Blank Spaces by Cass Lennox: An asexual story that will make you cryyyyyy

Blank Spaces by Cass Lennox is not a new book, however we only stumbled across it recently. In our endeavor to cover books and stories that span the entire LGBTQ+ spectrum, this little gem fell into our laps. Published back in 2016, Blank Spaces is the story of Vaughn, a well to do gay dude that works in a museum, and Jonah, a not so well to do gay dude that works in insurance. 

This is definitely an opposites attract story, but probably in more ways than most. You see, Jonah is the resident manwhore in the community. Exceptionally promiscuous, open and vocal about it, and everyone knows it. Even if you don’t know Jonah, you know who Jonah is. 

But Vaughn? Well Vaughn is none of those things. He is from a pretty darn wealthy family, has an incredibly respectable job at an art museum and doesn’t whore around in any kind of way like Jonah does. No one really knows who Vaughn is, and that’s the way he likes it. 

If you’re exploring the asexual spectrum and wondering if this may be a home for you, Blank Spaces is an incredibly emotional and informative read that will leave you feeling All The Things, and possible shedding some tears. 

Here is our review of Blank Spaces by Cass Lennox.

Blank Spaces Plot Overview

When Vaugh strolls into work one morning only to find that the gallery has been robbed and a very expensive piece of art is missing, he automatically goes into crisis mode. He calls his boss, closes the gallery, and follows procedure. The cops arrive, and so do the insurance claims adjusters and that’s when Jonah walks into his life. 

Jonah and Vaughn don’t exactly click right away. Despite the fact that Jonah is clearly interested in the aesthetics of Vaughn, Vaughn’s demeanor is a little on the cold side for Jonah. The insurance dudes do their job, and then they’re on their way. 

But that isn’t the last time Jonah and Vaughn see each other (duh). Vaughn is dragged to a club later that night to blow off some steam with friends and happens to run into Jonah in the bathroom. Jonah is in the middle of a threesome in one of the stalls and stumbles out while Vaughn happens to still be in the washroom. Jonah seems unhappy that Vaughn saw what he was doing and the two get into an aggressive verbal altercation. 

It seems Jonah is concerned about Vaughn using his sexuality and his sexual exploits against Jonah at work, but Jonah doesn’t know that Vaughn is just not that type of guy. As Jonah is Vaughn’s insurance broker at work, this is also not the last time they see each other. 

”I don’t know what you think I’m trying to do,” Vaughn said slowly, “but blackmail isn’t it.”
“Oh so you just happened to be here? In the newest gay club in Toronot? The same day your company files a very, very suspicious claim?”
Vaughn frowned.”

(Blank Spaces, Cass Lennox, 2016)

Despite the fact that Vaughn knows he is nothing like Jonah, and he could never happily give Jonah what he wants, there is no doubt that Vaughn is actually drawn to Jonah. And Joanh is drawn to, well… everyone. 

Vaughn knows he doesn’t want to have a sexual relationship with anyone. He has tried, and it’s just not for him. He doesn’t like how it makes him feel and he always ends up hurt by his own feelings in the end. He can’t really explain what is wrong with him to anyone, because he doesn’t really know himself. And Jonah is a sex machine. Jonah thrives on sex and needs it as much as he needs air and water, so how on earth does something like this work for two people who are so opposite? 

”But you don’t like sex? If you can come then doesn’t that mean you enjoyed it?” Jonah asked incredulously.
“No.” Vaughn shifted his weight. “I didn’t. With another person, it’s …” He seemed to struggle for words. “Messy. And Awkward. It doesn’t feel natural to me. It’s a lot of effort. I can do it, but no, it’s not enjoyable. It doesn’t bring me closer to that person, it takes me further away from them. It’s lonely.”

(Blank Spaces, Cass Lennox, 2016)

Vaughn goes to a toga party one night with Jonah (where many screwed up things happen on Jonah’s part, bad Jonah, bad) but for Vaughn, he learns something that completely blows his mind. He listens to a conversation some of the attendees are having about the different scopes of sexuality, and someone in the group brings up the concept of asexuality. Vaughn has never really heard of this before and doesn’t really know much about it but he is very intrigued by what they’re saying. 

He leaves the party and spends all night researching just exactly what asexuality entails and Vaughn, very emotionally, feels like he has finally got an explanation for his aversion to sex. Jonah comes by the next day and Vaughn attempts to explain to Jonah exactly what asexuality is. At first, Jonah thinks Vaughn is messing with him, because who doesn’t like sex, god! But then he realizes that Vaughn is not yanking his chain and his aversion to sex has absolutely NOTHING to do with Jonah, and everything to do with Vaughn. 

Yet the question remains, how on earth is it possible for two people like Jonah and Vaughn – who clearly care about each other and are into each other – to exist in any kind of functional relationship? 

What we loved

Without a doubt, our favorite part of this story was Vaughn’s exploration and discovery of what it means to actually be asexual. For the longest time, he felt like he just didn’t belong anywhere. Gay male spaces, by and large, are overtly sexual places, and for Vaughn, he just never felt like he belonged. 

He definitely had the gay part down, that is for sure. There was no part of him that wondered if he wasn’t into guys. But the sexual part of being gay caused him more anxiety than he cared to deal with. 

At the party when he listens to this conversation about asexuality, its like something comes alive inside of him. When he goes home and goes down the google rabbit hole and realizes that there are a lot of people in the world that are just like him, the relief, the comfort it brings to him is really quite incredible. 

”My point is that it’s personal. Identity is personal.But people like labels.” She sipped her beer. “As I was saying, asexuality is when you’re not attracted to anybody, whatever that means for you. Your sexuality isn’t directed at any particular group in society. Maybe you don’t have much of a sexuality at all, low libido or lack of aesthetic connection to other people or something. Doesn’t stop you from having sex though. How that not queer? Hetereonormativity demands active sexual attraction between two binary sexes. It requires it.”

(Blank Spaces, Cass Lennox, 2016)

Again, this is why we say, representation matters. It’s in that moment that Vaughn is able to find peace and acceptance of himself and remove all doubt from his mind that something is actually not right with him. He’s just asexual, and that’s perfectly fine. 

We also loved the ending. Look, we’re not going to spoil it completely so we’re not going to give you the deets on that. However, throughout the entire story the one question we kept asking ourselves as we read was: how on earth is a resolution possible for these two boys?

The ending provides a really great resolution that left us smiling, and filled us with hope for those in the world like Vaughn that might be struggling with who they are. Reminder though, this is just one version of what asexuality looks like and Vaughn’s resolution might not be for everyone. Keep that in mind when reading. 

Jonah

Fair warning: Jonah is not the kind of character that you’re likely to fall head over heels for immediately. A lot of the time, we wanted to whack him over the head and tell him to get his life together. But he wears on you.

Jonah is a hot mess, but as the story unfolds, readers learn that his mess is justified. He’s had a really hard life and he’s dealing with it in the only way he knows how. He’s never had anyone invest in him the way Vaughn does, and frankly, Jonah doesn’t really know what to do with it. 

He is gonna do many things that will make you audibly groan and want to throw things at him. Have patience though, folks, because there is a light at the end of the tunnel for this one. 

He is one of those characters that is kind of set up to be the villain of the story but winds up being the good guy. More than once we found ourselves hoping that Vaughn would just move on and find someone that was more like him, someone that would treat him better. Honestly though, we’re really happy that Vaughn stuck it out because Jonah ended up sinking his claws into us. 

As far as ace representation goes, Blank Spaces gets two thumbs up from us. If you’re questioning your asexuality, or you’re comfortable ace and just want to read more ace representation, this is definitely a book you should check out.  

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