With people turning to social media dating platforms to get their romance, dating in the contemporary world is becoming extremely complicated
As the nature of society becomes increasingly chaotic and in ways disconnected, so does romance. The boundaries of romantic relationships are becoming increasingly blurred and the idea and definitions of being in one are no longer as straightforward as they used to be. Amid this, Generation Z has coined the term the “talking stage,” a grey area where people connect but don’t commit
The talking stage refers to the early phase of getting to know someone before deciding to start dating. It’s a critical stage in any modern relationship. It’s a stage that can go on for weeks or months, leaving those involved in a state of limbo. There is undeniable pressure to get it right; one wrong step and you’ll be ghosted.
It begins with a rush of excitement and a feeling of great potential, but this can quickly change. The challenges of the real world will emerge and the doubt will set in as the initial excitement fades. The talking stage is filled with uncertainty; it is a grey area between casual acquaintance and full-blown romance, with no one really knowing what is going on.
The talking stage is filled with uncertainty; it is a grey area between casual acquaintance and full-blown romance, with no one really knowing what is going on.
The talking stage is a time of late nights and constant confusion, but things weren’t always this way. In the past, people had to meet naturally and in person, making for a much simpler dating process. You meet someone; you go on a date and if you mesh well, you go on another. There was no need for a talking stage and conversation happened organically. But with the rise of both social media and dating apps alike, people are forced into a world of swiping, texting and shallow conversation.
The introduction of social media has complicated the world of love further. With endless opportunities to meet new people it is easy to fall into the trap of casual conversation that will ultimately lead nowhere.
The introduction of social media has complicated the world of love further. With endless opportunities to meet new people, it is easy to fall into the trap of casual conversation that will ultimately lead nowhere.
This raises the question, why do we keep the talking stage around?
It offers a sense of freedom; there is no pressure of commitment. It is a relationship without any real feelings or pressure. Commitment is scary. Therefore, it could be argued that this stage might be used to test the waters, giving those involved an opportunity to leave without consequence.
While the talking stage may seem like an easy way to avoid getting hurt, it can still affect you emotionally. The limbo of not knowing where things are going can cause anxiety and sleepless nights. Hours can be filled thinking of the next steps. A hole of unavoidable worry can be dug as the realization sets in that you don’t really know this person at all.
The talking stage is now intertwined with dating. It is slowly becoming the first step in every relationship. Social media is reshaping the way we interact, creating a space to explore new connections. However as social media continues to take over, new complications will arise and we will be forced to consider whether this shift is truly enhancing our relationships or just prolonging the uncertainty of modern relationships.
Queer relationships aren’t immune to the traditional and systemic inequalities of the world
Read the pages of Sex and the Steel City, and you’ll hear the full gambit of love at university, from romance to heartbreak. It’s one of the learning experiences universities don’t advertise on their brochures, but it’s an integral part of many students’ university lives. For queer students in particular, the newfound freedoms of university life can be an integral part of self-discovery.
But, as queer students get into their upper years, the realities of an unequal world start to creep into the choices we make. While queer relationships tend to have a more equal distribution of labour than heterosexual relationships — something many of us are and should be proud of — decisions that students make as they transition into their careers can have serious impacts on the future of that equality.
Unequal distributions of labour in relationships represent an enormous problem for many heterosexual women who are disproportionately affected by this. It can limit their career opportunities, their life satisfaction and damage their relationships.
These inequalities are not always intentional however. Millennial men, who overwhelmingly want equal relationships with their partners, have been found to struggle realizing that goal once they have had children.
These are not just the problems of straight people willingly or unwillingly finding themselves confined to so-called traditional gender roles — they can come for queer couples too. While queer relationships tend to have markedly better distributions of domestic labour both with and without kids, it isn’t automatic.
Queer people tend to be more vulnerable to outside factors like job insecurity, lack of familial support and mental health challenges.
With these difficulties in mind, it’s also important to recognize that it’s not just traditional gender roles that create inequalities in straight relationships either. These inequalities are often structural ones, reflected onto straight couples in unequal ways. These structural inequalities can affect queer relationships in much the same way.
