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The Romantic Agenda
Joy is in love with Malcolm.
But Malcolm really likes Summer.
Summer is in love with love.
And Fox is Summer’s ex-boyfriend.
Thirty, flirty, and asexual Joy is secretly in love with her best friend Malcolm, but she’s never been brave enough to say so. When he unexpectedly announces that he's met the love of his life—and no, it's not Joy—she's heartbroken. Malcolm invites her on a weekend getaway, and Joy decides it’s her last chance to show him exactly what he’s overlooking. But maybe Joy is the one missing something…or someone…and his name is Fox.
Fox sees a kindred spirit in Joy—and decides to help her. He proposes they pretend to fall for each other on the weekend trip to make Malcolm jealous. But spending time with Fox shows Joy what it’s like to not be the third wheel, and there’s no mistaking the way he makes her feel. Could Fox be the romantic partner she’s always deserved?
But Malcolm really likes Summer.
Summer is in love with love.
And Fox is Summer’s ex-boyfriend.
Thirty, flirty, and asexual Joy is secretly in love with her best friend Malcolm, but she’s never been brave enough to say so. When he unexpectedly announces that he's met the love of his life—and no, it's not Joy—she's heartbroken. Malcolm invites her on a weekend getaway, and Joy decides it’s her last chance to show him exactly what he’s overlooking. But maybe Joy is the one missing something…or someone…and his name is Fox.
Fox sees a kindred spirit in Joy—and decides to help her. He proposes they pretend to fall for each other on the weekend trip to make Malcolm jealous. But spending time with Fox shows Joy what it’s like to not be the third wheel, and there’s no mistaking the way he makes her feel. Could Fox be the romantic partner she’s always deserved?
336 pages, Paperback
First published April 12, 2022
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March 6, 2022Source of book: NetGalley (thank you)
Relevant disclaimers: none
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.
And remember: I am not here to judge your drag, I mean your book. Books are art and art is subjective. These are just my personal thoughts. They are not meant to be taken as broader commentary on the general quality of the work. Believe me, I have not enjoyed many an excellent book, and my individual lack of enjoyment has not made any of those books less excellent or (more relevantly) less successful.
Ack this book. You need this book. Seriously, you need this book.
But let me get some stuff out of the way first:
Item 1:
When we talk about the romance genre, we pay lip service to the fact that a genre romance means a focus on a strong central relationship and an HEA/HFN ending. But the reality is we actually bring a lot of unexamined baggage to what we believe this should look like because, very often, the frameworks we’re unconsciously on HEA/HFN are profoundly normative. This becomes especially difficult for books written for or about marginalised characters, or from a marginalised perspective. Because while such stories will definitely adhere to the genre conventions as they’re *supposed* to be, in practice they’ll be heavily criticised because the relationships they explore and celebrate won’t look exactly like the sorts of relationships we are taught to believe are not only most common but are righteous and natural too.
Item 2:
One of the most complicated parts of writing about characters of marginalised identity, even if you yourself are marginalised along the same axes as the people you’re writing about, is that we have come to demand representation is homogeneous and universal, when true representation is heterogeneous and specific. Or to put it more bluntly: people of the same marginalised identity experience that marginalisation differently, m’kay? And while I’d love to blame someone else for the fact we’re bad at acknowledging this, I’m afraid this a fire that’s coming from inside the house.
The thing is, I get it. I do. Being marginalised is lonely as fuck. Most of us grew up thinking we were peculiar aliens who were broken, abnormal and would probably die alone, unloved and miserable. So the idea of stories about us—stories where we get to be happy and loved, or fight aliens, or marry a duke or whatever—is the most beautiful, powerful and hope-inspiring thing we can possibly imagine. And sometimes it is. Sometimes someone else’s story is the hand we needed to reach out to ours and bluebirds burst into song.
Except sometimes … sometimes someone has chosen to write about someone who shares a marginalisation with us in way that doesn’t personally speak to us. That feels alienating in its own way. Hurtful. Even, perhaps, like a betrayal. Because this was meant to be for you and about you and … and … it wasn’t. I’m not disputing for a moment that this is a shite experience. But here’s the thing, without wanting to diminish the reality of feeling disconnected from something that you were expecting to feel connected to, when we create expectations of homogeneity—of a single correct way to manifest or depict a particular marginalisation—we are damaging ourselves and we are creating tools for non-marginalised people to damage us too. Marginalised people, queer people especially, disrupt normative modes of being. Our stories do, can and should take different shapes. This can naturally feel threatening to people for whom the norm is … well … the norm, especially because the world insists that is what is normal is not something we are taught, or something that is imposed upon us, but something that is fundamental and immutable. When we tell ourselves—and allow others to tell us—that our stories cannot encompass a spectrum of selves and modes of being, that they must always be one thing (a single counter-norm to sit neatly opposed to the irrefutable norm) that is simply another form of submission to normative expectations.
To bring this back to The Romantic Agenda: this is a romance with a Black asexual heroine. Joy’s journey encompasses what we might recognise as a “conventional” romance arc (person meets person, they experience feelings, they commit to trying something together) but that romance arc takes place in the context of a long-term queer platonic relationship that has drifted into a difficult and borderline toxic place. Both relationships are, and remain, significant throughout the book. And, while the genre has made some steps towards recognising polyam is a thing, I think this is literally the first time I’ve seen a queer platonic relationship (and an imperfect one at that) explored in a romance novel, or at least a romance novel put out by a major publishing house. While it is nobody’s place—and absolutely not mine—to try to tell anyone how to read a book, I do believe it’s important (in terms of managing your expectations and being fair to what the book is doing) to come to The Romantic Agenda with the understanding that the queer platonic relationship it centralises is *part* of its romance arc, not oppositional or disruptive to it.
Similarly, I think there will be readers for whom Joy’s asexuality may well not speak (although I sincerely hope and believe there will be others to whom it does). It’s not my place (or I would argue really anyone’s place) to decide whether it’s a “good” or “bad”, “right” or “wrong” portrayal of asexuality. What it is, though, is uncontrovertibly a portrayal of Joy’s asexuality. By which I mean it is specific to her as a character. It has shaped her and is part of her, and it influences how she reacts to the world, and how the world reacts to her. In fact, there’s a swathe of her experiences that are directly linked to the lose/lose of being visible as an ace person: the expectation that you have to be some kind of crowd-sourced paragon of homogenous ace-ness in order to represent everybody, when ultimately Joy (like the rest of us) can only really represent herself. To me, for what little my take is worth, Joy is a nuanced and deliberate portrait of someone navigating the intricacies of the asexuality spectrum. I think there are elements to her character that may not tick “expected” boxes of asexual behaviour—that may indeed seem contradictory to some people—but I never personally found them contradictory. Or, rather, I don’t believe sexuality (allosexuality or asexuality) is rational or rule-governed. It’s just part of who we are.
Where I’m going with this is simply here: if you let The Romantic Agenda be the book it is, instead of the book you think it should be, if you’re willing to follow it where it wants to lead, to be open to the ideas it wants to talk about, I think you’ll find it genuinely remarkable. A romance that is as brave, funny, complicated, and vulnerable as its heroine. Unapologetically queer and deeply romantic, fully conversant with genre codes, while also its own unique and brilliant thing, this book deserves an opportunity to show you who it is.
The basic set up—which is a loose and queerer riff on My Best Friend’s Wedding, a movie the book directly references—is this: Joy is in love with Malcom, who she met originally at university when he was running the ace-booth for the LGBT society (and how much do I love the little detail that Malcom was running an information stand for a university club which couldn’t even acknowledge the existence of people like him its name). This was the first time Joy realised there was a name for how she felt and the first time she realised she wasn’t alone in feeling that way—so she and Malcom have been inseparable ever since. Business partners, emotional support network, friends who are closer than friends to the extent that it has damaged every romantic relationship Malcom has ever entered. And his last relationship, in particular, ended extra painfully, with his ex-partner writing an email to them both about how manipulative and damaging Joy was to Malcom, and how she couldn’t be with him while he continued to be close to Joy.
Joy has essentially spent the last decade waiting for Malcom to recognise they belong together romantically and, once he’s over this break-up, seems like a natural opportunity for him to do so. This is further confirmed when he invites her to come away with him for a long weekend. Except … it turns out he’s already met someone else, a woman called Summer, who he wants to propose to and Joy is only getting an invite to the weekend so she can occupy Summer’s friend, Fox, who apparently doesn’t like Malcom. Having recently watched My Best Friend’s Wedding, Joy agrees: while she doesn’t want to sabotage Malcom and Summer exactly, this may be the last opportunity she has to declare her own feelings. Except Summer—for all she’s annoying in exactly the way that Cameron Diaz in My Best Friend’s Wedding is annoying—genuinely seems to want to be friends with Joy (something that Malcom’s other partners have only claimed to want in order to prove themselves to Malcom). And Fox, who Joy is irritated to have been pushed onto, is actually quite intriguing.
As you can probably tell, this is already an emotionally complicated set-up, and you have a heroine voluntarily casting herself in a role she already knows makes her kind of the villain of the piece, but it’s so, so well done. I am here, incredibly here, for complicated, relationship dynamics and the book doesn’t flinch from them: it allows its characters to be messy, to be vulnerable, to be better than they believed they were capable of being.
Joy is … well … she’s a Joy. She’s confident in herself, she’s a bad cook but a decent baker, she loves terrible puns and dad jokes, her cat and fashion: she just shines off the page, so relatable, admirable and three-dimensional that I genuinely think I’d recognise her if she walked past me in the street. I was actually sad for real when I finished the book because I couldn’t spend time with her anymore. And I still can’t quite tell if she felt like my friend or someone I had a crush on, but I miss her. The other interesting thing about Joy as a character is that she’s thirty (oh god, that seems a long way behind me now) which means she’s experienced in navigating her own life, both as an asexual person and a Black woman. I think as I get older myself, I increasingly welcome meeting characters whose relationship with their identities feels closer to the one I’ve developed with my own, probably best summarised as “comfortable with it, weary of explaining it”. It just feels like there’s a lot of books already out there about people beginning their journeys to selfhood, while I’m in a place where I’m getting more out of explorations of the unglamorous work-in-progress bit of being alive.
This very much Joy’s book, but I found the other characters deftly drawn regardless. Summer initially comes across as a slightly cringe-inducing white woman, but—much like Cameron Diaz in My Best Friend’s Wedding—she’s also a basically good person, clear-eyed and well-meaning, and a good potential partner for Malcom with similar values and life-goals (they both, for example, want to settle down and raise a family, which Joy very much does not). I also appreciated the way the book allowed her to be a bit naïve and make mistakes. For example, there’s very striking conversation that Joy has with Summer about her asexuality. Summer knows Joy (and, indeed, Malcom) are both asexual but it quickly becomes clear she understands the concept of asexuality, as most people do, but not really what it means in terms of being a “real” part of someone’s life. Summer isn’t being malicious, but she doesn’t handle the conversation well, which quickly becomes apparent to the reader when we’re allowed to see the careful performance behind Joy’s handling of the situation:
The thing is, something like that could easily have sunk Summer as a character. Of course I don’t believe that marginalised people have to always be generous when someone is crass, intrusive or inadvertently cruel to them. But, at the same time, it’s a different sort of problem when not being sufficiently au fait with the latest social justice discourse is a sin from which there can be no redemption. The book didn’t have to be kind to Summer, but I liked that it was: that she was allowed to mess up, and still be—at the end of the day—a good person.
