Mia Arias Tsang’s "Fragments of Wasted Devotion" is an aching, luminous excavation of love’s slow unraveling. In a collection that is as tender as it is unflinching, Tsang dissects the contours of queer heartbreak with prose that feels both deeply personal and profoundly universal. These essays, fragmented yet fluid, carry the weight of first love, unspoken goodbyes, and the quiet devastation of realizing you were always the one holding on too tightly.

The essays are punctuated with moments of sharp clarity, the kind that come only after the hurt has settled into something quieter. Tsang has a gift for distilling emotion into single, breathtaking lines—sentences that feel like they belong scrawled in the margins of a well-worn notebook, or whispered between songs that say too much. If you’ve ever let someone else’s love define your worth, or held onto the memory of someone longer than they deserved, this book will sit heavy in your chest.

Levi Wells' illustrations add another layer to the experience—sometimes abstract, sometimes strikingly literal, but always evocative. Like the prose itself, they speak to the inescapable messiness of love and longing.

For readers who find themselves returning to Ocean Vuong’s "On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous" or Carmen Maria Machado’s "In the Dream House," Tsang’s debut will resonate. It is a book for the over-feelers, for those who’ve mistaken devotion for permanence. "Fragments of Wasted Devotion" is a love letter to the ones who stayed too long, and a quiet promise that healing will come—eventually.

“I curl into myself and I touch the feral creature of my heart and ask ‘is there anything left to give’ and it howls ‘yes yes yes forever.’”

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! This book was released in the US on February 6th, 2025 by Quilted Press.

Mia Arias Tsang’s Fragments of Wasted Devotion is a blistering and tender exploration of love, loss, and the self that emerges from the wreckage. In this beautifully splintered collection, Tsang takes us through a series of almost-loves and broken promises, charting a journey that mirrors the haunting rhythms of queer heartbreak. With each vignette, she unearths the quiet devastation that appears even before the final break, capturing that liminal space where desire and pain collide.

Tsang’s writing is raw and confessional, laced with a vulnerability that cuts deep. Her prose often feels like a series of erupting reflections—each phrase, each sentence, like a glimmer of something real, something too raw to ignore. She has a way of making even the most fleeting moments of heartbreak feel monumental, wrapping us in the melancholy of unfinished connections. A key theme is the cyclical nature of love: the way it can start so brightly only to fade into something unrecognizable, or worse, something that never truly existed in the first place. There’s a fierce clarity in her exploration of queerness, self-worth, and the painful realization that not all love is reciprocal. As you read about Tsang’s heart breaking over and over again, so will yours.

The collection’s brilliance lies in how Tsang intertwines her personal journey with the wider resonances of queer experience. Her story is one of self-discovery, not in the sense of finding new parts of herself, but in unlearning the idea that she was ever broken. The music of boygenius, MUNA, and Mitski echoes throughout, adding an emotional soundtrack to her pain and self-realization. These essays remind us of the quiet violence of unreciprocated love and the resilience needed to break free from it.

Fragments of Wasted Devotion is for anyone who has been consumed by a love they knew would hurt them, anyone who has given too much of themselves to something that was never meant to last. It is a visceral, poetic reckoning with the fragility of love, and the promise of healing that comes when we finally stop looking outside ourselves to feel whole. Thank you, Mia - you are the bravest.

📖 Read this if you love: raw, confessional writing about queer heartbreak, self-discovery, and the complexities of love; introspective essays with a poetic, fragmented style; the works of Ocean Vuong or Carmen Maria Machado.

🔑 Key Themes: Queer Identity and Self-Worth, Unrequited and Dysfunctional Love, Emotional Vulnerability and Healing, The Cyclical Nature of Heartbreak, Resilience and Self-Acceptance.

Content / Trigger Warnings: Suicidal Thoughts (minor), Drug Use (minor), Sexual Content (minor), Toxic Relationship (moderate), Toxic Friendship (moderate), Pandemic (minor), Alcohol (minor).

an amazing collection that was just so real and raw, this piece of writing will be sticking with me for a very long time!!! also levi's art adds so beautifully to the collection of essays. a new lesbian classic.

4.5 ⭐

Before I begin I want to thank the author, Mia Arias Tsang, and Netgally for giving me this eARC.

