Mumblings of an aromantic

Aro sideblog. I write random posts for the void about being aro, occasionally reblog stuff. Trying to find more aro rep in books, will blog what I find under #aro books. (previously the-probable-aro)

[aro-who-reads]

Aro book review: Shapes of Love by L. V. Peñalba

Contemporary YA novel. Young up-and-coming pop star Sasha (who is aroace) is pressured into fake-dating her ex-boyfriend (and once best friend) Kai for the PR angle.

I really liked this! It's definitely YA, and some of the set up feels unrealistic, but the emotions and discussions around aspec identity and amatonormativity are very real. She loves Kai but not in the right way. Her best friend starts to push her aside to spend time with for boyfriend instead. People assume she will change her mind.

Sasha is confident in her aroace identity from the start, but spends time throughout the book trying to find what her future will look like, and enters a qpr. The sentiment around feeling like she isn't allowed to complain about being lonely because she has "chosen" to be single really stuck with me.

[aro-who-reads]

Aro book review: Novis by Rachel Tonks Hill

Scifi novella. A mercenary team is sent to an outpost colony to find out what has been killing off the colonists and protect them from it.

The story follows three women: Ros, the mercenary captain, Gabby, her best friend, and Isobel, from the colony.

Gabby is alloaro, and she and Ros have a longstanding friends-with-benefits arrangement. Ros and Isobel quickly develop romantic feelings for each other, and the three of them must negotiate this new dynamic together.

I really do appreciate stories exploring these sorts of situations, though in this case it felt like it maybe got sorted a bit too easily, and the instalove romance took up too much time for my taste. But with the shorter length it would have been difficult to fit much more in!

[layaart]

Here's the cover I designed/illustrated for Common Bonds 3! The crowdfund campaign for this starts soon ❄

[aroaessidhe]

The crowdfunding is on now! It's just passed 50%!

[aro-who-reads]

Aro book review: Margins and Murmurations by Otter Lieffe

Scifi featuring a large cast of characters. Set in the future, a resistance is building against the oppressive state.

Ash, the most prominent character, is aro, which is referred to a few times but the word isn't used. The most central relationship of the book is her friendship with her long term friend Pinar.

The focus of the book is definitely not meant to be her aromanticism, with the strongest themes being around centering character who are transfeminine and/or sex workers.

At times it felt a slightly clunky read, but definitely an interesting book with its own uniqueness.

[aro-who-reads]

Aro book review: In the Jaws of an Oak by Emryn Bird

Monster erotica novella with fairytale vibes. Young woman Bea decides to marry a mysterious man she meets at a masquerade bell to escape her abusive family.

He turns out to be a monster man with his own traumatic past, and they begin to build a new life together. The writing was solid and I appreciated both their character arcs.

Bea is aromantic (alloaro) and while the word is not used there are multiple discussions throughout the story about her lack of romantic feelings that were well done.

[aro-who-reads]

Aro book review: Pillow Forts and Hurricanes by R. J. Margaret

A simple novella about a young woman who decides to try a qpr with her best friend after breaking up with her cheating boyfriend.

The MC Emma is (presumably) allo, while her new qpp Noah is aroallo. Emma seemed to have done more thinking about amatonormativity than Noah, which felt a bit strange to me. I would have loved more of her journey unpacking that, perhaps with hims offering his aro perspective throughout.

They don't get there in the story but they do discuss the possibility of including sex in their relationship, which I appreciated.

Overall quite simple but nice if it's what you're looking for.

[aro-who-reads]

Aro book review: Something Extraordinary by Alexis Hall

A comedic 'regency' era (very loose historical accuracy) novel where aroallo Arabella decides to enter a platonic marriage with her gay friend.

The rep is good: It has proper exploration of living in an amatonormative society, dealing with friends drifting away after they get in a romantic relationship, and negotiations of what a platonic marriage might actually look like. I really appreciated that it didn't just work out straight away and they had to discuss what they wanted to get from it.

Overall I felt very seen, though I wouldn't say it was an entirely happy read as there is still the hard reality throughout that she cannot remove amatonormativity, just try to carve out a place for herself (despite the perhaps over the top humorous tone of the writing style.)

While book three in a series, they all focus on different characters so you don't need to read the first two. Many people (including myself) find Arabella very irritating in book one, and her aromanticism isn't apparent yet. In book two I found her less irritating and noticeably aro, but some people still can't stand her. (There was also a scene in bk 2 where other characters say some arophobic things and while you're not really meant to agree it's played for laughs and unchallenged, which I wasn't a fan of.) So if you're reading for aro rep I'd recommend just reading this one.

[aro-who-reads]

Aro book review: Common Bonds 2 ed. Claudie Arseneault, Em Ishi and RoAnna Sylver

A lovely follow up to the first collection! It's a strong group of stories, with a range of relationships portrayed. Interestingly, quite a lot of horror. My personal favourites were Black Box, Well-worn Pockets, Wish Wish and Terra Secunda.

