The American Roommate Experiment

Despite pursuing an experimental relationship with no strings attached, Rosie and Lucas’s dynamic centers on taking risks. When they meet, both are uncertain of their futures, grappling with change and trauma. Through love for Lucas, Rosie learns to accept emotional risks, while Lucas comes to terms with his mental health needs and search for purpose. The American Roommate Experiment opens with Rosie struggling with anxiety—afraid of disappointing her father, worried for her younger brother, and overwhelmed by her book deadline. She is uncomfortable with her loss of control (albeit of her own making), her decision to “chase dreams that [are] nothing more than ink on paper” (28). Still, she takes a similar risk when she accepts Lucas’s proposal of experimental dates, knowing that they might not solve her writer’s block and that she could end up falling for her crush. Rosie comes to love Lucas not despite what he has endured, but because all his experiences make him who he is. She comforts him after his nightmares and panic attacks, knowing “there [is] nothing about Lucas that need[s] fixing” (292). She brings Taco, Lucas’s beloved dog, to New York, a demonstration of devotion and argument that he deserves whatever he needs to heal from his accident-related trauma.