Bette loves Mei, but they are on a break, so Bette can catch up on the decade of dating experiences she missed before she came out.
So Bette is (reluctantly) on a dating odyssey: a quest to have lots of casual sex with lots of hot women and come back to Mei more experienced and certain about what she wants. And now that she has a new friend Ruth as her queer dating guide, she can’t possibly fail. It’s just three months, then she’ll be back with Mei.
It’s the perfect plan — isn’t it?
That’s just a short description of Kate Young’s new book I have recently read.
“Experienced” was a breath of fresh air — a tender exploration of self-discovery with steamy, sweet romance and a lot of fun. It’s a coming-out and coming-of-age story about a young queer woman finding her place in the world on her own time and learning the many different ways love can manifest in life.
This story contains everything you could ever want: the meaningful friendships that change your life, the sweetest romance, and the hottest sex that left me a little hot under the collar and reminded me just how stunning women are.
The storytelling was fabulous — vivid and brightly descriptive in ways that brought waves of nostalgia for youth rushing back.
Bette was a fabulously messy woman trying to figure things out in a way that was so relatably chaotic. I loved her instantly and all the antics she found herself in, even when it was too painfully accurate. Honestly, every character was perfect — I felt like they were all my friends, and the complex, beautiful relationships were so lovely to see. With the three months counting down above our heads, the story moves through her adventure at an exciting and easy pace, and I just couldn’t stop reading.
Every single chapter made me unsure whether to laugh, cry, or cringe in the best way possible. While I had my inkling where this was going from the start, the journey was so much fun.
384 pages of pure queer joy and heartbreak — this book was an experience.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Experienced will be available with 4th Estate from June 6th. This review was based on a gifted version of the UK release
Featured image via Matias North on Unsplash