. . . inequalities are often structural ones . . . These structural inequalities can affect queer relationships in much the same way.
In the case of men giving up on their ideals of equality when they have had children, while some of this may be motivated by a newfound belief in gender roles, most researchers suggest that the limited resources given to parents who aren’t mothers are to blame.
It is both a lack of flexible work options and parental leave and a stigma against making use of these options that forcibly push young men away from parenting. There is no reason to suspect that these barriers do not also affect queer people.
Similarly, a recent crisis in Canada’s childcare sector has pushed many women out of work to care for children. While this disproportionate effect on women might be partially avoided in queer relationships, the lack of childcare would still damage queer parents’ careers and futures.
Increasing job market demands for unpaid overtime, extra hours and always-on communication have had disproportionate effects on women’s lives as they juggle these expectations alongside their disproportionate share of household labour. A perfectly equal queer couple would still have to face the challenges of increasingly demanding jobs and domestic lives.
A perfectly equal queer couple would still have to face the challenges of increasingly demanding jobs and domestic lives.
While queer couples may be better positioned to negotiate these difficulties together, these ever-increasing pressures will require more active communication and work than ever before.
The heart of the problem is not only the unreasonable demands our gendered expectations place upon women to be both workers and domestic labourers. The problem also lies with a society that privatizes domestic and childcare work onto individuals and families.
Some may propose that in place of traditional nuclear families, large extended families might be able to socialize some aspects of this labour. However, this isn’t a viable solution for many people. This could be especially impractical for queer people who are disproportionately faced with a lack of family support.
As we enter the political and working world, young people, especially queer young people, need to take on the feminist project of providing social support for everyone. If we want to live in a more equal world, it’s not enough just to desire it, we have to fight, work and strive for it.
School of the Art’s fall major theatrical production explores love and power through a reimagining of Greco-Roman mythology
From Nov. 8 to 17, 2024, the school of the arts presented Woven Hearts, this year’s fall major theatrical production, in the Lyons Family Studio in L.R. Wilson Hall. Divided into two acts, the original production incorporated a series of Greco-Roman mythological figures and stories, drawing from Ovid's poem Metamorphoses.
Woven Hearts was produced by students taking the course iARTS 3MP6 – Devised Theatre Production. Through this course, students get hands on experience with production aspects like set and lighting design, costume and makeup design and choreography. These students also serve in key roles such as stage managers, script supervisors and assistant directors.
The central set piece for Woven Hearts was a loom that stretched from floor to ceiling and across the width of the theatre, splitting the stage in half. The Lyons Family Studio is arranged so that the audience sits on opposite sides of the stage, facing into the centre of the room.
Throughout the show, the actors interacted with the threads of the loom in various ways, pulling them aside to walk through the loom, leaning against them and entangling themselves between them. Different textiles were also woven into the loom to create imagery for certain scenes.
Peter Cockett, a SOTA associate professor who directs the fall major each year, discussed his selected source material.
“I wanted to do something about love, so we turned to a classical source, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, that has all these stories about love. And when we went to that source we discovered that it also had a lot to say about power and it actually was really political in our times, especially around issues of consent around this very patriarchal world of Ovid’s poem,” said Cockett.
Cockett emphasized that the fall major goes beyond just retelling old stories.
“I don’t think they’re important because they’re classical . . . but they’re here. They’re constantly being told and retold. They’re being idolized and idealized. So I think taking them on and seeing what they’re really about and changing them, that feels important still,” said Cockett. “But I think the most important thing is what the audience is responding to, which is this notion of centering love and the potential for a kind of altruistic social love that humans are capable of.”
But I think the most important thing is what the audience are responding to, which is this notion of centering love and the potential for a kind of altruistic social love that humans are capable of.
Peter Cockett, Director and Writer
Woven Hearts
In the spring 2024 term, Cockett taught THTRFLM 3PR3 – Text-based Devising: Research and Development, which is where the devising process for the fall major began. Cockett explained that the process involved studying Metamorphoses before writing and designing the entire production around the themes and stories from the text.
