Abstract

Critics and readers alike praise Malinda Lo for her novel, Ash, a contemporary Cinderella story and a queer variation of the ash girl tale. Despite its potential as a landmark variation in same-sex romance, this paper suggests that Lo’s queer approach is undercut by heteronormative rebounds into sexualized payment. Ultimately, Lo confines her slipstream variation to rigid boundaries of gender and sexuality, rendering the lesbian narrative invisible to hauntings of bisexual shame and compulsory heterosexuality.

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