This Is Not A Love Scene is the first book that I have read that has represented a character with muscular dystrophy. We all want to be represented and see ourselves in the stories we read or watch and that goes for people who use wheelchairs as well! Some people are obviously more represented than others, so when this book was recommended to me, I really wanted to read it!

Maeve is an eighteen-year-old girl with a rare form of muscular dystrophy. She uses a power wheelchair and often goes into detail and describes to the reader how she can’t physically do certain things on her own on a daily basis, for example; tying her shoes. As someone with muscular dystrophy, I think it’s helpful to explain to readers how people with the muscle disorder have to do things differently to get through their day. While the character Maeve has a more severe type of muscular dystrophy than I do, I could still relate to many things she describes.

She struggles with finding a significant other because of how she perceives herself. She uses her humor, her friends, and her film class to help distract her from finding a boyfriend. But the one thing she didn’t plan on was Cole Stone, the good-looking actor in her senior film project, showing an interest in her.

Maeve starts to try and navigate the dating scene and she finds it’s a lot more tricky than she thought it would be. Trying to understand her and Cole’s relationship through texting isn’t always the same as when they hang out and learning that her lungs are getting weaker adds to her physical hindrances.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I really liked how the author shows Maeve as a strong and good natured person even though she is physically weak. Even though she isn’t able to change how she is physically, she shows her strength through her interactions with her friends as well as strangers. There should be more books that put disabled people in a positive light and show that everyone wants to feel loved and accepted no matter who they are or what they look like or what their physical abilities are. I definitely recommend this book.