SHAPES OF LOVE

Will a pop star lose fans by revealing she’s aromantic and asexual?

Nineteen-year-old Sasha—stage name “Sassy”—feels pressure from fans and management to present as a straight girl whose love life inspires her songs. When a photographer catches her with 20-year-old Kai, her former bestie and ex-boyfriend, two years after her sexuality caused their breakup, Sasha’s manager urges a temporary fake-dating relationship to bolster her career and his finances. Brazilian American Kai reluctantly agrees—he and Sasha are repairing their friendship—and Sasha craves closeness with her friends. Why do romantic relationships seem to trump friendships? Why does fame require hiding her true self? Debut author Peñalba effectively explores the toll of living in the public eye in the era of social media. Most poignant, however, are Sasha’s fears about her aroace future. Will she be always alone? Never be anyone’s priority? Will aphobics keep denying her sexuality and push her to conform? Readers on the ace spectrum will find their own fears reflected, but they’ll take heart from Sasha’s journey to alternate ways of living and loving. Frequent profanity reflects the characters’ ages and lively, colloquial speech patterns. Sasha, whose therapist suggests that she “could be on the autistic spectrum,” has two moms; Mamá, her birth mom, is from Spain, and Mom, who gave birth to Sasha’s sister, Sonia, is Black. The girls share a donor.

A diverse, heartfelt exploration of the fallout when the price of fame meets the price of being aroace.