While I had high hopes for this unfortunately it fell a little short for me. My main issue was that it felt more academic, and scientifically written than I had expected. When I requested the title I had expected it to be more an own voices collection of life experiences but it was more a study of asexuality featuring a survey that had been done by the author.

A very well collated book discussing the range of experiences that come under the ace umbrella. I liked how it really engaged with the entire asexual spectrum and discussed ideas of validity, erasure and your identity outside of sex. Asexuality is a really important thing to understand in a world where for most people sex is a huge part of it. I think the nature of the book meant it wasn’t a read which fully hooked me but I enjoyed dipping in and out of it.

"Ace Voices" was such an important and informative reading about the ace community.

In this book, Eris Young talked about and discussed several parts of the lives of A-spec community, based on interviews they did with a lot of different people across the asexual spectrum. Themes like visibility, medical issues and love were debated by the author and I feel like that I got out of the book with a lot more information and points of views.

I really liked the explanations and definitions of the main and micro-labels. They helped me understand the huge variety and diversity of the ace community, which was quite important as a reader that picked up this book exactly for it!

I loved Eris Young writing style, but I was expecting this book to be a little more personal, to have the stories of the people that were interviewed, and not just quotes.

It's a very good book for anyone wanting to learn more about the ace community, and, from the opinions I've seen from people who are part of the community, it's also a good read to get other views from people in the a-spec and several important resources!

*I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers in exchange for my honest review. *

While my review isn't particularly positive, I want to be clear that this has nothing to do with the people who gave their time and voices in this book. This is very much a book full of people's personal experiences, which does make it very difficult to rate. That being said I didn't find this book very readable, the formatting wasn't great and it felt quite disjointed going from authors personal thoughts, facts, bits of history interspersed and then big chunks of quotes from other people.
I also felt that using initials for so many people wasn't particularly helpful and I didn't feel like I got to be familiar with any of the voices.
I also wasn't sure what the aim or audience of this book is, if it's for ace people who want to know more it felt too basic and over explained, if it's for people who are new to the whole idea I don't think it did a great job of explaining key terms clearly.
All in all, I'm glad this book exists and while it isn't my perfect book it may well work perfectly for someone else.

Wow! Color me surprised in the most glorious fashion.

When I first heard about this book, I was definitely interested… but I also anticipated an “Ace 101” type introductory text. I had just recently read Sherronda Brown’s ‘Refusing Compulsory Sexuality’ and I was amazed by its comprehensiveness. I didn’t expect that same level of societal examination from a book described as “what it means to be asexual, aromantic, demi or grey-ace.” Of course, I know now that I am a fool and I never should have doubted Eris Young and their work - or the quotes compiled from across the community.

Eris makes it very clear in the ‘Who Are We?’, ‘Microlabels’, and ‘When Language Isn’t Enough’ chapters that, although they are providing some general definitions for various identity labels, these words should absolutely not be taken as gospel. They discuss the use of these words as “identity” vs “description.” They challenge the very need to include a glossary like this in Queer nonfiction. (Where Queer folks are “queering” the very concepts of sexuality, romance, and relationships in general.) They see the beauty in ambiguity.

And then! They explore intersectionality, which (in my opinion) no book on Queerness should lack in this day & age. They connect our topic to race, gender, disability, neurodivergence, and mental health. They ask us to consider the definition of “love” while explaining the split attraction model. They talk explicitly about sex and the continuum of experiences with it across the Ace community. And all along the way, they ask these incredibly thought-provoking questions for any reader: ace & allo alike.

I can sing the praises of the material written within this book very easily. I can point to my multitude of tabs with notes like, “Did I write this part?” and “OMG, it me” and “Mood.” But what I think makes this book even more powerful is that Eris seems to have found a part of themself while on this writing journey. And in that, the book takes on the feel of a memoir - in a very nontraditional & beautifully queered way. What a joy to share as a reader!

The boom of the inclusion of asexual identities and experiences in the world of publishing has been incredibly heartwarming, and Ace Voices solidifies itself as an important piece of this. The voices of writing collected here provide for a nice rounding of understandings, but as with many collections this would also benefit from more diversity.

This is the book I didn’t know I needed. When you’re trying to figure out your identity and where you might fit in the aro/ace world, it’s helpful to be able to read about others experiences. The world has been lacking in books like this. While it’s thought provoking and informative, it does have a focus on American, as many books do, so some aspects were slightly less relatable. That being said, I do appreciate the fact this book was written with intersectionality in mind. The authors own intersectional identity allows this book to cross into many different areas a white cishet a-spec person might not have (or at least not intentionally). It’s really affirming to have someone tell you you’re normal, you’re not the weird person you always thought you were, even if you’re not quite able to believe it yet. While the book does capture different voices in different ways, I was sort of expecting it to be more from different perspectives, rather than being from one voices who utilises the voices of others. All in all it was an interesting read.

