Asexuality and Asexual Characters in Books & Comics - a Collection

[AhimsaRaven]

Just finished Loveless by Alice Oseman! I really like it. I really should've read it before now.

[LateToAce]

@TystieFriends Without Benefits, by Evelyn Fenn

“Full disclosure here. I wrote this one. And, yes, this is the one with more ‘older’ age rep. The main character is in her 40s. Most other ace characters are in their 20s and 30s.”
 

i just finished this and really enjoyed it! Thank you so much for writing it. It’s hard to find ace centric books that aren’t genre fiction, so this was a particular treat! 

[Tystie]

2 hours ago, LateToAce said:

@TystieFriends Without Benefits, by Evelyn Fenn

“Full disclosure here. I wrote this one. And, yes, this is the one with more ‘older’ age rep. The main character is in her 40s. Most other ace characters are in their 20s and 30s.”
 

i just finished this and really enjoyed it! Thank you so much for writing it. It’s hard to find ace centric books that aren’t genre fiction, so this was a particular treat! 

Thank you. That means a lot.

[Guest]

Here there are books about diversity where is incluye too the asexuality and arromanticism. Link in here down 

👇👇👇👇👇

https://www.lib.lsu.edu/

[LeChat]

@jesus dario (Below is an official, green, mod message.)

 

Hi! I'm just letting you know your thread in the World Watch forum was merged with AVEN's main book thread about asexuality in fiction and fictions books in the same forum.

 

LeChat,

Welcome Lounge, Announcements, and Alternate Language moderator

[Nonstop Reader]

I just finished This Doesn't Mean Anything by Sarah Whelan which is an adult romance set at a college. The MC is a sex repulsed asexual, so there's only small amounts of sexual content. I found the MC a bit overly prickly, but I did like how supportive her love interest and friends are of her asexuality. I also liked how supportive they all were of each other, without sex being involved. 

[Nonstop Reader]

Just read another one. This was a YA romance called This Song is (Not) For You by Laura Nowlin. It's about three people - Ramona, Sam, and Tom. Ramona and Sam are in a band together and they bring in Tom to the band after they meet him by chance at an audition for a college they're all interested in. There's romantic tension between Ramona and both guys, and the book is about how they navigate that and their friendship with each other. Tom is asexual and figuring out how that affects his romantic relationships.

[eliaemory]

Hi! I recently published a book with an aroace protagonist and thought I’d share it here, since this is where I’ve found so many great books to add to my TBR list. 
 

Message Of Tomorrow by Elia Emory.

 

It’s fantasy, high-paced action-adventure, NA to Adult with no spice. Jacob (the POV character/protagonist) is canonically and openly aroace, and the trilogy features a QPR as well as other types of LGBTQ+ representation! 
 

For now, it’s available on Amazon and KU. 

[Old Maid Librarian]

Twisted Luck series by Mel Todd - First book in series is My Luck

It is an Urban Paranormal Fantasy

Character is described in asexual terms, but her orientation is not an "issue" in the series, just part of her character, like her independence and love of coffee.

[Tystie]

How to Share a Cat and Other Life Lessons by Evelyn Fenn.

An unlikely friendship in the present holds the key to making peace with the past.

 

Contemporary fiction. One main character and one secondary character are aroace. Some young adult vibes but also older (50+) ace rep.

 

(Published by NineStar Press. Available for preorder from the publisher now. General release date 9 January 2024.)

[LeChat]

Hi. I just thought I'd help add another new, non-fiction book about asexuality to AVEN's, main book thread, in order to help AVEN members looking for non-fiction, asexual, book recommendations in this thread know about this one.

 

"A lifetime being an Ace - Making Asexuality Visible" by @Davina.

 

Asexual Book finished at last! - Older Asexuals - Asexual Visibility and Education Network (asexuality.org)

 

New book on asexuality - World Watch - Asexual Visibility and Education Network

[David XH]

Surprisingly good fantasy book with a plethora of ace rep (with a ‘this is a totally normal thing’ vibe) that I’ve just started - Bloody Spade by Brittany M Willows: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B08QG76CRH?ref_=dbs_m_mng_wim_calw_tkin_0&storeType=ebooks&qid=1703612281&sr=8-1

[BuddyBB]

 

I accidentally posted it twice so just ignore this idk how to delete it sorry.

Edited December 28, 2023 by BuddyBB
I can’t delete the post

[BuddyBB]

There is a new book about asexuality that was just published. A teacher at my school wrote it so that’s how I know about it. It is called Just Lizzie by Karen Wilfrid. I just noticed it isn’t on here yet and wanted to get it added. I believe it is about her life so it’s more of an Autobiography than any of the categories. However, it’s still a book about being asexual that should be added onto here. Thank you and have an amazing day.