Mikey Gough, a fourth-year theatre and film studies student, described his experience working with Metamorphoses.
“There’s this instinct to have a lot of wonder surrounding the Greek myths, have a lot of positive associations. There was a lot of excitement . . . and when we were really kind of getting into the meat of them, I feel like we were running into these issues . . . it feels like they’re so harmful at times. And I think that friction, that incongruence with the wonder we had surrounding the stories and our problems with them is almost where we found our thesis,” said Gough.
Throughout the devising process, Gough and his peers asked questions like: “What about these stories are we not liking? What do we want to leave behind? And why? And what are these kind of new interpretations which we somehow or we suddenly find super beautiful?” said Gough.
Gough shared that he had heard positive reactions from others who watched the production.
“People in my age group, other students . . . have found it really moving. They’ve really enjoyed the upward arc of the show, which I would say there is . . . and I’ve heard a lot of people saying that the dose of hope it brings in our unprecedented times is really refreshing and important to see,” said Gough.
I've heard a lot of people saying that the dose of hope it brings in our unprecedented times is really refreshing and important to see.
Mikey Gough,fourth-year theatre and film studies student
Woven Hearts Actor
The annual SOTA fall major is a testament to the artistic talent of McMaster’s student body. Each production is creatively designed to convey an important message to its audience. Cockett shared that next year's production will focus on prison abolition, with a research-based devising process set to begin in January 2025.
Celebrate Valentine's Day with a night of theatrical shows and live music
On Feb. 10, the Gritty City Theatre Company held their first-ever fundraiser event, Gritty City Steels your Heart, at the Spice Factory in downtown Hamilton.
The Gritty City Theatre Company was founded in 2019 by Melissa Murray-Mutch and Jason Thompson. They wanted to explore race, class and all things theatrical in their productions and foster community and family through their spaces.
“We have a great group of people that are working with us and they want to do it and I started to think of our theatre company as a home – we want it to be a home for people,” said Murray-Mutch.
The purpose of the Feb. 10 fundraiser was to bring awareness to their company, thank the cast of their last Fringe digital exclusive performance and celebrate Valentine’s Day with the rest of the community.
The evening of the Gritty City Steels your Heart event was filled with live music by arttheboy, a Hamilton-based artist and filmmaker; a live band performance by Badnew, a local punk band by Lola Medina and brothers Jack & Ben Caunter performing the “Hammered 2.0” soundtrack and an art exhibit and market organized by Jessika and Natasha Reddy. There were also performances from the Canadian Slavery Project, directed by Melissa Murray-Mutch and screenings of “Hammered” and “Hammered 2.0”, directed by John-Riley O'Handley and Lucy Reddy respectively. There was also food, drinks and raffles offered at the event.
Murray-Mutch hoped attendees would learn more about the Gritty City family, their hidden talent and continue to support their work. She also hoped that this event will attract more artists to collaborate with them in future projects.
“[We] want to attract more artists as well. We want people who want to work with us, and we want to let people know that we are [a] driving force in the community as well. Even though we're small, we’re mighty,” said Murray-Mutch.
Most of all, she hopes attendees will have an enjoyable time at the event.
“We want to do quality work, but we want to make it fun for everybody. We want people to come there and just have a great time,” she said.
“We want to do quality work, but we want to make it fun for everybody. We want people to come there and just have a great time."
Melissa Murray-Mutch, Founder of Gritty City Theatre Company
Moving forward, Gritty City plans on starting a new community theatre project and collaborating more with local artists. Additionally, they hope to continue to produce more showings for larger audiences while exploring new genres.
The intersections between love, sex, health and the facets of our identities
Intersectionality is an inevitable result of the fact that people’s identities are multidimensional. A term coined by law professor and advocate Kimberlé Crenshaw, intersectionality reflects how different aspects of who we are — from race to gender, sexual orientation to religion and disability to socioeconomic status — influence our lived experiences. In recognition of this fact and to honour these stories, we have asked our communities to share how identities intersect and shape our unique encounters with love, sex and health in this year’s Sex and the Steel City.
