asexual and aromantic characters in literature

[lonelyace]

Lets Talk About Love by Claire Khan: The main character Alison is asexual biromantic. The story is about her coming to terms  with her sensual attraction to a guy named Takumi, as he comes to terms with love without sex.

 

Quicksilver by RJ Anderson: The story is about an alien girl on the run. She also happens to be asexual heteroromantic and falls in love with a well meaning but unsuspecting boy.

 

Ruin of Stars by Linsey Miller: In the sequel to Mast of Shadows, it is revealed that one of the side characters is heterosexual aromantic. She isn't the main character of the book, but the book does have a lot of lgbt diversity. In fact, the main character is gender fluid.

 

Chameleon Moon by RoAnna Sylver: One of the main character of this fantasy is asexual.

 

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire: The main character of this story about what happens when children return from fantasy worlds is asexual.

 

Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healy: The main character’s best friend is stated to be asexual, but this isn’t explored much in the story. He is treated more as a plot device, quickly getting magically enchanted by the story’s main antagonist.

 

Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody: The main character's love interest is implied to be demisexual or gray asexual.

 

The Loveless Princess by Lilian Bodley: The main character is asexual and aromantic and marries only because that's what was expected of her. However, when she catches her husband with the stable boy, she flies into a rage and wishes that he was gone. When the wish actually works she must journey to find and save him. Her sexual and romantic identity isn't treated as a problem to be fixed, and she doesn't end the story in love with her husband, just closer to him.

 

An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows: The mentor figure of this novel is an aromantic allosexual woman with two partners.

 

Stake Sauce: The Secret Ingredient is Love, No Really by RoAnna Sylver: The main character is a mall cop who also hunts vampires. He's gray aromantic and graysexual, and the central plot is about him struggling to find the line between friendship and romance with his new vampire friend.

 

The Trouble by Daria Defore: The story is about an aromantic homosexual boy defining his relationship with his new partner, and struggling to balancing that with his band.

 

Not Your Backup by CB Lee: The third book in the sidekick squad series follows Emma, who is a questioning asexual aromantic.

 

 Feel free to add to the list.

(Made for @Star Lion and @plsdontfightme after a conversation in another thread.)

[fuzzipueo]

Books I've liked and enjoyed (most of these books feature male relationships):

First I second Stake Sauce, even if it's a bit slow going at first.

I recommend visiting LessThanThree Press for more Ace/Aro books.

 

His Quiet Agent & Merlin in the Library by Ana Maria Soto - two men, who work for "The Agency" (think super secret spy stuff), find common ground over a series of shared lunches, shared trauma, and shared sweetness. Ace/Grey m/m

 

How to Be a Normal Person by T.J. Klune: a young man finds himself in a dilemma when his routine is interrupted by the arrival of a new guy in town who makes him want to try something new. Possibly Grey/Ace m/m

 

For a Good Time, Call by Anne Tenino & E.J. Russell: Nate and Seth meet in a coffee shop and though Seth would like to do something more physical, he finds himself intrigued by and in need of Nate's interest in genealogy. Gray/Gay

 

All the Wrong Places by Ann Gallagher: Two aces meet in an Adult shop and bond over skateboards, Ace Meetups, and good cooking. Ace/Ace m/m

 

Three Stupid Weddings by Ann Gallagher: Victor, in need of a way to keep his family off his back about a new relationship, convinces his best friend and cuddle buddy to go to three separate weddings over the course of the summer. What they find is a relationship built on friendship and shared interests, as well as love. Ace/Ace m/m

 

The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan: Lady Isabella Trent recounts her journey into the jungles of  Eriga on her hunt for dragons. Along with her are two companions who'll share her adventures. In fact, I recommend the series as a whole. Very good stuff: The Memoirs of Lady Trent

 

The Bad Boy's Bard by E.J. Russell: the last true Bard of the Faerie, Kendrik, and Niall, the half Unseelie-half human son of the old Unseelie King, have to fight to get their relationship back on track while saving the future of the fae in general. Though part of a series, you don't have to read the first two books to understand what's going on (though, again, I recommend the whole series).

