rengulick's review
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.75
bopip's review
4.0
It was sweet and cute, and for that it reminded me of Heartstopper.
I've found Jordan a bit annoying at the beginning , but a bit later I accepted him (?).
And at some point I was like "oh no, please, don't end this with 'they had sex and they lived happy and they were cured of asexuality'" but it didn't so I'm happy.
Bonus point for poly relationship on secondary characters huhu
I've found Jordan a bit annoying at the beginning , but a bit later I accepted him (?).
And at some point I was like "oh no, please, don't end this with 'they had sex and they lived happy and they were cured of asexuality'" but it didn't so I'm happy.
Bonus point for poly relationship on secondary characters huhu
rutatheythem's review
4.0
Hikayenin gelişimi karakterlerin arasındaki ilişki gerçekten çok güzeldi. Eski sevgililerin sürekli araya girdiği saçmalıkların vb. durumların olmaması kitabı favorilerime eklememi sağlayacak bir neden bile olabilirdi. Ama aşırı derecede fazla tesadüf olması ve ilişkilerinde yaşanan her olayın sürekli bir seyirci kitlesinin önünde olmasından hoşlanmadım. Gerçekçiliği ve samimiyetini yitirdi benim için. Ama yine de çok iyi bir kitaptı. Yazarın diğer kitaplarına da göz atacağım elbette.
kamitsukasero's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“I didn’t realise how hard I’ve ben trying to fit in with the real world, trying to be normal when my normal was here all along.”
Finding a book with valid asexual representation is one of the hardest things and I am extremely grateful this book handled it well and is also the only ficitional book I found so far that is about actual adults dealing with their identities on the asexual spectrum. The audiobook was incredibly well performed – fun and engaging - and the entire book felt like 'watching' a television drama. I think it is so important to have these types of cheesy but heart-warming queer stories that don’t end in tragedy and just portray the very down-to-earth, ever so trivial struggles of queer people falling in love (or doing other mundance things, living their lives) - especially with ace characters involved – we so desperately need more of these ace stories!
At the start I thought this particular style of writing was not going to be for me (and I can only speak for the audio book here) but I quickly came to enjoy it and got surprisingly attached to the characters. I think the audio book may in fact have uplifted the entire experience for me as it’s a very dialogue heavy, ‘colloquial’ experience and the 1st person POV might have put me off in print, possibly. It did feel a little like fanfiction (and I say that as very positive thing, I wish more stories read like fanfiction sometimes) e.g. how the story did not waste too much time on establishing settings and characters (but introduced them well and organically) and had a sense of freedom to the way it is presented to the reader. At times it was be very direct, maybe too direct, but it felt very genuine and real, and the ace community really doesn’t get that a lot so I will take any overly direct exposition over nothing any day. It feels almost too perfect and too happy but it made me smile for being that way – it was so good to escape to a story as happy as this one.
While it did feel like a feel-good TV drama, it also felt relatable in many parts to the point where I got very emotional over seemingly trivial things because they just hit home a lot. Upside Down is essentially here for you to have a fun time and a laugh here and there, and I really appreciate that as welcome distraction from how glum real life feels more often than not in comparison. Many moments in the book felt like a reassuring pat on the shoulder to give hope and encouragement to ace readers for their own lives and futures.
marioncromb's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Not much plot and not much narrative conflict. Nice to read a book with asexual characters, although there was kinda a weird message that ace people can never be in successful relationships with allo people. It was less 'its so much more comfortable/less work to be with another ace person' and more 'being with an allo person is impossible'. It would have been nice to have at least one character who showed this was a possibility!
Pure romance isnt really my thing but its refreshing to see romance that is like these two really fancy each other where boning isnt the natural or preferable outcome of that. I enjoyed the soup crew scenes as well
Pure romance isnt really my thing but its refreshing to see romance that is like these two really fancy each other where boning isnt the natural or preferable outcome of that. I enjoyed the soup crew scenes as well
camill3's review
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
very cute story with amazing ace rep, i just didn't know enough literature to understand the literaty references
pandecanela's review
1.0
O sea, lo mejor que puedo decir de este libro es que se dejó leer en menos de una tarde completa lol
Tipo I know that one size does not fit all pero,,, muy decepcionante, la verdad. El amor que le tienen en los círculos asexuales de bookstagram.............I don't get it. La voz del principal es funny al principio pero después cuando llegan al support group it all felt so...preachy. And it has a few other moments like that, no solo I don't like preachy, it also feels so artificial. I'm here to read a novel, not a manifesto.
Also like. I didn't like some of the things that were being preached lol tipo después al final con la crisis final como que lo arreglan un tach pero igual. No sé, I was not a fan. Also some other things, like calling a throuple "weird". Babe.
Anyway. I loved the soup group, they were funny, def the best part of the book lol
Sinceramente no se lo recomendaría a nadie lol Encima es tan azucarado. Tan,,, ugh. Dicen de ir lento y pero no dejan de decirse los chamuyos más chamuyables de la vida. Idk. Y la escena final contestándole al powerpoint...... there IS something such as as too quirky.
