Read This Book…

I am a big fan of this informational graphic novel series. These are small guides that can fit in a large pocket. This particular one is under 80 pages. The intention is to give an overview, dispel some myths and stereotypes, offer some advice, and have a few references at the end for further education.

This is a helpful book for people who are asexual (AKA ace), folks questioning whether they might be ace, and anyone who wants to understand a bit about asexuality. It is written and illustrated by folks who are ace themselves. While these things are not depicted in graphic detail, there are mentions of sexual violence, acephobia, depression, rejection and invalidation, and medical discrimination.

Since this is a quick and easy guide it is by no means comprehensive. Asexuality isn’t widely understood by most people in our society and this book wants to offer a positive exploration. The authors go over basic questions such as, “What is asexuality?” As with many things, asexuality is a spectrum and this book gives a bit of an overview of that, though being ace is different for everyone. I love how this book doesn’t make assumptions about what people may or may not already know.

There’s a fun cake metaphor that is used when describing different expressions of asexuality and I was happy to see it illustrated and included in this book. If you’re not familiar with the cake metaphor, then you are in for a treat (pun intended).

Along with general information, Muldoon and Hernandez also offer some personal shares about how asexuality is for them and their experiences. Learning about something academically is great but it is so helpful to ground what we learn in actual people’s lived experiences. There are sections on dating, growing up ace, and much more. The amount of information they have packed into this book is impressive. Most importantly, this book seeks to normalize asexuality and let folks know that they’re not alone.