Growing up in a rather conservative South Korean household, I rarely engaged in conversations around love, sex and health, particularly mental health, with my family. I recall talking my mom about what I learned during health class in elementary school. The look of alarm and shock on her face when I said the word, masturbation, in front of her for the first time forbid me from saying it again so openly. In another instance when I was visiting family in South Korea, my dad shot me a sharp, disapproving frown at my spaghetti strap tank top. I remember a wave shame took over as he told me to go change into something more appropriate for a young girl.
Developing a healthy relationship and mindset around love, sex and health took a long time, especially as I learned to accept our differences and overcome my family’s cultural views and biases around these conversations. It probably wasn’t until my senior years of high school when I began to speak more vulnerably about my experiences with these topics. It was all due to the friends, teachers and communities that taught me not be afraid to speak up and made me feel validated.
This is why spaces like Sex and the Steel City where people can freely and openly share stories and deliberate on these so-called taboo topics are important. This year’s theme, intersectionality, was inspired in part by my upbringing and experiences but also in recognition of the fact many others also understand how different systems of oppression and aspects of identity affect how we view relationships, sexuality and well-being.
This issue is home to intimate, perhaps what many may consider controversial, special stories. I want to thank everyone, including the Silhouette staff, who contributed their perspective, artwork and narratives to create this wonderful issue. I’m honoured and grateful for the folks who entrusted me and gave me permission to share their thoughts and experiences with the rest of the McMaster community.
To you, dear reader, I hope this issue can serve as a space to explore, (un)learn and reimagine what love, sex and health can look and feel like. There aren’t enough pages in this issue to capture all the different stories of intersectionality and love and I acknowledge there are missing voices in this issue. However, I hope you find and resonate with at least one memorable artwork, image, article, sentence or word while reading this issue — I hope we made an impact on you. Additionally, if you see a gap in the missing pages that you can fill;, it’s also not too late to contribute to us.
Loving yourself and your body is one of the first step to a steady relationship with your partner
Everyone says love is beyond your looks. But this is often easier said than done for many of us who struggle with our body image, particularly in a world of social media.
Body image tends to be connected to self-worth. Being in relationships often causes us to feel vulnerable and self-conscious about our bodies. In some cases, it prevents people from seeking out relationships as they tend to magnify the difficulties and insecurities they may have.
“You can’t love someone else until you love yourself first,” is a common saying we have heard many times — but is this true? This study from 2016 concluded people who were happier with their body tend to have better romantic relationships compared to those who were dissatisfied. Individuals who struggled with their body image reported having more anxious and fearful attachment styles. Overall, though, of the 12,176 participants in the study, only 24 per cent of men and 20 per cent of women reported being satisfied with their appearance.
Katie McCrindle is a registered social worker, body liberation counsellor and activist who works with women and non-binary folks to improve their relationship with themselves. She aspires to create a world where people of all sizes are confident and are in a place of self-acceptance.
“If they're not feeling worthy, or good, then they start to doubt the relationship,” explained McCrindle.
Once they start to become unconfident, their thoughts can spiral down a rabbit hole as it causes them to feel displeased about their bodies and themselves in general. This is especially prominent during intimate moments when people are especially vulnerable and exposed.
“Especially when people are contemplating having sex, I think that is a huge part that impacts body image and how you feel about yourself [by] being in that vulnerable position. It's vulnerable to being naked in front of somebody,” said McCrindle.
“Especially when people are contemplating having sex, I think that is a huge part that impacts body image and how you feel about yourself [by] being in that vulnerable position. It's vulnerable to being naked in front of somebody.”
Katie McCrindle, registered social worker
Having low self-confidence in their appearance can make people more anxious in their relationship and fear that their partner will leave them. The main reason for this may be due to societal pressures and social media.
On social media, the “ideal” woman is curvy with full lips, perfect skin, white teeth and tanned skin. For men, the “ideal” is to have abs, broad shoulders, be over 6 feet and have defined muscles. Realistically, only very few individuals can check off all of these — and that is okay.
