Two aromantic asexual college students face off online while bonding IRL.Chinese American first-year college student Sophie Chi (she/her) runs Dear Wendy, a popular anonymous Instagram account, where she provides relationship advice to her fellow Wellesley College students. She feels like she's hitting her stride when a new anonymous Instagram account pops up, seemingly parodying her account. Fellow Wellesley student Jo Ephron (she/they), who's white and has two moms, started Dear Wanda as a one-off joke for her friends. But as the account gains popularity, Wendy and Wanda begin to spar, creating a rivalry that wavers between playful and hostile. Meanwhile, Sophie and Jo meet as classmates and immediately strike up a friendship over their shared aroace identities, unaware of each other's Instagram identities. As their friendship deepens and their online rivalry grows, the duo's story hits all the beats and thrills of a will-they-won't-they romance without compromising the deep satisfaction of an aroace love story. The first-person narration alternates between Sophie and Jo, although their voices are often difficult to distinguish. Still, their realistic concerns, excitement at their burgeoning friendship, and competitive sparring as Wendy and Wanda make them compelling protagonists. Relatable aroace concerns and conundrums provide an accessible window and mirror for anyone looking for quality representation that doesn't tip into didacticism. Jo, Sophie, their friends, and their family members all have nuanced identities and strong relationships that enrich the narrative and worldbuilding.The no romo love story aroaces have been waiting for. (Fiction. 14-18)

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. (Apr.)