Cupid has come to town!! There are hearts EVERYWHERE, flowers are being delivered, people are holding hands left and right, and so on and so forth. But maybe Cupid didn’t strike you with a love arrow this year, and maybe you’re ok with that! So if you’ve decided to channel your inner Emma Watson this year and declare that you are in fact ‘Self-Partnered’, then here are some books for you!
Books to Read if You’re ‘Self-Partnered’
1. Bad Girls with Perfect Faces by Lynn Weingarten
How far would you go for the one you love? This book seriously tests that question. Sasha loves her best friend Xavier, but Xavier loves Ivy and Ivy doesn’t seem to love anything all that much. Sasha knows Ivy will break her best friend’s heart and she can’t let that happen. So she tries to catch an unfaithful Ivy in the act but things get very twisted and Sasha realizes something…in order to protect herself and Xavier from the truth, she’ll have to pretend forever.
2. Permanent Record by Mary H. K. Choi
While, yes there is romance in this book, I’d say the true story is about self love and self acceptance. When Leanna (a social media and international icon) and Pablo (a college dropout working the graveyard shift at a twenty-four-hour deli) meet at 5:00 a.m. at the bodega in the dead of winter it’s absurd to think they’d be A Thing. But as they discover who they are, who they want to be, and how to defy the deafening expectations of everyone else, Lee and Pab turn to each other. Which, of course, is when things get properly complicated.
3. SLAY by Brittney Morris
Kiera starts out as having a plus one but then she realizes one of the most important realizations there is to have; if you have to pretend to be someone else around your significant other, are they worth changing for? NO! The answer is no, and as her game SLAY continues to rise and convert more attention, Kiera understands that being her authentic, unapologetic, self isn’t only less stressful, it’s priceless.
4. Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw
Now, in this book their are some twists and turns. Sure, Nora finds a guy but it’s not your average meet-cute at an ice cream parlor, matter of fact, Nora meets Oliver where civilization doesn’t dare to go; the Wickerwood. There, on one of the coldest nights, she stumbles upon a sleeping Oliver. Yet, as she saves him from hypothermia, the question of how did he survive is all she can ask and Oliver wants to know who this strange girl is that rescued him.
5. A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti
Annabelle runs from Seattle to Washington, DC, through mountain passes and suburban landscapes, from long lonely roads to college towns. She’s not ready to think about the why yet, just the how—muscles burning, heart pumping, feet pounding the earth. But no matter how hard she tries, she can’t outrun the tragedy from the past year, or the person—The Taker—that haunts her. Followed by Grandpa Ed in his RV and backed by her brother and two friends (her self-appointed publicity team), Annabelle becomes a reluctant activist as people connect her journey to the trauma from her past.
6. Analee in Real Life by Janelle Milanes
Caught between two very different boys; Xolkar—a.k.a. a teen boy named Harris whom Analee has never actually met in person but is her partner in crime when she’s Kiri, the night elf hunter at the center of her favorite online game. The other is high school heartthrob Seb Matias who asks Analee to pose as his girlfriend in an attempt to make his ex jealous. Analee agrees in an attempt to help her with Harris. However, 99.9% of the time, matters of the heart take unexpected turns, and Analee takes one you don’t necessarily see coming.
7. Road Tripped by Pete Hautman
Steven Gerald Gabel—a.k.a. Stiggy—needs to get out of Minnesota. His father recently took his own life, his mother is a shell of the person she used to be, and his sort-of-girlfriend ghosted him and skipped town. What does he have left to stick around for? Armed with his mom’s credit card and a tourist map of Great River Road, Stiggy sets off in his dad’s car.