 

Alonso Munich is Now Dead by S. Gates: Alonso Munich wakes up with amnesia and stumbles into a homeless shelter where he finds new friends, a new relationship and a way to find out his past. Ace/Gray? relationship

[Tame One]

Claudie Arsenault, an asexual and aromantic spectrum author has a database full of ace and aro characters in books: https://www.obvibase.com/p/N7SD6v1F4mrVBWzV#table/N7SD6v1F4mrVBWzV/*

 

One omission I know of is:

 

Viscious and Vengeful by V.E. Schwab, The anti-villain main character, Victor, is described as asexual in the second book. The series is about the conflict between a pair of supervillains--with people gaining superpowers after dying and being brought back to life. The representation is not the best since Victor can be pretty monstrous, and gets into asexuality = death. Though from what I've seen Schwab was trying to offer positive representation.

 

I will add (this is in the list linked above) Claudie Arsenault's Baker Thief, a fantasy set in an alternate world historical Quebec, was actually the book that helped me realized that I'm asexual. There is an allosexual aromantic character (the titular baker thief), whose depiction of a sexual crush, without any element, made me realize (or at least set me down the path), that I've never experienced sexual attaction. 

[Skittles87]

17 hours ago, lonelyace said:

Stake Sauce: The Secret Ingredient is Love, No Really by RoAnna Sylver: The main character is a mall cop who also hunts vampires. He's gray aromantic and graysexual, and the central plot is about him struggling to find the line between friendship and romance with his new vampire friend.

 

I think I'm going to have to read this, purely based on the title.  

[lonelyace]

@Skittles87 I'm glad I could recommend a good book to you.

[LayneR]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Sherlock Holmes yet. While not explicitly being asexual, many speculate that he is. I'm unable to find the quotes right now, but some passages from the original books suggest that while he outwardly is celibate, he is inwardly asexual and would derive no pleasure from sex even if he were to pursue and gain it

[LiteratureNerd]

@LayneR Haha, yeah. Sherlock was one of those characters that made me feel less weird when I was growing up. Reading Sherlock as an out ace has been incredibly therapeutic and comforting as I find other aces also trying to work through their feelings and situations. As much as I have my issues with him, I also don't think I would be where I am with out him. 

[LayneR]

@LiteratureNerd i read Sherlock Holmes so much as a kid and honestly he's one of my heroes still. haven't read him while under ace realization tho, i'll have to do that

[LiteratureNerd]

So I just finished reading Let's Talk About Love, thanks for passing along the title! I have thoughts, so many thoughts, but it was so nice reading about a character that just wanted to snuggle. Still don't totally get the kissing thing, but the fact that she talked through boundaries was refreshing. 

[Grimalkin]

Though not explicitly stated, I think Havelock Vetinari from Terry Practchett's Discworld series could fit the bill. It's been suggested that he had some kind of "understanding" with a woman in a different province, possibly ruling out aromanticism, but I think asexuality is still firmly on the table for him.

 

He's not exactly a main character, though.

[levelskid]

7 hours ago, Grimalkin said:

Though not explicitly stated, I think Havelock Vetinari from Terry Practchett's Discworld series could fit the bill. It's been suggested that he had some kind of "understanding" with a woman in a different province, possibly ruling out aromanticism, but I think asexuality is still firmly on the table for him.

 

He's not exactly a main character, though.

Discworld is pretty awesome.

[dreamfae]

The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee includes the main character, Felicity Montague, coming to terms with her asexuality.  (It's set in an alternate 18th-century Europe, so that specific term isn't used, but it's made clear that she has no interest in being physically involved with anyone.)  It's the sequel to The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, which is about Felicity's bisexual brother Monty.