of Post-It notes to the computer lab, where she meets the mysteriously eccentric Michael Holden, she receives a message from a group called Solitaire that plots to take over the school.

Throughout the story, we follow Tori as she makes and breaks her friendships, struggles with her mental health, balances her schoolwork, learns to trust other people, and finds the motivation to get out of bed every morning. On top of everything going on in Tori’s life, she continually tries to be the best sister she can be to her brothers, Charlie and Oliver.

I absolutely loved this book, though it was a lot darker than many books I’ve enjoyed in the past. Nevertheless, I may go so far as to call Solitaire my favorite book as of now. Alice Oseman crafts a haunting, realistic, beautiful story in the mind of an imperfect main character. As usual, Alice Oseman includes lots of LGBTQ+ representation in Solitaire as well as in her other novels, which I strongly recommend as well!

Solitaire also introduces the characters Charlie Spring and Nick Nelson, who appear in the Netflix series Heartstopper. However, Solitaire may not be enjoyable for fans of Heartstopper, as it is much deeper and darker and does not work out to be a perfect happy ending. Solitaire is not a love story, the main conflict takes place inside Tori as she tries to figure herself out.

I loved that this book wasn’t like what I usually read—nothing like the cliche love story with nice characters that have a happy ending. I liked that Tori had good days and bad days, and I enjoyed diving into her introspective thoughts. I found Solitaire to be much more realistic to life, and I truly enjoyed this amazing book.

Happy reading!

-Lam T.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

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Frances Janvier, the head girl and top of her school since 7th grade, has been determined to go to one of the most prestigious schools in England: University of Cambridge. On the downlow, she listens to her favorite podcast, Universe City, and draws fanart for the show. She never imagined her life as anything other than being a workaholic, earning good grades, and studying in university for the next few years of her life. However, everything changes when she is asked to collaborate with the creator of this podcast using her fanart. And later when she discovers out that Aled, a quiet boy a year older than her whose sister she used to be friends with, is the creator of Universe City. As the story unfolds, Frances finally discovers what it is like to have a true friend and embraces herself as more than a studious and intelligent person. But will all be destroyed over a revelation no one thought would occur?

I, personally, give Radio Silence the rating of 7/10. It wasn’t an excellent read in my opinion (which could be influenced by the book not being in the genre I usually read). However, I do recommend everyone to read it. It isn’t a typically love story between a boy and girl and shows the importance of true and beautiful friendship. It only shows many deep themes of finding one’s true identity, motivation, and connections with other people. It has shown me a different perspective to a genre of stories I never believed could be interesting to read: the main point highlighting the significance of one’s relationships other than romance. It is very rare for me to relate to characters in a book but this book definitely brought up some experiences I have had in the past and made the book all the more better. There is also a lot of representation that I didn’t expect but loved very much. I hope, if you read it, you enjoyed it as much as I did!

-Saanvi V.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

Heartstopper

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Heartstopper

by Alice Oseman

This heartwarming collection of comics follows Nick and Charlie as they discover their growing attraction to one another that bloomed from friendship. Both attending the same private boy’s school, Nick and Charlie become fast friends after being placed next to each other in the class seating chart. While Charlie announced his sexuality last school year, Nick struggles to find himself as he discovers his feelings for Charlie are more than friendship. Heartstopper Volume 1 shows their friendship growing as they slowly gather the courage to approach the other about their feelings. Their relationship continues to grow throughout the other volumes as they near the end of their high school experience (there are a total of 4 so far).

Volume 1 of Heartstopper, while short, is the most genuine and wholesome romance comic I have ever had the pleasure of reading. This comic never fails to bring a smile to my face as I follow these two goofballs through their high school experience and watch as their romantic relationship grows. If you are looking for tension and drama, Heartstopper is not the comic for you. This book only contains healthy communication, friendship, bonding, and growing into oneself. It highlights the struggles each character faces and how they overcome them with the help of their friends and families. Each character offers a new perspective and challenges to overcome. The entire Heartstopper series toke me a day and a half to devour and as I eagerly await new volumes to be published, I remember the sweet and touching moments of this story.

This series has even become a Netflix series! Make sure to check that out. The entire Heartstopper series is also available for free on Webtoon and Tapas.

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.