Fox, the man with whom Joy begins a tentative romantic relationship, was super charming to me. He’s a classic grump, who never loses that edge of grump, protective of others, bad at caring for himself, with prematurely grey hair, fascinatingly bushy eyes and … a dimple. Like I’m not sure there could have been a romance hero more drawn to, err, check my boxes. He and Joy start off a fake-dating racket, to fuck with Malcom and Summer (since both Fox and Joy are annoyed to have been dragged along) but, soon enough, the connection is real. For people who need a romance arc to go from “hello” to “I love you, let’s get married” this might feel underbaked. For me, it perfectly caught the slow, tentative, yet exhilarating steps towards togetherness of two slightly damaged people deciding to trust each other and trust in what they have. My heart did some honest-to-God fluttering for them, and they have some gorgeous communication-and-consent driven scenes that are an absolute masterclass in conveying physical and romantic intimacy between characters:
Malcom, possibly, was for me the weakest aspect of the four. He’s clearly attractive and charismatic (and his need to be in control of every situation hit far too close to home) but the problem is that his and Joy’s relationship is in a really messed up place for most of the book. We get plenty of good memories about him from Joy and it’s easy to believe that these two care for each other in deep non-romantic life partner kind of way, but on page … it’s a mess. And, don’t get me wrong, the whole point is that it’s a mess (I think it’s Fox who suggests, in a non-sarcastic way, that they need couples therapy—which I appreciated because they do, and not all couples are romantic) but it’s hard to watch them independently realising that they’ve created something toxic and claustrophobic around each other that they need to fix. Much like with Joy and Fox, we leave Malcom and Joy committed to moving forward, and I did genuinely have hope for them figuring it out, but I wish Malcom had hurt Joy less on page. Especially towards the end, when it becomes clear she’s romantically interested in Fox, he kind of shuts down on her. And, I’m sorry, I know he probably has cause, and his behaviour is understandable so I’m kind of being unfair to him, but you do not fuck with Joy around me and that’s that.
Stepping back from my own Joy-protective feelings, though, I think what does work about the Malcom and Joy relationship is that—even if it’s not completely accessible to us—it remains very much theirs. And perhaps that’s the way it should be: the whole message of the text is that being with Joy or Malcom involves accepting their relationship with each other, and I guess that goes for the reader too.
And I’m assuming it goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway: how much do I love this as a happy ending for the book? Its two central asexual characters established in successful romantic relationships that are fully accepting of and enhanced by their queer platonic relationship with each other.
Oh my queer little heart. Please read this book.
Relevant disclaimers: none
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.
And remember: I am not here to judge your drag, I mean your book. Books are art and art is subjective. These are just my personal thoughts. They are not meant to be taken as broader commentary on the general quality of the work. Believe me, I have not enjoyed many an excellent book, and my individual lack of enjoyment has not made any of those books less excellent or (more relevantly) less successful.
Ack this book. You need this book. Seriously, you need this book.
But let me get some stuff out of the way first:
Item 1:
When we talk about the romance genre, we pay lip service to the fact that a genre romance means a focus on a strong central relationship and an HEA/HFN ending. But the reality is we actually bring a lot of unexamined baggage to what we believe this should look like because, very often, the frameworks we’re unconsciously on HEA/HFN are profoundly normative. This becomes especially difficult for books written for or about marginalised characters, or from a marginalised perspective. Because while such stories will definitely adhere to the genre conventions as they’re *supposed* to be, in practice they’ll be heavily criticised because the relationships they explore and celebrate won’t look exactly like the sorts of relationships we are taught to believe are not only most common but are righteous and natural too.
Item 2:
One of the most complicated parts of writing about characters of marginalised identity, even if you yourself are marginalised along the same axes as the people you’re writing about, is that we have come to demand representation is homogeneous and universal, when true representation is heterogeneous and specific. Or to put it more bluntly: people of the same marginalised identity experience that marginalisation differently, m’kay? And while I’d love to blame someone else for the fact we’re bad at acknowledging this, I’m afraid this a fire that’s coming from inside the house.
The thing is, I get it. I do. Being marginalised is lonely as fuck. Most of us grew up thinking we were peculiar aliens who were broken, abnormal and would probably die alone, unloved and miserable. So the idea of stories about us—stories where we get to be happy and loved, or fight aliens, or marry a duke or whatever—is the most beautiful, powerful and hope-inspiring thing we can possibly imagine. And sometimes it is. Sometimes someone else’s story is the hand we needed to reach out to ours and bluebirds burst into song.
Except sometimes … sometimes someone has chosen to write about someone who shares a marginalisation with us in way that doesn’t personally speak to us. That feels alienating in its own way. Hurtful. Even, perhaps, like a betrayal. Because this was meant to be for you and about you and … and … it wasn’t. I’m not disputing for a moment that this is a shite experience. But here’s the thing, without wanting to diminish the reality of feeling disconnected from something that you were expecting to feel connected to, when we create expectations of homogeneity—of a single correct way to manifest or depict a particular marginalisation—we are damaging ourselves and we are creating tools for non-marginalised people to damage us too. Marginalised people, queer people especially, disrupt normative modes of being. Our stories do, can and should take different shapes. This can naturally feel threatening to people for whom the norm is … well … the norm, especially because the world insists that is what is normal is not something we are taught, or something that is imposed upon us, but something that is fundamental and immutable. When we tell ourselves—and allow others to tell us—that our stories cannot encompass a spectrum of selves and modes of being, that they must always be one thing (a single counter-norm to sit neatly opposed to the irrefutable norm) that is simply another form of submission to normative expectations.
To bring this back to The Romantic Agenda: this is a romance with a Black asexual heroine. Joy’s journey encompasses what we might recognise as a “conventional” romance arc (person meets person, they experience feelings, they commit to trying something together) but that romance arc takes place in the context of a long-term queer platonic relationship that has drifted into a difficult and borderline toxic place. Both relationships are, and remain, significant throughout the book. And, while the genre has made some steps towards recognising polyam is a thing, I think this is literally the first time I’ve seen a queer platonic relationship (and an imperfect one at that) explored in a romance novel, or at least a romance novel put out by a major publishing house. While it is nobody’s place—and absolutely not mine—to try to tell anyone how to read a book, I do believe it’s important (in terms of managing your expectations and being fair to what the book is doing) to come to The Romantic Agenda with the understanding that the queer platonic relationship it centralises is *part* of its romance arc, not oppositional or disruptive to it.
Similarly, I think there will be readers for whom Joy’s asexuality may well not speak (although I sincerely hope and believe there will be others to whom it does). It’s not my place (or I would argue really anyone’s place) to decide whether it’s a “good” or “bad”, “right” or “wrong” portrayal of asexuality. What it is, though, is uncontrovertibly a portrayal of Joy’s asexuality. By which I mean it is specific to her as a character. It has shaped her and is part of her, and it influences how she reacts to the world, and how the world reacts to her. In fact, there’s a swathe of her experiences that are directly linked to the lose/lose of being visible as an ace person: the expectation that you have to be some kind of crowd-sourced paragon of homogenous ace-ness in order to represent everybody, when ultimately Joy (like the rest of us) can only really represent herself. To me, for what little my take is worth, Joy is a nuanced and deliberate portrait of someone navigating the intricacies of the asexuality spectrum. I think there are elements to her character that may not tick “expected” boxes of asexual behaviour—that may indeed seem contradictory to some people—but I never personally found them contradictory. Or, rather, I don’t believe sexuality (allosexuality or asexuality) is rational or rule-governed. It’s just part of who we are.
Where I’m going with this is simply here: if you let The Romantic Agenda be the book it is, instead of the book you think it should be, if you’re willing to follow it where it wants to lead, to be open to the ideas it wants to talk about, I think you’ll find it genuinely remarkable. A romance that is as brave, funny, complicated, and vulnerable as its heroine. Unapologetically queer and deeply romantic, fully conversant with genre codes, while also its own unique and brilliant thing, this book deserves an opportunity to show you who it is.
The basic set up—which is a loose and queerer riff on My Best Friend’s Wedding, a movie the book directly references—is this: Joy is in love with Malcom, who she met originally at university when he was running the ace-booth for the LGBT society (and how much do I love the little detail that Malcom was running an information stand for a university club which couldn’t even acknowledge the existence of people like him its name). This was the first time Joy realised there was a name for how she felt and the first time she realised she wasn’t alone in feeling that way—so she and Malcom have been inseparable ever since. Business partners, emotional support network, friends who are closer than friends to the extent that it has damaged every romantic relationship Malcom has ever entered. And his last relationship, in particular, ended extra painfully, with his ex-partner writing an email to them both about how manipulative and damaging Joy was to Malcom, and how she couldn’t be with him while he continued to be close to Joy.
Joy has essentially spent the last decade waiting for Malcom to recognise they belong together romantically and, once he’s over this break-up, seems like a natural opportunity for him to do so. This is further confirmed when he invites her to come away with him for a long weekend. Except … it turns out he’s already met someone else, a woman called Summer, who he wants to propose to and Joy is only getting an invite to the weekend so she can occupy Summer’s friend, Fox, who apparently doesn’t like Malcom. Having recently watched My Best Friend’s Wedding, Joy agrees: while she doesn’t want to sabotage Malcom and Summer exactly, this may be the last opportunity she has to declare her own feelings. Except Summer—for all she’s annoying in exactly the way that Cameron Diaz in My Best Friend’s Wedding is annoying—genuinely seems to want to be friends with Joy (something that Malcom’s other partners have only claimed to want in order to prove themselves to Malcom). And Fox, who Joy is irritated to have been pushed onto, is actually quite intriguing.
As you can probably tell, this is already an emotionally complicated set-up, and you have a heroine voluntarily casting herself in a role she already knows makes her kind of the villain of the piece, but it’s so, so well done. I am here, incredibly here, for complicated, relationship dynamics and the book doesn’t flinch from them: it allows its characters to be messy, to be vulnerable, to be better than they believed they were capable of being.
Joy is … well … she’s a Joy. She’s confident in herself, she’s a bad cook but a decent baker, she loves terrible puns and dad jokes, her cat and fashion: she just shines off the page, so relatable, admirable and three-dimensional that I genuinely think I’d recognise her if she walked past me in the street. I was actually sad for real when I finished the book because I couldn’t spend time with her anymore. And I still can’t quite tell if she felt like my friend or someone I had a crush on, but I miss her. The other interesting thing about Joy as a character is that she’s thirty (oh god, that seems a long way behind me now) which means she’s experienced in navigating her own life, both as an asexual person and a Black woman. I think as I get older myself, I increasingly welcome meeting characters whose relationship with their identities feels closer to the one I’ve developed with my own, probably best summarised as “comfortable with it, weary of explaining it”. It just feels like there’s a lot of books already out there about people beginning their journeys to selfhood, while I’m in a place where I’m getting more out of explorations of the unglamorous work-in-progress bit of being alive.
This very much Joy’s book, but I found the other characters deftly drawn regardless. Summer initially comes across as a slightly cringe-inducing white woman, but—much like Cameron Diaz in My Best Friend’s Wedding—she’s also a basically good person, clear-eyed and well-meaning, and a good potential partner for Malcom with similar values and life-goals (they both, for example, want to settle down and raise a family, which Joy very much does not). I also appreciated the way the book allowed her to be a bit naïve and make mistakes. For example, there’s very striking conversation that Joy has with Summer about her asexuality. Summer knows Joy (and, indeed, Malcom) are both asexual but it quickly becomes clear she understands the concept of asexuality, as most people do, but not really what it means in terms of being a “real” part of someone’s life. Summer isn’t being malicious, but she doesn’t handle the conversation well, which quickly becomes apparent to the reader when we’re allowed to see the careful performance behind Joy’s handling of the situation:
Joy’s seen that lightbulb moment so many times she’s lost count. She became a pro at explaining by accident. If she treated everyone else like the special unicorn, if she pretended to be fascinated and baffled, if she stopped pleading and begging for them to understand, it stopped the questions. It makes them think. It’s simply less emotionally exhausting to center their experiences.
The thing is, something like that could easily have sunk Summer as a character. Of course I don’t believe that marginalised people have to always be generous when someone is crass, intrusive or inadvertently cruel to them. But, at the same time, it’s a different sort of problem when not being sufficiently au fait with the latest social justice discourse is a sin from which there can be no redemption. The book didn’t have to be kind to Summer, but I liked that it was: that she was allowed to mess up, and still be—at the end of the day—a good person.
