#aroace books

[aroaessidhe]

some aspec books coming out in 2024. netgalley, I am in your walls

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

More aroace book recs

Comes out April 16

Sophie and Jo, two aromantic and asexual students at Wellesley College, engage in an online feud while unknowingly becoming friends in real life, in this dual POV Young Adult contemporary debut from Ann Zhao. Sophie Chi is in her first year at Wellesley College (despite her parents' wishes that she attend a "real" university, rather than a liberal arts school) and has long accepted her aromantic and asexual identities. Despite knowing she'll never fall in love, she enjoys running an Instagram account that offers relationship advice to students at Wellesley. No one except her roommate knows that she's behind the incredibly popular "Dear Wendy" account. When Joanna "Jo" Ephron —also a first-year student at Wellesley— created their "Sincerely Wanda" account, it wasn't at all meant to be serious or take off like it does—not like Dear Wendy's. But now they might have a rivalry of sorts with Dear Wendy? Oops. As if Jo's not busy enough having existential crises over gender, the fact that she'll never truly be loved or be enough, or her few friends finding The One and forgetting her! While tensions are rising online, Sophie and Jo are getting closer in real life, bonding over their shared aroace identities. As their friendship develops and they work together to start a campus organization for other a-spec students, can their growing bond survive if they learn just who's behind the Wendy and Wanda accounts? With its exploration of a-spec identities, college life, and more, this platonic comedy, perfect for fans of Netflix's The Half of It and Alice Oseman's Loveless, is ultimately a love story about two people who are not—and will not—be in love!

[just-a-lurking-creature]

calling out to all my fellow aro and/or aces (or just people who don’t like romance in general) what are your favorite book recs without a romance centered plot, and ideally no romance at all? I need help cause I’m sick of romance and just want a badass mc who slays without a romantic partner. PLEASE.

[ace-artemis-fanartist]

Mock cover for Kaikeyi.

[franticvampirereads]

This was so good! It was dark and atmospheric and I just wanted to get lost within its pages. Because somehow this book was so comforting even when it was at its darkest. And the relationship between Artemisia and the revenant was the best! Their bickering was so much fun to read. And their progression from enemies to reluctant allies to friends was just so good! I also really loved the magic system and the spirits and how religion played into every aspect of it all. There was just something about this book that hooked me right from the start and didn’t let me go until the very end. Vespertine was just so good and it’s getting five stars!

[bones-clouds]

books i read in 2024:

"the grimrose girls"

laura pohl

rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️, 5

genre: dark academia, mystery, fantasy, ya, wlw

synopsis:

Four friends, one murder, and a dark fate that may leave them all doomed ...

After the mysterious death of their best friend, Ella, Yuki, and Rory are the talk of their elite school, Grimrose Académie. The police ruled Ariane's death as a suicide, but the trio is determined to find out what really happened.

When Nani Eszes arrives as their newest roommate, it sets into motion a series of events that no one could have predicted. As the girls retrace their friend's final days, they discover a dark secret about Grimrose--Ariane wasn't the first dead girl.

They soon learn that all the past murders are connected to ancient fairy-tale curses ... and that their own fates are tied to the stories, dooming the girls to brutal and gruesome endings unless they can break the cycle for good.

[lexalovesbooks]

five books with aroace main characters you say....please share 👀

You are super in luck anon because almost as soon as i posted that I started compiling a list of all the ace/aro-spec books I could remember reading, these are all across a big variety of genres and age categories but all the mcs fall somewhere on the aro-ace spectrum (and personal faves are bolded)

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire: I think most people here know this one. A world where children sometimes disappear through magical doorways to other worlds, and sometimes return. When this happens, they usually are desperate to find a way back. Nancy is one of these children, looking for a way back to an underworld of living statues that has become her home while also trying to find a murderer at the boarding school full of other children looking for their own doorways back to their worlds. Asexual mc

Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman: Rumi, a teenager whose younger sister recently died, moves to Hawaii to spend a few months with her aunt, where she tries to piece together who she is without her sister and rediscover her love of songwriting, something she and her sister always did together. Aro-ace questioning mc

Forward March by Skye Quinlan: Harper, a student at a prestigious high school whose father is running for president, deals with school, marching band, and a presidential campaign all while trying to figure out if she really likes the girl and fellow bandmate who recently was catfished by someone pretending to be Harper. Ace lesbian mc

