Tash Hearts Tolstoy
by
Kathryn Ormsbee
ＮＯ ＳＰＯＩＬＥＲ ＲＥＶＩＥＷ
ⓡⓐⓣⓘⓝⓖ: ★★★★½/5 [4.8/5]
first, I want to mention the two reasons why I picked up this book.
- internet famous movie nerds
- asexual main character (ngl, this one definitely the main reason why. I was not at all disappointed.
So, Tash Hearts Tolstoy is about an ace girl who's in her last year of high school (i think?) and her friends who have a online web series of a modern day Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. One day, their online series becomes incredibly popular because of a shout out from a web series celebrity on Twitter. Tash gets caught up in the rising fandom and fame of their series, Unhappy Families, that causes a friction between her family, friends, internet and all. This portrayal of internet fame and how they needed a break from it all really showed how it's not as easy as people think. Along with the negative comments, these things really got to her. It gives you that side of an internet personality that you never seen or often reject. Oddly enough, her stress within this book is so relatable to a senior in high school. She wants to pursue her dream but it feels impossible to her because her dream college is too expensive and she has average test scores and grades. This builds her character immensely because all you really get to know about her is her love for movies, her dream, and her relationships and sexuality. (RANDOM NOTE: She's also Buddhist? It's talked about so much throughout the book (I am too) and I loved that we got to see a religious character that wasn't Christian or Catholic, even though those are rare to see in books too.
Speaking of that, I found this incredibly significant to the book. I haven't read a book with an ace main character because, well, they're rare. I feel like this was executed so well. Her constant anxiety about whether or not a boy will ever like her and that people wouldn't completely understand. I loved the support of her friends and how they googled it immediately after she had told them about it. I loved the scene between her and a boy who likes her who is openly sexual. In fact, I think it was one of the best parts of the book. She was such an accurate portrayal of what an ace feels, thinks, and deals with because of their sexuality.
A quick mention, the family dynamic in this book was also fantastic. Her sister is going through a rough time and causes Tash to stress. Then, her parents throw new information on her that does as well and this advances the family relationship so much more and I was LIVING. Not to mention, her family is Czech and it went into detail about the history (love).
For some reason, I couldn't give this book a straight 5 stars but I guess you could round it up to that. I don't think it's something I'll come back to but it was impactful. I finally found something I could see myself in when it comes to her anxiety. I found myself reading her dialogue and realizing I've said the same exact things once. There's so many things in this book that make it unique like the asexuality, the Czech background, the Buddhism mentions, the family dynamic of not only her family, but a friend's family with someone with cancer, the internet fame reality, etc. I'd totally recommend this book to people. I loved it.
Have you guys read this book? How did you like it?
