Levelling up Asian Australian Romance: Intersectional Representation in Leanne Yong's Two Can Play That Game

Abstract

This article examines Leanne Yong’s young adult debut Two Can Play That Game (2023) as one of the few Australian romance novels to foreground an Asian-Australian character. The narrative unfolds through the popular enemies-to-lovers trope, following Malaysian-Australian aspiring-game-developer Sam Khoo’s coming-of-age journey. Through Goodreads and Storygraph, it explores how the novel negotiates cultural specificities, gender, sexuality within romance and its promise of a Happily-Ever-After. Yong seems to expand the genre’s inclusivity by centring a demisexual Malaysian-Australian protagonist whose narrative challenges normative assumptions about intimacy and success. The text simultaneously interrogates stereotypes such as the “model minority” and the “fake gamer girl” within broader neoliberal and patriarchal structures. Reviews reflect the appetite for Asian-Australian protagonists and the genre’s shift toward diversity. By decentring sexual desire and emphasizing recognition across multiple identity axes, it contributes to the diversification of YA romance offering a hopeful vision of belonging for diasporic and asexual subjects.