I've missed reading several of Jae's newer books but jumped at the opportunity to read this one. More visibility and inclusion of the BT and A aspects of LGBTQA spectrum are needed and I think Perfect Rhythm is a great addition.

I knew the bare bones about asexuality so it was nice to get to know Holly and get a better understanding of some of the relationship hurdles she and other ace folks deal with. Besides the issues dealing specifically with asexuality, this is a pretty standard lesfic romance. Not too much angst but lots of relationship building and outside things going on that help to move our leading ladies toward finding love with each other.

I thought the dialogue and flow of the story were very good. If you're a fan of any of Jae's previous books, I have no doubt that you'll like this one, too. ( )

TWs: aphobia, internalized aphobia, homophobia, ableist tropes, loss of a loved one, death

I rarely give 1 star reviews, so I think this review might be a bit longer than what is typical for me. For context, I label myself as gray asexual and bi, so I was really excited to read a f/f novel with an ace love interest. I feel sorry that I didn't enjoy this book. However, I found the writing was to be flat and I had some issues with the story overall. Perfect Rhytm had some questionable decisions in the asexual representation, it also villainizes a closeted character for being closeted, and uses ableist tropes.

!!!Spoiler Warning!!!: The rest of the review will discuss plot details and will have major cpoilers.

1. The ace rep

My main issue was the ace representation. Overall it was factually correct, and various ace identities/concepts were discussed. However, the way these ideas were presented was quite dry, like you were reading the Wikipedia page on asexuality, rather than a novel where characters discuss the topic.

Holly came out to a few people during the course of the book and their reactions seemed to be directly taken from a “10 things you shouldn’t say to asexual people” list. Leo’s reaction in particular bugged me – it was so blatantly aphobic and it was sort of justified later on because asexual identities were confusing for her? What? Also, she is a woman who knows what pansexuality is, so I found it hard to believe she has never at the very least heard the word asexual before Holly came out to her.

I also felt that Holly’s character was way too focused on her sexuality – her nursing was left on the backburner so that the story could focus on her romance with Leo and her journey as an ace woman. But this backfired because after a while I felt like asexuality was the main defining feature of Holly’s character. Her fear she can’t find an allosexual partner was brought up so often to the point of it being exhausting.

2. The treatment of closeted queer people:

One of the characters that didn’t sit right with me was Ashley – a closeted queer woman who had a thing with both Leo and Holly at different points of time. She was treated as an antagonistic character and revealed to be aphobic later in the story. The reveal of her aphobia occurred later in the story, but she was treated as inherently bad before this was stablished, and in all the scenes she was referred to her being closeted was highlighted as a negative trait.

In the course of the story she was shown as a bad person because she denied dating Holly in public, an act which would have meant her being outed in her community. Holly acted as if this was an attack against her, and I’m pretty sure it was hinted she pressured Ashley to come out. This is especially hypocritical, given that Holly was not out as ace at the time. In another scene Leo and Holly share a joke about how far in the closet Ashley is.

Even if Ashley is aphobic, this doesn’t justify Holly’s behavior towards her. Making fun of a lesbian for being closeted and pressuring her to out herself is homophobic. Aphobic actions don’t justify homophobia, and Ashley’s decision to stay in the closet should be about her comfort and privacy, not about the feelings of somebody else.

3. Ableism

Leo’s father had been left disabled after he had a stroke, and was the reason she returned to her hometown. During the course of the story he and Leo barely had any relationship to speak of. Then they briefly connected only for him to he get another stroke and die. He was written as a plot point and had little to no character. Pretty much all I have to say on this point. ( )

As a minority buried within so many minorities, I get Jae's purpose. Everyone, not just the majority, needs a voice. After reading the blurb, I thought Okay, Holly just hasn't met the right person yet. Once she meets Leo, Holly will fall in love, and all of her "pent-up" sexual desires will coming spilling out. Problem solved. Man, was I wrong. After reading Perfect Rhythm, I see that my understanding of the term asexual was off base. I had no idea how broad the asexual spectrum is. From Leo and Holly's journey, I get that if sex can exist without romantic love (e.g. Leo's past relationships), the converse is also true: romantic love can exist without sex. Unfortunately, we live in societies where, as Saul said, sex sells. It's fun to talk about, to read, to watch, and to explore. So who thinks about the converse when relating sex to love? From this viewpoint, I understand Holly's apprehensions about discussing her orientation especially when one of the minor characters used the phrase "her...issues" to describe Holly. Like Holly was the problem because she did not fit into the norm.

Besides asexual awareness, the minor plot concerning Leo's relationship with her parents hits home for me. Once I had that "Hey family, guess what...." talk, I wasn't rejected, just communication went from "this isn't how you were raised" comments, to the looks of disapproval, and finally to very little communication. Maybe it's time for my "new beginning" too.

From a different perspective, this story strengthens my hate for labels. A romantic relationship consists of people loving who they want to love how they want to love them. And like any healthy relationship, good communication, respect, accommodating differences, and understanding are a must. The journey may be different, but don't people want the same thing, a HEA? Why use labels? ( )

I feel rather betrayed by A Perfect Rhythm...and yet I know this must sound so over-the-top and the wrong reaction to an overall beautiful book, with just one scene I am having a hard time forgiving, if that makes sense. I do not want to spoil anything and there are so many terrific, deeply sincere and emotionally moving aspects here in this novel. Somehow, though (and maybe I am being overly sensitive and am not taking away what I am meant to) it feels as though one of the main characters is very much betraying her beliefs and giving up who she is and that a very important message (so often unheard in any kind of fiction) is being taken away and replaced with a horrible compromise or, worse, the exact opposite of what she wants. I am just left rather sad after reading this...I just have to wonder if we still to have a long way to go before asexuality is truly understood. ( )

I was given this ARC by the publisher in exchange for an Honest Review.

I really, really wasn't sure about this book. On the one hand, I read lesbian fiction and lesbian romances because of the lesbian. I don't know if that makes me a bad person or whatever, but, those are what I enjoy, they're what relax me (well, usually).

I have read a couple of books with transgender characters and liked them, so I thought I should try one about an asexual character as well, broaden my reading horizons.

It's about Leo and Holly. Leo is also known as Jenna when she's in her pop star life, but, in this book she goes home when she learns her father has had a stroke. There she meets Holly, who is her father's home care nurse. Leo and Holly knew each other when they were kids, but weren't close. And Holly is the character who is asexual.

Leo is a lesbian slowly falls for Holly, and so there was a lot of internal stuff for both of them, as well as explanations about asexuality (the stuff like the fact that not every asexual is exactly the same, [sarcasm]I know, totally surprising huh? [/end sarcasm]) that I thought mostly fit in amongst the rest of the narrative pretty well.

Look, I know that I'm probably getting a ton of stuff wrong with this review, and for that I do apologize, but, it was a Jae book, and it was amazingly written as usual, and I did really enjoy it. ( )