Love and Other Disaters Review.

This year my partner and I have made a goal to read as much LGBTQ+ literature as humanly possible and the bar was set unthinkably high with Love and Other Disasters. This book skyrocketed to the top of my favorites list for so many amazing reasons such as voice, character development, interactions, and overall a fun and exciting read that tears you away from reality and lets you feel and see everything through the eyes of the characters.

Anita Kelly did an amazing job of representing a Nonebianary character and incorporating a diversity of sexualities and gender orientations. The author really connected and helped show personal struggles with self-image, family matters, and also social discrimination and none acceptance. Showing these complications allows a window of understanding to open. This is such a refreshing breath of and deeply appreciated. This book shows Growth and change in a respectful tasteful manner and I truly commend Anita Kelly for writing such an inviting, inspirational and representational piece of art.

Let’s deep dive into the book without giving too many spoilers. Dahlia Woodson and London Parker, a comical and fun pair of humans whom I relate to so much so I could visibly see myself and my partner. Dahlia Woodson is clumsy, outspoken, and raw, a very fight-back, and a fun personality. London Parker is smart, calculated, quick-witted, and overall absolutely loveable.

These two meet on an American cooking show competition with the intent to win for reasons that have you rooting for both competitors. You feel for Dahlia's situation and if you are anywhere in your late 20’s can relate on a personal level. This pulls you in favor of her so easily wanting the best for her. Then you get introduced to London's reason for wanting to win and immediately get tied up in the gut. Dahlia's situation is personal but London’s desire to give others like them a safe place to exist pulls your heart in their direction.

You will find yourself rooting for both characters and aching with them as they fall in love realizing only one can win. While rooting for both contestants you see the true dismay as they are used as a pawn for “quality television.” London being used for their identity being put up against someone who against them existing as a nonbinary person. Watching the world group into teams like Twilight is heartbreaking and shows how cruel humans can truly be, but also how powerful and understanding. If this wasn’t painful enough the producers helped influence the behavior of the fan base by keeping Daliah in the mix, not for her skill or talents but as a boost for “team London” and romance dramatics. This causes a painful rift between the two as they fight for their own personal dignity. No feelings are left unjustified between these characters, the struggles are well understood and relatable. This is truly a wonderful book that wraps everything up in a feel-good no ties left undone masterpiece. I suggest this book to all over the age of 18 of course because it indeed gets spicy in some of the most detailed and intoxicating ways.

One of the things I love so much about this book is body diversity. When describing their bodies it is truly able to capture realist body standards and able to capture insecurities and confidence. The thoughts that spiral through the mind of the characters are ones I'm sure most, if not all people have felt. It's not some picture-perfect scripted for the content scene. Instead, it’s messy and fun and true, showing vulnerability and confidence. I personally went back and read a few senses more than once it was so invigorating.

I don’t think there is a single bad thing I could say about this book from start to finish. It captivated me and I held on for the ride. The pace was set perfectly, fast enough you stayed entertained but slow enough you stayed at the edge of your seat. In Love and other disasters, we meet a few characters related to London and Daliah and there is a rumor that there will be a spin-off book for one of them! Another love story and I am living for it and ready if the rumor is true!

Please, please if you haven't read it go out and get the book it will really help center you. This book helps you see things from several perspectives from coming out, the struggles it entails, being around or forced to interact with people who don’t support you, and how to overcome it. It helps see the perspective of moving forward and moving on from the past and doing what's right for you. It gives different experiences on family and their reactions and is seriously just an all-around fantastic story that left me screaming, crying, laughing, and all so much more.