All Systems Red by Martha Wells: This one is pretty popular too, idc. Murderbot is a self-named human-bot construct (think cyborg, but manufactured specifically for security purposes) who hacked its own governer module to gain free will, and then used that free will to continue doing its job while watching thousands of hours worth of space soap operas. Unfortunately, its existence of efficiently half-assing keeping humans safe is disrupted by a group of clients who end up in hot water, all while being unexpectedly concerned with its state of freedom and the status of its personhood. Aro-ace agender mc

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger: Elatsoe, also known as Ellie, is a young Lipan Apache girl who has a dream where her cousin tells her the name of his killer—the morning before she wakes up to the news of his death. She and her parents travel to the town he lived and died in and work to comfort his grieving family while searching for evidence that will prove the killer, a well-liked community figure, is guilty. Also features faeries, ghosts, and other paranormal and mythical creatures. Asexual mc

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic: ANOTHER very well-known tumblr book! Whatever, not gonna try to explain the plot, these are the lacrosse murder books you’ve heard of them and if you haven’t you can look up a summary. Mc is word-of-god demisexual but also it’s so evident in canon even without being explicitly stated that I personally don't even think you need the disclaimer

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson: In a world where dead spirits regularly rise from deceased bodies to devour and possess the living, Artemisia is a nun-in-training who will one day cleanse the bodies of the recently deceased so that their souls can move on to the afterlife. Then, she releases an ancient and dangerous spirit from a relic to protect her convent from attack. The spirit possesses her body and gives her extraordinary power—but the spirit isn't necessarily on her side, and it's unclear if the connection formed between the two of them can safely be severed. Asexual mc (not explicit bc it's fantasy, but I think it's pretty obvious even without the exact word used)

Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace: In a dystopian world torn apart by two rival corporations, Mallory is one of many people who find refuge in a virtual reality game that allows you to enter battle, earn real-life credits for sorely-needed necessities like water, and interact with virtual, computer-created versions of the league of supersoldiers that protect her home city from attack. Mallory has had a parasocial obsession with one of these supersoldiers—22—for years, until one day she gets caught in an attack that results in her meeting the flesh-and-blood version of the celebrity/superpowered protector. As she spends more time with 22 and his paired operative, she begins to see just how deep the corruption of the company that controls her city runs—and also begins to wonder what she can do to help the city and everyone who lives in it. Aro-ace mc

Those are all the ones I feel like writing out full summaries for, but some other books that I really like with aroace mcs are The Diviners by Libba Bray (ace lesbian mc in second book), The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (word-of-god aroace mc), The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (word-of-god aroace secondary character), and The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards (word-of-god demisexual gay mc, ace secondary character). The one thing I haven't really read any of is books with aroallo main characters :( If anyone has recs for those, please feel free to share!

[smolldust]

I finally got it

[redbirdandhersafespace]

So I've finally got my copy of "Loveless" by Alice Oseman. It was so good! I wish I could read it a couple of years ago during the 1st year of uni (unfortunately I enrolled during the pandemic so I missed lots of bonding activities and clubs). I'm graduating next month so everything that happens in this book already feels so nostalgic to me.

[layaart]

I am not destined for something great. I am destined for something terrible.

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel!

[aspec-friendly-reading]

Hi! I would like to ask for a recommendation for an arranged marriage/platonic marriage of convenience book involving an Aroace character. I like the trope set up but never the resolution and haven’t been able to find anything. Thank you!

Mods don't have any recommendations but posting this to see if someone else does!

[aroaessidhe]

aro & ace books: aroace boys/men

in some of these it's explored significantly, in others it's only vaguely/briefly implied!