Body positivity is important because not only will it improve everyone’s self-confidence, but it will also strengthen everyone’s relationships, whether they are romantic or not. In short, body positivity is accepting all bodies, no matter their race, size, gender or anything else.
“I usually start with body image. [I help] people to learn more self-compassion for those kinds of thoughts and feelings about [their] body because it's pretty normal to have difficult emotions about one's body,” said McCrindle.
“I usually start with body image. [I help] people to learn more self-compassion for those kinds of thoughts and feelings about [their] body because it's pretty normal to have difficult emotions about one's body.”
Katie McCrindle, registered social worker
It is okay if you can’t love everything about yourself. It takes time and patience, but it is important to remember that you will always be there for yourself.
Life isn’t black and white, so our relationship status shouldn't be either
By Ardena Bašić, SATSC Contributor
We often define our relationship status in terms of a binary: we are either with another person or not. In other words, we can only ever be "taken" or "single".
Like most things in our lives, it cannot be that simple. An intuitive and modern example would be "situationships," where there is no clear line between being single or taken. Yet, I argue that we need to expand beyond this simplified approach. Instead of determining our status based on our ties to others, we should look at it as a focus on our internal or external environment.
In any relationship, there needs to be time to learn about the other person, their different signals and gestures, those little nuances that help you really understand a person. Consequently, when in a relationship, our minds become so focused on analyzing our external environment that we forget to look at our internal relationship with ourselves. As such, many psychologists argue that — while we are busy dating others — we often forget to date ourselves.
Consequently, when in a relationship, our minds become so focused on analyzing our external environment that we forget to look at our internal relationship with ourselves.
As a result, many individuals perceive being single as a time to work on themselves as our focus shifts to something different from the labels of “taken” or “single”. This is a time to look at things like further education, going to the gym more and pursuing hobbies with or without others around. When there isn’t a major distraction — in this case a major relationship to work on — there is more time for these pursuits and the associated self-discovery.
In days of agile relationships based on instant gratification, not defining oneself as single or taken stands out as an outlier — especially in the younger generation when it is the "norm" to define oneself with these labels. However, this new perspective of clear markers puts a more positive spin on working on your relationship with yourself in lieu of seeing oneself as lesser or incomplete without a significant other. After all, if relationships are to add to our overall spirit and not just fill a missing piece, we need to know ourselves enough to find the best energy to complement our own.
After all, if relationships are to add to our overall spirit and not just fill a missing piece, we need to know ourselves enough to find the best energy to complement our own.
So, in conversation, one can say their focus leans more towards external or internal relationships to replace the terms “taken” or “single”. This idea takes away the daunting label that is associated with being alone and instead posits it in a way that focuses on growth and development: the epitome of supporting oneself.
It should be noted that this is not another binary, but instead a continuum with no real "zero" value. Even in strong relationships, we must care for ourselves and equally, when considering our own self-reflection, we must consider our most important relationships. Similarly, we also have to consider our most important relationships when considering our own self-reflection. Life isn’t black and white, so our relationship status should not be either.
Life isn’t black and white, so our relationship status should not be either.
Overall, we should refuse to position ourselves in binaries simply for the sake of societal expectations. This idea applies in every area of life, but especially when it is connected to our own self-worth and development. As we move forward and our priorities change, we can name our relationship status a movement along a continuum instead of a jump between left and right.
C/O Jessica Yang
Holding space for the stories closest to our hearts
One of the first articles I wrote for the Silhouette was for the 2020 Sex and the Steel City issue. As I struggled to come up with an idea, I remember feeling daunted and underqualified to tackle the topics at the heart of the issue. I agonized over that article, rewriting it half a dozen times before I got a draft I was even remotely happy with. But after, I also appreciated the space writing that article offered me to think about the questions of love, intimacy and relationships—and then the space the issue offered to read the stories and thoughts of others as well.
Just like that early article, I’ve agonized over this issue, too. When I started planning it, I felt just as daunted and underqualified as I did before. Sex and the Steel City is a unique special issue, close to the hearts of so many people and I wanted to do justice to that, but I didn’t know what I had to bring to the issue.
