Hello, this is the first time I post on this sub. English is not my native language so sorry for any fault.
The books could be in English (could be works translated into English), Traditional Chinese, or French.
But preferably books I could buy via Amazon FR because I live in a very small town in France and we don't have many bookstores 😭 let alone bookstore with foreign books…
I'm looking for books that might have quite niche and specific settings, here's a list of things I'd love to see in the book(s):
- Contemporary setting. (But if it corresponds to the other settings, just not contemporary, it might work as well…)
- Could be romance genre, slice-to-life, coming-of-age, YA(ish?)
- Please no fantasy genre, no fairies vampires werewolves aliens etc. (sci-fi with time travel or multiverse settings might work, as well as spy or heist stories, but I don't see how this might be combined with the following haha 😅)
- Epistolary (preferably hand-written letters or mails), it's ok if not the whole book is made of letters/mails but at least some parts of the story contains letters/mails exchange. I'd love to see the friendship and/or romance grow through written exchanges. If it's texts or DMs exchanges, it might be ok too!
- If one of the main character is autistic or autistic+ADHD, it'd be ideal (it could be canon or headcanon, preferably own voice but if not it's ok too). I prefer a female character with this kind of representation, but if not, it's alright too. If the autistic main character is undiagnosed or late-diagnosed and the story centres around the character's self-discovery journey, it's awesome too!
- Age gap between the character. I'd love to see a firm friendship developed between 2 characters with more than 5 years of age gap (preferable 10+ though). It could be romantic, or not (if it's romance I prefer the main characters to be both legally adults if they were to develop romantic feelings for each other). This is a plus, I know this is rather hard to find… Older man younger woman, or older woman younger man are both fine! (But please no teacher-student relationship!!!) POWER IMBALANCE is a NO no please…
- Could be sapphic too…?
- Preferably with music settings (classical such as piano, violin, or rock style etc. are all fine). Not a must but still a plus.
- I'd love to have a friend-to-lover/best friend-to-lover trope if it's a romance genre. (I don't like enemies-to-lover, opposite-attract… etc.) I also like the second chance trope.
- No spicy/steamy scenes. (Accept closed doors or fade to black.)
- I don't like the opposite-attract, grumpy-sunshine kind of "opposite characters" setting, I'd love both the main characters to be kind-hearted, caring, soft, sort of cinnamon-roll kinds of characters. I love shy female main character who speaks with a small voice in public but actually is the one who leads the relationship and the older male main character is so gentle with her and always listen to what she has to say (if it's an older man younger female situation). I also love if (in older woman younger man situation) the female main character is rather calm, doesn't talk much, but caring for the male main character subtly, and the male character is like a happy puppy who is cheerful and affectionate towards the woman (ok, in this case it might be a little bit opposite-attract haha… but only in this setting).
- If it's romance… I'm not quite interested in sports romance but if it ticks the other boxes then it's fine I guess…?
- This is not a must but recently I've been wanting to read or re-read some 2000s/2010s YA books because I don't seem to find the same "vibe" in newly published YA nowadays… I loved Sarah Dessen when I was young. So if the books are from the 2000s it's totally acceptable! (Also loved Ally Carter but don't think the style would correspond here…)
Books I've read that don't tick all the boxes above but have similar vibes that I'm looking for:
- One Last Dream in December – Lottie Cardew (Contemporary Romance, autistic+ADHD own voice, loved the both soft and sincere characters! This one is the MOST closest to what I'm searching for even though there's no epistolary setting)
- The Right Wavelength – Amber Crewe (Contemporary Romance but actually more centred around the FMC's self-discovery, autistic own voice, loved the heroine's diagnosis journey)
- Broken Records – Belle Chapin (Contemporary Romance, autistic own voice, loved the age gap and music aspect, the FMC is really relatable, this one is one of the closest I've read to what I'm searching for)
- Freya Harte is Not a Puzzle – Méabh Collins (YA, coming-of-age, autistic own voice, I just love the journey of the heroine, very relatable too)
- The Heart Principle – Helen Hoang (Contemporary Romance, autistic own voice, music related, I like the serious topic the books evoked)
- The Cupid Column – Alex Nonymous (Contemporary Romance, YA?, sapphic, autistic own voice, it's more a column writing not epistolary but it's still great)
- Dal Segno – Jax Meyer (Contemporary Romance, sapphic, autistic own voice, there's the age gap aspect and jazz music, I love the characters' relationship, but it's a former teacher+student story)
- Rules for Second Chances – Maggie North (Contemporary Romance, autistic own voice, the FMC is autistic and is rather relatable, it's a second chance trope)
- Something More – Jackie Khalilieh (Contemporary Romance, YA, autistic own voice, relatable FMC, love triangle, this one really have the early 2000s YA book vibes which I absolutely adore)
- Anne of Green Gables – Lucy Maud Montgomery (this is a classic but I just ADORE Anne and see her as an autistic+ADHD headcanon, love the storyline and character progress, if it's a retelling of Anne of Green Gables it'd be nice too)
- Mansfield Park – Jane Austen (another classic but the main character Fanny is super relatable for me as a quite, introvert autistic person, so she's my headcanon too, I also find that there's the vibe of characters I love with soft x soft setting)
Books I've heard of that I might take a look at:
- Where Rainbows End (Love, Rosie) – Cecelia Ahern
- Dear Aaron – Mariana Zapata (but… I've heard about the racism passages in the story so I'm a bit hesitant, or else this one feels SO close to what I'm searching for with age gap and possible neurodivergent FMC…)
- Daddy-Long-Legs – Jean Webster (but I heard about the power-imbalance between the main characters which I dislike… so…)
That's about it!
Please suggest me some books 🙂
Thank you very much in advance! 🌻✨
by Radiant_Train4974