Before dedicating a chapter each to the experiences of White, Black, Asian, Latinx, and multiracial daters, the authors examine how race and racialization in the U.S. has shaped the courtship patterns in the country. Those already familiar with critical race theory may want to skip ahead. A skim might still prove helpful, as these first chapters do offer solid grounding for the rest of the book. While most of the data focuses on heterosexual respondents, readers of all orientations will likely not be surprised by how White supremacy—in particular, anti-Blackness—transfer to digital spaces. Indeed, some may recognize similar experiences, and feel slight relief that they’re not alone.

This book, which analyzes data from a popular online dating company (which the researchers are not allowed to name but is pretty obviously OK Cupid), shows that for an urban United States population, intimate racial "preferences" mirror real-world White supremacy. White daters receive the most attention in online dating, while Black daters are contacted the least; these trends apply across almost all racial groups.

The authors present their findings by race of the daters they studied. Each section begins with a well researched (and disturbing) history of U.S. anti miscegenation laws against Black, Asian, Latinx, and Native American people. It is fascinating to consider the current study data within the context of "analog" dating and see how digital-sexual racism affirms historical mating behaviors.

There are extensive tables and graphs in this book, but unfortunately my electronic advance reading copy was unable to display them. Visual representations of the data would be very helpful.

Recommended for all libraries.