“The label of asexual should be value neutral. It should indicate little more than sexual orientation. Instead, asexual implies a slew of other, negative associations: passionless, uptight, boring, robotic, cold, prude, frigid, lacking, broken. These, especially broken, are the words aces use again and again to describe how we are perceived and made to feel.”

This book was not only en-lighting but made me feel seen, heard, and validated in ways that I can’t even begin to explain. I had herd about this book from other people who had found touching and informative. I went into this book not expecting much but just wanting to learn more about asexuality and I ended up leaving with not only being more informed but being more empowered. From the time that I entered high school to a few years ago, I felt confused with my sexuality as I wasn’t sure if I liked both sexes or just one, or if I wasn’t interested in sex at all. I can always remember my friends talking about relationships and sex and it made me a bit uncomfortable because I just didn’t feel very interested in it. Because of that, I always felt misunderstood and bullied and it wasn’t until a few years ago when I started finding out more about asexuality that I finally felt like I found what I was looking for as a teenager.

This book really made me feel understood and I can only hope the same for others who are dealing with similar feelings like I had and not being sure if they are asexual. I think asexuality is very misunderstood and even though more information is being introduced, there is still a very long way to go. But, I felt the way it was written in the book was well done and not over the top in anyway. In addition to how it was written, I did enjoy the feminism aspect of it because as someone who is white, I’ve never considered or even thought about the unique struggles if you’re a POC or trans. I think that’s very important to include when talking about issues like sexuality as you can lack privilege in one area and make up for it another. It’s important to know and understand the issues that others face as it helps bring more awareness to certain issues. Overall, this was a very informative, empowering, validating, and excellent book so I highly recommend checking it out.