girlreading's review against another edition
5.0
4.5* Tash Hearts Tolstoy is the kind of book that's impossible to put down. It is so easy flowing that, before I knew it, I found myself almost finished, having to force myself to stop reading because I had to 'life' instead. There were so many aspects to this book that are unfortunately not all that common in YA and I loved them. It had a cast of characters with various religions, sexualities, upbringings and individual stories. The MC was asexual which was fantastic to read. This gave such a great insight into a sexuality which is so often overlooked. I think my favourite part of this book was following Tash's journey of discovering and coming to terms with her asexuality, it was written in such a natural way and intertwined with the rest of the plot with such a brilliant balance. I also absolutely adored reading about her relationships with her family and friends (especially Paul, oh how I adored Paul!)
As someone who's on YouTube a lot, it was so much fun to have that as such a prevalent storyline and all the different elements that were touched on within that. I loved that it wasn't presented in a wholly negative way and instead showed how much work can go into creating, no matter how big or small your channel may be!
Overall, this was such a lovely read. It touched on so many individual topics, in a way that created a comfortable, easy read but one that was also incredibly informative and thought provoking. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would without a doubt highly recommend it.
As someone who's on YouTube a lot, it was so much fun to have that as such a prevalent storyline and all the different elements that were touched on within that. I loved that it wasn't presented in a wholly negative way and instead showed how much work can go into creating, no matter how big or small your channel may be!
Overall, this was such a lovely read. It touched on so many individual topics, in a way that created a comfortable, easy read but one that was also incredibly informative and thought provoking. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would without a doubt highly recommend it.
zackarinareads's review against another edition
3.0
Irgendwie weiß ich nicht so ganz, was ich von diesem Buch halten soll, also fasse ich mich mal kurz.
Das ganze Thema mit der Internetserie war an sich interessant, aber die Charaktere haben mich nicht wirklich begeistert. Sie waren alle ganz nett, haben mich aber einfach nicht wirklich gepackt.
Insgesamt ist das Buch ganz gut, ich weiß nicht, vielleicht hatte ich einfach zu hohe Erwartungen.
Das ganze Thema mit der Internetserie war an sich interessant, aber die Charaktere haben mich nicht wirklich begeistert. Sie waren alle ganz nett, haben mich aber einfach nicht wirklich gepackt.
Insgesamt ist das Buch ganz gut, ich weiß nicht, vielleicht hatte ich einfach zu hohe Erwartungen.
raohyrule's review against another edition
1.0
*edited because I wasn’t expressing myself well in the original review because of my dumb lizard brain being too quick on the draw*
*edited again because I hadn’t figured out as bi when I wrote this originally lol*
:( This was really disappointing. I was so excited to read this book and really looking forward to finally having ace rep. As a biromantic asexual with a rocky journey towards self acceptance, I was fully expecting to connect with Tash.
Unfortunately, this was bad ace rep imo.
It took a long time for the subject to even come up, and at first when it did it was okay and relatable enough. I highlighted a lot of passages in chapter nine specifically. Then it took a turn for the worse.
The author seemed to be attempting to hit all the vague talking points one would pick up from a few hours glancing at AVEN forums, but there was nothing deeper than that and there was an awkward absence of what it's really like to be ace or to be coming into self acceptance as an asexual. The first thing that alerted me to this was when Tash makes a point of telling readers that gay kids have it way harder than ace kids. Uh. Okay but we have some of the highest suicide rates in the LGBT+ community, we are among the most at risk for sexual assault, there’s the issue of medicalization, and we face as much stigmatization as anyone else in the community. Is it necessary to have throwaway lines ranking the rates of oppression various groups face? Does it help anyone or anything except the REGs that are actively and constantly aggressive towards asexuals and coming up with radfem rhetoric that belittles us, dehumanizes us, and ignore the issues we face?
So there's lots of little offbeat things like that throughout each mention of Tash's asexuality. Like the author implants the talking points but doesn't actually unpack any of them. Which sucks but I was sort of whatever about it until everything took a huge nosedive.