This book reads very much like a college paper or thesis, which isn't necessarily a bad thing in the right context, but it wasn't what I was expecting for a book. While I definitely learned a lot from the book, I eventually stopped wanting to engage because of the style it was written in - it felt more like a dictionary with some quotes describing the term in place of the typical, use the word in a sentence. A way to reframe this book may have been to really highlight one individual's voice each chapter to make a point or bring a specific perspective to the table. A more narrative/short story approach would have made this book more accessible.
While saying all that, this book was clearly researched very thoroughly and definitely taught me many things I didn't know about. It also felt like the author really tried to be respectful and inclusive throughout the book.

This was the first non-fiction ace book I’ve read, and I enjoyed how comforting and affirming the experience of reading it was. Eris Young collects together the stories and experiences of ace people across the spectrum, on their sexualities and on many intersecting topics such as gender, disability, race and religion. The book does a great job of showing the vast variety of individuals who fall under the asexual umbrella, and gives equal love and attention to the myriad of ways in which people experience asexuality and aromanticism. As someone who still feels a lot of insecurity about my asexuality and how I relate to it, Ace Voices made me feel more accepted and understood.

Ace Voices collects together the results of a survey done by Young, in which they invited acespec people to answer questions about their lives and experiences. The book is split into chapters, many of which focus on intersectionality, exploring issues like race and gender. There is a conscious effort to acknowledge different cultural perspectives, and to unpack Western biases about asexuality, by exploring the ways that people from different backgrounds relate to their asexuality and the unique issues they face.

However, in some ways, I wish the book had contained more complete stories from the acespec people interviewed. There are a lot of quotes, and sometimes the emotional impact and understanding is lost in the process of jumping between different people. Although I loved reading the interview responses, and seeing the variety represented by them, there is a slight sense of detachment from these individuals as people. Some of the relatability is lost in the bite-size quotes. I would have loved to see at least a few full stories, in which I could truly understand how the asexual experience impacted people’s lives differently.

The book has quite an academic tone, almost like a dissertation, and although I don’t think that detracts from the strong writing and the value of the content, I do think it made me read a little more slowly and I was less immersed. I enjoyed the book, and I found it quite thorough in exploring all the different ways that asexuality can be expressed, and all the ways it impacts people’s lives. I think this book could provide allosexual people with a good base understanding of the asexual community, especially with the well-organised chapters and discussion of labels and definitions. Overall, this was a positive, relatable read that collects together many varied voices and celebrates the beautiful diversity of acespec people.

4.25⭐️

A non-fiction novel aiming to amplify aro/ace voices, raise awareness of the LGBTQIA+'s less well known identities, and validate individual experiences.

I'm not even going to lie; I've been reading this book for literal months. It took me a long time to read this because it felt too real. I had an inkling that I was on the spectrum for a very long time, but reading this book was a reality-check for me. I'm still not quite certain of my identity, and although this book definitely brought on the identity-crisis, I'm happy that it did. Because now, I'm on the right track to find myself. Thank you.

Seriously speaking: I'm not an avid reader of non-fiction, but I found that this book was A, very well researched, B, very well structured, and C, balanced the personal nature of the topic with the societal research and evidence with finesse. This is one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read and it truly made me understand so much more about the aro/ace-spectrum, about being aro/ace, and about other people's and my own identity.

I really appreciate how much this book represents so many different experiences within the ace community. It is clear that the author did their research and put a huge emphasis on intersectionality, It showcases the common thread between all ace people while still being respectful of our differences and the many nuances that exist within the community. I personally think this would be a great read for people outside of the ace community as well.

Really informative. It explored different aspects of asexuality and aromanticism and has diaclaimers when the author is not the voice of that minority.

Ace Voices provides a thorough introduction to a-spec identities, bringing together research and varied lived experiences into a work I believe would be a beneficial read for anyone - from someone hearing about a-spec identities for the first time to someone well-versed in the relevant terminology. From the sections I identified with to those that taught me something new, I enjoyed learning, reflecting, and exploring what it means to be a-spec. The final collection of quotes from interviewees was especially moving.

Thank you Netgalley for providing this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was unable to provide review due to time constraints of me starting college. I look forward however to reading this book in the future simply as a fan, not a reviewer, and an Ace one at that.

Utilising a journalist's skill, a sociologist's understanding, and personal experience, the author gives voice to a silenced minority.

“As I’ve said before, if you can’t see something and name it, it can’t exist for you.”-Eris Young, Ace Voices

Ace Voices is a great book to introduce people to asexuality, to teach people more about it, and to let asexual people know that they are not alone. Eris Young does a great job at explaining various terms associated with asexuality while also exploring how various people experience sexual and romantic attraction and relationships. As someone who has existed within the online ace community for many years, I found myself learning even more about the community.