Anyway at least now I know.
Originalmente había puesto dos estrellas porque no es TAN malo pero by the way this review went....I had ti admit that maybe 1 star was more accurate rip
Tipo I know that one size does not fit all pero,,, muy decepcionante, la verdad. El amor que le tienen en los círculos asexuales de bookstagram.............I don't get it. La voz del principal es funny al principio pero después cuando llegan al support group it all felt so...preachy. And it has a few other moments like that, no solo I don't like preachy, it also feels so artificial. I'm here to read a novel, not a manifesto.
Also like. I didn't like some of the things that were being preached lol tipo después al final con la crisis final como que lo arreglan un tach pero igual. No sé, I was not a fan. Also some other things, like calling a throuple "weird". Babe.
Anyway. I loved the soup group, they were funny, def the best part of the book lol
Sinceramente no se lo recomendaría a nadie lol Encima es tan azucarado. Tan,,, ugh. Dicen de ir lento y pero no dejan de decirse los chamuyos más chamuyables de la vida. Idk. Y la escena final contestándole al powerpoint...... there IS something such as as too quirky.
Anyway at least now I know.
Originalmente había puesto dos estrellas porque no es TAN malo pero by the way this review went....I had ti admit that maybe 1 star was more accurate rip
lolasreviews's review
3.0
This is the second book I read by this author. One of the issues I had with the first book (Evolved) I read by this author was that there was a bit too much sex in it, so I figured a novel about an asexual couple would be the perfect one to try next. Upside Down is a sweet romance novel about two asexual guys who fall in love while one of them discovers what it means to be asexual, but mostly its just a very sweet romance story.
The story is told from the point of views of Jordan and Hennesy. They both take the same bus home and Jordan is kinda obsessed with the bus guy or headphones guy as he names him. Then one day they meet for real during the asexual support group meeting that Hennesy organizes. After that they slowly grow closer. I liked getting both their point of views, but their voices are pretty similar, so sometimes I had to double check whose point of view I was reading.
This was a nice slow build romance, they got to know each other after the meeting by asking each other questions during the short bus ride, which was fun. And they go on several dates. I liked how well they fit together and how they liked the same things, although they did seem a bit too similar almost at times. their personalities and interest are very close together. I didn't get most of the book references and quotes, so that part didn't really work for me as I didn't know the books they were talking about.
It was interesting learning a bit more about what being asexual means. I think this is only the second book or so that I read which has asexual characters, so my knowledge is pretty limited and it was interesting learning more about it. I liked that while they were asexual, they also were sex positive and didn't mind others having sex. Although I did found them a bit lacking in understanding when it came to previous boyfriends wanting sex. I think understanding should come from both sides, but at the same time it seems like a difficult situation to make work. It was nice to see how these two characters who were both asexual made things work and how their romance progressed. I also liked that they talked about what they did like and what not, when it comes to everything from holding hands, kissing to sex. The information about asexuality did seemed sprinkled throughout the book a bit weirdly at times. It just felt a bit unnatural at times.
It did bother me when they had this weird misunderstanding later in the book. They always managed to talk things out and Hennesy was able to pull Jordan out of his nervous moods or worries, but not here. It felt like a hurdle or conflict must be present and that's why that scene was there and it just felt forced to me. I thought having them talk it out would be more in character as that's what they did so far.
Another things that bothered me was the overuse of curse words. Jordan loves saying the MF bomb and says it all the time, even when inappropriate, maybe especially when inappropriate. And a lot and I really mean a lot, although it gets toned down a bit later in the book luckily. And half of the time it just didn't feel like the right place to drop another curse word or like it even fit in the sentence. Or a normal F bomb would be more appropriate if he had to curse in some sentences. All the cursing made him seem/ be rude and unprofessional. I didn't care for it at all. I don't mind some cuss words in books, but here it felt overdone and misplaced. I think it was supposed to be funny, but it wasn't to me. Jordan also tended to ramble on while being nervous, which could be both endearing and kinda annoying depending on the rambling. It could go on and off topic a bit too often at times, but it also led to some funny scenes.
From the book description I had expected his struggle with coming to terms to his asexuality would be a bigger part of the book. It is an important part of the book for sure, but I also felt like it was mostly about their romance. Them being asexual was a part of it, but the journey of Jordan accepting that part and learning what it means was only a small part of the actual story. The focus was more on the tow of them getting to know each other and falling in love.
While I did like both characters and thought they were sweet together. The whole book felt like something was missing for me to fully enjoy it. And I don't mean the sex, I thought it was great to read a book without sex here the characters make such a conscious decisions to not have sex. There just was missing something that would've made this one a great read instead of just okay. I am happy I read this book, but at the same time it just never reached that "really enjoying this" level.
