I was so intrigued by the concept of The Couple, and ultimately so disappointed by the clumsy execution. Coming in from reading mostly science-fiction and fantasy, I was expecting some thoughtful worldbuilding in this book– some genuine speculation about what a culture that normalises singleness would look like. What I found was incredibly shoddy and underdeveloped. For instance, there’s a couple in this book who are coparenting their child, much to the horror of their community, and their child is bullied as a result. For this reason- and this reason only- want to take a drug to deaden their romantic feelings for one another, but no-one thinks to points out that, drug or none, people will still think they’re romantically involved if their living arrangement doesn’t change. This is a fairly tame example, but there was such a long list of issues here that they repeatedly snapped my immersion like a twig.

Acton tries to execute a commentary on society’s obsession with hetereosexual coupling and nuclear families here. Tries, being the keyword. It’s almost incomprehensible to me that a book where couples are discriminated against, and casual hookups are the social norm somehow manages to come off as, for lack of a better term, “slut-shamey,” judgemental, and frankly sexist. Millie’s constant derision for the lifestyle of one of her sexually active coworkers makes her an extremely unlikeable protagonist, and that coworker is written as a complete cipher, hypersexual, shallow, and cutthroat, to try and get the reader to side with Millie. It’s completely juvenile, and very disappointing. Indeed, all the characters who are suited to the single lifestyle are, in some way, condemned by the narrative, which is deeply irritating.

It’s difficult not to see the anti-couple society this novel is set in through the lens of allegory, particularly when one of Millie’s close friends and co-workers, is in a marginalised committed relationship with another woman. As a queer person reading this book, the medication that suppresses romantic love feels obviously reminiscent of real-life forms of conversion therapy. So, when Millie’s co-worker

Spoiler

quits over their company’s distribution of it- and Millie has the audacity to be angry at her, because they had “promised to stay coworkers,” I was shocked, but hopeful Millie would realise her mistake, and apologise. But no– her co-worker ends up apologising *to her.* .

This incident, for me, sums up the general lack of thought Acton has exercised in writing this book. If you're looking for enaging speculative fiction, keep looking. This is a romance in an interesting hat.

Speaking of the romance under the hat, if there was nothing else about this book, to my surprise, I found I kind of liked Ben. I have a– perhaps inaccurate– perception that the male love interest in most romance novels is insanely hot, stoic, and hypermasculine. Ben is none of these things, but he is genuinely charming and funny, and Millie’s attraction to him makes sense. I just wish she had been a more bearable protagonist, so I that could root for them more.