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A review by littlebookterror
Arden Grey by Ray Stoeve
3.0
the second book on my informal list of "ace books I have been wanting to get to"
I don't really have much to say about this book: I think the parts on abusive relationships were well done even if I had not minded a stronger focus on them; I always appreciate heartbreaking friendships and her love for photography was a nice red thread to tie it all together. As it is so short (any maybe because of its teen audience?) we don't get much context, especially in terms of Arden's family life before the book starts where her mother has already moved out. While I don't need a full play-by-play, I think a little more details would have helped strengthen the emotional journey that she goes through as she first loses an abusive parent and then her best friend.
Still it has some good moments and creates an otherwise healthy environment with little judgment from others which can be nice to see.
.
I also want to talk about asexual representation for a minute which is only tangentially related to this book but I don't know where else to stick it, so here it goes.
I was perusing a few of the other reviews as I was wondering what other people were thinking about the asexual discussion in this book. As an asexual person way past her teenage years who has been actively looking for more asexual protagonists in the past few years, I am not suprised that the same conversations are still happening:
1. praise for book for simply existing as a possible recource for other questioning/ace teens
2. (ownvoices) reviewers critically assessing if the book misrepresents asexuality or if it should have to present all possible choices/variations
3. people mentioning its one of the first (few) ace books they've read
I don't think any of these conversations are bad. You gotta start somewhere (regarding point 3), I think it's important to both listen to other ace reviewer while also being allowed to disagree (point 2) and especially in recent years, I feel like traditional publishing has been dropping the ball a little when it comes to looking out for the actual teenagers reading these books (point 1).
But I've noticed how differently I view and talk about ace books now, in 2023 as I did when I first picked up a book specifically for its ace character. (It was Quicksilver, if you are wonderng.) This is the 28th novel I've read this year with a protagonist on the asexual spectrum. Arden Grey is one of at least 70 books published in 2022 alone with ace leads (2023 as already doubled this number); 15 of those being Young Adult. For me, it's part of a fabric of ace books now that are in conversation with one another - it does not have to perfectly mirror my experience because I have options and, more importantly, I don't have that need anymore.
I think it's important that asexuality is not misinterpreted as, e.g. being frigid, while also allowing teenage characters to not express themselves perfectly. Now, I know that as an adult with too much free time and a disposable income, I am not in the same shoes as teenagers and am possible not looking for the same things in books anymore, yet I find it important to recognize that things are slowly changing and that the landshape of ace fiction is expanding.
And I think it's important to recognize where you as a reader are on that journey.
I don't really have much to say about this book: I think the parts on abusive relationships were well done even if I had not minded a stronger focus on them; I always appreciate heartbreaking friendships and her love for photography was a nice red thread to tie it all together. As it is so short (any maybe because of its teen audience?) we don't get much context, especially in terms of Arden's family life before the book starts where her mother has already moved out. While I don't need a full play-by-play, I think a little more details would have helped strengthen the emotional journey that she goes through as she first loses an abusive parent and then her best friend.
Still it has some good moments and creates an otherwise healthy environment with little judgment from others which can be nice to see.
.
I also want to talk about asexual representation for a minute which is only tangentially related to this book but I don't know where else to stick it, so here it goes.
I was perusing a few of the other reviews as I was wondering what other people were thinking about the asexual discussion in this book. As an asexual person way past her teenage years who has been actively looking for more asexual protagonists in the past few years, I am not suprised that the same conversations are still happening:
1. praise for book for simply existing as a possible recource for other questioning/ace teens
2. (ownvoices) reviewers critically assessing if the book misrepresents asexuality or if it should have to present all possible choices/variations
3. people mentioning its one of the first (few) ace books they've read
I don't think any of these conversations are bad. You gotta start somewhere (regarding point 3), I think it's important to both listen to other ace reviewer while also being allowed to disagree (point 2) and especially in recent years, I feel like traditional publishing has been dropping the ball a little when it comes to looking out for the actual teenagers reading these books (point 1).
But I've noticed how differently I view and talk about ace books now, in 2023 as I did when I first picked up a book specifically for its ace character. (It was Quicksilver, if you are wonderng.) This is the 28th novel I've read this year with a protagonist on the asexual spectrum. Arden Grey is one of at least 70 books published in 2022 alone with ace leads (2023 as already doubled this number); 15 of those being Young Adult. For me, it's part of a fabric of ace books now that are in conversation with one another - it does not have to perfectly mirror my experience because I have options and, more importantly, I don't have that need anymore.
I think it's important that asexuality is not misinterpreted as, e.g. being frigid, while also allowing teenage characters to not express themselves perfectly. Now, I know that as an adult with too much free time and a disposable income, I am not in the same shoes as teenagers and am possible not looking for the same things in books anymore, yet I find it important to recognize that things are slowly changing and that the landshape of ace fiction is expanding.
And I think it's important to recognize where you as a reader are on that journey.