And I kept thinking about the space that first article gave me, the spaces I’ve strived to offer interviewees as a reporter and my writers as an editor, and I thought about the unique, wonderful safety inherent in community — in a space where you are free to not only be yourself but also able to even just figure out who you are to begin with, without having to worry about protecting yourself or the expectations of others and knowing you have people in your corner who see you and will support you.
This same sense of safety, of community, is a key part of Sex and the Steel City. It’s what allows this issue to offer the space it does to not only its contributors to share the stories closest to their hearts, but also to its readers to feel seen and heard, to know they are not alone. In this year’s issue, we’ve tried to honour the importance of community, highlight the ones that have built us up as well as those we’ve built through love, intimacy and relationships.
Sex and the Steel City is a community project, a true labour of love. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this issue, who shared their stories and their artwork; it has been a privilege to hear your stories over these past few weeks. Thank you to everyone on staff who wrote for and created and organized this issue. This will be the largest issue of the Silhouette to date and it wouldn’t have been possible without you.
For everyone who reads this issue, though, I hope you feel some of that same sense of community, too. I hope you can see yourself somewhere in these pages, even if it’s just in one image or one story, and know you are not alone.
But if you don’t, because I also know there are stories missing from the pages of this issue, stories still to be told, I hope you know there is still space for you here, just as you are. I like to think that’s why we do this issue every year, so everyone has a chance to tell their story.
What does it mean to love when you feel lost?
By: Aadhila Nadira, Contributor
In Western movies, the story flows perfectly. The cushioned Caucasian teenager realizes he loves his best friend and they come out happily with outrageous shows of acceptance.
For me, there are three key moments that explain my coming out story. A film critic would give me a 1/5 star for allowing the problem to be drawn out for so long.
The first was at age nine, when my parents took me to New York City. Two men had walked by my family. They were almost exactly like my fathers — age, style of clothing and height. Theoretically, they should’ve been insignificant, two in a crowd of so many. The only difference was their hands were linked, bodies huddled together.
What had stood out to me at age nine though was the unmistakable look my parents gave them. The weight of the stare had felt personal — as if I was being scolded.
That was the first time I’d seen people like me.
The second was at age eleven, in a girl's change room. There were thirty girls scattered around the unusually small room with a constant stream of noise — that is until the words “I’m bisexual” echo through the room. It’s the first time I hear of such a thing. It was also the first time my mom heard of it. My mom had fixed me with a look, one I had seen at age nine, and told me to avoid hanging out with her. Her justification was that the girl may “give it” to me if I did.
That was the first time I had hoped it was only my parent who would look at me like that.
The third was at age thirteen, in science class. My friend told me she’d finally found a boy she liked. But she wouldn’t tell me his name, not until I’d tell her the name of the boy I liked. In a strange moment of bravery, I’d told my friend her name. She pretended as if it was totally normal until she told my classmates. She said it was because “people deserved to know before they like you.”
That was the first time I’d realized that I would always be looked at like that.
Quite honestly, the stare my mom (and classmates) had given me had worked. Back then, I had believed that I was truly a flawed person and that this was all a test. If I could ignore it then I would be loved wholly by those around me. I had fit the rigid mold I told myself I loved.
This need to suppress held me hostage through my teenage years.
I kissed boys I felt indifferent towards and cut out the girl who had kissed me softly. I’d watched her move cities and then schools and thought it was a blessing from God. Once again I had gently applied another bandage on the cracks that had become a gaping hole.
It was a month after my eighteenth birthday when I told my newly made university friends I thought a girl in our cohort was undeniably cute. I’m not entirely sure why I told them, I suspect because at that point they were all pixelated profiles in a group chat. I reasoned that they wouldn’t tell my community about the thoughts I had. What threw me was that they all told me to message her, that I wouldn’t know how it would turn out unless I let myself reach out.
Despite all the comfort, I had been conditioned to think it was all a big test, that if I indulged then I would once again lose the little friends I had. So, with all the shame I held within myself for voicing my true thoughts, I had begun talking to a boy who likely regarded me poorly. I told all my friends back home and in Hamilton, desperate to prove that I was in fact keeping to my mold. I didn't want to break.