I don't care enough to recount exactly what happens but the scene towards the third half of the book with Paul and Tash at the wrap party was fucking awful lmao. Not only did Tash fail to think or react like an ace kid would in response to Paul's comments, even in her own head lol, but then she... takes off her clothes? In the middle of an argument? Lol. Does any allosexual person do this in the middle of an argument, let alone a horribly confused asexual? One major yikes.
But it gets worse! The fucking scene with Thom in the hotel room. Oh my actual fuck did I fear for my sanity reading that encounter. Not only was the scene painful to read and mildly triggering, I was terrified this author, with this character that has so much internalized acephobia was actually about to try to write about corrective rape. Fortunately, the scene fizzled out but oh god that was rough. And again Tash fails to comment on how fucked up it was, aloud or in her own head with the reader.
And that was my biggest problem with the rep. Tash's complete and utter failure to respond or think like an actual asexual teenager. Sure, there’s many different kinds of asexuals and not all of them can see themselves in one singular character, but Tash had so much internalized acephobia that was never challenged or discussed in any meaningful way that it left me sore.
Major bummer and disappointment. Kinda sad about it. I want ace rep so bad in literature.
*edited again because I hadn’t figured out as bi when I wrote this originally lol*
:( This was really disappointing. I was so excited to read this book and really looking forward to finally having ace rep. As a biromantic asexual with a rocky journey towards self acceptance, I was fully expecting to connect with Tash.
Unfortunately, this was bad ace rep imo.
It took a long time for the subject to even come up, and at first when it did it was okay and relatable enough. I highlighted a lot of passages in chapter nine specifically. Then it took a turn for the worse.
The author seemed to be attempting to hit all the vague talking points one would pick up from a few hours glancing at AVEN forums, but there was nothing deeper than that and there was an awkward absence of what it's really like to be ace or to be coming into self acceptance as an asexual. The first thing that alerted me to this was when Tash makes a point of telling readers that gay kids have it way harder than ace kids. Uh. Okay but we have some of the highest suicide rates in the LGBT+ community, we are among the most at risk for sexual assault, there’s the issue of medicalization, and we face as much stigmatization as anyone else in the community. Is it necessary to have throwaway lines ranking the rates of oppression various groups face? Does it help anyone or anything except the REGs that are actively and constantly aggressive towards asexuals and coming up with radfem rhetoric that belittles us, dehumanizes us, and ignore the issues we face?
So there's lots of little offbeat things like that throughout each mention of Tash's asexuality. Like the author implants the talking points but doesn't actually unpack any of them. Which sucks but I was sort of whatever about it until everything took a huge nosedive.
I don't care enough to recount exactly what happens but the scene towards the third half of the book with Paul and Tash at the wrap party was fucking awful lmao. Not only did Tash fail to think or react like an ace kid would in response to Paul's comments, even in her own head lol, but then she... takes off her clothes? In the middle of an argument? Lol. Does any allosexual person do this in the middle of an argument, let alone a horribly confused asexual? One major yikes.
But it gets worse! The fucking scene with Thom in the hotel room. Oh my actual fuck did I fear for my sanity reading that encounter. Not only was the scene painful to read and mildly triggering, I was terrified this author, with this character that has so much internalized acephobia was actually about to try to write about corrective rape. Fortunately, the scene fizzled out but oh god that was rough. And again Tash fails to comment on how fucked up it was, aloud or in her own head with the reader.
And that was my biggest problem with the rep. Tash's complete and utter failure to respond or think like an actual asexual teenager. Sure, there’s many different kinds of asexuals and not all of them can see themselves in one singular character, but Tash had so much internalized acephobia that was never challenged or discussed in any meaningful way that it left me sore.
Major bummer and disappointment. Kinda sad about it. I want ace rep so bad in literature.
biblioemily's review against another edition
3.0
The good: YA with asexual representation, interesting premise
The not-so-good: the writing feels inauthentic and pedantic, especially in the beginning
Overall, a good quick read that I think some teen patrons will really enjoy.
