I feel like there has been more books on asexuality recently, with Alice Oseman’s ‘Loveless’ being one that comes to mind. With more people talking about asexually and with more people identifying themselves as asexual, it’s finally earning its recognition as a valid sense of identity.

In this graphic novel, Burgess talks about her own life, and how she discovered her sexuality after years of struggling with fitting in at school and not being in sync with her fellow classmates, whose priorities have shifted to sex and relationships. What I enjoyed was how the story didn’t just focus on Burgess’ asexual struggles. She often talks about her issues with mental health, and the big adjustment her life took when she went to university. There were so many moments I could relate with so much empathy, because it felt like she was describing my feelings. The new environment, the need to feel like you have to force yourself to be sociable at parties to avoid being seen as weird, and how adrift and disappointed you feel when the things you should be interested in don’t appeal to you and how it singles you out from other people. It was strange just how much I related to this.

I liked how Burgess educates us on asexual issues, but balances it out so that’s it’s not overloading or monotonous. The ones who don’t know much about asexuality can learn so much, and those who already know it won’t be drowned out by already known facts. There were even some here I hadn’t been aware of, so that was effortlessly done. Although the title mentions being ace, Burgess doesn’t shy away from opening up about her other struggles, making her more than her sexuality. I know this seems like a dumb notion, since this is a memoir, but I’ve read too many books where characters and people are literally just defined by their sexuality and nothing more, so the more fleshing out, the more happy I am. And again, the employment struggle straight out of uni felt like looking in the mirror!

The imagery on some the pages is great, but the art is not the best that I’ve seen, but it didn’t distract me.

This is a very personal and revealing memoir on learning about your own sexuality, while also navigating through life struggles, but showing there is hope. It’s educational and enlightening, and I would recommend this to anyone.