This was beautiful. I adore this. It felt like a was reading her diary. The song choices were perfect with the themes and I feel so raw after reading this. I had to take a break sometimes when I felt it hit too hard. I'm not an expert in poetry or essays. I'm trying to read more of it. I really felt the yearning, it was translated beautifully into words. I also liked the drawings, even though I didn't really get them sometimes.

2.75/5 rounded up to three stars

Very quick read and pulled at my heart strings.

I saw a lot of my younger self in this as someone who is bipolar and has struggled to see how this impacted my romantic relationships. Like Mia, I poured myself into people who did not or could not love me the way I loved them. It hurts and feels euphoric and carves itself into your mind with every rejection/betrayal/embrace. I cannot say that it gets better with time, but I can say its taught me a lot.

I was pulled out of the narrative by the stories about the Yumi Zouma album, perhaps it would've been more contiguous if I was better acquainted with it.

Absolutely loved the illustrations.

A special thanks to Mia Arias Tsang for sharing their work with us and Quilted Press/NetGalley for this e-ARC.

Fragments of Wasted Devotion by Mia Arias Tsang | ★ ★ ★ ★ 

“It’s hard to believe I was eighteen once.”

Lesbians? Longing? Long-distance situationships? Sign me up.

Fragments of Wasted Devotion is like flipping through an old journal you forgot you wrote. Tsang’s lyrical prose and fragmented storytelling capture the raw devastation of first love and heartbreak, spanning years and cities with a dreamlike urgency. The vignettes hit like a series of late-night voice memos, full of yearning, nostalgia, and the kind of sapphic heartbreak that lingers. The illustrations are perfectly in tune with the emotional weight of the text. A stunning debut—I’ll be reading everything Tsang writes from here on out. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Quilted Press for the e-ARC! I need to get my hands on a physical copy soon!

I'm surprised by the glowing early reviews, maybe they are friends of the author? I thought this felt like a messy pile of a stranger's diary entries. Most of the time I didn't have enough context to figure out what was going on. I thought there were maybe two or three different lovers, but not sure. I also think it is interesting that Tsang is the saint in every story, only dating people who are one-note avoidant types. This type of glowing self-portrayal tends to be a sign that someone is not being completely honest in a memoir. I wonder if Tsang herself ever treated a girlfriend bad or wasted her time. The writing is pretty at a line level, and I wish it added up to something bigger. Still great to see LGBT writers and debuts.

the format mistakes on kindle make it unreadable. all the "th", "fi", "fl" and "ff" are missing. it's too tiring to try to understand what i'm reading and take it in at the same time

A fantastically innovative take on the genre in a bold format with rich prose. This book makes for a fantastic reading experience.

At one point, the author writes

𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵. 𝘚𝘰 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵.

And I have to agree.

I have to admit, this was not what I expected at all. So maybe the low rating is a little bit on me for skimming the blurb and thinking I would adore this...

Fragments of Wasted Devotion is a collection of essays that really look more like letters or journal entries addressed to exes—and well, that's where it lost me. I wanted 'actual' essays finding their inspiration in personal queer heartbreak, not diary-like vents. The writing style was trying too hard to be flowery and/or impactful for my tastes, it ended up not being memorable at all. Not everything has to be published; this could have been a blog posts series.

There were some bits that I enjoyed though, such as

𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘹𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯.

But over all, this was not for me at all. The illustrations didn't help—I liked some of them, but generally thought they did not reflect the feeling of the book, and were sort of distracting.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this!

(2.5 stars rounded down to two)

Beautifully written.

My goal for 2025 was to read more essays and find new authors who inspire me in my daily life with the power of their words, their stories, and their lives. And that's what I gained from this compilation of essays.

Love is a beautiful theme to work around, and even more interesting when we use our experience to write about it. There's something so human about the pursuit of romantic love, the stories of every almost-lover, and the heartbreaks and heartache we experience around the subject.

One of the interesting parts of Mia's writing was how she delivered the crudest poetry ever written. There's a no-nonsense approach to the theme but written so intricately with the right remarks that her thoughts became artistically appealing. I read it in the spam for two days and found myself thinking about the book on more than one occasion per day. My thoughts guided me back to my reading so I could appreciate her world, her words and her soul written for the masses.