Fox, the man with whom Joy begins a tentative romantic relationship, was super charming to me. He’s a classic grump, who never loses that edge of grump, protective of others, bad at caring for himself, with prematurely grey hair, fascinatingly bushy eyes and … a dimple. Like I’m not sure there could have been a romance hero more drawn to, err, check my boxes. He and Joy start off a fake-dating racket, to fuck with Malcom and Summer (since both Fox and Joy are annoyed to have been dragged along) but, soon enough, the connection is real. For people who need a romance arc to go from “hello” to “I love you, let’s get married” this might feel underbaked. For me, it perfectly caught the slow, tentative, yet exhilarating steps towards togetherness of two slightly damaged people deciding to trust each other and trust in what they have. My heart did some honest-to-God fluttering for them, and they have some gorgeous communication-and-consent driven scenes that are an absolute masterclass in conveying physical and romantic intimacy between characters:
It’s not only his careful, delicate kisses, soft, perfectly sized lips, and scratchy stubble scraping against her smooth skin. It’s thinking about all of him, all at once, holding him in her mind and in her arms.
Malcom, possibly, was for me the weakest aspect of the four. He’s clearly attractive and charismatic (and his need to be in control of every situation hit far too close to home) but the problem is that his and Joy’s relationship is in a really messed up place for most of the book. We get plenty of good memories about him from Joy and it’s easy to believe that these two care for each other in deep non-romantic life partner kind of way, but on page … it’s a mess. And, don’t get me wrong, the whole point is that it’s a mess (I think it’s Fox who suggests, in a non-sarcastic way, that they need couples therapy—which I appreciated because they do, and not all couples are romantic) but it’s hard to watch them independently realising that they’ve created something toxic and claustrophobic around each other that they need to fix. Much like with Joy and Fox, we leave Malcom and Joy committed to moving forward, and I did genuinely have hope for them figuring it out, but I wish Malcom had hurt Joy less on page. Especially towards the end, when it becomes clear she’s romantically interested in Fox, he kind of shuts down on her. And, I’m sorry, I know he probably has cause, and his behaviour is understandable so I’m kind of being unfair to him, but you do not fuck with Joy around me and that’s that.
Stepping back from my own Joy-protective feelings, though, I think what does work about the Malcom and Joy relationship is that—even if it’s not completely accessible to us—it remains very much theirs. And perhaps that’s the way it should be: the whole message of the text is that being with Joy or Malcom involves accepting their relationship with each other, and I guess that goes for the reader too.
And I’m assuming it goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway: how much do I love this as a happy ending for the book? Its two central asexual characters established in successful romantic relationships that are fully accepting of and enhanced by their queer platonic relationship with each other.
Oh my queer little heart. Please read this book.
February 10, 2022
Say it with me: "Asexuality is a spectrum". Good job.
I can already see it in the few reviews that are here but people are gonna come for the ace rep in this but we are not doing that! Stop saying that representation isn't good just because you don't personally relate to it. Asexuality is a spectrum. There are so many ways that asexuality exists and intersects with people's other identities. Just because this asexual representation may not look like your view of asexuality, does not make it bad or invalid etc. I am tired of having this conversation.
Now that I've started my review with a little bitty rant, can I just say that I really really liked this book. The ace rep is really freaking good and I love that we get two Black asexual characters who both experience asexuality very differently. I personally did not relate to their asexuality but I also recognize that asexuality is a spectrum and what my aceness means to me and looks like to me can be and will be different from other asexuals.
As for the actual plot and characters I adored Fox and Joy. They were my favorite and I loved them both so much. I loved their banter and their conversations and I would have loved to see more of that honestly. Unfortunately I kind of strongly disliked the other two main characters in this book.
So this whole book is focused on Joy who is in her 30s and is in love with her best friend Malcolm. The only issue here is that Malcolm either doesn't know that Joy is in love with him or ignores it or doesn't feel the same way because he keeps dating round after round of women who end up not being the right one. When Malcolm asks Joy to go away with him with his new girlfriend and her friend Fox, Joy reluctantly agrees. The four of them end up in a cabin and all work through a lot of personality clashes and a little bit of drama, a little bit of angst. Summer, Malcolm's girlfriend, is a piece of work. I did not like her and I found her extremely annoying. I'm not sure if we as readers are supposed to like her but I was not a fan. As for Malcolm, I'm pretty sure that we're supposed to like him but I despised him. I thought that he was selfish and manipulative and acted like a toddler. He drove me nuts and I lived for the moment when Joy realized that she and him were not meant to be together.
As much as I love Joy, Fox is the absolute highlight of this book. He is so grumpy and hilarious and I loved everything about him. I loved the grumpy sunshine dynamic between him and Joy and I loved how respectful and thoughtful he was. Maybe that is a low bar, but that's what we're working with here.
I did have a few issues with the abrupt endings to a few scenes. There are maybe three or four moments where a scene feels like it's actually just getting started but you turn the page and you realize that it's over. It's either a new chapter or a new section and whatever was happening in that scene is done and gone. It felt kind of like getting robbed of feeling the characters experiences and I was a little bit of a letdown for me. I also wish that Joy would have been just a little bit more angry with Malcolm. I wanted her to stand up for herself and push back a bit more. Obviously friendships can and do look different for everyone, but I was a little bit underwhelmed by that resolution. I also would have loved to see a bit more of Joy and Fox as a couple but that's just nitpicking at this point .
You'll realize that I still gave this five stars and I'm giving it five stars partly to combat the aphobia that is already in these reviews and that I can predict in upcoming reviews, but also because I genuinely enjoyed this book. It may not be an all-time favorite but I can definitely see myself rereading it at some point, especially once the audio is released. I love and appreciate more asexual representation and having TWO Black ace characters is worth celebrating. Friendly reminder that this is also own voices asexual representation and we do not shit on someone else's sexuality and the way that their are sexuality presents itself.
I can already see it in the few reviews that are here but people are gonna come for the ace rep in this but we are not doing that! Stop saying that representation isn't good just because you don't personally relate to it. Asexuality is a spectrum. There are so many ways that asexuality exists and intersects with people's other identities. Just because this asexual representation may not look like your view of asexuality, does not make it bad or invalid etc. I am tired of having this conversation.
Now that I've started my review with a little bitty rant, can I just say that I really really liked this book. The ace rep is really freaking good and I love that we get two Black asexual characters who both experience asexuality very differently. I personally did not relate to their asexuality but I also recognize that asexuality is a spectrum and what my aceness means to me and looks like to me can be and will be different from other asexuals.
As for the actual plot and characters I adored Fox and Joy. They were my favorite and I loved them both so much. I loved their banter and their conversations and I would have loved to see more of that honestly. Unfortunately I kind of strongly disliked the other two main characters in this book.
So this whole book is focused on Joy who is in her 30s and is in love with her best friend Malcolm. The only issue here is that Malcolm either doesn't know that Joy is in love with him or ignores it or doesn't feel the same way because he keeps dating round after round of women who end up not being the right one. When Malcolm asks Joy to go away with him with his new girlfriend and her friend Fox, Joy reluctantly agrees. The four of them end up in a cabin and all work through a lot of personality clashes and a little bit of drama, a little bit of angst. Summer, Malcolm's girlfriend, is a piece of work. I did not like her and I found her extremely annoying. I'm not sure if we as readers are supposed to like her but I was not a fan. As for Malcolm, I'm pretty sure that we're supposed to like him but I despised him. I thought that he was selfish and manipulative and acted like a toddler. He drove me nuts and I lived for the moment when Joy realized that she and him were not meant to be together.
As much as I love Joy, Fox is the absolute highlight of this book. He is so grumpy and hilarious and I loved everything about him. I loved the grumpy sunshine dynamic between him and Joy and I loved how respectful and thoughtful he was. Maybe that is a low bar, but that's what we're working with here.
I did have a few issues with the abrupt endings to a few scenes. There are maybe three or four moments where a scene feels like it's actually just getting started but you turn the page and you realize that it's over. It's either a new chapter or a new section and whatever was happening in that scene is done and gone. It felt kind of like getting robbed of feeling the characters experiences and I was a little bit of a letdown for me. I also wish that Joy would have been just a little bit more angry with Malcolm. I wanted her to stand up for herself and push back a bit more. Obviously friendships can and do look different for everyone, but I was a little bit underwhelmed by that resolution. I also would have loved to see a bit more of Joy and Fox as a couple but that's just nitpicking at this point .
You'll realize that I still gave this five stars and I'm giving it five stars partly to combat the aphobia that is already in these reviews and that I can predict in upcoming reviews, but also because I genuinely enjoyed this book. It may not be an all-time favorite but I can definitely see myself rereading it at some point, especially once the audio is released. I love and appreciate more asexual representation and having TWO Black ace characters is worth celebrating. Friendly reminder that this is also own voices asexual representation and we do not shit on someone else's sexuality and the way that their are sexuality presents itself.
January 31, 2022
Okay. Picture this: A rom-com. Nice! you are saying, because everyone loves a good rom-com, or if they don't I don't care to know them. We all need some fluff and love and laughs from time to time.
In this rom-com, we have a woman. She is quirky and fun, which are good things to be in life and in books, for the most part. She is also asexual, which is excellent, because asexual rep in rom-coms is roughly equivalent to a day you wake up and think it's Wednesday and it's actually Friday, in terms of both how rare and how pleasant it is.
Said woman has been in love with her best friend for YEARS. Like, a decade number of them. Her best friend is always there for her, he's the only one who gets her, and they have an immediate chemistry and vibe that everyone notices. There's just one catch: they kissed a long time ago, and they both bungled the follow up, and they've been in just friends purgatory ever since.
This book follows these two people going on vacation together, and for around three quarters of the book, our lovely protagonist remains mooning over him.
Now what if I told you the best friend I just described was...wait for it...NOT OUR LOVE INTEREST.
Dun dun dun.
Things get a whole lot less fun real fast.
This book has a lot going for it, but a romance the character spends 75% of thinking that she is in love with another major character is not ideal. If it absolutely HAS to happen, there should at least be a process of transferring the feelings from one to the other.
Or even, perhaps, a scene of realization.
This had...drumroll please...neither.
I've read one other Claire Kann book, which also followed an ace protagonist who was quirky and fun to the extreme, an in fact unsafe level of borderline manic pixie dream girl status that involved every supporting character being actively in love with her at all times, even when this didn't make sense in the context of the, you know, plot or story.
And that was the case here, but I found the whole thing mostly cute and fun just the same. They both got three stars, in the end, even though this had some Girl Hate for Character Development and a Grand Declaration with a Cut and Scene Change, two things I'm not a fan of.
Nobody's perfect, after all. Least of all a three star read.
Bottom line: I will keep trying Claire Kann until I Kann find the book that'll work for me B)
-----------------
pre-review
every time i read a romance that doesn't quite do it for me, i have no choice but to keep reading more and more romances until i find one that does.
join me on this quest.
update: close...but not quite.
review to come / 3 or 3.5 stars
(thanks to netgalley or the publisher or whoever for the e-ARC)
In this rom-com, we have a woman. She is quirky and fun, which are good things to be in life and in books, for the most part. She is also asexual, which is excellent, because asexual rep in rom-coms is roughly equivalent to a day you wake up and think it's Wednesday and it's actually Friday, in terms of both how rare and how pleasant it is.
Said woman has been in love with her best friend for YEARS. Like, a decade number of them. Her best friend is always there for her, he's the only one who gets her, and they have an immediate chemistry and vibe that everyone notices. There's just one catch: they kissed a long time ago, and they both bungled the follow up, and they've been in just friends purgatory ever since.
This book follows these two people going on vacation together, and for around three quarters of the book, our lovely protagonist remains mooning over him.
Now what if I told you the best friend I just described was...wait for it...NOT OUR LOVE INTEREST.
Dun dun dun.
Things get a whole lot less fun real fast.
This book has a lot going for it, but a romance the character spends 75% of thinking that she is in love with another major character is not ideal. If it absolutely HAS to happen, there should at least be a process of transferring the feelings from one to the other.
