Dear Wendy

Starred review from January 29, 2024
Wellesley College freshman Sophie Chi runs the well-established Instagram romance advice column Dear Wendy. Classmate Joanna Ephron, meanwhile, has just started posting as Dear Wanda, a less serious but still sincere competitor. Each is named for a Wellesley stereotype: Wendys are considered perfect type As, while Wandas are perceived as sloppier, someone more likely to skip a class or three. Though they’re rivals online, they soon discover that they have a lot more in common than they realize after meeting IRL in a women’s studies class—most notably that they’re both aromantic and asexual. They each help the other through their individual dilemmas: Joanna hates it when her friends get romantically involved with people and often wonders if she’ll always feel alone, and Sophie wishes her Chinese immigrant parents understood her identity better. Via Sophie and Joanna’s alternating POVs, Wellesley student Zhao curates a realistic setting at a women’s college full of angsty queer students caught in the throes of romance, self-doubt, and self-discovery, culminating in a gently sweet aro-ace rom-com and a raw and emotionally resonant debut. Joanna is white; most other characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jennifer March Soloway, Andrea Brown Literary.