Even though it is an essay, poetically creative, it is so relatable for everyone. There aren't "big words" for her prominent feelings, they are delivered in the simplest phrases but so powerfully written. It is a gift.

I gave it four stars because it took me a while to understand that she changed lovers and her new thoughts were about a new person, and because of that, I felt misplaced and needed to go back and forth to understand where the first love story ended and when the new one started.

I want to give a shoutout to the illustrations: they worked so nicely with the text and are the star on their own. I think you have a lot of talent, and I sincerely hope you keep doing what you're doing at the moment and find love in every drawing and illustration or even art project you immerse yourself in.

And for the author, keep writing, keep being a beautiful soul, keep exploring what hurts you and makes you happy and create for your happiness and replenish your soul. You have immense talent.

It was an honour to read your voice.

Fragmented vignettes stringing together the author's various messy romantic entanglements that left me feeling very nostalgic and reflective on my own relationships. both in ways that i have been hurt, but also the ways i have hurt others.
the whole collection reads more like freeform stream of conscious poetry, and i'll be interested in what the final print text looks like. i'm not sure if there were intentional formatting irregularities in my earc or just part of the bugginess of an arc.
i loved reading this, i'm always delighted to connect to sapphic nonfiction and find camaraderie in the exploration of identity and the ways we fumble through the discoveries and pitfalls of queer love.

This is a delightful, quick but also heartbreaking read. Tiny fragments stitched together to make a cohesive narrative, and also full of delightful little illustrations to accompany the text. I think the digital copy given to me had some formatting errors, as it made it challenging to read-- which is why I knocked down a star. I'm unsure of the intended form and it takes me out of the piece itself because I'm struggling to read it. I look forward to seeing this released and being able to digest it in its print form. Favourite line? "Your fingers curve into me, scoop out my desire like pomegranate seeds." So visceral.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Despite being a big repetitive, Fragments of Wasted Devotion is a very strong debut.

I especially enjoyed the rich and flowing writing. It truly felt like poetry and displayed intimacy with evident care but with deep honesty as well. It portrayed Mia Arias Tsang's individual experience but enabled the reader to see their own in it at the same time. I think it gives this collection of essays a sort of universal quality while making it feeling like a late-night conversation with a friend. It is very accessible and very relevant, the kind of book that makes so much sense to exist.

This book highlights the author’s heartbreaks and wasted time in relationships and situationships with people who never planned to take her seriously. I felt like every recalling of the essence of each person her essays were dedicated to was vivid and I felt like it was me who was experiencing the heartbreak. I also relate heavily to these essays as someone who has been in queer relationships with people like her past lovers. This book made me emotional and I’m glad I read this. I will buy the physical copy when it comes out.

What a wonderful collection of essays that all point to queer loss, love, and longing. I really enjoyed Tsang's words, and the essays felt very poetic, which might not be everyone's jam, but I sure enjoyed it. I also loved the illustrations but at times didn't see how they connected to the words, however they were still beautiful all the same.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quilted Press for a copy of this ARC!

Thank you to Quilted Press and NetGalley for this eARC!

This book was not on my radar at all, but I’m so glad I found it! The author describes love and loss in a poetic tone that will speak to readers of all ages. I will be recommending this to the high school students and librarians I work with!

Lyrical and heartbreaking, this collection of essays pulls at my queer heartstrings. The illustrations were beautiful, but I'm not quite sure they accompanied the essays. I recommend this collection for people who like queer poetry.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Interesting topic and I’m glad I read it, but the prose was too flowery and poetic for my liking. Would recommend to people who like lyrical writing

I found out about Mia through Chloe Caldwell because I loved her book Women. However, just because two authors are friends doesn’t mean their writing style is similar. Basically, I was expecting something else and this was not what I was expecting. I wanted the book to have more of a narrative, but it felt more like poetry in prose form. Which is fine for people who enjoy it, but personally I’m not a fan of flowery writing. I did like some of the lines and some of the fragments. Her lovers were very good luck babe coded. But as a lesbian fresh out of university this was not similar to my experience (I never connected with anyone romantically) so there wasn’t even an element of relatability for me. I still love ant to read her future novel.