Tash Hearts Tolstoy excels in it's representation. The YA community has been hyped about this book for quite some time now. The main reason is the fact that this book features an established asexual character. There is no reading between the lines, this chapter is ace (pun intended). In fact, the word asexual is mentioned eleven times in this book. This is the kind of rep the asexual community deserves. The conversations surrounded Tash's sexuality are *very* true to life. They are conversations that I have found myself having almost verbatim and the feeling of seeing that rep on page is unlike any other. There are a few throwaway lines that made me a bit uncomfortable but in general I do not think they detract from the overall experience. Oh, and one thing no one mentions is there is confirmed bisexual rep.

Despite enjoying the rep I strongly believe that this book suffers from pacing issues. This may be primarily because this is mainly a character driven vs plot driven novel, but I found myself feeling generally very apathetic and willing to consume this more slowly as opposed to something I wanted to read in one go. I found that the plot dragged up until the conflict and then just kinda sputtered along until then. This book is however, perfect for fans of Tolstoy as there are a number of references to his life and work, particularly Anna Karina. In addition, this book relies on a particular trope that I desperately wish would die. It just needs to die.

Turning to the characters: I didn't like any of them. I love the representation but the characters themselves were, for the majority of the novel a bit bland. The novel centred a lot on Tash while the supporting and side characters seemed far removed from the periphery so much so that while they were central to the plot i don't know if I got a sense of their personalities. I constantly confused the side characters. I felt like they were just names on a page as opposed to fleshed out characters. However, this is definitely an opinion that may change as I ruminate on the novel some more, having just finished it under an hour ago.

Overall, I enjoyed Tash Hearts Tolstoy and I would recommend for anyone looking for positive and more importantly, accurate asexual rep.

I can't stop screaming about how much I loved this book. As an ace girl myself, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a book about a girl like me. Though my feelings aren't completely on par with Tash's, she was so relatable. She was written like a normal person and her being ace wasn't the entire storyline.

It was such a relatable story. From accidental viral fame, to dealing with friends and how fast life changes as a teen, the number one problem was not how Tash migrated romance being ace. Each problem that arose in the book seemed as important as the last, which was a refreshing change.

If there's an LGBTQ+ character in a book, the biggest problem in the book seems to be if the character should come out or how to tell their parents or their crush. It gets really annoying really fast.

I loved the way the author handled the ace situation. There was clarification of what being ace meant to Tash, it's not the exact same for everyone, and even an unfortunate situation where she's told she's making it up. I felt for Tash so much in that situation, especially considering I face that day to day.

Being ace was a facet of Tash and her story. That's more of the stories I want to read.

This book is about a young woman named Tash who creates a web series based off of a book by her favorite author, Leo Tolstoy. The web series blows up and becomes super famous, and Tash has to juggle this fame while dealing with a whole lot going on in her personal life. That being her internet crush, whom doesn't know she's romantic asexual, and the complications in her best friends, Paul & Jack's lives. 
  This was the contemporary that I didn't know I needed until I read it. Everything I love in a contemporary novel was IN this book. And even though I personally cannot stand Leo Tolstoy, I found myself being able to relate to a character and her love for books AND relate to her sexuality. Plus, the novel has one of my all time guilty pleasure tropes - falling in love with one of your best friends. Needless to say, I felt this book was written for me, and I honestly wish I had this book as a teenager.
   Which brings me to my next point - how important I think this book is for teens struggling specifically with asexuality. I didn't really figure it all out until my sophomore year of college. Heck I didn't even know there was a word - a group of people like me that felt the same way. I still don't know where I fit on the spectrum, but I know I'm somewhere. However, this book features a character who already knows she's asexual, where she stands on the spectrum. For teens out there reading this book and seeing someone know what they're like -  and even challenging people when they try to tell them how their sexuality is - it will be so important. And the fact it showed that asexuals can have relationships? I feel like that's a misconception I had when I was figuring out where I stool with asexuality. I felt for a while that because I was like that I couldn't be with a guy. I've learned how wrong I was, and this book even helped me out a little bit with a situation going on in real life. So, even as an adult it helped me. But, for a teen confused about how they feel about sex - this book could make them see they are valid.
   There are other sexualities represented in this book as well. One character is gay and another bisexual. And boy did I ship the heck out of that the whole book. So if you're looking for a really great contemporary with multiple sexualities represented WELL, I PRESENT TO YOU TASH HEARTS TOLSTOY. 
  In regards to other parts of the book, I love love love it's focus on friendship and relationships. There was no catty fighting, no betrayals, etc. Everyone was friends with each other, and even if there were hardships between characters, they still all remained friends, forgiving each other, and building each other up. That is so beautiful to see and probably slightly more realistic and encouraging for us to just be good and supportive of each other. Plus, I always love to see books with strong and healthy relationships to set a great example.
   This book was filled with humor, adorable moments, and even frustrated me a bit. It's a wonderful contemporary that made me laugh, smile, even shed a tear a little. It has a big focus on friends and family, repairing and keeping strong friendships, and discovering who you are. This is definitely going to be either my favorite book of the year or a close second.
   I really highly recommend this book, it comes out in a couple of weeks at the beginning of June. If you're not a fan of contemporaries - I still think you should read this adorable tale. And if you're a big fan, READ IT. You'll love it, I promise. Thank you again so much to the publishers for approving me on Netgalley. I don't think you all realize how much it meant.

