This dissertation examines the representation of autism in contemporary popular romance fiction by two of the most well-known autistic romance authors, Helen Hoang and Chloe Liese. The first part traces the history of the concept of autism, its development within critical neurodiversity studies and its representations in culture and literature. The second part analyses Hoang’s and Liese’s autistic protagonists, demonstrating how their novels subvert stereotypes, reimagine romance tropes, and portray autistic love, friendship, and family relationships with authenticity. Emphasising neurodivergent voices, the dissertation contributes to the emerging field of literary neurodiversity studies.
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The approach that was chosen for this dissertation is cripistemological, meaning one which centres “first-hand, and in some cases, first-person knowledge about topics that concern disabled people and communities” (McRuer and Johnson 2014, 158). A major goal when selecting secondary sources for the neurodiversity-related sections of this dissertation was to focus on scholarship by autistic and disabled academics, and to quote as much as possible from sources that have been written by autistic scholars or from publications that treated autistic individuals as equal experts in the autism knowledge-making process, rather than mere objects of clinical study. (15)
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The dissertation uses qualitative, interpretive methods: (a) close reading of eight primary romance novels by Hoang and Liese; (b) historical and theoretical contextualisation via secondary scholarship; and (c) paratexts and community discourse such as Goodreads synopses, published author interviews, blogs, and social media posts to present an in-depth, theoretically informed understanding of representation of autism in romance novels by Hoang and Liese and their place within the romance genre. It should be noted that the analytical scope and close reading are limited to the primary novels, and the non-peer-reviewed sources serve as further support for the argument where relevant. (16)
This dissertation is situated at the intersection of three academic fields: critical neurodiversity studies, disability studies and popular romance studies. From critical neurodiversity studies, it takes the neurodiversity paradigm. From disability studies, it takes the social model and the use of identity-first language (“autistic” and “disabled”) over person-first language (“person with autism/disability”). Together, they provide the underlying frame-work for the selection of both primary and secondary sources in the theoretical part, and the subsequent analysis in the analytical part. And from literary studies, it builds on popular romance scholarship to examine how the history and conventions of the romance genre influence autism representation in contemporary romance novels. (17-18)
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Chapter 5 [...] argues that a reading of autistic romance protagonists needs to be performed through at least two distinct perspectives. First and foremost, they are fictional characters in a genre which is notorious for its formulaic structure and plotlines. Their behaviour must be familiar to readers and adhere to the genre’s conventions. However, they are—for the most part—semi-autobiographical, written based on the authors’ own experience of navigating romantic relationships and life in general as autistic women. Furthermore, the characters are also constructed based on the feedback from a variety of autistic sensitivity readers. Therefore, they cannot be read only as fictional. They are also an authentic reflection of the autistic lived experience. (19)
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The primary corpus of this dissertation consists of eight traditionally published novels by two contemporary American autistic authors: Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient (2018), The Bride Test (2019), and The Heart Principle (2021); Chloe Liese’s Always Only You (2020), With You Forever (2021), If Only You (2023), Two Wrongs Make a Right (2022), and Once Smitten, Twice Shy (2025). These are all recently published adult romance novels that feature explicitly autistic protagonists. Four of the eight novels were released during the four years of writing this dissertation, marking the past decade as monumental for autism representation in fiction. They are all contemporary romance novels, set in the United States. They are written in English, for the English-speaking market; however, several of them have also been translated into other languages. (21-22)
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The decision to focus only on Hoang and Liese is due to the fact that they are arguably the most well-known autistic romance authors who write romances with explicitly autistic adult protagonists as an advocacy initiative, creating space in the publishing industry for a new category of specific autistic-authored texts. (22)
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Chapter 4, “The Romance Novel,” begins with several different definitions of the genre, from the perspective of scholars and romance authors. Then, the most frequent criticisms of the genre are introduced, highlighting that authors need to carefully balance between originality and familiarity of the story, which is one of the main reasons why romance readers read romance. The chapter concludes with an overview of BookTok, the most recent development in the publishing industry, its marketing potential, impact on what stories are being written and published, who reads these stories, and how tropes have become default descriptors of romance novels. At this point, the reader should have a comprehensive overview of the events that shaped the narratives of autism over the past two centuries, and the market for which romance authors are writing today.
The first chapter of the second part, Chapter 5, “Autistic Characters as Romance Heroines and Heroes,” analyses Hoang’s and Liese’s autistic protagonists as fictional characters, specifically, as romance heroines and heroes. After establishing the traditional romance heroine and hero archetypes, the chapter briefly introduces each autistic protagonist that will be analysed in this dissertation and their respective love interests. The second part of the chapter is an analysis of how Hoang and Liese intentionally subvert autism stereotypes and misconceptions in their novels by using popular romance tropes and the main concepts these tropes employ. It introduces several most commonly used tropes—fake dating, friends to lovers, arranged marriage and marriage of convenience, lessons in seduction, opposites attract and grumpy x sunshine—their functions and how one of the protagonists being autistic influences the ways in which the tropes are used in these novels.
Chapter 6, “Autistic Protagonists as Embodiment of the Autistic Lived Experience,” analyses the autistic characters through the lens of the autistic lived experience of real autistic individuals. The chapter specifically focuses on how masking, hypersensitivity and sensory issues, preference for routine, work and/as special interests, and mental health issues stemming from autistic burnout are depicted in the novels. The chapter aims to examine to what extent the autistic experience of the autistic protagonists corresponds with the lived experience of real autistic individuals, arguing that the more they align, the greater the authenticity of the representation.
Chapter 7, “Romantic Relationships,” addresses the main element of the romance novel — the romantic relationship of the main couple. The chapter establishes respect for boundaries and consent as the foundation of the protagonists’ relationship, contrasting it with the previous relationships, where a lack of respect for boundaries and dubious consent were the reasons why those relationships ended. It also emphasises trust and vulnerability in the conversation where the autistic protagonist discloses that they are autistic, and this information is often either preceded or followed by a similar disclosure from the love interest. In addition to the significance of consent, the second part of the chapter argues that Hoang’s two female autistic protagonists, Stella and Anna, can be read as demisexual based on their perceptions of physical intimacy with their previous partners and their love interests.
The final chapter, Chapter 8, “Family and Friends,” explores the autistic protagonists’ non-romantic relationships. The chapter focuses on the role of the autistic protagonists in their respective families and how they are treated. It argues that there is a pattern of the autistic protagonist having major life decisions about their life being made for them by their mothers, and their siblings having a tendency to infantilise them, negatively impacting their agency and autonomy as independent adults. The key finding of the first part of this chapter is that Hoang’s families are a site of pressure, invalidation, and conditional love, whereas Liese portrays family in her novels as unusually supportive, even idyllic. The second part of the chapter, although substantially shorter due to the lack of content in the primary source, focuses on the autistic protagonists’ friendship. Notable finding in this section is that most autistic protagonists have two best friends, while one is part of a larger friend group, and only one does not have any friends. By writing most of their autistic protagonists as having close friends, Hoang and Liese are presenting a contrasting alternative to the autistic loner stereotype. (45-46)
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