However, I think the big takeaway I had from this book was a sense of belonging. Eris shares quotes and information from many people that she interviewed. Some of these quotes really resonated with me and from others I began to understand more from people with different experiences than me. Overall, I think Ace Voices is a great book for people within the community or people willing to learn more.

Yet another non-fiction book about aceness - we definitely can't get enough of these, particularly when the only places in which the ace community is ever acknowledged are the queer environments on the internet -, and it was such a good one! In this workbook, Eris Young touches a number of interesting topics that aren't addressed very often, such as how the asexual community is particularly rich in micro-labels, since asexuality interacts with pretty much every other thing in our lives - gender, romance, you name it -; the way asexuality and aromanticism are very often excluded from the conversation when people talk about queer rights, despite the fact that aro and ace people do see themselves as queer; or navigating medical environments as an asexual person.

However, I did have some issues with this book. Firstly, the way aromanticism was implied to be just another form of asexuality even in the cover didn't sit right with me, since sexuality and romantic orientation are two different concepts, and should be respected as such. Some people are both aro, and ace, but a great deal of other people are ace and alloromantic, or aro and allosexual, or demisexual and alloromantic, or... You get my drift. I felt like there should have been more care put into respecting the aro community in this sense, since the aro erasure is already big enough. Secondly, I felt like the title was somehow misleading. Rather than listening to the stories of different ace people, we see them being quoted so that the author can make their own points, which is valid but also not quite what I expected?

Still, the book contained a lot of affirmations, and there was a whole chapter devoted to ace joy that felt like a warm hug. I feel like this book is really informative, and makes a lot of interesting points about the many ways in which a lot of ace people feel erased or misunderstood nowadays. I loved the historical perspective, as well, since the author took the time to research pre-XXIc. ace history, and I really liked the fact that the group of people the author interviewed to write this book was diverse. This isn't just about cis white ace people, but rather, about ace people that come in all shapes and colours. I loved that, in this sense, the author took the time and care to truly represent our community.

This was a wonderful non-fiction read that I think many people will enjoy and get a lot out of!

I think what makes Ace Voices so special is all of the, well, ace voices! It was really interesting, engaging, and unique to have all of these snippets from real people with varied experiences, talking about their relationships and identities, in their own words. I loved how unique the voices were and how distinct the personalities and stories were; in particular I really enjoyed how the author would share one comment from a respondent and immediately contrast it with someone who had a completely different point of view. In doing so, I think the author did a really good job of providing a better understanding of all of the nuance and complexity of a-spec identity and community. Even though I already knew a lot of the basics and had heard about many of the concepts before, I still learned a lot and was introduced to various ideas that complicated or elaborated upon what I was already familiar with.

All in all, a solid read that I would highly recommend! My biggest complaint is not about the book itself but the format in which it was downloaded into my NetGalley app as a pdf file, which meant I couldn’t adjust the text and had to read every page on my screen in its entirety, so it wasn’t exactly an enjoyable reading experience for my eyes!

“There’s nothing about being asexual, aromantic, demi or grey-a that is inherently bad, wrong, sick or broken” (p. 12)

Ace Voices was certainly an educational book. I enjoyed the writing style though at times it dragged on. The book can be a bit dense certainly with the sheer amount of terms throughout the book. This is a great education source but could be hard to digest for anyone first learning about the topic.

Below are thoughts I had while reading the book.
- The author starts by explaining how their identity and through writing this book have come to terms with being part of the Ace spectrum
- Each chapter ends with discussion questions. I think this would be great to use within a reading group or within a human sexuality class.
- The book has definitions on terms such as asexual, Ace, acromantic, etc. I love that even with these definitions the author explains that these definitions aren’t set in stone and what a label means it’s truly up to the individual who uses it.
- The book doesn’t define allo until the third chapter which I believe may be a bit late. The term is used throughout the first few chapters so it may be helpful to have the definition sooner rather than later
- I already know all the terms so I can easily follow the writing. Though this works for me (someone within the Ace community) I don’t know how someone who knows very little in this topic would be able to read this book. Though there are definitions it’s only for a few terms and it can get quite confusing if you don’t have any prior experience with them.

Featuring a wide range of a-spec voices, Eris Young talks about sex, intimacy, dating, friendship, family, mental health and more in this all-encompassing manual for a rather marginalised branch of the LGBTQ+ community. It was wonderfully enlightening to hear about such a diverse scope of experiences within the same spectrum. The fact that individuals have different definitions for their orientations and that preferences can differ wildly even within the same ‘label’ was truly fascinating. I was particularly interested in the split attraction model (SAM) because I strongly believe that sexual and romantic attractions (and therefore orientations) are different. This is an important book for anyone who is a-spec but it’s also a very educational read for anyone who isn’t.