Or even, perhaps, a scene of realization.
This had...drumroll please...neither.
I've read one other Claire Kann book, which also followed an ace protagonist who was quirky and fun to the extreme, an in fact unsafe level of borderline manic pixie dream girl status that involved every supporting character being actively in love with her at all times, even when this didn't make sense in the context of the, you know, plot or story.
And that was the case here, but I found the whole thing mostly cute and fun just the same. They both got three stars, in the end, even though this had some Girl Hate for Character Development and a Grand Declaration with a Cut and Scene Change, two things I'm not a fan of.
Nobody's perfect, after all. Least of all a three star read.
Bottom line: I will keep trying Claire Kann until I Kann find the book that'll work for me B)
-----------------
pre-review
every time i read a romance that doesn't quite do it for me, i have no choice but to keep reading more and more romances until i find one that does.
join me on this quest.
update: close...but not quite.
review to come / 3 or 3.5 stars
(thanks to netgalley or the publisher or whoever for the e-ARC)
February 8, 2024
4.5 stars!
Joy has been secretly in love with her best friend Malcolm for years. When Malcolm invited Joy to meet his new girlfriend, Summer, and Summer’s friend Fox, Joy has her reservations. After years of not getting along with Malcolm’s girlfriends, she doesn’t have much to look forward to. But Fox has his own plan in mind: he and Joy pretend their falling for each other…
You ever read a book and wonder why it’s not more popular? That’s how I feel about this one. It’s got the vibes of the film My Best Friend’s Wedding, a fake dating trope, and everyone is isolated in a cabin in the woods. All of that, plus more than one character being asexual? This book has it all. I loved Joy as a main character, she had great confidence without it coming across as arrogant.
This book navigated complicated male/female friendships in a very real way. And our hero was a grump who had sweet feelings for the heroine! Seriously, I got such warm and fuzzy feelings when I was finished reading this book. It was exactly what I needed at just the right time.
Joy has been secretly in love with her best friend Malcolm for years. When Malcolm invited Joy to meet his new girlfriend, Summer, and Summer’s friend Fox, Joy has her reservations. After years of not getting along with Malcolm’s girlfriends, she doesn’t have much to look forward to. But Fox has his own plan in mind: he and Joy pretend their falling for each other…
You ever read a book and wonder why it’s not more popular? That’s how I feel about this one. It’s got the vibes of the film My Best Friend’s Wedding, a fake dating trope, and everyone is isolated in a cabin in the woods. All of that, plus more than one character being asexual? This book has it all. I loved Joy as a main character, she had great confidence without it coming across as arrogant.
This book navigated complicated male/female friendships in a very real way. And our hero was a grump who had sweet feelings for the heroine! Seriously, I got such warm and fuzzy feelings when I was finished reading this book. It was exactly what I needed at just the right time.
June 26, 2022
I need to reread this as soon as possible because I had emooootions reading this book. I was gutted and filled simultaneously.
My current obsession is Donna & Harvey from Suits. Joy & Malcom served the same energy in this book. So, of course, I toxically wanted nothing more than for them to end up together. But that was't healthy or fair for them. So I spent most of the book in a spiral but ended in an even bigger emotional vortex by realizing it isn't even that they're in love. It's that they don't know how to differentiate the immense love they have for one another from romantic love. I understand that on a cosmic level. I have never felt romantic love. So considering it the same as platonic love is a go-to assumption for me. Calling out the difference in this book was a big wake up call for me. Not one I was ready for. It hit me at a time when platonic relationships are struggling for me. It did too much and I am floored by this book. Can't wait to reread in the future.
This quote punched me in the heart and came back for seconds
“Truth be told, it’s always been like that between Malcolm, his partners, and Joy. It starts out fine, but before long, they hate her for no other reason than Malcolm loves her more than they think she deserves.
Joy isn’t his family. She isn’t some ex he’s never gotten over. She’s just a friend.
Just.
A just who shouldn’t be important.
A just who should be discarded.
A just who should disappear.
Joy fought for Malcolm, refusing to drift away, standing by him, until he realized she would always be there. Until he believed it. And so far, she had succeeded where they all failed. The greatest love of his life was, as they put it, just a friend.”
My current obsession is Donna & Harvey from Suits. Joy & Malcom served the same energy in this book. So, of course, I toxically wanted nothing more than for them to end up together. But that was't healthy or fair for them. So I spent most of the book in a spiral but ended in an even bigger emotional vortex by realizing it isn't even that they're in love. It's that they don't know how to differentiate the immense love they have for one another from romantic love. I understand that on a cosmic level. I have never felt romantic love. So considering it the same as platonic love is a go-to assumption for me. Calling out the difference in this book was a big wake up call for me. Not one I was ready for. It hit me at a time when platonic relationships are struggling for me. It did too much and I am floored by this book. Can't wait to reread in the future.
This quote punched me in the heart and came back for seconds
“Truth be told, it’s always been like that between Malcolm, his partners, and Joy. It starts out fine, but before long, they hate her for no other reason than Malcolm loves her more than they think she deserves.
Joy isn’t his family. She isn’t some ex he’s never gotten over. She’s just a friend.
Just.
A just who shouldn’t be important.
A just who should be discarded.
A just who should disappear.
Joy fought for Malcolm, refusing to drift away, standing by him, until he realized she would always be there. Until he believed it. And so far, she had succeeded where they all failed. The greatest love of his life was, as they put it, just a friend.”
May 25, 2022
Ugh! This was such a tough one to rate. I was definitely looking forward to this but the story didn’t deliver the way that I expected. Readers follow Joy as she reckons with the romantic feelings she has towards her best friend. When she thinks that he’s planned a romantic getaway, Joy automatically assumes that it’s for the two of them to navigate their feelings. Unfortunately, the trip is actually an opportunity for Joy to meet his new girlfriend and a friend that she’s bringing along.
What worked super well in this novel was the asexual representation. Both Joy and Malcolm are asexual but have differences in how they explain their identity bringing forth the conversation that asexuality is a spectrum and doesn’t just have one definition. I loved seeing this front and center in a romance because it’s not something that readers get often. When Summer, Malcolm, Fox, and Joy have the conversation about asexuality I was constantly nodding my head in agreement. It was nice to see Summer and Fox have to work through their understandings and preconceived notions that they may have had about asexuality.
Unfortunately, it’s the actual romance that I didn’t enjoy. Readers spend about 75% of the book watching Joy figure out her feelings for Malcolm while also strongly disliking Summer. By the time we get to the actual love interest, I wasn’t invested in learning anything about their potential relationship because it didn’t feel real. There wasn’t enough time. I felt like Joy just got to a good place with her feelings about Malcolm and then BAM here’s someone else. It made the pacing of the entire story feel off like it should have been longer. Joy also wasn’t the most likeable character for me. She toed the line between confident and cocky and it wasn’t always fun to read.
Overall, I think this was a solid book, but I wasn’t invested in the romance part of it at all. I was happy to see how well the conversation about asexuality was handled. This is my first Claire Kann book so I’ll be interested in seeing what else they’ve written.
What worked super well in this novel was the asexual representation. Both Joy and Malcolm are asexual but have differences in how they explain their identity bringing forth the conversation that asexuality is a spectrum and doesn’t just have one definition. I loved seeing this front and center in a romance because it’s not something that readers get often. When Summer, Malcolm, Fox, and Joy have the conversation about asexuality I was constantly nodding my head in agreement. It was nice to see Summer and Fox have to work through their understandings and preconceived notions that they may have had about asexuality.
Unfortunately, it’s the actual romance that I didn’t enjoy. Readers spend about 75% of the book watching Joy figure out her feelings for Malcolm while also strongly disliking Summer. By the time we get to the actual love interest, I wasn’t invested in learning anything about their potential relationship because it didn’t feel real. There wasn’t enough time. I felt like Joy just got to a good place with her feelings about Malcolm and then BAM here’s someone else. It made the pacing of the entire story feel off like it should have been longer. Joy also wasn’t the most likeable character for me. She toed the line between confident and cocky and it wasn’t always fun to read.
Overall, I think this was a solid book, but I wasn’t invested in the romance part of it at all. I was happy to see how well the conversation about asexuality was handled. This is my first Claire Kann book so I’ll be interested in seeing what else they’ve written.
Read
September 2, 2022That rare thing, a romance with asexual heroine.
Joy is hopelessly in love with old friend Malcolm: she works for him and is incredibly close to him as a friend, such that his last girlfriend dumped him because she was tired of competing with Joy. Malcolm is also ace but has a lively sex life and wants children. Joy wants neither of those, but she nevertheless wants a relationship with Malcolm.
Joy comes on Malcolm's romantic getaway with his new girlfriend literally to act as bait for the girlfriend's male best friend Fox so Malcolm and the GF can get together. This is not as doormatty as it sounds but it is...quite doormatty. Luckily Fox is great. They agree on a fake "striking up a relationship" so Joy can make Malcolm jealous, but romance inevitability occurs, spooling out delightfully.
That much is fab. Fox is a lovely hero, who respects her boundaries and has his own, and Joy is great when she gets outside Malcolm's sphere of influence, funny, flawed, working on herself, and entertaining to be with. Plus, some good female friendships and negotiation through failings and misunderstanding between women.
The problem here is the eternal one with this sort of plot: If we believe in Malcolm as a worthy love of her life, Joy seems like she's settling for Fox because she can't have the guy she really wants, and if we think he's a massive dick (raises hand) then an awful lot of the heroine's and book's emotional energy feels expended on a rather selfish and dog in the manger man. Nothing about Malcolm made me see him enhancing her life: I rather wanted to see her change job to get away from him. And Fox didn't deserve the amount of space lost to Malcolm, goddammit. Clearly I feel strongly about this, which indicates well developed characters and storytelling, even if I wasn't entirely on side with all the decisions. (And, Black asexual heroine who gets to be beautiful, desired, and respected. Got to love that.)
Joy is hopelessly in love with old friend Malcolm: she works for him and is incredibly close to him as a friend, such that his last girlfriend dumped him because she was tired of competing with Joy. Malcolm is also ace but has a lively sex life and wants children. Joy wants neither of those, but she nevertheless wants a relationship with Malcolm.
Joy comes on Malcolm's romantic getaway with his new girlfriend literally to act as bait for the girlfriend's male best friend Fox so Malcolm and the GF can get together. This is not as doormatty as it sounds but it is...quite doormatty. Luckily Fox is great. They agree on a fake "striking up a relationship" so Joy can make Malcolm jealous, but romance inevitability occurs, spooling out delightfully.
That much is fab. Fox is a lovely hero, who respects her boundaries and has his own, and Joy is great when she gets outside Malcolm's sphere of influence, funny, flawed, working on herself, and entertaining to be with. Plus, some good female friendships and negotiation through failings and misunderstanding between women.
The problem here is the eternal one with this sort of plot: If we believe in Malcolm as a worthy love of her life, Joy seems like she's settling for Fox because she can't have the guy she really wants, and if we think he's a massive dick (raises hand) then an awful lot of the heroine's and book's emotional energy feels expended on a rather selfish and dog in the manger man. Nothing about Malcolm made me see him enhancing her life: I rather wanted to see her change job to get away from him. And Fox didn't deserve the amount of space lost to Malcolm, goddammit. Clearly I feel strongly about this, which indicates well developed characters and storytelling, even if I wasn't entirely on side with all the decisions. (And, Black asexual heroine who gets to be beautiful, desired, and respected. Got to love that.)
August 15, 2022
4 stars
Joy and Malcolm have been best friends for ten years. And Joy has been in love with Malcolm for a lot of that time. Malcolm has started dating summer and is taking her on a get away and Summer is bringing her bff (who also happens to be her ex-), Fox. Fox and Joy keep each other company and Fox comes up with a plan. He and Joy can get close and maybe Malcolm will realize he’s in love with Joy. Fox doesn’t think Malcolm is right for Summer (even though Fox has no romantic feelings for Summer).
