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.