“I couldn’t quite believe how much I seriously loved Aled Last, even if it wasn’t in the ideal way that would make it socially acceptable for us to live together until we die.”

I love this book. I’m not sure if I can write a coherent review right now because I have a lot of feelings about this book and they are fresh. But here goes.

What I liked:

1. The characters. They are wonderful, flawed, complex, messy people. I loved them.

2. The friendships. More than the characters on their own, I loved the friendships in this book. I love that the two main characters, a boy and a girl, are not romantic in any way, shape, or form. I love that they still love each other deeply. At one point Aled tells Frances that he is “platonically in love” with her. It’s probably my favorite friendship I’ve ever read. I also like how Frances becomes better friends with Raine as she allows herself to just be true to herself.

3. Diverse characters. This book is full of ethnic and sexual diversity.
Frances is half Ethiopian, half white. Daniel is Korean. There are two gay characters, one bisexual characters, and one demisexual character. I liked the conversation that two of the characters have about being demisexual and what that really means. This book isn’t actually about romance for any of these characters, but their sexuality is a part of their personalities.

4. Lack of romance. I love romance. I admit it. I’m a big sucker for a good romance in a book. But I also loved that it was such a back-burnered aspect of this story. There is one couple who is an established couple and the book is not about their romance.

5. Fun nerdy stuff! Fandom!!
I love that this book is about fandom and podcasts. I’ve read Fangirl and Eliza and Her Monsters. I have to say, I think this is the best of the three of them. It explores not only the positive, but also the incredibly negative things that creators are subjected to when putting their work out for the public to see. As extreme as some of those negative comments may have seemed, I have no doubt that many creative people have seen that and worse when producing their content. This book explored the toll that kind of barrage of criticism can take on a person.

6. Frances’s mother!!! I know this should be under characters, but whatever. I loved Frances’s mother, specifically her relationship with her daughter. I just loved their dynamic and how she went all mama bear in defense of the people who were important to Frances. One of the best YA parents I’ve read in awhile.

What I didn’t like:

1. Aled and Carys’ mother felt a little moutache-twirly, one-note villain to me. The explanation is that she expects perfection from her kids, but to me she’s just a sociopath. I wanted her behavior to have some sort of complexity, but it didn’t. It was just crazy.

I was so surprised at how much I loved this book, and I will be reading more from this author in the future.