Are you confused yet? It’s probably not as complicated as I’m making it seem LOL. It truly wasn’t that messy… just a little. This was fake dating at it’s finest. Done in an interesting way and for some reason, I was so into Fox and Jay it was like Malcolm who? Also the representation was great. I’m not sure that I’ve ever read a book with ace main characters and I thought the way it was explained was easy to understand and made me think about it.
Honestly, I had a lot of fun reading this book but it was also emotional and all the characters were lovable. I was worried this would be a stressful triangle with at least one unlikable character but I didn’t see it that way. I think it ended the way it was supposed to, and though I would have LOVED an epilogue of some sort, overall I was satisfied with the way things turned out.
Joy and Malcolm have been best friends for ten years. And Joy has been in love with Malcolm for a lot of that time. Malcolm has started dating summer and is taking her on a get away and Summer is bringing her bff (who also happens to be her ex-), Fox. Fox and Joy keep each other company and Fox comes up with a plan. He and Joy can get close and maybe Malcolm will realize he’s in love with Joy. Fox doesn’t think Malcolm is right for Summer (even though Fox has no romantic feelings for Summer).
Are you confused yet? It’s probably not as complicated as I’m making it seem LOL. It truly wasn’t that messy… just a little. This was fake dating at it’s finest. Done in an interesting way and for some reason, I was so into Fox and Jay it was like Malcolm who? Also the representation was great. I’m not sure that I’ve ever read a book with ace main characters and I thought the way it was explained was easy to understand and made me think about it.
Honestly, I had a lot of fun reading this book but it was also emotional and all the characters were lovable. I was worried this would be a stressful triangle with at least one unlikable character but I didn’t see it that way. I think it ended the way it was supposed to, and though I would have LOVED an epilogue of some sort, overall I was satisfied with the way things turned out.
Audio book source: Libby
Story Rating: 4 stars
Narrators: Adrienne Walker
Narration Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 9h 58m
December 30, 2022
Updated review:
This was like a YA but the character's ages were just changed to 29 and up. They were giving very much summer after high school graduation.
I think the conversations specifically regarding ace were handled well but everything else held no substance. From the dialogue to their little day trip plans. Boring, boring, boring.
A better timeline was needed too bc all this took place over a literal week with majority of it over a weekend. If you don't like instalove then don't even glance this way.
The pacing is off especially with the first 100 pages. It dragged so hard. I would suggest reading the first couple of chapters and then skipping straight to page 79 (paperback copy), that's when things actually start picking up with the plot. You will not miss anything important.
Malcolm is simply an asshole and I don't understand why he is given the time of day by anyone. It's always his way or no way. I also didn't even like Joy's condescending-self but girl, seek help. Like, THAT'S who you've been pining over for TEN YEARS!?!? You're in love with HIM??? Please, love yourself like you claimed throughout the story. The co-dependency and admitted obsession between them was giving pathetic and toxic. The ending regarding these two...*rolls eyes* Ten years worth of constant miscommunication and it took a stranger (Fox) to point out almost instantly. *facepalm* They both just sucked the life out of the entire book and me.
Summer was the typical manic pixie who randomly tries to get fake deep towards the end when it doesn't even matter anymore. She seemed like a pre-teen majority of the book. Fox was the most tolerable and likeable character. He deserved better than being stuck with all of them. #JusticeForFox
This is not how I wanted to finish my 31 books in 31 days. 😔 Don’t let me stop you from reading this if you’re still curious about it. Every book won’t work for every person. 🤷🏾♀️ Do you.
This was like a YA but the character's ages were just changed to 29 and up. They were giving very much summer after high school graduation.
I think the conversations specifically regarding ace were handled well but everything else held no substance. From the dialogue to their little day trip plans. Boring, boring, boring.
A better timeline was needed too bc all this took place over a literal week with majority of it over a weekend. If you don't like instalove then don't even glance this way.
The pacing is off especially with the first 100 pages. It dragged so hard. I would suggest reading the first couple of chapters and then skipping straight to page 79 (paperback copy), that's when things actually start picking up with the plot. You will not miss anything important.
Malcolm is simply an asshole and I don't understand why he is given the time of day by anyone. It's always his way or no way. I also didn't even like Joy's condescending-self but girl, seek help. Like, THAT'S who you've been pining over for TEN YEARS!?!? You're in love with HIM??? Please, love yourself like you claimed throughout the story. The co-dependency and admitted obsession between them was giving pathetic and toxic. The ending regarding these two...*rolls eyes* Ten years worth of constant miscommunication and it took a stranger (Fox) to point out almost instantly. *facepalm* They both just sucked the life out of the entire book and me.
Summer was the typical manic pixie who randomly tries to get fake deep towards the end when it doesn't even matter anymore. She seemed like a pre-teen majority of the book. Fox was the most tolerable and likeable character. He deserved better than being stuck with all of them. #JusticeForFox
This is not how I wanted to finish my 31 books in 31 days. 😔 Don’t let me stop you from reading this if you’re still curious about it. Every book won’t work for every person. 🤷🏾♀️ Do you.
August 4, 2022
3.5 stars!
This was an interesting read because it was... kind of a love square? Joy is the asexual heroine and she’s in love with her best friend Malcolm, who is asexual as well. Malcolm has just gotten together with Summer, who is exes with the hero Fox. All 4 of them go out for a weekend getaway together because Malcolm and Summer want to do a little matchmaking for Joy and Fox. They realize they’re being set up and play their friends in return by pretending to fall for each other during this trip. So yay, fake dating!
I wasn’t too excited about the idea of this love square but I enjoyed the book more than I though I would! The romance between Joy and Fox is slow, sometimes a little too slow because Joy spends the majority of the book in love with her best friend, but it’s still sweet, and I loved the whole vacation vibes throughout the book.
Did I feel like the romance would have been equally as good if Joy actually ended up with Malcolm? ....yes, but that's because I'm a sucker for friends to lovers. Still, if you're looking for a diverse summer/beach read, this is great!
This was an interesting read because it was... kind of a love square? Joy is the asexual heroine and she’s in love with her best friend Malcolm, who is asexual as well. Malcolm has just gotten together with Summer, who is exes with the hero Fox. All 4 of them go out for a weekend getaway together because Malcolm and Summer want to do a little matchmaking for Joy and Fox. They realize they’re being set up and play their friends in return by pretending to fall for each other during this trip. So yay, fake dating!
I wasn’t too excited about the idea of this love square but I enjoyed the book more than I though I would! The romance between Joy and Fox is slow, sometimes a little too slow because Joy spends the majority of the book in love with her best friend, but it’s still sweet, and I loved the whole vacation vibes throughout the book.
Did I feel like the romance would have been equally as good if Joy actually ended up with Malcolm? ....yes, but that's because I'm a sucker for friends to lovers. Still, if you're looking for a diverse summer/beach read, this is great!
April 20, 2022
My favorite romance of the year. Joy’s story broke my heart wide open and put it back together. I only wish I’d taken a friend’s advice and read it sooner. I bawled so many tears for Joy and her friends and new love.
One of the parts that gutted me early on:
"…her feelings stalk her like some unspeakable deep-sea horror. Every time she thinks she’s free, its lovesick tentacles wrap around her, dragging her back into the depths of the Struggling Sea. Every time she thinks that maybe, just maybe, Malcolm has fallen in love with her too, he chooses someone else."
One of the parts that gutted me early on:
"…her feelings stalk her like some unspeakable deep-sea horror. Every time she thinks she’s free, its lovesick tentacles wrap around her, dragging her back into the depths of the Struggling Sea. Every time she thinks that maybe, just maybe, Malcolm has fallen in love with her too, he chooses someone else."
Want to read
October 14, 2021MORE ACE REP FROM CLAIRE KANN HELL YES
I am literally so hyped for this because let's talk about love meant the entire world to me and!! ahh!!! I need this!! also this cover is so pretty!!
I am literally so hyped for this because let's talk about love meant the entire world to me and!! ahh!!! I need this!! also this cover is so pretty!!
October 24, 2022
Sweet romance with a really strong voice. Great look at complicated and toxic friendships too.
February 6, 2022
We truly need so many more asexual main characters in romance! Joy's and Malcolm's experiences being ace are very different from my own experience, which makes sense, because asexuality is a spectrum, and it's important to have a broad representation of that spectrum. That's also why I want more asexual rep in romance, because there are so many different experiences that deserve to be told.
It actually took me a while to get into this book, because there was a lot of conflict and a lot of tension between the characters. But at the same time, this tension was done well, and it made for really valuable character growth. Although I do have to say that both Malcolm and Summer were the most annoying characters I've read in a GOOD while.
Joy herself was actually pretty annoying as well at times, but at the same time, I genuinely loved her. She's the kind of sunshine character that's larger than life, dialed up to 100, and that was a bit much at times, but that also got addressed on the page. Fox, our grumpy love interest, I just LOVED. He was truly such a great character, and I really liked the budding romance.
Most of all, I appreciated that this book had a different pace from most romance novels, since Joy is set on Malcolm, who is clearly not right for her, for a big part of the book. I liked seeing her slow realization that this was never going to work, and her realization that there were other options for her. The romance, because of this, ends when it's still in the early stages, so I would say the book has more of an HFN than an HEA.
It actually took me a while to get into this book, because there was a lot of conflict and a lot of tension between the characters. But at the same time, this tension was done well, and it made for really valuable character growth. Although I do have to say that both Malcolm and Summer were the most annoying characters I've read in a GOOD while.
Joy herself was actually pretty annoying as well at times, but at the same time, I genuinely loved her. She's the kind of sunshine character that's larger than life, dialed up to 100, and that was a bit much at times, but that also got addressed on the page. Fox, our grumpy love interest, I just LOVED. He was truly such a great character, and I really liked the budding romance.
Most of all, I appreciated that this book had a different pace from most romance novels, since Joy is set on Malcolm, who is clearly not right for her, for a big part of the book. I liked seeing her slow realization that this was never going to work, and her realization that there were other options for her. The romance, because of this, ends when it's still in the early stages, so I would say the book has more of an HFN than an HEA.
April 5, 2022
I don’t think I ever would have imagined a rom-com about an ace main character but I am so glad it exists. Now Joy is not the kind of ace I am but that doesn’t matter, it’s a spectrum and the representation is excellent. The struggle I had with the book was how awful Malcolm was…..Joy spends about 75% of the book deeply in love with Malcom and all he does it treat her like crap. I understand they have a large communication gap that led to some unhealthy patterns, but he was awful to her. The other characters were fun and I especially loved Fox. I found the writing good and the story flowed fairly well, I just wanted Joy to listen to her sister Grace and Fox about how unhealthy the dynamic was. I gave this one 3.5 stars but I rounded up for the representation.
May 3, 2022
2.5 - I really wanted to love this. An adult romance starring an asexual main character? Sounds great!
Unfortunately this just did not work for me. The main character’s voice ended up making her sound way younger than she’s supposed to be. I’m not sure if that’s because Claire Kann has previously only published YA books, but Joy sounded closer to a teen than a 30 year old.
I’m a total sucker for a fake dating plot, but I think that having this book mostly take place over one weekend didn’t give the relationship enough time to develop. I liked the characters together but it felt like things were just beginning rather than it being at the point where the book should end.
Unfortunately this just did not work for me. The main character’s voice ended up making her sound way younger than she’s supposed to be. I’m not sure if that’s because Claire Kann has previously only published YA books, but Joy sounded closer to a teen than a 30 year old.
I’m a total sucker for a fake dating plot, but I think that having this book mostly take place over one weekend didn’t give the relationship enough time to develop. I liked the characters together but it felt like things were just beginning rather than it being at the point where the book should end.
