Call It What You Want

Call It What You Want is a product of modern dating culture, exploring the phenomenon of the “situationship,” a term for a romantic or sexual relationship that lacks clear definitions or commitment. This dynamic has become increasingly common among young adults, with a 2022 Tinder report noting that young singles are embracing situationships as a valid relationship status (“Tinder’s Year in SWIPE: Situationships, Shared Values and Social Issues Were the Top Green Flags for a New Generation of Daters That Are Done Wasting Their Time,” Tinder, 28 Nov. 2022). Such arrangements are characterized by ambiguity and a lack of formal labels, often leaving participants in a state of emotional uncertainty. The novel directly taps into this social context from its opening pages, where protagonist Sloane Hart defines her painful connection with Ethan not as an “ex-boyfriend” but as an “ex-almost” (2). Their entire two-year dynamic is an extended situationship, marked by Sloane’s anxiety over their undefined status and feelings of inadequacy when Ethan refuses to commit.

This social reality is mirrored in the novel’s genre. As a work of New Adult fiction, which focuses on characters navigating post-college life, the book employs the popular “almost relationship”