The not-so-good: the writing feels inauthentic and pedantic, especially in the beginning
Overall, a good quick read that I think some teen patrons will really enjoy.
cocogoran's review against another edition
5.0
5 stars! This book makes me so happy that it exists. Tash is one of the funniest and cutest narrators I've read from the perspective of in a while, I want to know more about her and her life. I absolutely loved the writing style and it was a really entertaining read. It made it fast paced and a quick read despite how many pages it was. There were a ton of characters, but I feel like they all got the right amount of character development. Their stories all got wrapped up nicely, and I would love spinoffs for each of them (especially Jack and Paul). The premise was really original, and I've never heard anything like it before. Tash was an incredibly beleivable character with flaws and quirks who sometimes did really stupid things, but I thought it was a great portrait of a teenager. I also loved the asexual representation and I thought it was really accurate. I loved Tash's friendship with Paul and I really wanted to explore their relationship a lot more.
ystarcanex's review against another edition
3.0
This book tried to do too many things at the same time. Like life, I suppose.
rachcmota's review
2.0
It was okay for most of it, but the ending was bad. I didnt really like the jack/tash/Paul’s friendship, Tbh I think they’re terrible friends, and I didn’t find tash’s struggle with being ace relatable at all. It was just very disappointing
sc104906's review against another edition
2.0
I received this as an eARC through Netgalley.
Tash and her best friend Jack have created a modern adaptation of Anna Karenina for their vlog. After being highlighted on another famous vlog, their web series begins to go viral. Tash gets lost in the bluster of notoriety, cyberbullying, and fans. She begins leaning more heavily on her vlog friend and crush, Thom, who gives her advice about coping with fame. Tash is given the chance to meet her online crush, when their series is nominated for an award with a ceremony in Florida. Life is messy and Tash will continue to have to balance her personal life with her professional life.
The only character I found likeable was Paul. I would not want to spend any extended amount of time in a room with any of the characters described in this book. I wish the online crush was more developed, altered or, just something more. There were sections of the book I enjoyed, especially the interactions with Jack, Paul, and Tash, alone together.
Tash and her best friend Jack have created a modern adaptation of Anna Karenina for their vlog. After being highlighted on another famous vlog, their web series begins to go viral. Tash gets lost in the bluster of notoriety, cyberbullying, and fans. She begins leaning more heavily on her vlog friend and crush, Thom, who gives her advice about coping with fame. Tash is given the chance to meet her online crush, when their series is nominated for an award with a ceremony in Florida. Life is messy and Tash will continue to have to balance her personal life with her professional life.
The only character I found likeable was Paul. I would not want to spend any extended amount of time in a room with any of the characters described in this book. I wish the online crush was more developed, altered or, just something more. There were sections of the book I enjoyed, especially the interactions with Jack, Paul, and Tash, alone together.
mora55's review against another edition
This book was good! Nothing spectacular to me. I admired Tash and her crew's dedication to this web series and how they managed to pull it off in high school and I wish I had that much dedication and go-getter mentality for literally anything. I liked Tash more than I thought I would, and I loved her connection and relationship with her best friends (Paul and Jack).
This book also features asexuality prominently, going a step further to discuss how attraction isn't always sexual and how you can still want a relationship--that asexuality and a relationship are not mutually exclusive--as well as touching on how hard it can be to explain this to allosexual people and the worries that a person's asexuality can hinder or even prohibit a romantic relationship simply because others will not understand. It was an interesting perspective I haven't seen much in books.
This book also features asexuality prominently, going a step further to discuss how attraction isn't always sexual and how you can still want a relationship--that asexuality and a relationship are not mutually exclusive--as well as touching on how hard it can be to explain this to allosexual people and the worries that a person's asexuality can hinder or even prohibit a romantic relationship simply because others will not understand. It was an interesting perspective I haven't seen much in books.