It was when my friends began to show subtle waves of support, trying their best to show their love without overwhelming me, that I let myself hope that maybe I could be myself. Until the age of nineteen, I had truly believed the entire world hated people that loved beyond the binary.
The way in which I was raised has, and will always, define a part of me. It’s the way I choose to wield it that defines what I can become. I’m still trying to understand the power of it all, taking it one day at a time. Sometimes not every story starts with understanding identity. Sometimes stories are started by letting yourself truly feel openly.
C/O Amazon, Andrew Mrozowski/Editor-in-Chief
True love is at the heart of each and every one
There is something that only true love can bring out in someone. That sparkle in the eye and a hope that one day, we will meet the one. The one that will sweep us off our feet and bring us our happily ever after.
It may sound cliché but reading these stories reminds me of everything love means to me. It reminds me of that first love feeling, the one you can’t stop thinking about. It reminds me of the perfect love and endings one finds in fairy tales, stories where the world seems to fall into place. It reminds me of the imperfections that make love real. And it reminds me that no matter what, love is always worth fighting for.
These stories I’m sharing with you are some of my favourite stories of love. I’ve read these books so many times and each time I do they are even more beautiful than the last time I read them. I hope you’ll find a story below that will pique your interest and remind you of everything love can be.
What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
Set in the heart of the city that never sleeps, this book tells the story of Arthur, a believer in fate, the universe and love at first sight and Ben, a universe skeptic with only heartache and a box of his ex-boyfriend's things. They cross paths at a post office, of all places. When a missing connections poster turns into a not-so-perfect first date with two do-overs, things don’t go as planned for the two. But somehow, they make it through. And in the end, no one really knows what the universe has in store. Maybe nothing, but maybe everything. Outing the most closeted romantics, this story will have you falling in love for what feels like the first time all over again.
“I guess that’s any relationship. You start with nothing and maybe end with everything.”
― Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera, What If It's Us
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Ari lives with a family that shows little affection and spends most of his time in his self-created world of doubt. Dante lives with two loving parents and is talented at almost everything he does. Two seemingly opposite individuals who somehow manage to transform one another’s life. Sometimes it takes someone special to uncover those parts of you that you never even knew were there. Sometimes it takes someone special to show you the world in an entirely new way. And sometimes you just need someone special to make everything feel right. In this beautifully and intricately woven story, you will find yourself at a loss for words as you rediscover yourself all over again.
“I wondered what that was like, to hold someone’s hand. I bet you could sometimes find all of the mysteries of the universe in someone’s hand.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
16-year-old closeted Simon Spiers can’t believe his rotten luck when his secret emails with Blue, the only person Simon feels he can confide in, fall into the hands of the class clown, Martin. Now on the wrong end of blackmail, Simon’s whole world and identity are turned upside down. Being forced to choose between keeping his own sexual identity and his happiness with Blue a secret or betraying his closest friends, Simon will have to figure out who he is and what he stands for before the rest of the world chooses for him. Known to many as the award-winning film Love, Simon, you will be roped into this emotional roller coaster of a novel, being left in awe of everything true love can accomplish.
“He talked about the ocean between people. And how the whole point of everything is to find a shore worth swimming to.”
― Becky Albertalli, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
From the moment Alex, son of the first female president of the United States, met Prince Henry, heir to the throne of England, their relationship has been far from diplomatic, to say the least. After all, overly perfect princes can be such snobs. But when one argument gets out of hand, the very relationship of their two nations is put at stake and Alex and Prince Henry are forced to damage control. After all, how hard could forcing a few friendly smiles be? But sometimes there is a charming side to people the camera doesn’t always show and maybe Alex was too quick to judge someone he might have more in common with than he first thought. In reading this story that will have you grinning and laughing, there’s no doubt you’ll be left dreaming about your own happily ever after.
“That's the choice. I love him, with all that, because of all that. On purpose. I love him on purpose.”
― Casey McQuiston, Red, White & Royal Blue