This will go live on my blog on June 6. Kellyvision.wordpress.com

Tash and her best friend Jack have created a web series called Unhappy Families. It's an updated version of Anna Karenina. (As you may have guessed from the title, Tash is a fan.) The series ends up going viral and she has to deal with newfound popularity.

Here's all the awesome stuff that isn't in that synopsis: the book is about friendship and family and all the various types of love. Because Tash is asexual and it's not the most interesting thing about her. She likes guys and can appreciate them but she doesn't want to have sex. She likes romance ok but that is as far as she's interested in going; she doesn't want to have sex with anyone, ever. And her friends are confused but supportive because they are awesome.

And I love Tash's family. Her parents are great and her sister is moody but great, and this book feels like real life but better.

All I want is for Kathryn Ormsbee to write a billion more books and release them in a James Patterson-style way. I want new books every month and yes that is unreasonable but her books are awesome and I love them.

Highly recommended.

TASH HEARTS TOLSTOY is an incredible, fluffy addition to YA that I know many readers that love SIMON VS or ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS will fall in love with. This book features a cast of realistic characters that you'll adore in some parts and relate to in others. Tash, our main character, is asexual, and this book adds much needed representation in YA that I loved to read about. Even though the book does not exist as an info guide to asexuality, I think many readers will learn things they didn't know before, and even more importantly, asexual teens will see themselves represented.

The plot, with the TV series Tash makes based around Tolstoy's works, was engaging and new. I'd never read a book with a story like that, and I loved it.

I loved the characters, as I mentioned before. I adored reading about a character who had a passion that was obvious. Tash LOVED Tolstoy and loved making her web series, and it was apparent. That passion made it more interesting to read about, because everyone has passions - it made Tash herself relatable and interesting.
Each felt unique and real. I also adored the family relationships in this novel. In real life, family is a huge thing, but in YA, we don't see that very often - and that wasn't the case here. The friendships were also amazing - I loved Tash and her best friend together, as well as the scenes with all of the friends and actors/crew/etc.

The writing was good, simple without being boring. It fit the story perfectly, and kept me reading.

Overall, I am going to be recommending this to everyone I know. I can't put in words how much I adored it, although I attempted. This is a much needed addition to YA, and literature in general, and I can tell it's going to do so much. I don't have anything negative to say about this book - I loved it.

A lovely book, with an interesting basic premise that made me care about youtube web series despite having never given them a second thought before this. I loved the ace rep, particularly that it was romantic asexual, since that seems less common than aromantic asexual (though happily all shades of the asexual spectrum seem to be getting more and more representation these days.). I do wish there wasn't quite so much "I'm not normal and no one could possibly love me", but in the end that line of thinking is clearly contradicted. It is also a realistic thought pattern, even if it's frustrating to hear because I want Tash to be happy with herself.

I'm not usually a fan of first person present tense narration, since I think it puts the focus so totally on one person in the here and now that it can't help but come across as being very self-absorbed, and that was true of this book. But since part of the story arc is Tash realizing how much she's paying too much attention to her own life and not enough to the rest of the world, that somewhat balances out.

I loved the college storyline. It's so unusual to see a character dream about a reach school, and then come to the realistic realization that it's too much of a reach for many reasons, some of them financial, and make real and true peace with that and be happy to go somewhere else. That's a very mature choice, and one that lots of teens are having to make. You can be disappointed, and then move on, and then truly become happy with the choice.

No Kindle support means I can't read it. I'm disappointed, as I was really looking forward to reading this book. I will probably read it when it comes out.