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octavia_cade 's review for:

The Secret Loves of Geeks by Hope Nicholson
3.0
emotional lighthearted fast-paced

I really enjoyed the idea and format of this collection! It's a series of essays and short comics, all themed about love. It's not particularly prescriptive about what type of love, either. Sometimes it's directed at a romantic partner, sometimes at a child, sometimes at something especially geeky, and sometimes it's about self-acceptance and learning to love yourself in a world where you perhaps don't quite fit in. Not all of the stories have a happy ending - many romances do end, after all - but they're all looked back on with gratitude and positivity, which is nice. There's a real variety here, is what I'm saying. Anyway, I think my favourite was Gwen Benaway's essay on how Buffy the Vampire Slayer reflected her journey as a trans woman, although J.P. Larocque's story of how a former relationship did not survive his hatred of Star Wars was a close runner-up.

I do think, however, that some of the entries here felt rather abbreviated, or in some cases a little slight. It's a fun collection, but coming across a piece like Benaway's does highlight for me how much I wanted the other pieces to match it for thoughtfulness and impact.