Ah! More aro/ace spec representation! More platonic love! More of it all!

Dear Wendy centers on Wellesley students Sophie and Jo, rival college anonymous micro-celebrities engaged in an internet feud while unknowingly becoming friends IRL. While their rivalry simmers online, in person they are bonding over their shared aromantic and asexual identities and class projects, as well as the ultimate fear of being forgotten. Can Sophie and Jo reconcile what they’ve learned about each other once they learn who's behind their online personas?

I am a Wellesley alum, and I actually went to Wellesley the same time as Ann Zhao! Because of that, I found it fun to see our college on the page, and there was so much Wellesley lore and cultural introspection that you’re now privvy too without having to attend the College yourself. It is a lot but it is also entirely accurate, so if you’ve ever wondered…

My one big critique of this book is that the platonic love developed very quickly. One chapter we are beefing online, the next we are declaring that we are platonic soulmates and we hope, hope, hope that this is a friendship that can last the test of time. I see it, I want it to be true and believable, but I think we still have to hold platonic love to the same standards of romantic love when it comes to how it develops throughout the course of the story. This was a step too fast for how dramatic the first 2/3 of the book are. I definitely think we could have restructured a couple of later chapters to better show their platonic love bloom.

I do, genuinely, love this book, and I am so thankful to Zhao for adding such important acespec representation to the YA and queer spaces it occupies. This book is beyond just representation, it is love — love for ace people, love for aro people, love for figuring it out and finding your people. I have already recommended this book to several people, several booksellers and librarians, and I will continue to sing its praises. Truly a lovely first book out of Ann Zhao, and I hope to see more stories from her when she is ready!