 

Here’s the link if that helps: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/just-lizzie-karen-wilfrid?variant=41016574050338

 

[WanderingForests]

(sorry if I'm posting this under the wrong section) 

 

I've been feeling kind of isolated and alone in my asexuality, and I was wondering if any of you have good books with ace characters/ace relationships? Loveless by Alice Oseman is on my To-Be-Read list, but that book is more about being aroace instead of just being ace. So any other suggestions for ace books?

[alto]

SUMMER BIRD BLUE is a good one.  I forget who the author is though  

[LeChat]

@WanderingForests (Below is an official, green, mod message.)

 

Hi! I'm just letting you know your Asexual book recommendation thread was merged from the Off-A forum with AVEN's main, asexual book and comics recommendation thread in the World Watch forum.

 

I hope this helps!

 

LeChat,

Welcome Lounge, Announcements, and Alternate Language moderator

[WanderingForests]

@LeChat

Okay, thank you!!

[LeChat]

@WanderingForests You're welcome!

[Barbio]

I've been reading a lot of middle-grade fiction novels lately. I don't know if these two have been mentioned here yet, but:

 

Rick by Alex Gino: I haven't read this one yet, but I decided to check it out because the main character learns about asexuality and starts questioning whether or not he's asexual. I'm excited to read this one!

 

Attack of the Black Rectangles by Amy Sarig King: I just finished this book. It's not about asexuality specifically, but one of the main character's best friends (Denis) is confirmed to be aroace in the book. (Spoilers below)

 

Spoiler

On page 212:

""I feel like a weirdo", Denis says.

"Because you don't get crushes?" Marci asks. "A lot of people are aro, ace, or aroace. You're not alone.""

 

I really like how this book portrayed not only Denis, but also the complexity of relationships in general and didn't go out of its way to glorify romance. I'll admit, when I first read about Mac and Marci's feelings for each other, my first thought was, "Ugh! Another story ruined by a romantic subplot!". But then, to my utter surprise, the story ends with Mac and Marci deciding to keep their relationship platonic (for now) because they don't feel ready to go "all-in" yet, and they want to savor their friendship in the meantime. That was refreshing!

 

[Sometimes Jack]

I can think of a few books that could be added if they aren't already: 

 

House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones has at least one confirmed asexual character (not those words exactly, but the elderly princess in the book never married and the king explains the reason as being 'she's not the marrying type' despite many suitors approaching her in her youth.  The main character comes off as ace as well.  It's the third book in the Howl's Moving Castle series and the one that always resonated with me the most; considering the previous two's themes involve love and romance I suppose it shouldn't be surprising I prefer the one that falls just short of using the word 'asexual' to describe any of the characters.  It is a middle-grade fantasy novel, and as I said it's the third in a series but you don't actually need to read the previous books to read this one; they are connected because certain characters are in all three books but the plots don't really rely on previous knowledge and the main characters are new characters anyway.  It can easily be read as a stand-alone.  That said, I enjoyed the rest of the series too, and since they are middle-grade novels they may have themes of love and romance but they don't contain sex at all.

 

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton may be an odd choice to include but it has zero romance in it; despite what the movies would like to suggest Grant saw Sattler as his student and was mildly amuse when everyone hit on her but showed no interest himself.  All romantic relationships are only mentioned in passing Considering how many similar stories insist upon including a romance subplot, I thought it might be worth a mention, even if it doesn't have actual ace representation.  Or maybe I just wanted to prove I don't only read children's books despite most of the titles on this list.

 

Pirate Perdita and the Time Travelling Dinosaurs...from Space! by Mir Foote is another middle-grade novel; like Jurassic Park there are no romantic subplots in this book.  No one is outright said to be ace (and two of the main characters are children so unlikely to have a romantic subplot anyway) but still a good read if you enjoy sci-fi.

 

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott might not have the language 'asexual' but the way Jo responds to the boy who wants a relationship with her resonates with me so much.  Reportedly, the only reason Jo marries at all is because the publisher insisted.  It's also easy to avoid; I must admit I never got around to finishing the second half as I enjoyed the first half more and it is complete enough to not have to read on unless one really wants to know what happens to everyone after they grow up.

 

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien introduces the character Bilbo Baggins, who for the entirety of the Lord of the Rings series never marries and, more to the point, never shows any interest in marrying.  For that matter, neither do most of the main characters and the exceptions are so subtle for one of them you have to read the appendices to even notice it.   

