Thank you so much to Toppling Stacks Tours for allowing me to take part in this tour for Being Aro. I'm always looking for books that allow me to explore my identity. It's not something I got to do when I was younger, so I love getting the chance to now!
About The Book:
Editors:
Madeline Dyer and Rosiee Thor
Pub.Date:
May 26, 2026
Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and IndieBound
Being Aro is a collection of short stories in genres like science fiction, fantasy, historical, and contemporary that shines a light on aromantic relationships and experiences, as well as the many other sub-identities under the aromantic umbrella.
From high-school matchmaking mishaps to battling book banning with dragons, this anthology is rich in imagination and diverse in its perspectives, showcasing aro characters that go on adventures, form friendships, and rise against the status quo.
Contributors include a mixture of established and emerging YA writers, such as Lammy Award-finalist Madeline Dyer, Lammy Award-nominated Rosiee Thor, USA Today bestselling Kemi Ashing-Giwa, and NYT bestselling authors Kalyn Josephson and Laura Pohl.
Review:
I had been waiting for this since I first heard it announced. A collection of aromantic stories. Just the thought of it had me ready and excited. Getting to be part of this tour is a dream and I am so thankful for everyone who allowed me to participate in this! And thank you to the publisher and tour host for the gifted copy of the book.
I am not going to spoil any of these specific stories. I think they are better experienced during your first reading. It's an anthology; so I've found that I love some, don't quite love others. It just depends on the writing style of the author and whether I connect with the stories and characters. I didn't dislike any of these stories, but there were definitely some standout favorites to me.
The different genres and writing styles allowed the story to keep flowing without me feeling bored at any point. Sometimes I don't want to read a single-genre anthology, so anthologies like Being Aro are the perfect fit for what I want.
I really enjoyed some of the fun and sweeter stories. At my time of reading, I was in the mood for lighter stories and this book had a few that managed to hit that spot. There were funny lines, silly scenes, stuff that kept my mood and headspace light allowing me to stay entrenched in the story. A couple of stories brought me out a bit, but none were too much.
And I'll be lying if I said tht the aromantic representation wasn't exaclty want I wanted from this book! There's a bit of variety, because aromanticism is a spectrum, but more than once I got to see and read about characters that I resonated with. Ones that made me feel seen in a way that I had hoped they would!
Quotes:
When was the last time I really had a crush on someone, though?
~~~~~~~~~
She had known this was going to happen. She had always known.
~~~~~~~~~
"I'm not-I can't give you what you want-"
~~~~~~~~~
...but by the gods, I love deeply, with my whole heart.
~~~~~~~~~
She can't mean it. She can't.
~~~~~~~~~
...and if romance must be present for a good marriage, then I could never marry.
~~~~~~~~~
"We will be a god."
~~~~~~~~~
"It feels a thousand times worse than the toxins."
~~~~~~~~~
...about my particular disposition-a heart that didn't want for romance.
~~~~~~~~~
"But you aren't going on your own."
~~~~~~~~~
"This is what I've been waiting for."
~~~~~~~~~
You give it freely, and it is enough.
About Madeline Dyer and Rosiee Thor:
Madeline Dyer (she/her) is a novelist, anthologist, poet, and literary academic, drawn to dark and monstrous stories. Her debut anthology Being Ace (Page Street YA, 2023) received a starred review from School Library Journal and was named a 2024 Lammy Award Finalist at the Lambda Literary Awards, commemorating “outstanding LGBTQ+ literature from 2023.” Her debut novel Untamed (Prizm Books, 2015) also won the 2015 SIBA award for Best Dystopian
Novel.
Madeline also writes romance and light-hearted contemporary fiction as Elin Annalise.
She is represented by Amy Collins at Talcott Notch Literary.
Madeline teaches writing and has a 2:1 BA (hons) degree in English from the University of Exeter and an MFA (distinction) in Creative Writing from Kingston University. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Bristol, where she is researching and writing about traumatized girls and monstrous women in the Gothic, and exploring the intersections between Prehistory and the Gothic.
In 2020, Madeline founded YA Thriller Con, an online celebration of everything thriller, crime, and mystery that ran for three years. YA Thriller Con is currently on hiatus while Madeline focuses on her writing. She has a herd of Shetland ponies, loves anything ghostly, and can frequently be found exploring wild places. At least one notebook is known to follow her everywhere she goes.
She can be found on her website and Instagram.
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