PRIDE MONTH 2026! Described as “a thoughtful and immersive coming-of-age memoir about one girl’s struggle to figure out and then claim her asexual identity” Cooklin’s Ace of Hearts: Lessons in Love from an Asexual Girl is the autobiographical story of Caitlin Cook whose life we follow from childhood to adulthood in an evolving journey of self-discovery. Published by socially conscious comics outfit Street Noise Books it’s also a book that allows us to fulfil our commitment to covering every letter in LGBTQIA as part of our Pride Month coverage at Broken Frontier this year.
With her view of the world, and what her social standing should be, defined by popular culture Caitlin’s worldview from the beginning in tinged with a certain awkwardness. Religion also plays a huge part in her younger years, shaping to some degree her understanding of sex. In these early sections we observe her trying to make sense of the idea of relationships and what they entail, and her first abusive long-term relationship.
As she moves on to college she struggles to come to terms with the very concept of her sexuality, initially enjoying a sex-free lifestyle. But her lack of interest in sex becomes confusing and she starts to look for ways to conform to the kind of approaches to life that her peers have. Physical relationships remain unrewarding’ though, and her connections to partners fail to live up to her ideal of what she thinks they should be.
Cooklin’s art has a stripped back but visually eloquent quality and there’s some interesting experimentation with panel structures on occasion to symbolise plot points and themes like depression, trauma or the passage of time. Visual metaphor is used with a sublime flourish too. When engaged in physical intimacy of any kind, for example, Caitlin’s form takes on an ethereal, almost otherworldly aspect, perhaps signifying that, indeed, she’s adopting a persona that does not represent her true self.
Each chapter of the book is titled in regards to Caitlin’s ongoing quest to come to terms with what love is, posing questions as to whether love is embrarrassing, transactional, possessive, obsessive, strange and so on. It’s all a mirror to her efforts to form a sense of self and, while Ace of Hearts is often a book about struggle and a feeling of being an outside looking in, it’s also a very positive read which culminates in a beautifully observational finale about love and asexual identity.
Cooklin (W/A) • Street Noise Books, $23.99
Review by Andy Oliver
