Molly Horan was featured as a guest in one of the Smart Bitches Trashy Books podcast episodes. The creative portion of the thesis is not available here (because it was published by HarperCollins in 2025 as Thanks for Listening), just the discussion of "Asexuality in Young Adult Literature":
The supporting critical thesis focuses on five young adult novels with asexual protagonists and explores how young adult novels without romantic plot lines challenge amatonormativity, the prioritization of a single romantic relationship above all others. Through this critical thesis I aim to illustrate the ways these novels - through the absence of a romantic plot line - force the characters and authors to question norms and conventions around what must be found within a successful life and a successful narrative. Questioning these norms open up a wide variety of narrative possibilities for the young adult author.
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The novels that I will be focusing on share little in common beyond their ace protagonists and the way their authors prioritize non-romantic relationships. Elatsoe (2020) is a mystery/fantasy full of ghosts, legends, and a focus on blood bonds as well as friendships. Loveless (2021) is a realistic novel about finding your place in a post-high school world and creating a found family. Before I Let Go (2018) is a mystery steeped in magical realism about the ways a small town can foster a sense of community, as well as a culture of exclusion. The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (2018) is a historical fantasy that shows that you can place the highest value on your work while still placing value on the connections you have with your friends and family. And finally, This Song Is (Not) For You (2016) is a contemporary novel that explores polyamory and the ways non-monogamous relationships can lead characters to question what they have been taught about what kind of relationships they need to prioritize as they move towards adulthood. (173)
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what all these novels have in common is a focus on non-romantic relationships that still hit all the dramatic beats romantic plot lines can provide—platonic love can inspire self-sacrifice and self-doubt, it can create families and communities, its loss can be devastating, and the threat of its loss can be terrifying. By prioritizing non-romantic relationships in their own narratives, young adult authors do not need to lose anything, and can gain so many opportunities to approach conflict and character development from new angles. (173-174)
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Because this is the aim of my thesis, it is also important to clarify the difference between allonormativity and amatonormativity. Allonormativity is “the assumption that all human beings experience sexual attraction to other people” (Kennon 2) while amatonormativity is a term Megan Cole credits to Elizabeth Brake defined as “the assumptions that a central, exclusive, amorous relationship is normal for humans, in that it is a universally shared goal, and that such a relationship is normative, in that it should be aimed at in preference to other relationship types.” (Cole 270) These assumptions are deeply baked into Western culture, including Western pop culture and literature. And though George and Lu allege that it is specifically “allosexual romance” that “has certain conventions: the meet cute with instantaneous attraction, obstacles to union, an attempt at a relationship, a breakup, and a reconciliation and marriage” (George and Lu 157) these conventions are also very present in young adult novels with an asexual protagonist or secondary character (with the caveat that the reconciliation does not normally end in marriage, but a solid romantic relationship looking towards the future). (182)
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To understand the points I want to make about This Song Is (Not) For You, it is important to return to the definition of amatonormativity as “the assumptions that a central, exclusive, amorous relationship is normal for humans… that it should be aimed at in preference to other relationship types.” (Cole 270) This Song Is (Not) For You may seem like an exception to the other novels I am focusing on within this thesis, because the main character, Tom, is not aromantic and he ends up with a romantic partner. What makes the novel, and Tom, worthy of inclusion in my analysis of how ace/aro characters in young adult fiction can challenge amatonormativity is the fact that Tom becomes part of a polyamorous relationship. Therefore, although he does find a romantic partner, it is not an exclusive, closed relationship society has taught him to prioritize. (198)
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Friendships in young adult literature should be treated with as much importance as romantic relationships because they have just as much to offer in terms of the dimensions they can add to a narrative and character arc. (201)
Molly Horan was featured as a guest in one of the Smart Bitches Trashy Books podcast episodes. The creative portion of the thesis is not available here (because it was published by HarperCollins in 2025 as Thanks for Listening), just the discussion of "Asexuality in Young Adult Literature":
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