Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Being Ace: An Anthology of Queer, Trans, Femme, and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and Connection

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Being Ace: An Anthology of Queer, Trans, Femme, and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and Connection by Madeline Dyer

6 reviews

hazel_oat's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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emily_mh's review against another edition

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4.0

This anthology didn’t blow me away as I was expecting, but there were a few absolute gems, and the rest (apart from two in particular) were solid. My particular favourites were Across the Stars, Sealights, Moonspirited, and No Cure for Doubt. The collection was fantastic in showing both ace joy AND the oppression ace people face. The latter is validating for aces, but also educates allos who often don’t think ace people are discriminated against. Also, the story header illustrations were a really nice touch.

In terms of intersectionality, I wanted to note that there were six stories by authors of the global majority, and four stories featuring disabled protagonists. Unfortunately I didn’t note what stories had trans protagonists, but there were at least a couple.

I do have a couple of “overall” negative notes. Firstly, I was disappointed that authors like Melissa See, Darcie Little Badger, Raquel Marie, and Alechia Dow weren’t included, but this is more of a personal wish thing!

Secondly, the anthology says it intends to reflect the reality of the ace community, and therefore because asexuality among cis men is uncommon, there are no stories from cis men in the collection. But the anthology also acknowledges that there is underrepresentation of cis men in the ace community BECAUSE of a lack of representation (and toxic masculinity). So why on earth wouldn’t you try to help this by including a cis male author in the collection, perhaps a story directly addressing their underrepresentation? It just seemed like a weird choice, almost like they had complied the anthology, realised there were no cis men, and tried to retroactively justify it.

Now onto the individual reviews of each story! I’ve put a rough rating out of five in brackets after the title, followed by the stated (or implied) ace identity of the MC(s).

How to Love a Sidewinder by Kat Yuen (4): aroace MC. This story was all about how allonormative our world is, so that people assume you’re allo, which makes it difficult to live your life authentically. You have to explicitly state your desires and expectations, whereas those of allos are taken for granted. Why do we assume certain behaviours are romantic? Why do we assume that everyone wants to be married? This theme is couched in a unique writing style, and played out in a magical version of our world, giving real character to the story.

Across the Stars by Akemi Dawn Bowman (5): demi bi ace. Make this a full-length novel immediately, I’m begging you!! A girl goes on a trip to recover the last thing she has of her parents and along the way realises that she is capable of achieving all she’s ever dreamed of? Set in our future solar system when interplanetary travel is as easy as catching a train?? And there are cute robot companions??? Yes, please. The ace rep was more casual in this one, but I loved that, too.

Well Suited by Rosiee Thor (3): aroace MCs, QPR. I loved this story for how it showed that platonic love can be just as passionate as romantic love. It did this by taking romantic tropes and recontextualising them with aroace MCs. The world-building was lacking a bit, though.

Nylon Bed Socks by Madeline Dyer (4): ace MC. This was dark and really challenging. The MC has developed an eating disorder due to bullying over her ace identity. She was told being ace was a way “chubby” people justified why they don’t have sex. She was also raped by her bully (this is implied through a non-graphic brief description). Now her doctors are telling her that her asexuality is just low libido, a symptom of her mental illness. As the reader you see her try to process these things as she struggles to see a way that she will survive. Thankfully (and appropriately for a YA audience), the ending is hopeful. I loved how powerful this story was, and how it exhibited some lesser-known effects of acephobia.

Give Up the Ghost by Linsey Miller (4-5): ace MC. It’s quite a feat to satisfyingly introduce and solve a murder mystery in a short story, yet Miller achieved this. I thought she also cleverly tied in acephobic stereotypes (for example, that aces are closer to being dead than living) with the theme of the story. I do wish this had had a happier ending, as there was definitely opportunity for it.

No Such Thing as Just by K. Hart (4): ace MC. This was another dark, challenging read. Our MC is stuck in an abusive relationship without realising it, and part of the abuse they suffer is that their allo partner wants to “fix” them. It takes a friend’s unwavering support to make the MC realise their position, and that there is nothing about them to fix. I really appreciate this story showing what an unhealthy relationship looks like so YA readers might learn to recognise it for themselves.

Smells Like Teen Virgin by S.E. Anderson (3-4): sex-repulsed ace MC. There was some clumsy wording here that needed to be improved upon. For example, the MC insinuates that sexual assaulters and rapists “lose control” because of the power of sexual attraction, but later states views to the contrary (i.e. the correct view that they are fully in control of their actions). I also hated the phrasing “cripple a frail normie body.” But the story had an interesting premise: it plays with the “virgin blood” trope in the form of a sex-repulsed ace slayer whose blood is attracting too many monsters. There was also a neat exploration of the concept of purity, its root in oppression and the harm the label causes.

Sealights by Emily Victoria (5): presumably ace MC. Another short story with a world I want more of! The sea magic here kind of reminded me of Ponyo, the world-building at large feeling like Studio Ghibli. The MC goes on a character journey figuring out not only how to get what she wants, but what she wants in the first place. The scope of he plot was perfect, and I ADORED the lighthouse setting. My one gripe was that while I’m a fan of casual ace rep, there was not one sentence here where the MC’s orientation is even alluded to, which isn’t good enough, even in an all-ace anthology.

