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roannasylver's review against another edition
5.0
My story aside, this collection is so full of wonderful ace creations that deserve to be appreciated and shine, just like their creators. I'm so proud to be among you!
jo_bookscapingreality's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This short story collection has blown me away, I hadn’t even finished it yet before innately knowing that it would become one of my favorite short story collections.
The stories are varied and diverse, full of beautiful connections between vibrantly unique Ace characters and their family/friends/partners. The world-building in every single story is so well thought-out and intricate, the writing is compelling, and SO MANY of the stories are making me cry!
As with every short story collection not every story is a hit but the ones that are, completely knock it out of the park. I highly recommend this book it’s one of the best ace representations I’ve ever read for sure!
A comprehensive ranking of all stories:
A comprehensive ranking of all stories:
- How to Love a Sidewinder: 5/5
- Across the Stars: 5/5
- Well Suited: 2.5/5
- Nylon Bed Socks: 4/5
- Give up the Ghost: 3/5
- No Such Thing as Just: 4/5
- Smells Like Teen Virgin: 3/5
- Sealights: 5/5
- Moonspirited: 2.5/5
- The Third Star: 3/5
- The Mermaids Sister: 4/5
- The Hazards of Pressing Play: 0/5
- No Cure for Doubt: 1/5
- The Witch of Festa Falls: 4/5
leopardsummer8's review against another edition
4.0
Finally some aroace representation in sci-fi/fantasy!!!
This is the first anthology I've ever read, and I'm glad that it gets to be the first. It covers a variety of genres, ranging from contemporary to science fiction to fantasy and each story takes place in its own little universe. My favorite story was "The Mermaid's Sister," but I also really liked "Across the Stars," "Give up the Ghost," "Smells Like Teen Virgin," and "Nylon Bed Socks" (that one was super deep). And all of the protagonists are ace, if not aro so that's a bonus!
Thanks to Spoiler Alert at YCL for the ARC.
This is the first anthology I've ever read, and I'm glad that it gets to be the first. It covers a variety of genres, ranging from contemporary to science fiction to fantasy and each story takes place in its own little universe. My favorite story was "The Mermaid's Sister," but I also really liked "Across the Stars," "Give up the Ghost," "Smells Like Teen Virgin," and "Nylon Bed Socks" (that one was super deep). And all of the protagonists are ace, if not aro so that's a bonus!
Thanks to Spoiler Alert at YCL for the ARC.
hazel_oat's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Grief, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship
emily_mh's review against another edition
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.”
“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?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia
Moderate: Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Medical content, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Cursing, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Sexism, Animal death, and Murder
Minor: Bullying, Gun violence, Alcohol, Racism, Blood, Sexual content, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Torture, Homophobia, Death of parent, Vomit, Grief, Classism, Rape, Body horror, Cancer, Suicide, Gore, War, Islamophobia, and Physical abuse
Moderate: calorie counting, "mercy killing", loss of a loved one, explosion, internalised acephobia Minor: toxic masculinity, earthquake, volcano, drowning