More details on the individual stories and their included relationships:

Sowing Constellations by S. H. Marr - teen makes magic focus for his wizard 'soulmate'. Also has a nice mentor relationship.

Black Box by Alistair Robinson - a lone and grieving scientist shelters in a submarine from the creature that killed her crewmates. Enjoyed the concept and suspense.

Sap and Marrow by Cyrus Amelia Fisher - woodcutters cursed to slowly turn to wood come to terms with the curse together. About finding kinship and commonality with someone newly met.

The Woman in the Snow by Nico Martinez Nocito - poem about an unbreakable friendship.

Well-Worn Pockets by K. J. Isley - while navigating having recently hooked up with a close friend, Tenny, who works at a magical second hand clothes shop, connects with the memories of an older aro man who recently died.

venante umbras by JD Rivers - a rogue spaceship captain fighting against the Empire finds some time to catch up with his (perhaps unwisely chosen) sexual partner.

The Husband Stitch - R. F. Daniels - after a number of unsuccessful attempts to get rid of her husband, a witch must come to terms with the fact that marriage is not for her, and what she truly wants is a coven.

Flurries and Flames by Sophie A. Katz - a Jewish magician faces the challenge of raising a telepathic baby dragon. She is also close with her parents.

PastPort to Franchesca and Luna of Brooklyn by Yelena Crane - two elderly best friends face death together and must decide which memories they wish to relive before they die.

Will Lamplight Illuminate Your Face? by M. A. Acosta - poem about space travelling pen pals

The Hunger Who Wears His Skin by Ren Oliveira - in a land where the gods are dead, the heir to a witch family is sent to love with the enemy's family, where they connect with the enemy's heir.

Wish, Wish by Lisobel Tang - a parent is perplexed by their child's new alien (human) lover they have just brought to their home planet.

Behold! These are the Pastries that Were Prophesied! by Matthew Taber-Hanson - a checker of prophecies befriends the baker he is checking a prophecy about through baking together.

Love Hungry by Hannah Baxter - in a world where body modifications and neural implants are the norm, Sasha must fight for her independence with the help of her new friend with benefits.

Witchcraft is Not a Love Story by Emmanuel Kibet - poem about a witch who is grieving for her bond-sister witch

Terra Secunda by S. M. Pearce - Mars expedition crewmates come across a mysterious stranded astronaut. MC also has a qpr.

Anise, Lozenge, Sugarplum by Tunvey Mou - a priest and a death-witch work together to evacuate three ghost children from a war zone.

At the End of Forever by Aiste Grice - a woman who has become very close with the one human she's had for company for decades must throw herself into a black hole to save humanity.

Screw Everyone by Anna Stein - a woman who is inadvertently saved when a man turns back time to save his wife is determined to keep living. Main relationship is her drinking buddy.

[aro-who-reads]

Aro book review: Lone Star on a Cowboy Heart by Marie S. Crosswell

Modern Western novella. Off-duty police officer Sam is saved by stranger Montgomery while he is trying to stop a robbery gone wrong. They get to know each other while also following up on the surviving robber.

Sam is biromantic heterosexual, and Montgomery is aroace. While these words aren't used it was made clear throughout the story. They end up in basically a qpr, where Montgomery is looking for a 'platonic life partner' and Sam has romantic (but non-sexual) feelings in return. I enjoyed the exploration of this dynamic!

There isn't much exploration of police violence, even though it's hinted at. I know it doesn't necessarily come with the genre but it did make it harder for me to connect with the characters.

[aro-who-reads]

Aro book review: The Courtyard Clairvoyant Mysteries by J. J. Brass

A series of four mystery novellas. After an eye operation, older woman Elise develops a 'psychic eye'. With the help of her niece Val, who has moved in while recovering from a stroke, she uses it to help solve the mysteries of the courtyard she lives in.

Each novella has its own little mystery, and due to the short length they are all reasonably simple. Best if you're looking for something light and fun!

Elise is aroace, and is introduced to the terms by Val, who is also queer. In the first one she's only referred to as 'ace' and it's pretty minor, but her identity is explored more in depth as the series goes on (although ace is always her most used label.)

[aroaessidhe]

2026 aro & ace releases on my tbr:

Shapes of Love - YA contemporary, aroace girl

Not Your Typical Love Story - YA romance, aroacespec MCs

Olivia Gray Will Not Fade Away - middle grade, fabulism, ace girl

As Old As Thyme - medieval romance novella, grey-aroace trans man

Hallowed Be Thy Name - gothic horror, ace m/m

The Bloody and the Damned - dystopian fantasy, grey-aroace, nonbinary, polyam

Being Aro - YA aro sff anthology

Common Bonds 2 - aro sff anthology

Princeweaver - demiromantic mm fantasy romance

Scorpion Deep - YA ocean horror, ace boy MC

The Redwood Bargain - gothic YA fantasy, demi girl MC (unsure?)

