Social Queue by Kay Kerr
⭐⭐⭐⭐💫(4.5/5)

Big thanks to @netgalley and @text_publishing for providing me an eARC for an honest review.

This book follows 18yo Zoe who is autistic and starts work as an intern in an online media company. She writes about being autistic and dating.

There is so much to love about this book and its cast of characters, with Zoe at the centre. Zoe's experiences being autistic are explored, including misunderstanding social cues, sensory overload, masking, as well as the taxing emotional labour of correcting and dealing with ableism.

Zoe goes on a series of dates with people from her past that she didn't realise had a crush on her, and writes about it. Some of the dates are super sweet, and some end badly, and I really felt for Zoe. I loved Zoe's voice which struck the right balance of youth, maturity and self awareness, and also a feminist lens.

The relationships between Zoe and her family were so sweet and felt realistic. Zoe's reflections on the bullying she experienced and how this effected her was also heart breaking.

The dialogue around disability and ableism was eye opening and a natural part of the story. This was done through a news story of an autistic man being arrested, and the subsequent ableist articles Zoe's colleague writes.

I love that it's set in Australia, even Brisbane which I haven't visited- the familiar setting was very comforting. Towards the middle, I did find the plot to be lacking in direction a little, but it quickly picked up. In some ways it was predictable, but it was a delight to read, and the ending was simply perfect.

I was so enthralled by this book, and I'm very excited for this to be released (28th September) so more people can read this. I can see fans of Nina Kenwood's It Sounded Better In My Head and Jenny Han's To All The Boys I've Loved Before really enjoying this one.

CW: ableism, bullying, misogyny, police brutality

A lovely book that's sweet, and touching. Overall, this is one for younger and older alike. Realistic, and understandable. I recommend this book to all, but especially those with neurodiverse people in their lives (and let's face it, that's all of us!). Thanks to NetGalley for copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“I thought I was nobody’s teen crush but turns out I was just missing the signs.

Zoe Kelly is starting a new phase of her life. High school was a mess of bullying and autistic masking that left her burnt out and shut down. Now, with an internship at an online media company—the first step on the road to her dream writing career—she is ready to reinvent herself. But she didn’t count on returning to her awkward and all-too-recent high-school experiences for her first writing assignment.

When her piece, about her non-existent dating life, goes viral, eighteen-year-old Zoe is overwhelmed and more than a little surprised by the response. But, with a deadline and a list of romantic contenders from the past to reconnect with for her piece on dating, she is hoping one of her old sparks will turn into a new flame.”

(https://www.kaykerr.com/social-queue)

The blurb gives a hint of what a joyous book this is. It is a modern romance, complete with the perils of social media and identity, the problems of navigating the dating scene, and, the best bit, a happy ending. It is fun and funny but also deals with post-secondary school life and the legacy of being bullied. Friendship is explored as it changes with time and the complexities of family life all add to a thoroughly absorbing read.

It is not just about a romance. Zoe is autistic. #OwnVoices author Kay Kerr introduces Zoe’s autism gently and as the narrative proceeds Zoe’s autism is unpicked in greater detail with examples of where her autism makes navigating the neurotypical world challenging. It is so affirming to read about someone being neurodivergent and openly autistic.

As a late-diagnosed autistic, I find that so much of this book mirrors my experiences and I wish I had something like this to read when I was in my teens. As Zoe says:

“There are so many things about me that make me wonder if they’re actually parts of my personality, or just things I think other people would like to see in me.”

Despite the toll that dating takes on Zoe, it is an optimistic and charming book, so I’ll leave the review with a quote from Zoe near the end of the book:

“In a world that tells me that I am wrong for myriad reasons, I am happy to be taking steps towards feeling like I am exactly right…”

Thank you to #NetGalley and Text Publishing for the review copy.

Social Queue is the second novel by Australian author, Kay Kerr. Eighteen-year-old Zoe Kelly is one of three interns at Bubble, a website featuring news and pop culture, and has so far written horoscopes and compiled the events calendar. But, after some rather unsatisfactory experiences with online dating apps, she has written an article about navigating modern romance.

Zoe is autistic, something that attracted relentless bullying during high school, and her difficulty with reading social cues means that her dating history is non-existent. She is navigating the newness of her internship and her first year of Uni, studying Journalism, and her article is funny and candid. Apart from the inevitable negative or abusive comments, the reaction is mostly encouraging and enthusiastic, particularly from other autistic women, who appreciate Zoe’s perspective.

