3 stars

Overall, a good book. I didn’t necessarily learn anything new having graduated from college a few years ago and seen hookup culture firsthand. However, I think that this is an important book that brings the idea of hookup culture into the eye of academia. The book is composed a of a lot of quotes from students, which felt a little dry and repetitive to me at times, but Wade does also provide previous research and insight into the things that the students discuss. Wade did well incorporating intersectionality and how various people experience hookup culture differently and how it favors white, heterosexual men. I also think that Wade did a good job of differentiating that hookups are not the problem, it’s the culture that is often racist, homophobia, sexist, ableist, etc. I would have liked for Wade to go a little more in depth as to how she set up her research. Little things like “other details have been changed and sometimes dramatized” is a bit concerning to me.

Also, the fact that she used students in her class seems to push the ethical boundaries. As she writes about the students she talked to and interviewed, it is clear that she developed a close relationship to some them. While the students’ stories wouldn’t change, I think it just makes the whole project seem a little iffy on her part.