 

 

[rai--]

For the Manga section:

Is Love the Answer--Uta Isaki
Mine-kun is Asexual--Uta Isaki

 

Found the first one and loved it, haven't read the second yet but the author does a really good job explaining/understanding and I have a feeling its just as good!

[fantastic mx. foxglove]

Adding this to the collection:

 

Sandra Bellamy - Diary Confessions of a Hyper-Romantic Asexual - 78 Life Lessons To ACE Your Life 

[KingBee]

The main character in The School for Good and Evil series might be asexual. She can’t feel love but she wants to be in love with a prince. Her main conflict is coming to terms with the fact she probably won’t have the relationship she wants. She also has to watch her best friends fall in love and learn to be on her own which is something a lot of asexual people have to deal with. She’s not explicitly asexual and I can’t tell if she’s asexual or aromatic or both, but her conflict is still relatable. The series is not very well-written in my opinion, but I like the main character and the pure silliness of the plot made it one of my favorite series in middle school.

[fantastic mx. foxglove]

The Space Ace of Mangleby Flat by Larre Bildeston

^was mentioned in another forum, but I thought I would post it here

[Strange Seawolf]

I wonder how this forum feels about if the author themselves have written a book that contains an aroace character? Would this be acceptable to post or do I need someone to have a look at it and if acceptable post on my behalf?

[Nonstop Reader]

7 hours ago, Strange Seawolf said:

I wonder how this forum feels about if the author themselves have written a book that contains an aroace character? Would this be acceptable to post or do I need someone to have a look at it and if acceptable post on my behalf?

The mods can probably answer better than I can. But as a user of the site, I'd be OK with you posting your own work 

[fantastic mx. foxglove]

12 hours ago, Strange Seawolf said:

I wonder how this forum feels about if the author themselves have written a book that contains an aroace character? Would this be acceptable to post or do I need someone to have a look at it and if acceptable post on my behalf?

Heyo! I'm the World Watch mod!

Most of the time, yes, it's allowed. We just ask that it doesn't come off as an advertisement. Here's a list of what we tend to consider advertising content:

• direct links to places where the book itself is being sold (places like Amazon, book stores, etc.). Instead, we accept links to places where the book isn't being sold (like GoodReads), and statements like "you can find it on [site]" but isn't being directly linked to it
• prices of the book and sales ("it's now buy one get one," "it's on sale now," etc.)
• advertising language like "New York Times Bestseller," "trending in the fiction category," "hot new collection," etc.

 

The reason we have these guidelines is because we're worried about things like spam

 

If you're unsure if your post will pass, DM me with a draft of your post and I'll let you know if it's good to post, or provide suggestions for changes if it isn't. Similarly, if you do post something that doesn't quite pass, I'll message you with a list of what needs to be changed

 

If you have any further questions, let me know! You can ask me here or you can DM me ^^

[Strange Seawolf]

Aww, thank you so much for the clarification.💙💙

 

It is called "Herald Petrel" and is a SciFi space opera with a demisexual lead and an asexual and aromantic side character that I consider so strong story-wise she is nearly a main character. I was a bit... I don't want to say annoyed, but a bit saddened that most asexual characters in literature are insecure about their sexuality if it is mentioned at all. While that certainly reflects a lot of the asexual experience in growing up I wanted for once to have an asexual and aromantic character who is self-confident about it and even makes fun of allosexuals. That's Raffi. She is absolutely sure she is not into that kind of stuff. At the same time, she does care a lot about her best friend and boss, the main character Captain Galahad. Reversing a common trope, she basically adopted him because she felt he needed something like a daughter. She wants him to be happy so she is willing to help him to navigate whatever life throws at him. Or, to put it in her words: "So, come on, what mess did you manage to maneuver your heteroromantic arse into?" So, she's sex-positive in the sense that she acknowledges some of her friends are into this weird business of "shoving each other’s tongues down the respective throat" and because it makes them happy, she is supportive. 

A warning: it does have a strong underlying romantic sub-plot between Galahad and another crew member so it isn't a good read for someone who doesn't like to read that.

 

If a Goodreads link is fine, it can be found here, otherwise feel free to just delete it: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/215816951-herald-petrel

[Hide]

I went through all the pages and didn't see it anywhere mentioned.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62882282-the-last-chronomancer 

I just started reading it and so far I really like it. The main hero is asexual. There's also bigender character (from what I understood). It's a fantasy book with magic, dragons, and all stuff.

Also, how it's possible I don't see Archie Comics mentioned and Jughead Jones - one of the best aroace characters ever 😌