What is most surprising are five comments indicating that in her recent past there may have been potential for dates of which she was unaware. Her editor suggests that further articles might expand on the theme if Zoe is willing to connect with these five and explore any signs of attraction she may have missed, and why.

Of the five, she is most apprehensive about meeting with the high school bully; with the Uni classmate, the co-worker in her vacation job and the high school classmate with anxiety problems, Zoe is still nervous, but they present less of a problem; the one she can virtually dismiss immediately is the twin brother of her currently-absent best friend, who confesses to a Year Seven crush.

Zoe is lucky to have plenty of support: her parents are understanding; her extroverted sister, Harriet is a font of information about both clothing and interpreting social cues; her best friend is generous with long-distance advice; her boss is ready to accommodate her needs; and her senior colleague takes a bit of a mentoring role which turns reciprocal. All of that means she can write about each encounter with honesty and often humour.

Kerr’s characters are mostly appealing, and certainly realistic. Being autistic herself naturally gives authenticity to all of Zoe’s thoughts, feelings and reactions, and gives the neurotypical reader valuable insight into the world of an autistic person. Kerr also highlights the need for better training of police to deal with the neuro-diverse population, and the media for reporting on this population, and the disabled generally, in a non-offensive manner. Kerr’s second novel is funny, insightful and thought-provoking.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Text Publishing.

“There are so many things about me that make me wonder if they’re actually parts of my personality, or just things I think other people would like to see in me.”

Zoe Kelly is on her way to landing her dream job. Interning at Bubble, an online media company, Zoe gets to write the type of articles she has dreamed of.

When a raw and honest article she writes about her lack of dating experience and the difficulty of finding love, she finds herself re-connecting with people from her past in search of that elusive romantic spark. Has she really been missing the signs of romantic interest all this time?

This is one of those books that makes me so glad I love to read and that I am a school librarian and that I get to talk to people about books for a living.

Fun, funny, relatable, entertaining and moving - and oh yeah, I’ve also learnt something. This book touched me on so many levels.

On the surface this is a fun post-secondary school, coming-of-age, finding love in the digital-age story. But it is also an insight into the challenges and prejudices that people living with autism face everyday.

What a very brave and clever book Kay Kerr has written!

Thanks to Netgally and Text Publishing for an advance copy to read and review.

Social Queue will be released on September 28th and I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this one.

Once again, Kay Kerr delivers a powerful and thoroughly enjoyable contemporary novel about growing up and finding one’s place in the world. Drawing upon her own experiences again, Kerr crafts such a realistic portrayal of social anxiety and trying to navigate everyday interactions, from romance and friendship to family and work life.

Zoe Kelly has survived high school (just) and is starting a new part of her life. No more dealing with bullies, no more autistic masking. An internship at an online media company allows her the freedom to express herself through the written word - something she’s really good at. But when an article about her foray into the dating world goes viral, the responses are a surprise. Apparently, Zoe had a number of admirers in high school and she just never saw the signs. Determined to discover how she missed them and document the process, Zoe meets up with her admirers, starting with her best friend’s brother and working through to a more recent encounter at uni.

Social Queue was honestly just such a delight to read. Some books are just so easy to love. So easy to enjoy. So easy to pick up after a long day at work and just let the world slip away. Social Queue was that for me, but it was also meaningful, insightful, funny, delicious, romantic and hit me right in the “I see you” feels.

I see in the summary online that this book is being marketed as an “autistic story.” And yes, the main character is autistic. And yes, the book realistically portrays social anxiety. But this book is about a girl recovering from high school, trying to navigate the world of relationships (aren’t we all), discovering the new direction for her life and maybe, maybe falling in love. I can’t wait to put it on our realistic fiction shelves and share it with our readers. While Zoe has finished high school and is therefore older than our library’s readers, there is something eternal about this book that it will appeal to readers of many ages. It also doesn’t have much mature content, so I’m happy to be able to share it with younger readers.

The romance is fantastic. The relationships are great. I loved Zoe’s sister and even her parents, though they don’t feature much outside of everyday interactions of family life. I am so pleased the romance played out as it did - no spoilers. I didn’t pick it at first, but it was the perfect ending.

Just a delight of a book, I hope you love Social Queue as much as I did.
The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.