April 30, 2025
thank you to berkley and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
have you ever read a book where a character’s past experiences, inner thoughts, and actions speak so much to your own? that’s how i feel about joy.
as an aspec reader, this book has been such a highly anticipated read of mine and i was downright giddy when i saw that i received this arc. and, can i say, this did not let me down. not one bit. this book speaks a lot on the asexual experience and how, importantly, there’s a vast spectrum. while neither joy nor malcolm’s experiences match perfectly with mine, it was incredible to see. their candid and blunt discussions about their asexuality and how they’ve had to fit into a heteronormative and (often) sex-driven world was invaluable. i especially loved how joy spoke about how her dress and “provocative” actions have nothing to do with sex and sexuality. claire kann did an outstanding job constructing these conversations. also, do i even need to mention how appreciative i am seeing two of the four main characters be black and aspec? no? good. because it’s representation that’s important and absolutely necessary for readers to have.
now, moving on to the characters and plot of this book. none of these characters are perfect people. in fact, they’re incredibly flawed. all of them and in major ways. but, you know what, it’s realistic. they all felt like people i know or might meet in my future. and i think that just shows how well of a job kann did writing these characters. malcolm irritated me to no ends (as i’m sure he was supposed to). summer grew on me in the way she began on joy. and fox. grumpy, precious fox. he was so willing to learn, understand, and work with joy’s boundaries. i mean, the consent! they were constantly ensuring that both of them were comfortable in whatever situation they were in. i know it’s a bare minimum, but as joy touched on in the book, it doesn’t always feel that way as an asexual person in the dating world. overall, i just loved seeing their relationship grow.
genuinely, this was honestly one of the best romances i’ve read in a while and easily a new favorite. the feelings and dynamics between these four characters felt raw and real. don’t go into this expecting a spicy romance. it’s not that. but, it’s beautiful and was so so refreshing to read. i cannot recommend this enough.
have you ever read a book where a character’s past experiences, inner thoughts, and actions speak so much to your own? that’s how i feel about joy.
as an aspec reader, this book has been such a highly anticipated read of mine and i was downright giddy when i saw that i received this arc. and, can i say, this did not let me down. not one bit. this book speaks a lot on the asexual experience and how, importantly, there’s a vast spectrum. while neither joy nor malcolm’s experiences match perfectly with mine, it was incredible to see. their candid and blunt discussions about their asexuality and how they’ve had to fit into a heteronormative and (often) sex-driven world was invaluable. i especially loved how joy spoke about how her dress and “provocative” actions have nothing to do with sex and sexuality. claire kann did an outstanding job constructing these conversations. also, do i even need to mention how appreciative i am seeing two of the four main characters be black and aspec? no? good. because it’s representation that’s important and absolutely necessary for readers to have.
now, moving on to the characters and plot of this book. none of these characters are perfect people. in fact, they’re incredibly flawed. all of them and in major ways. but, you know what, it’s realistic. they all felt like people i know or might meet in my future. and i think that just shows how well of a job kann did writing these characters. malcolm irritated me to no ends (as i’m sure he was supposed to). summer grew on me in the way she began on joy. and fox. grumpy, precious fox. he was so willing to learn, understand, and work with joy’s boundaries. i mean, the consent! they were constantly ensuring that both of them were comfortable in whatever situation they were in. i know it’s a bare minimum, but as joy touched on in the book, it doesn’t always feel that way as an asexual person in the dating world. overall, i just loved seeing their relationship grow.
genuinely, this was honestly one of the best romances i’ve read in a while and easily a new favorite. the feelings and dynamics between these four characters felt raw and real. don’t go into this expecting a spicy romance. it’s not that. but, it’s beautiful and was so so refreshing to read. i cannot recommend this enough.
May 11, 2022
I had the pleasure of attending a panel featuring several authors including Claire Kann recently and after hearing her speak about The Romantic Agenda, I knew I had to read it.
Things to look forward to:
- Tropes like: fake dating, forced proximity, vacation romance, only one hammock
- ace representation
- A grumpy silver fox named Fox ;) I loved how he wanted to learn more about Joy and always respected her boundaries. The consent was top tier and the spa day and hammock scenes were two of my favorites.
- So much unrequited love and pining. Seriously, it was an entire forest. I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it was done so well.
- Complex relationships and relatable characters. No one is perfect in this book, but I felt that they were all ultimately good people. I appreciated that everyone was learning and growing and that even when mistakes are made, the characters weren't condemned for them.
I both read and listened to The Romantic Agenda and really enjoyed the performance by Adrienne Walker. She captured Joy so perfectly and I had no problem differentiating between characters.
Audiobook Review
Overall 4 stars
Performance 4.5 stars
Story 4 stars
CW: death of friend (past), grief, anxiety
*I voluntarily read and listened to an advance review copy of this book*
Things to look forward to:
- Tropes like: fake dating, forced proximity, vacation romance, only one hammock
- ace representation
- A grumpy silver fox named Fox ;) I loved how he wanted to learn more about Joy and always respected her boundaries. The consent was top tier and the spa day and hammock scenes were two of my favorites.
- So much unrequited love and pining. Seriously, it was an entire forest. I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it was done so well.
- Complex relationships and relatable characters. No one is perfect in this book, but I felt that they were all ultimately good people. I appreciated that everyone was learning and growing and that even when mistakes are made, the characters weren't condemned for them.
I both read and listened to The Romantic Agenda and really enjoyed the performance by Adrienne Walker. She captured Joy so perfectly and I had no problem differentiating between characters.
Audiobook Review
Overall 4 stars
Performance 4.5 stars
Story 4 stars
CW: death of friend (past), grief, anxiety
*I voluntarily read and listened to an advance review copy of this book*
February 8, 2025
There were parts of this book that a found so compelling and interesting, specifically the exploration of asexuality and relationships. Joy navigating what a romantic relationship would look like for her and Fox was very cute. I also really liked that Joy got to be cool and hot and that in no way invalidates her asexuality. What didn’t work for me was the whole Malcom toxic friendship thing. I think that part of that may be that I’ve never had a friendship like that before so it just doesn’t resonate for me. But I think the main issue was that I thought Malcom kinda sucked. I think the problem was that the book needed to spend some time making me fall in love with their friend dynamic but we immediately start with finding out he’s been lying to Joy. Then for the whole vacation he was kinda rude to both Joy and Summer. His inability to start the trip by telling Joy that Summer wanted to meet/befriend her got on my nerves. By the end of the book I was rooting for Summer to dump him and find someone that appreciates her sweet naivety.
July 30, 2024
This turned out to be a delightful contemporary romance! I almost DNFed this early on and I’m so glad I pushed through my reservations. Malcolm and Joy have an extremely codependent friendship and I wasn’t sure I could hang in there. It was so blatantly unhealthy for both of them. I didn’t want the book to ignore that, or worse, present them as Romance Goals. But then the story started to actively engage with the toxicity of the relationship and I was hooked. Plus, there are puns!
Joy and Malcolm are both asexual and have been best friends since college. Joy is also secretly in love with Malcolm. When he convinces her to join a weekend getaway with his new love interest Summer and Summer’s ex Fox, Joy decides it’s time to confess her feelings. That leads to her and Fox fake dating and that changes everything. Let the record reflect Fox is an absolute dreamboat. Team Fox for life.
As the weekend unfolds, nothing turns out the way Joy imagined. She and Malcolm are having to confront the ways their friendship no longer serves them and that they’re not actually as honest with each other as they say they are. Joy also starts to grapple with why she developed feelings for Malcolm in the first place, mostly boiling down to the fact that she didn’t think anyone else would accept her as a Black asexual woman. Oh, my heart! In the midst of that, she’s getting to know grumpy, taciturn, caretaker Fox and a whole new possibility unfolds. I adored the way things evolved between Joy and Fox and how careful he was about her boundaries and gauging the romantic possibilities between them.
Because I’m me, I wanted more emotions but when I reflect on it, that might not have fit sunshiney Joy or silent type Fox’s personalities—and they’re aware of their limitations and the difficulty of vulnerability. The story ends on a great promising note for them. Joy and Malcolm still have to figure out what their friendship is going to look like but they’ve also widened the circle and that leaves me feeling hopeful for all of them.
Note: Joy and Fox don't have sex—Joy won't rule it out for someday but she's not ready for that now—but they do kiss with clothes off so that might be more than what chaste readers typically want and less than what closed door readers would expect.
Characters: Joy is a 30 year old Black asexual office manager, fashion social media influencer, and virgin. She has a cat named Pepper. Fox is a 29 year old white furniture maker and construction worker with prematurely graying hair.
Content notes: codependency, acephobia, story about homophobic pastor (past), past death of MMC’s friend/secondary character’s brother, past depression (secondary character), alcohol, inebriation (secondary character), gendered pejoratives, gender essentialist language, ableist language, reference to past weight gain, reference to medical racism and mortality rates for Black women
Joy and Malcolm are both asexual and have been best friends since college. Joy is also secretly in love with Malcolm. When he convinces her to join a weekend getaway with his new love interest Summer and Summer’s ex Fox, Joy decides it’s time to confess her feelings. That leads to her and Fox fake dating and that changes everything. Let the record reflect Fox is an absolute dreamboat. Team Fox for life.
As the weekend unfolds, nothing turns out the way Joy imagined. She and Malcolm are having to confront the ways their friendship no longer serves them and that they’re not actually as honest with each other as they say they are. Joy also starts to grapple with why she developed feelings for Malcolm in the first place, mostly boiling down to the fact that she didn’t think anyone else would accept her as a Black asexual woman. Oh, my heart! In the midst of that, she’s getting to know grumpy, taciturn, caretaker Fox and a whole new possibility unfolds. I adored the way things evolved between Joy and Fox and how careful he was about her boundaries and gauging the romantic possibilities between them.
Because I’m me, I wanted more emotions but when I reflect on it, that might not have fit sunshiney Joy or silent type Fox’s personalities—and they’re aware of their limitations and the difficulty of vulnerability. The story ends on a great promising note for them. Joy and Malcolm still have to figure out what their friendship is going to look like but they’ve also widened the circle and that leaves me feeling hopeful for all of them.
Note: Joy and Fox don't have sex—Joy won't rule it out for someday but she's not ready for that now—but they do kiss with clothes off so that might be more than what chaste readers typically want and less than what closed door readers would expect.
Characters: Joy is a 30 year old Black asexual office manager, fashion social media influencer, and virgin. She has a cat named Pepper. Fox is a 29 year old white furniture maker and construction worker with prematurely graying hair.
Content notes: codependency, acephobia, story about homophobic pastor (past), past death of MMC’s friend/secondary character’s brother, past depression (secondary character), alcohol, inebriation (secondary character), gendered pejoratives, gender essentialist language, ableist language, reference to past weight gain, reference to medical racism and mortality rates for Black women
April 26, 2022
TW: anxiety, panic attacks, acephobia, mention of a past car accident
Claire Kann, thank you for your service. Truly.
I never realised how starved I was for more asexual representation until I read this. In the last few years there has been an increase in ace-spec books that have been published but it's not enough.
I want romances where the main character is ace and there's no acephobia bullshit. I want fantasy with ace characters. Gosh, I just want it so badly but I never realised I was repressing my feelings.
Last year I read a romance where the main character was ace and there was romance but she had to deal with acephobia every single minute. It made me cry because it felt like I was being told those things. It made me think "we'll never get a happy romance."
The Romantic Agenda is our happy romance. The romance we deserve.
It takes inspiration in My Best Friend's Wedding where Joy is in love with her best friend Malcolm, however Malcolm is interested in Summer. Is this the last chance Joy has to confess her feelings before Malcolm is engaged?
In the beginning, I was worried I wouldn't like it because of the plot. My fears quickly vanished as I fell in love with the story and the characters. It's not the type of book where you take sides, where Joy is always right and she has been wronged. It makes you think about the complexity between all the characters and how they interact.
Life is messy, and human feelings are as well. There are no right or wrong sides to this story, only emotions. And it shows Claire Kann's craft, how she is able to write complex characters and situations.
I connected so much to Joy's fears and dreams. I'm so afraid of my heart being broken that I'd rather never go through it. And it's lovely to see the difference experiences between Joy and Malcolm in terms of their asexuality. I think people easily forget that asexuality is not one thing, but a spectrum so I enjoyed seeing these two people interact and share their feelings.
