The Situationship

APPLE BOOKS REVIEW

First-time author Taylor-Dior Rumble introduces us to aspiring journalist Tia on the night her best friend Aaron returns to London after spending months in the US working on an internship programme for a tech company. Tia is convinced the kiss they shared the night before Aaron left has put an end to the confusion in their complicated dynamic, so when she arrives at the bar, dressed to impress and excited to finally take their friendship to the next level, she finds her expectations bulldozed by the appearance of Aaron’s surprise guest—his new American girlfriend. Tia embarks on a drunken dating app binge, swiping right on every man in South London in an effort to connect with someone and end her years-long habit of pining for Aaron. Enter: Nate, a handsome, self-assured photographer on the rise who cuts through the dead air of Tia’s dozens of matches and keeps her up talking and bantering with him into the early hours of the morning for weeks. When they finally meet their attraction to each other is potent, but Nate’s nonchalance about commitment and Tia’s unspoken desire for a secure relationship leaves them dancing on a tightrope, and as their collaboration on a project Tia hopes will lead to a promotion comes to an end, so too does their careful balancing act. Rumble juggles Tia’s various conflicts—her unresolved feelings for Aaron, her growing feelings for Nate, her simmering resentment masked by the careful civility Black people cultivate towards white gatekeepers in the workplace—deftly, but despite the underlying angst, The Situationship delivers more than enough funny one-liners and electric chemistry to add up to a breezy, entertaining read.