In honor of Ace Week, I wanted to share my favorite asexual characters in books! This is a bit of a repost from last year, but there are a lot of new additions to this list. Even now, it’s still pretty rate for books to have confirmed ace-spectrum characters, but it’s always a delight when I do find them. It’s so amazing to have representation, and a lot of these books helped me figure out my own sexuality. For all my fellow asexuals and other ace-spectrum folks, I hope you enjoy this list!
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman. This was the first book I ever read that had some sort of asexual representation. One of the main characters, Aled, is homoromantic demisexual. Throughout the book, he slowly comes to terms with his demisexuality and his feelings for his friend Daniel. At the time I was reading this, I thought I might be demisexual, so having this representation was really important to me.
Loveless by Alice Oseman. This is probably one of my favorite books! It’s another one by Alice Oseman, who is aro-ace just like the main character Georgia. Georgia is a college freshman who has never been in love or had a crush, but desperately wants a fanfic-level romance. Just for the hell of it, she joins the Pride Society at her university and is sort of mentored by the society president, who is gay-ace. Eventually she comes to terms with her sexuality and realizes that platonic love can be just as wonderful and all-encompassing as romantic and sexual love. I feel like with ace representation in books, not many of them actually focus on the actual coming out/realization phase. Not that there’s a problem with that (your sexuality doesn’t define you), but it is nice to have that token coming out story like so many other parts of the LGBTQ+ community have. This book was incredibly important to me, and actually helped me realize that I’m aro-ace!Â
Vicious and Vengeful by Victoria Schwab. Romance is a minimal part of these books, and it turns out that it’s because the main character, Victor Vale, is asexual. When mentioning a girl he knew in college, he says something along the lines of wanting her attention, and even her love, but not her sex. So definitely asexual, probably heteroromantic or biromantic. These are two of my favorite books of all time, just because of how amazing the plot and the characters are, and knowing that Victor is ace just makes me love them even more.
Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray. Another one of my favorite books of all time! Abel, one of the main characters, is on the ace spectrum. In the first book, he alludes to being somewhere on the ace spectrum. He falls in love with the other main character, Noemi, but since he is a robot his programming only allows him to experience sexual desire after his feelings are reciprocated. In the third book, he is confirmed to be demi-panromantic.
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. I read this over the summer and it blew me away! I could write a novel about how amazing this book is, but that’s for another post. It’s about a girl during the Ming Dynasty who disguises herself as her dead brother in order to fulfil his destiny of becoming great. The main character, Zhu Chongba, is genderqueer and asexual. I appreciated that even though she’s very clearly asexual, she still has a loving, sexual relationship with her girlfriend Ma. They’re really great about setting boundaries and communicating their different needs with each other. This book gave me a lot of asexual feels and Gender Thoughts ™, so definitely give it a read!
Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. This is a bit of a controversial one, since Kaz Brekker’s sexuality is kind of up for debate. His PTSD and trauma give him a strong aversion to touch, and he’s sex repulsed in most cases. However, there are specific instances where he’s able to feel sexual attraction (see: Inej and Imogen). Therefore, I view Kaz as demisexual, but I think he’s definately somewhere on the grey-ace spectrum.Â
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. The two main characters, Aziraphale and Crowley, do not have any confirmed sexual or gender identity, and Neil Gaiman has said it’s completely open to interpretation. I, personally, interpreted them as asexual, and a lot of the ace community has claimed them as well. We love our asexual ineffable husbands!Â
Dread Nation and Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland. I read this last year and really enjoyed it! In the beginning of the story, I was definitely getting queer vibes from one of the main characters, Katherine, and she turned out to be ace! I have not read the sequel, so I don’t know how much it’s talked about there, but it’s still nice to have that rep. The point of view character for the book, Jane, is also bisexual.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. I read this at the beginning of quarantine and immediately fell in love with it. It is a pretty big book, so just make sure you’re fully committed before you decide to read this one! The author has confirmed not one, but two of the main characters to be on the ace spectrum: Tane and Loth. Tane is asexual, and she says that Loth is probably greysexual, but she isn’t 100% sure yet. This book in general is just full of queer characters and was a delight to read, so if you’re looking for queer fantasy characters I would totally recommend it.
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon. I have not read this book yet, but it’s on my TBR. I started it after reading Priory, but I was too busy to finish it. The main character, Paige, is confirmed to be demisexual, and I think the author said this would be explored more in the following books. Another character, Jaxon, is also asexual.
While I was making this list, I realized that a lot of my favorite books coincidentally have characters on the ace spectrum. Looking back, I can’t believe it took me so long to realize I was ace. I think that’s why it’s so important to have ace rep in books - so people can educate themselves about this and potentially come to terms with their own sexuality.
To all my fellow ace-spectrum folks out there: you are not broken. You are allowed to be proud of who you are. You deserve loving relationships, no matter the forms those relationships may take. Happy ace week to all, and to all a good night!
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