Sailing By Orion’s Star - historical trilogy, 3 aroace MCs

The Stones Stay Silent - high fantasy

Fallen Thorns - urban fantasy/paranormal

The Wolf Among The Wild Hunt - dark fantasy

The Siren The Song and The Spy - YA fantasy, one of various MCs (in book 2)

Wander The Night - urban fantasy

Lord of the Empty Isles - scifi/fantasy

Sinners - dark fantasy duology

The Dragon of Ynys - fantasy

Royal Rescue - high fantasy

City of Exile - high fantasy series, one of many MCs (other aspec chars too)

The Loudest Silence - YA contemporary, 1 of 2 MCs

See also: Rick, The Rhythm of My Soul, Party of Fools, The Chronicles of Nerezia

#aspec books / aspec database / tumblr masterpost

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

More aroace book recs

Just found this book, and while it hasn’t come out yet it sounds like something out of my wildest dreams (comes out january 29)

Autistic aroace main character and queer side characters

“A great death is in the air” Arlo is lost. He thought he had everything figured out. Go to university, fall in love, get a job. But life doesn't always work like that, and before he has a chance to figure it out, he dies. In the space of a night, Arlo is plunged into a world of blood and immortality and finds a group of people who swear to always have his back. Dying is never easy, and they promise him eternal safety. But something is after him, something no one could have ever predicted. He craves to figure out his purpose before he falls into something he can never come back from.

There’s also vampires

[arashisenshi]

The Stones Stay Silent launches on April 14th!

Here is the official blurb:

When a deadly plague sweeps the land, the priests of the Parents accuse those deemed to have incurred the gods' wrath. Leiander, unmarried and with interests unbecoming to the woman people consider him to be, flees for his life. With the Night Demon Kevv'ach by his side and his deepest wish undiminished, he journeys to the Great Lith, said to still channel the magic of the Parents. He will beseech the gods to remake his body in the image of the Father, so the world sees him as his true self: Leiander.

And here’s what you can expect:

- A character-driven medieval-ish fantasy story; - Transgender aroace main character seeking to live his life and maybe bake; - Cinnamon roll Night Demon bestie with partial amnesia (and a sweet tooth); - Steadfast friends turned found family (and occasionally, a pair of mules); - Absent gods who left behind mysterious blue monoliths; - Strict gender roles dictating what jobs people have, what colors they wear, and what tattoos they get + a couple of fanatics hell-bent on enforcing said rules; - Extensive travel through a plague ravaged realm; - A conspicuous lack of magic; or swords; or sorcery; or monsters; - Even more giant statues; - A bunch of recipes to try for yourself, from Romanian, Austrian and... whatever cuisine baked goat cheese in walnut crust comes from; - Named chapters! Pronunciation guide! Maps for each part! Extensive content warnings! Handy reference chart for timekeeping! Cameo appearance by my cat! - Eventually, I promise, a happy end.

You can already preorder the ebook on Amazon and have it synch to your device on Friday, when the paperback will also be available there. If you’d rather support your local indie bookshop, go for it! You can ask them to order a book for you once published, by providing them the following details:

Title: The Stones Stay Silent Author: Danny Ride ISBN:  9783982494906

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If it’s not up your alley, you don’t want or can’t afford to buy the book, you can still support - it would mean so much!

- share this post - let your friends know - ask your local library to order the book for you! (you and anyone else can read it for free then!) - suggest it as reading for book clubs - add the book to your list on goodreads - mark it as to read on the story graph - upvote it on reedsy discovery - there is a detailed review there from an independent reviewer, and you can also read the first chapter for free!

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images: 1) promo material of the book featuring the book cover 2) moodboard of the seven parts and the epilogue 3) promo material showing a sample of the book interior

[proud-aroace]

Finally got time to read 'Loveless' by Alice Oseman and oh my god. Oh my god. OH MY GOD. It was soooo good. I've never felt so related to a book character until now and that too the main character. It feels awesome. It was hilarious and so emotional too. Towards the end I completely lost it and cried with the joy of having such a book in the world that is so amazing.

P.s. I don't know whether I make any sense above but I am just so excited about it. I couldn't stop myself from making a post.

[franticvampirereads]

Wow…. Just, wow. Holy crap did I love this book. I loved Dev and Charlie. I loved the blatant aspec rep, the queer rep, and the mental health rep. All of it was so good! Not to mention all the commentary on reality dating shows. I honestly don’t know what else to say about The Charm Offensive other than I really, really loved it. I want to dive back into it and start a reread. If it’s not already clear, this book is getting a solid five stars. And I’m just gonna go scream over this one in a corner.

Reading Challenge Prompt Fills:

Romance Readathon: lgbtq+ rep, pastel colors on the cover (sneaking one last one in 😊)

PopSugar: a book set in Hollywood

Shop Your Shelves: a new to you author

Read Queerly 2023: aspec main character