I truly loved this book. Joy and Fox have their grip on my heart. Especially Pepper! My sweet Pepper.
I am beyond happy this book exists, and I am happy to see myself represented in a happy story.
If someone as perfect for me as Malcolm, who feels like my match in every single way, doesn't want me, what possible chance do I have with anyone else? I'm not willing to let my heart get broken over and over again to find out. I'm really scared of getting hurt and being mistreated and getting called broken or worse.
Claire Kann, thank you for your service. Truly.
I never realised how starved I was for more asexual representation until I read this. In the last few years there has been an increase in ace-spec books that have been published but it's not enough.
I want romances where the main character is ace and there's no acephobia bullshit. I want fantasy with ace characters. Gosh, I just want it so badly but I never realised I was repressing my feelings.
Last year I read a romance where the main character was ace and there was romance but she had to deal with acephobia every single minute. It made me cry because it felt like I was being told those things. It made me think "we'll never get a happy romance."
The Romantic Agenda is our happy romance. The romance we deserve.
It takes inspiration in My Best Friend's Wedding where Joy is in love with her best friend Malcolm, however Malcolm is interested in Summer. Is this the last chance Joy has to confess her feelings before Malcolm is engaged?
In the beginning, I was worried I wouldn't like it because of the plot. My fears quickly vanished as I fell in love with the story and the characters. It's not the type of book where you take sides, where Joy is always right and she has been wronged. It makes you think about the complexity between all the characters and how they interact.
Life is messy, and human feelings are as well. There are no right or wrong sides to this story, only emotions. And it shows Claire Kann's craft, how she is able to write complex characters and situations.
I connected so much to Joy's fears and dreams. I'm so afraid of my heart being broken that I'd rather never go through it. And it's lovely to see the difference experiences between Joy and Malcolm in terms of their asexuality. I think people easily forget that asexuality is not one thing, but a spectrum so I enjoyed seeing these two people interact and share their feelings.
I truly loved this book. Joy and Fox have their grip on my heart. Especially Pepper! My sweet Pepper.
I am beyond happy this book exists, and I am happy to see myself represented in a happy story.
March 16, 2022
An ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
2.5/5 Stars
I'm gonna be real honest and say that I expected more from this novel. Joy is lovely, she's funny and has a great sense of humour which I really did enjoy. The only thing I could not understand about her was her very big and long-lasting crush on Malcom, who I hated with all my being. I just couldn't stand the guy, he was so annoying. In the book we're told that Joy and Malcom have been friends for years and that they have a great connection comparable to no others. Well, I did not see this amazing connection and I really disliked how Malcom treated Joy most of the time. I guess I can understand her crush on him just because they have been in each other's life for literally years and also because he was the one who first introduced Joy to the ace spectrum and gave a name to all the feelings she had inside. But otherwise I could literally not see the appeal of him. I was even sorry for poor Summer, because I truly feel like she deserves better than him.
It should come as no surprise that I was on the Fox's shipping boat from page one and I was sorry to see how little page-time he was given. I truly believe he was the best character of the book just after Joy. The moments Fox and Joy spent together and alone, without Malcom looking at them like a hawk, were definitely my favourites and also the ones where both of them felt safe enough to be vulnerable and open with each other. I would have loved more scenes between the two, it would have made a big difference in my opinion.
I did appreciate the ace representation, especially in a romance novel like this one here and I also liked how personal boundaries were portrayed and how communication was used to establish them, it was a very important aspect and I'm glad it was featured and not just mentioned.
Overall it is true that I did expect more from the plot of this book, but I'm definitely curious to check out what the author has in store for the future.
2.5/5 Stars
I'm gonna be real honest and say that I expected more from this novel. Joy is lovely, she's funny and has a great sense of humour which I really did enjoy. The only thing I could not understand about her was her very big and long-lasting crush on Malcom, who I hated with all my being. I just couldn't stand the guy, he was so annoying. In the book we're told that Joy and Malcom have been friends for years and that they have a great connection comparable to no others. Well, I did not see this amazing connection and I really disliked how Malcom treated Joy most of the time. I guess I can understand her crush on him just because they have been in each other's life for literally years and also because he was the one who first introduced Joy to the ace spectrum and gave a name to all the feelings she had inside. But otherwise I could literally not see the appeal of him. I was even sorry for poor Summer, because I truly feel like she deserves better than him.
It should come as no surprise that I was on the Fox's shipping boat from page one and I was sorry to see how little page-time he was given. I truly believe he was the best character of the book just after Joy. The moments Fox and Joy spent together and alone, without Malcom looking at them like a hawk, were definitely my favourites and also the ones where both of them felt safe enough to be vulnerable and open with each other. I would have loved more scenes between the two, it would have made a big difference in my opinion.
I did appreciate the ace representation, especially in a romance novel like this one here and I also liked how personal boundaries were portrayed and how communication was used to establish them, it was a very important aspect and I'm glad it was featured and not just mentioned.
Overall it is true that I did expect more from the plot of this book, but I'm definitely curious to check out what the author has in store for the future.
April 16, 2022
Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I loved this so much!!! I need more Ace romance books ASAP!
The Romantic Agenda follows thirty year old Joy. She's been in love with her best friend, Malcolm, for as long as she can remember, but he's never returned her feelings. When he tells her he's met the love of his life, Joy is crushed. Reluctantly, she agrees to a weekend getaway with Malcolm, Summer and Fox. Malcolm has asked her to keep an eye on Fox and this has Joy curious. The more time she spends with the grumpy Fox, the more she likes him.
This book was so fun. I loved being in Joy's head. The way her anxiety manifests was so relatable. Her hyperactivity and effervescence were so much fun to read. Joy made me feel energized every time I would pick this book up. It was so easy to fall in love with Joy and enjoy her story.
I loved that there's two asexual characters in this! We get to see that while both Malcolm and Joy are asexual, that means different things for their attitudes towards sex. Many times it's felt like all ace characters are written the same and they shouldn't be because the spectrum is so vast. But I think as more stories are written that center ace characters and voices, we'll truly see the diversity of the community shine through.
This book was so romantic. I loved it so much. The grumpy and sunshine trope is at it's max in this one and it was so good. I loved watching Fox and Joy grow closer. Fox's grumpiness was so much fun to poke at and I loved how Joy would easily get under his skin. Not only did I enjoy the romance, but I really loved the in depth look at Joy and Malcolm's friendship and how it had evolved to be something that was holding both of them back. I'm glad they took the time to figure out what they needed from each other and how they needed to make new boundaries.
Overall, I 1000% loved Claire Kann's adult debut and I hope she writes more adult romances like this one! I can't wait for her next book.
Rep: Black asexual cis female MC with anxiety, Black asexual cis male side character, white cishet female side character, white cishet male side character, BIPOC female side characters.
CWs: Mental illness (anxiety), panic attacks, cursing, acephobia/acemisia, alcohol consumption. Moderate: discussions of sexual content/behavior, racism. Minor: car accident.
I loved this so much!!! I need more Ace romance books ASAP!
The Romantic Agenda follows thirty year old Joy. She's been in love with her best friend, Malcolm, for as long as she can remember, but he's never returned her feelings. When he tells her he's met the love of his life, Joy is crushed. Reluctantly, she agrees to a weekend getaway with Malcolm, Summer and Fox. Malcolm has asked her to keep an eye on Fox and this has Joy curious. The more time she spends with the grumpy Fox, the more she likes him.
This book was so fun. I loved being in Joy's head. The way her anxiety manifests was so relatable. Her hyperactivity and effervescence were so much fun to read. Joy made me feel energized every time I would pick this book up. It was so easy to fall in love with Joy and enjoy her story.
I loved that there's two asexual characters in this! We get to see that while both Malcolm and Joy are asexual, that means different things for their attitudes towards sex. Many times it's felt like all ace characters are written the same and they shouldn't be because the spectrum is so vast. But I think as more stories are written that center ace characters and voices, we'll truly see the diversity of the community shine through.
This book was so romantic. I loved it so much. The grumpy and sunshine trope is at it's max in this one and it was so good. I loved watching Fox and Joy grow closer. Fox's grumpiness was so much fun to poke at and I loved how Joy would easily get under his skin. Not only did I enjoy the romance, but I really loved the in depth look at Joy and Malcolm's friendship and how it had evolved to be something that was holding both of them back. I'm glad they took the time to figure out what they needed from each other and how they needed to make new boundaries.
Overall, I 1000% loved Claire Kann's adult debut and I hope she writes more adult romances like this one! I can't wait for her next book.
Rep: Black asexual cis female MC with anxiety, Black asexual cis male side character, white cishet female side character, white cishet male side character, BIPOC female side characters.
CWs: Mental illness (anxiety), panic attacks, cursing, acephobia/acemisia, alcohol consumption. Moderate: discussions of sexual content/behavior, racism. Minor: car accident.
May 25, 2022
I AM SO DEEPLY IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK! So much so that I want it to be made into a blanket so I can wrap myself in it. I thought this book was going to be filled with hijinks with Joy trying to convince Malcolm that he should be with her. But surprisingly the main character was very mature in how she went about it. At first I thought Malcolm and Joy’s friendship was unhealthy but as I continued reading I understood them. It’s like their each other’s platonic soulmate or each other’s person think Cristina and Meredith from Grey’s Anatomy. Joy and Fox were nothing short of perfect. Their whole relationship dynamic was so adorable. Every scene of them together they just bounced off each other it was so magnetic. Grumpy x sunshine for the win! Joy and Fox both being their to break Summer and Malcom up and then falling in love was just beautifully done. Joy was just so joyful to read from like I don’t think I’ve encountered a main character I’ve loved this much in a long time. This was just perfection wrapped up in a fluffy fun summer romance novel. Claire Kann never fails to write books with amazing representation filled with lovable characters and a romance that warms your heart. And side note this was the last push I needed to finally watch My Best Friend’s Wedding.
September 2, 2023
2023 reads: 208/350
joy has been secretly in love with her best friend malcolm for years. but when malcolm plans a camping trip to ask out summer, joy takes it as the last chance to let him know her feelings. summer’s friend fox is also on the trip, and proposes a fake dating scheme to try to prevent malcolm and summer from getting serious.
this is another case of me reading a book’s synopsis, deciding it seems like something i’d enjoy and putting it on my tbr, forgetting the synopsis before i actually get around to reading it, then being surprised when something that was literally in the synopsis happens in the book. all that to say, i had no idea that this book had fake dating going into it, but that was a very pleasant surprise since i love that trope! starting off their fake relationship, joy is in love with malcolm, and though fox used to date summer, he’s not really in love with anyone, he just doesn’t want summer with malcolm. i thought the moments between them were so cute and i loved how fox, grumpy and uncommunicative, begins opening up to joy.
i loved the ace representation in this book. the isolation that ace people can experience is shown throughout the novel. joy starts off believing that, for her, it’s malcolm or nobody. she doesn’t think anyone else will understand her as well, since malcolm is black and ace like her. the book also talks about various misconceptions people have about asexuality, such as being sex-repulsed, not flirtatious, not wanting to show off your body, etc. both joy and malcolm are ace, but do not experience attraction the exact same. i thought this topic was handled very well.
i highly recommend this book to any adult romance reader, especially those wanting to read about an asexual mc.
joy has been secretly in love with her best friend malcolm for years. but when malcolm plans a camping trip to ask out summer, joy takes it as the last chance to let him know her feelings. summer’s friend fox is also on the trip, and proposes a fake dating scheme to try to prevent malcolm and summer from getting serious.
this is another case of me reading a book’s synopsis, deciding it seems like something i’d enjoy and putting it on my tbr, forgetting the synopsis before i actually get around to reading it, then being surprised when something that was literally in the synopsis happens in the book. all that to say, i had no idea that this book had fake dating going into it, but that was a very pleasant surprise since i love that trope! starting off their fake relationship, joy is in love with malcolm, and though fox used to date summer, he’s not really in love with anyone, he just doesn’t want summer with malcolm. i thought the moments between them were so cute and i loved how fox, grumpy and uncommunicative, begins opening up to joy.
i loved the ace representation in this book. the isolation that ace people can experience is shown throughout the novel. joy starts off believing that, for her, it’s malcolm or nobody. she doesn’t think anyone else will understand her as well, since malcolm is black and ace like her. the book also talks about various misconceptions people have about asexuality, such as being sex-repulsed, not flirtatious, not wanting to show off your body, etc. both joy and malcolm are ace, but do not experience attraction the exact same. i thought this topic was handled very well.
i highly recommend this book to any adult romance reader, especially those wanting to read about an asexual mc.
