Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - This Doesn't Mean Anything

Four stars = I loved the book!!! (i just haven't hyperfixated... yet)

I was initially drawn to the book because it was advertised as an asexual romance with spice level: milk. I do think this is true to its word! But that description leaves out that it's also a story foremost of friendship, found family, and the inner healing of my own (incredibly lonely) first year of college life.

Spoiler

Spencer's stubbornness mixed perfectly with Nick's inability to think of anything else except this girl, and Jocelyn and Hunter were such amazing characters.

Spoiler

The only thing I didn't love was the Sam plotline, but that's 90% because I didn't enjoy Spencer going through that, and only 10% of the violence interacting with spice level: milk was so jarring. But looking back, it very much fits within the story, and corrective rape very much is something that happens in the ace community.

Anyways, I would very much recommend. Please read. And I'll be preordering the author's next book the second it grazes upon my Insta feed <3

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dogoodwithbooks's review

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funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5/5 (rounded down to 3)

CW: acephobia, attempted sexual violence, sexual harassment, abusive parent (mentioned), unplanned pregnancy (recounted), armed robbery (recounted), murder (recounted), death of both parents (recounted), ableism, emotional abuse/gaslighting, blood, alcoholism, emesis

College is going surprisingly well for Spencer so far. She has two great friends, Reese and Hunter, and she ends up with a go-to study partner, Nick, and coffee shop to hang out in. Yet, in the midst of her freshman year at Ravens College, she goes through a journey of self-discovery and possibly falling for Nick.

I had high hopes for This Doesn't Mean Anything, but I don't think my expectations for the book were fully met.

Yes, the book is long. At over 450 pages, readers find themselves going through Spencer's first year of college right to the very end. While I'm find with the length and duration of the plot (I mean Alice Osman's Loveless has a similar concept to it), the pacing felt off. While the pacing for the first half of the book felt slow and you could clearly see which part of the semester the characters were in (although I thought there were some parts that were dragged out for the sake of it, the second half of the book kind of just rushed in there. I just wished the pacing was a little bit more consistent for both halves of the book.

Additionally, I noticed Whalen does a lot of "tell, not show" in the book. For example, Spencer finding out that she's asexual is rarely touched upon in the book. All that was said is that Spencer went online and figured out she was asexual. I feel like Whalen could have had something really meaningful if we actually got to see Spencer's thought process during her search and realizing that she is asexual. I could name other examples of the "tell, not show", but this was the only one I remember vividly when reading This Doesn't Mean Anything.

That's not to say there isn't anything good about this book and that you shouldn't read it. Personally, I like the whole navigating through college setting and I think that Whalen did a great job with creating a core friend group: Spencer, Reese, Hunter, Nick, & Joselyn (even if the excessive pet names were weird). I also thought Spencer and Nick had a good relationship and you could see that Nick really cared about Spencer (in his own way).

Overall, Whalen provides an alright debut with This Doesn't Mean Anything. I think that Whalen has some potential in this title (as well as her subsequent series) and I know that with the right editor she can get there in future books.

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guardianofthebookshelf's review

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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literarylocd's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

O KAY

I did not have a good time.

So, the ace rep was fine(ish) and i loved that Spencer was firm in her decisions with what she 100% knew she wasn’t comfortable in. I liked that she was flawed, had to learn how to adapt in a new environment and let people in. I think a lot of college stories seem to ignore the massive change it is to leave your home and familiarity to something new. It’s not as easy for some to assimilate to the new environment (esp whilst figuring out your sexual identity etc etc).

I really loved the supporting characters Joselyn, Hunter and Reese. love love love.

what I did not love was Sam. (the roommate)The whole idea of him and the conversations his character inevitably brought about. The fmc Spencer is 18. As in, was in high school a couple months ago. The love interest is three years her senior. Does this make Nick a nonce? No. Is it weird that he keeps referencing her age whilst still being attracted to her? Yeah. It is not enough for him to be disgusted at his roommate Sam only sleeping with freshly 18 year old girls. Nor is it enough for him to find it disgusting that Sam slept with a high schooler. His insistence on pointing out that Spencer was younger and inexperienced made me HATE the romance. Violently. It was so unnecessary and just took me out of the story.

and the *first* SA scene at the party where Nick “rescues” her from Sam and Spencer affirms she didn’t need his help. He throws it back in her face ‘Nick snorted loudly. “Sure, sweetheart, sure. Definitely looked like you had it under control from where I’m standing.”’

Another issue with the ace rep is that the character unfortunately fell prey to the “baby ace person” stereotype. in the sense that they had to be protected from the big bad world. ace adults are exactly that, adults. let them be that.

And that ending with her mum…be so serious

I think at its core, this book didn’t know what it wanted to be. So it ended up being, not very good.

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sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.25

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