There were some fun side characters as well. Jordan had two great friends in his roommate Angus and his bets friend Merry. And Hennesy worked for his best friend Michael. I also liked the Soup Crew, although at times it did feel that a lot of other characters were invested in their romance and took a part in it. I liked the way the story wrapped up in that over the top happy way as that totally works for me in romances.
To summarize: this was a cute read with a sweet romance about two asexual guys falling in love. I thought it was interesting to read about two asexual characters as I don't know a lot about the topic. It's told from dual point of view of both main characters and I liked getting to know them, although their voices were a bit too similar at times. Same goes with their personalities and hobbies for the most part, they almost seemed a bit too perfect of a fit. I did like Hennesy a bit better. For some reason this book failed to fully pull me in. I didn't care for Jordan's overuse of curse words. It wasn't funny to me at all and he just came across as rude. I thought the big misunderstanding later in the book felt a bit forced. I liked how both characters had friends and there was an over the top happy epilogue type chapter at the end which I liked.
The story is told from the point of views of Jordan and Hennesy. They both take the same bus home and Jordan is kinda obsessed with the bus guy or headphones guy as he names him. Then one day they meet for real during the asexual support group meeting that Hennesy organizes. After that they slowly grow closer. I liked getting both their point of views, but their voices are pretty similar, so sometimes I had to double check whose point of view I was reading.
This was a nice slow build romance, they got to know each other after the meeting by asking each other questions during the short bus ride, which was fun. And they go on several dates. I liked how well they fit together and how they liked the same things, although they did seem a bit too similar almost at times. their personalities and interest are very close together. I didn't get most of the book references and quotes, so that part didn't really work for me as I didn't know the books they were talking about.
It was interesting learning a bit more about what being asexual means. I think this is only the second book or so that I read which has asexual characters, so my knowledge is pretty limited and it was interesting learning more about it. I liked that while they were asexual, they also were sex positive and didn't mind others having sex. Although I did found them a bit lacking in understanding when it came to previous boyfriends wanting sex. I think understanding should come from both sides, but at the same time it seems like a difficult situation to make work. It was nice to see how these two characters who were both asexual made things work and how their romance progressed. I also liked that they talked about what they did like and what not, when it comes to everything from holding hands, kissing to sex. The information about asexuality did seemed sprinkled throughout the book a bit weirdly at times. It just felt a bit unnatural at times.
It did bother me when they had this weird misunderstanding later in the book. They always managed to talk things out and Hennesy was able to pull Jordan out of his nervous moods or worries, but not here. It felt like a hurdle or conflict must be present and that's why that scene was there and it just felt forced to me. I thought having them talk it out would be more in character as that's what they did so far.
Another things that bothered me was the overuse of curse words. Jordan loves saying the MF bomb and says it all the time, even when inappropriate, maybe especially when inappropriate. And a lot and I really mean a lot, although it gets toned down a bit later in the book luckily. And half of the time it just didn't feel like the right place to drop another curse word or like it even fit in the sentence. Or a normal F bomb would be more appropriate if he had to curse in some sentences. All the cursing made him seem/ be rude and unprofessional. I didn't care for it at all. I don't mind some cuss words in books, but here it felt overdone and misplaced. I think it was supposed to be funny, but it wasn't to me. Jordan also tended to ramble on while being nervous, which could be both endearing and kinda annoying depending on the rambling. It could go on and off topic a bit too often at times, but it also led to some funny scenes.
From the book description I had expected his struggle with coming to terms to his asexuality would be a bigger part of the book. It is an important part of the book for sure, but I also felt like it was mostly about their romance. Them being asexual was a part of it, but the journey of Jordan accepting that part and learning what it means was only a small part of the actual story. The focus was more on the tow of them getting to know each other and falling in love.
While I did like both characters and thought they were sweet together. The whole book felt like something was missing for me to fully enjoy it. And I don't mean the sex, I thought it was great to read a book without sex here the characters make such a conscious decisions to not have sex. There just was missing something that would've made this one a great read instead of just okay. I am happy I read this book, but at the same time it just never reached that "really enjoying this" level.
There were some fun side characters as well. Jordan had two great friends in his roommate Angus and his bets friend Merry. And Hennesy worked for his best friend Michael. I also liked the Soup Crew, although at times it did feel that a lot of other characters were invested in their romance and took a part in it. I liked the way the story wrapped up in that over the top happy way as that totally works for me in romances.
To summarize: this was a cute read with a sweet romance about two asexual guys falling in love. I thought it was interesting to read about two asexual characters as I don't know a lot about the topic. It's told from dual point of view of both main characters and I liked getting to know them, although their voices were a bit too similar at times. Same goes with their personalities and hobbies for the most part, they almost seemed a bit too perfect of a fit. I did like Hennesy a bit better. For some reason this book failed to fully pull me in. I didn't care for Jordan's overuse of curse words. It wasn't funny to me at all and he just came across as rude. I thought the big misunderstanding later in the book felt a bit forced. I liked how both characters had friends and there was an over the top happy epilogue type chapter at the end which I liked.
grinchally's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
doglady_reads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0