August 22, 2022
1.5/5
If you’re into unnecessary miscommunication, unrelatable characters and wasting whole paragraphs on what the main character is wearing, then this is your book!
Short version: the MC is a self-absorbed influencer, the rival is boring, the best friend is obnoxious, and the love interest undeserving of that whole ordeal. It focuses a lot more on the MC’s unhealthy obsession with her best friend rather than the weak love story happening in the background. Extra half star *only* because it has asexual characters.
Long version: the story’s based on a co-dependant pair of best friends who secretly loved each other since they met in university, but due to their inability to communicate (despite repeating throughout the book that they’re completely honest with each other), they’ve developed a frankly toxic relationship in which the girl has devoted her whole life to him, and the guy has lost every single romantic relationship he’s ever had because he’s always prioritised her to his partners.
It takes place over a long weekend, and loosely follows a “fake-dating” trope. A romantic story happening in a short amount of time is expectable, it *is* a romcom after all, but the issue is that the romantic story gets completely overshadowed by the main character obsessing over the guy who *isn’t* the love interest for most of the book. By the last two chapters, when the story is finally “resolved” (not really?) there hadn’t been enough time between the MC and the love interest for their relationship to matter.
It felt as if the book was trying to follow two different paths: one was the best friends trying to break that codependency that suffocated them, and the other was the girl falling in love, and there wasn’t enough space for both of them!
I was excited to read about asexual characters (we all know we don’t get enough rep), and while I believe this is purely personal, I’m not entirely sure I loved the way it was presented in the story. The conversations felt a tad forced, as if the topic popped-up in super random moments in an attempt to educate the reader rather than fitting into the context of the story. I’m aware asexuality is a spectrum, but I was rather disappointed that neither of the two asexual characters was sex-repulsed in the story.
Speaking of characters, the main gang sounds *at least* a decade younger than they are. They’re supposed to be around 30, but their maturity levels point towards late teens. Their behaviour, reactions, and conversations would be more appropriate for a high school story than adults going on a weekend getaway.
The main character is… well, she’s one of those fashion-and-make-up influencers whose only real worry is how they look. There was no way that was going to be a likeable character. She makes a particular effort to bring up social awareness on every possible occasion, but ends up sounding awfully racist when she assumes a presumably “latino looking” man is Mexican before even finding out his name (as a Latin American I really, really hated that).
She describes herself as “self-loathing” but manages to sound self-confident and frankly condescending pretty much all the time. She’s rather self-centred, and she’s obsessed with her Instagram-like social-media account (she spends so much time taking photos and posting them online, it gets old really quickly). And since she’s an influencer and gets paid to be chronically-online, I can’t quite understand why her best friend half-supports her economically. She’s also irritated by people knowing things about her in spite of posting them on her account for the world (or “the equivalent of a small country following her”) to see.
To put it simply: she’s not far from a Mary Sue.
Now to her best friend. The guy is very controlling, emotionally selfish, and that kind of rich person who shoves their wealth at you whether you like it or not, and expects you to be grateful by doing everything *he* wants in return. Things either go his way or they don’t happen at all.
The main “rival” was mistreated for most of the story by the MC because she wanted the MC to feel included in the group, and she wanted to get to know her, but the MC was insistent on being cold (if not straight-up nasty) towards her because the girl’s into her best friend.
The love interest is perhaps the most reasonable character, although he does try to comfort the MC instead of his super close friend, which wasn’t particularly loyal of him. He does act unrealistically at the end, but that sort of *is* the whole point of a romcom. He also has issues communicating, and all in all, he was a bit plain, but (and this isn’t a particularly high bar) at least he respects asexuality.
The one character I cannot fault is Pepper the cat. You go Pepper, you deserve a spin-off.
If you’re into unnecessary miscommunication, unrelatable characters and wasting whole paragraphs on what the main character is wearing, then this is your book!
Short version: the MC is a self-absorbed influencer, the rival is boring, the best friend is obnoxious, and the love interest undeserving of that whole ordeal. It focuses a lot more on the MC’s unhealthy obsession with her best friend rather than the weak love story happening in the background. Extra half star *only* because it has asexual characters.
Long version: the story’s based on a co-dependant pair of best friends who secretly loved each other since they met in university, but due to their inability to communicate (despite repeating throughout the book that they’re completely honest with each other), they’ve developed a frankly toxic relationship in which the girl has devoted her whole life to him, and the guy has lost every single romantic relationship he’s ever had because he’s always prioritised her to his partners.
It takes place over a long weekend, and loosely follows a “fake-dating” trope. A romantic story happening in a short amount of time is expectable, it *is* a romcom after all, but the issue is that the romantic story gets completely overshadowed by the main character obsessing over the guy who *isn’t* the love interest for most of the book. By the last two chapters, when the story is finally “resolved” (not really?) there hadn’t been enough time between the MC and the love interest for their relationship to matter.
It felt as if the book was trying to follow two different paths: one was the best friends trying to break that codependency that suffocated them, and the other was the girl falling in love, and there wasn’t enough space for both of them!
I was excited to read about asexual characters (we all know we don’t get enough rep), and while I believe this is purely personal, I’m not entirely sure I loved the way it was presented in the story. The conversations felt a tad forced, as if the topic popped-up in super random moments in an attempt to educate the reader rather than fitting into the context of the story. I’m aware asexuality is a spectrum, but I was rather disappointed that neither of the two asexual characters was sex-repulsed in the story.
Speaking of characters, the main gang sounds *at least* a decade younger than they are. They’re supposed to be around 30, but their maturity levels point towards late teens. Their behaviour, reactions, and conversations would be more appropriate for a high school story than adults going on a weekend getaway.
The main character is… well, she’s one of those fashion-and-make-up influencers whose only real worry is how they look. There was no way that was going to be a likeable character. She makes a particular effort to bring up social awareness on every possible occasion, but ends up sounding awfully racist when she assumes a presumably “latino looking” man is Mexican before even finding out his name (as a Latin American I really, really hated that).
She describes herself as “self-loathing” but manages to sound self-confident and frankly condescending pretty much all the time. She’s rather self-centred, and she’s obsessed with her Instagram-like social-media account (she spends so much time taking photos and posting them online, it gets old really quickly). And since she’s an influencer and gets paid to be chronically-online, I can’t quite understand why her best friend half-supports her economically. She’s also irritated by people knowing things about her in spite of posting them on her account for the world (or “the equivalent of a small country following her”) to see.
To put it simply: she’s not far from a Mary Sue.
Now to her best friend. The guy is very controlling, emotionally selfish, and that kind of rich person who shoves their wealth at you whether you like it or not, and expects you to be grateful by doing everything *he* wants in return. Things either go his way or they don’t happen at all.
The main “rival” was mistreated for most of the story by the MC because she wanted the MC to feel included in the group, and she wanted to get to know her, but the MC was insistent on being cold (if not straight-up nasty) towards her because the girl’s into her best friend.
The love interest is perhaps the most reasonable character, although he does try to comfort the MC instead of his super close friend, which wasn’t particularly loyal of him. He does act unrealistically at the end, but that sort of *is* the whole point of a romcom. He also has issues communicating, and all in all, he was a bit plain, but (and this isn’t a particularly high bar) at least he respects asexuality.
The one character I cannot fault is Pepper the cat. You go Pepper, you deserve a spin-off.
May 30, 2022
Joy is a 30-year old asexual woman who's in love with her best friend Malcolm. Even though Malcolm and Joy are both obsessed with each other, Malcolm has always sought romance with other people. His latest relationship is with Summer, who's determined not to make the mistakes of Malcom's other girlfriends and attempt to exclude Joy from his life. So after springing both the existence of Summer on Joy and a request for a weekend away with Malcolm, Summer, Joy and Summer's friend Fox, things get very strange and the odd relationships of these four begin to shakeout.
Joy and Macolm's relationship is a fascinating example of co-dependence in an unhealthy way. As the story goes along we also understand how Joy's feelings about her own asexuality help to make it unhealthy, and that's the real focus of the story, even though it's ostensibly a romance. And the romantic bits are quite good. I enjoyed this.
Joy and Macolm's relationship is a fascinating example of co-dependence in an unhealthy way. As the story goes along we also understand how Joy's feelings about her own asexuality help to make it unhealthy, and that's the real focus of the story, even though it's ostensibly a romance. And the romantic bits are quite good. I enjoyed this.
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June 16, 2022
An updated version of My Best Friend's Wedding, with a Black ace main character!
Ever since she saw Malcolm holding up an A at the LGBTQIA+ social in college, she knew two things for certain: first, that the weirdness she'd felt all her life wasn't weirdness at all but asexuality, and second, that she was hopelessly in love with her best friend.
There's just a problem: Malcolm doesn't seem to feel the same way for her, and the women he dates really do not like having to deal with what they consider Third Wheel Joy. When Malcolm unexpectedly invites Joy on a vacation with his new girlfriend and his new girlfriend's best friend, Joy decides this is it. She's going to tell Malcolm her feelings once and for all. Even weirder? Fox, the best friend of Malcolm's new girlfriend Summer, is allll over it, and on board with a fake dating scheme to break up the two lovebirds and get Joy her man.
It can't go wrong.
Right?
Anywho, really cute, although I did not see what the hell Joy saw in Malcolm (I get it though—very 27 Dresses vibes between Joy and Malcolm). And I did like the asexual aspect of things, and how Fox took care and consideration with Joy to make sure he didn't make her feel uncomfortable.
Ever since she saw Malcolm holding up an A at the LGBTQIA+ social in college, she knew two things for certain: first, that the weirdness she'd felt all her life wasn't weirdness at all but asexuality, and second, that she was hopelessly in love with her best friend.
There's just a problem: Malcolm doesn't seem to feel the same way for her, and the women he dates really do not like having to deal with what they consider Third Wheel Joy. When Malcolm unexpectedly invites Joy on a vacation with his new girlfriend and his new girlfriend's best friend, Joy decides this is it. She's going to tell Malcolm her feelings once and for all. Even weirder? Fox, the best friend of Malcolm's new girlfriend Summer, is allll over it, and on board with a fake dating scheme to break up the two lovebirds and get Joy her man.
It can't go wrong.
Right?
Anywho, really cute, although I did not see what the hell Joy saw in Malcolm (I get it though—very 27 Dresses vibes between Joy and Malcolm). And I did like the asexual aspect of things, and how Fox took care and consideration with Joy to make sure he didn't make her feel uncomfortable.
August 7, 2022
This book surprised me in a really good way. I didn’t really know what to expect, reading a romance about an asexual protagonist. I don’t know a lot about asexuality, so I thought that aspect of the book was really interesting to learn about. I know asexuality is a spectrum and not everyone experiences it the same, but I liked learning about this character’s thoughts and feelings. This book hooked me in and I had a really hard time putting it down. It was funny and dramatic and didn’t follow the same rom-com plot formula so many other books do. I definitely recommend it!
October 5, 2022
I truly could not wait to finish this book. The only reason I stuck it out is because I was bored at work. I hated every single one of the characters, they are all so immature. They’re supposed to be 30-ish? I felt like I was reading a bad high school drama. The dialogue was confusing, and if I had to read “hey hey” or “hmm.” one more time, I was going to lose it!!!! I was so excited about ace representation, but this missed the mark big time.
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