Moonspirited by Anju Imura (5): aroace MC. Author Imura here expertly put into words why family is so vital to aces. They also delve into disillusionment with religion, which is something I found myself relating to. The story is told in a dual timeline structure, which was effective as it kept the action going while providing context. The writing style was a little confusing at times, but also often nicely poetic.

The Third Star by RoAnna Sylver (4): aroace MC, QPRs. In terms of craft, this story wasn’t as strong as some of the other instalments in this anthology. But the ideas at play were great! I mean, the MC is trying to translate the language of a space wolf. Zir world is ending twofold as ze are stranded in a space bog with no hope of rescue along with zir queer-platonic partners - who have just broken up with each other.

The Mermaid’s Sister by Moniza Hossain (2): aroace MC. Unfortunately this story was rushed and felt cobbled together. Nicholas should have already been the palace and known to the MC, and the sister storyline shouldn’t have been a retelling of The Little Mermaid. The writing, world-building, characters, and their relationships etc. were generally lacklustre.

The Hazards of Pressing Play by Lara Ameen (2): biromantic ace. The atmosphere the author constructed here didn’t fit a kidnapping story. The narrative also felt rushed and read like a debut. Violet and Nova’s relationship didn’t seem like a healthy one, so the stakes were lacking, too.

No Cure for Doubt by Jas Brown (5): presumably ace MC. This was another story that didn’t allude to the MC’s orientation at all! Otherwise, it was fantastic. I would love this as a full-length novel (and it would have dominated as one back in the dystopian book days if publishing hadn’t been even more racist and queerphobic back then).

The Witch of Festa Falls by S.J. Taylor (4-5): aroace MC. This read like a folktale, which is one of my favourite writing styles. I loved the parallels that were drawn between the MC and the fossegrim. I almost think the best friend character was surplus to requirements. My favourite quote of the whole anthology comes from this story:

“It’s the only thing that keeps my head up when others in the village behave as though I do not belong, simply because I sing in a language they’ve forgotten and love in a way they refuse to understand.”

In sum I enjoyed my time with this anthology, and reading it has made me realise how much I yearn for an ace anthology comprised fully of realistic fiction. Maybe in the future?

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sarah_shelf's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

Favorites
How to Love a Sidewinder
Across the Stars
Give Up the Ghost
Smells Like Teen Virgin
The Third Star
The Mermaid’s Sister
No Cure for Doubts

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mfrisk's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Short story collections can tend to be hit and miss for me and this one was definitely that for me. Additionally, sci fi and fantasy overall can be tough for me to get into. Additionally, because of the collection being YA sometimes the endings felt very after school special in terms of them being told to us and not shown. Some of that is to be expected for the reading level but it could get tiring.

That being said I do want to highlight 3 of the stories from this collection which I quite enjoyed:

Well Suited - this was a lovely story of friendship, magic, and of rising above expectations set about by those around you.
Smells like Teen Virgin - this was a take on the Slayer-verse which introduced some new lore and took us in an empowering direction of self-discovery and of helping others see new possibilities.
Across the Stars: this was a story of family, friendship, and overcoming fear and a slice of life in space.

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chronically_theo's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Thank you to Net Galley for an Advanced Readers Copy of Being Ace. This was given in exchange for an honest review.
AHHH!
I loved this!!
First all the things I likes about it:

There was an Ace Electric Wheelchair User MC!! It's so rare I see wheelchair users as main characters let alone LGBTQIA ones that are actually written by Wheelchair Users. I've been a wheelchair user for a while and I did a little happy dance when I first read it. I will definitely be reading any books Lara Ameen writes in the future!
How many gender diverse Aces and side characters there were. There was also Neopronoun rep in one or two of the stories which was great. Plus casual mention of a character wearing a binder and gender neutral pronouns without any of the big speeches or explanations
So many Ace Autistics! Again I love seeing myself representated on page especially because the representation was written without it sounding like the poor Autistic character that can never find love that you can sadly find in a lot of books.
Aces in historical contexts is really comforting to read about too. Especially because Asexuality is seen as a very modern thing.
I know this is basically the last three points but it was so amazing to see so many non white abled cis het Asexuals.
And that they weren't all Aromantic too. (I am Aro just the stereotype or ignorance people have that all Aces are Aro too is really frustrating)

Now to things I didn't really like

Some dived into the story too quickly. I know they are short stories but I had absolutely no clue what was happening at points and often had to reread from the start of the short story to understand what was happening. Eg I'd start one story and put it down and by the time I started reading again nothing made sense.
no content warnings or author notes warning about what would occur at the start of each story. Some covered and talked about death or other potentially traumatic subjects with no warning.
How much detail was given about the only wheelchair user in the book. Given how none of these trans characters had to give so much personal information it would've been really cool to have they were a wheelchair user and not give the entire medical history. (Just my own opinion as a wheelchair user and how strangers feel entitled to my medical history.)

Overall I absolutely loved this book and would recommend it to Aces who want to see themselves represented.

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

4.25

Thanks to Pride Book Tours for the free copy of this book.

- BEING ACE is a joy to read. I had such fun tearing through this collection, which spans a variety of genres and of asexual and aromantic identities, often with other intersecting identities as well.
- No story in this book is a dud, which for me is a rarity in a short story collection. I was swept up in the world of each and every one. This book is proof that stories do not need to have romantic and/or sexual plot threads to be compelling.
- I'd happily read full length novels of a few of these stories, and I also discovered a few new-to-me authors, so this was a winner all around for me.

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