The Library of Amorlin - start of fantasy series, demi girl MC

Sequels:

The Witch Without Memory - The Prince Without Sorrow 2, aro(ace)? girl MC

The Dawn Throne - The City of Dusk 3, ace & demi MCs

Lost Traditions - Nerezia 7, aroace MCs

Through Gates of Garnet and Gold - Wayward Children 11, ace girl MC

I keep an eye on ace books of 2026 and aro books of 2026, which tend to get reliably updated by a few people

[aro-who-reads]

Aro book review: Mrs. Mix Up by Candace Harper

Adult f/f romance novella. Two librarians at a work conference are forced to share a room after a mix up.

One of them, Molly, is a demiromantic lesbian, and despite the short length of the story, there is exploration of this. While the two women have been physically attracted to other for a while, Molly does not have romantic feelings at the start, and even by the end of the book her feelings are still developing.

It's still definitely a romance novel, but could be worth looking into for some demiro (and allosexual!) rep.

[aro-who-reads]

Aro book review: Lady Ruth Constance Chapelstone series by L. C. Mawson

Three steampunk novellas about Lady Ruth, an inventor in Victorian England. With a secret identity as The Owl, she creates a mechanical man and must stop her designs from being used for evil purposes.

Ruth is aroace (and autistic I think), and while the words aren't used due to the setting it is a major part of her character. In the first book, she creates a fake husband her herself so she doesn't need to get married. The third book also touches on the loneliness of friends and family focusing more on romantic partners.

Due to the short length of each story, it's often very straightforward storytelling, but a solid example of aroace rep in a steampunk setting.

[aro-who-reads]

Aro book review: The Rhythm of My Soul by Madeline Dyer

YA novel set in an exclusive ballet academy, following three dancers all with their own problems, secrets and pasts.

It felt like a teen dance show (though I've only watched one) where there's drama around the dancing but also much more serious stuff going on at the same time.

Two of the three MCs are aroace, which is explicit on the page, and there is exploration of how this interacts with the romantic art they are taking part in (it is an explicitly romantic ballet company). One of them is interested in a qpr but the other is not.

Some online blurbs for book 2 (Swans in the Dark) say it continues following on the aroace characters, but it doesn't, she only has a couple of very minor appearances.

[aro-who-reads]

Aro book review: Little Black Bird trilogy by Anna Kirchner

YA urban fantasy. Mixed feelings about this one.

In book one, Wiktoria, who has been hiding her magic, discovers the magical community and gets caught up in the politics and dangers of sorcerers and Guardians. It's set in Poland and inspired by Slavic mythology, which was nice to see.

Unfortunately book one has one of my least favourite tropes where the mysterious and knowledgeable love interest (Arthur) shows up, but he won't tell Wiktoria anything because "it's for her own good" and somehow that makes him appealing not annoying.

Books two and three attempt to remedy this though, with some questioning aspec storylines and a bunch of aspec characters. Wiktoria is questioning aroace, and she and Artur explicitly label their relationship as a qpr. Another prominent character is alloaro (demiro), I liked that at this point in time he just isn't experiencing romantic attraction towards anyone.

I wasn't totally pulled in by the plotting/pacing of the later books. They're all quite fast paced but at times not much happens (there is a lot of someone getting kidnapped and then rescued.)

[lgbtqreads]

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Being Aro ed. by Madeline Dyer and Rosiee Thor

Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Being Aro: A Collection of Aromantic Fiction About Love, Connection, and Empowerment ed. by Madeline Dyer and Rosiee Thor, a YA anthology releasing May 26, 2026 from Page Street YA! Here’s the gist: Explore expansive aromantic love and connection in stories across genres These twelve stories showcase aromantic people breaking generational…

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Being Aro ed. by Madeline Dyer and Rosiee Thor

[aro-who-reads]

Aro book review: Natural Outlaws and Fractured Sovereignty by S. M. Pearce

A YA fantasy novel which I enjoyed! It follows a small group infiltrating a foreign court, with high stakes and secrets, but is mostly focused on the characters and their relationships.

The main POV character is alloaro (and bi), which was well done and I really enjoyed this aspect. She also develops a qpr during the story with her best friend (not aro), and although 'qpr' is not a used term in this fantasy world, it is explicitly laid out.

I didn't actually read the blurb before I read it, but it talks about a heist and some people were disappointed with that aspect of the story. I didn't mind so much, I think because I hadn't set up the same expectations!

In many ways it was a pretty standard YA fantasy, but with solid alloaro and qpr rep.