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As A Reference
Dita Arya had always dreamed of getting a roommate who she could become best friends with, just like the movies. However, she hasn’t had the greatest luck when it comes to random selection roommates. Her old roommate was obsessed with frogs. Her current roommate, Kanti Shah, is a quiet, shy girl who keeps brushing off Dita’s invitations to see her band. After a band performance one day, Dita walks in on her roommate… recording herself doing a headstand?
Join Dita and Kanti as this event leads them to becoming co-authors of a web comic, merging their friend groups, overcoming perfectionist in tendencies, and becoming friends (and perhaps even more).
As a Reference is a sapphic roommates to friends to lovers novel featuring two desi main characters, a diverse cast & aspec representation.
Join Dita and Kanti as this event leads them to becoming co-authors of a web comic, merging their friend groups, overcoming perfectionist in tendencies, and becoming friends (and perhaps even more).
As a Reference is a sapphic roommates to friends to lovers novel featuring two desi main characters, a diverse cast & aspec representation.
- GenresLesbian
277 pages, Paperback
First published January 2, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 13, 2024
Cute, basic, unpolished - a debut I'd wished was stronger.
The plot and writing feel a bit tumblr-esque (friend group that is easily divided into tropes, parents/wine mom/sibling energy, everyone's creative, creating a webcomic together, taking your own reference pics, funny group chats) that I did not find appealing. While college settings usually lend themselves to offer more exploratory themes and finding your identity subplots, that can be hard to balance as a debut author. Dita and Kanti are roommates and after one conversation decide it would be the coolest idea ever to publish a webcomic together? It's a very quick shift, but luckily they get along.
I was quickly getting tired of the gratuitous dialogue and trope discussions and webcomic planning - too few of those scenes were used to build out our main characters or as a mirror for their relationship or as a metaphor for something they were going through in their lifes. It was literally just about the webcomic; and not even anything interesting. The problem is not that these conversations don't happen in real life (they do) or that they should never appear in fiction (the can), it's that the were excessive and did not serve a bigger purpose.
I think there are some interesting nuggets in here about inspiration, burnout and fame but little else.
The book also ended too early for me to find it very satisfying, we literally do not see them be together for even a single page. I liked the slow progression of their relationship but I would have loved stronger romantic undertones.
It is marketed as having "aspec" representation but I would cautiously say that aro readers will not find much in that regard. Kanti talks about being demiromantic but aside from this being friends-to-lovers, we don't get any more details. But we do have two on-page Desi (Indian?) asexuals.
The plot and writing feel a bit tumblr-esque (friend group that is easily divided into tropes, parents/wine mom/sibling energy, everyone's creative, creating a webcomic together, taking your own reference pics, funny group chats) that I did not find appealing. While college settings usually lend themselves to offer more exploratory themes and finding your identity subplots, that can be hard to balance as a debut author. Dita and Kanti are roommates and after one conversation decide it would be the coolest idea ever to publish a webcomic together? It's a very quick shift, but luckily they get along.
I was quickly getting tired of the gratuitous dialogue and trope discussions and webcomic planning - too few of those scenes were used to build out our main characters or as a mirror for their relationship or as a metaphor for something they were going through in their lifes. It was literally just about the webcomic; and not even anything interesting. The problem is not that these conversations don't happen in real life (they do) or that they should never appear in fiction (the can), it's that the were excessive and did not serve a bigger purpose.
I think there are some interesting nuggets in here about inspiration, burnout and fame but little else.
The book also ended too early for me to find it very satisfying, we literally do not see them be together for even a single page. I liked the slow progression of their relationship but I would have loved stronger romantic undertones.
It is marketed as having "aspec" representation but I would cautiously say that aro readers will not find much in that regard. Kanti talks about being demiromantic but aside from this being friends-to-lovers, we don't get any more details. But we do have two on-page Desi (Indian?) asexuals.
April 13, 2024
this was adorable
May 10, 2026
3 / 5 Stars
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews