This book serves as an introduction to bisexuality. It examines what bisexuality *is*, as well as addresses biphobia, bi erasure, the bi community, and bi culture. There's even a chapter dedicated to the history of bisexuality. I think this book is a valuable resource for young bisexuals as well as allies. Like a lot of books in this vein, Bi the Way also includes short statements from members of the bisexual community. They share their experiences and their personal relationships with the word "bisexual." It was especially important to me that these testimonials as well as the larger work acknowledged smaller labels like my own. I was elated to find it does. There were even statements from people that very closely mirrored my own experience, and given the vast breadth of this work, I think many readers will feel that way too.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Alright, where do I start?

Lately I’ve been thinking about reading more non-fiction books, to educate myself about the world and other people’s experiences. When I saw this on NetGalley, I just knew I had to request it. I’m bi myself, so I was looking forward to reading it to learn more about bi history etc, and maybe get an “easy” introduction to non-fiction at the same time.
(PS: Since I'm new to non-fiction I'm not entirely sure how to rate it. Somewhere between a 2 and a 3 I think.)

Now, this book calls itself “The Bisexual Guide to Life”, so I was expecting it to be more of an introduction to bisexuality (perhaps for questioning people or newly out people). When reading it, it didn’t feel that way at all. While it did introduce bisexuality, it was very much focused on the negative parts of life identifying as bi. While it’s important to talk about biphobia, and how it is often overlooked, I don’t feel like someone’s introduction to the sexuality and community needs to be all about of the hardship they might go through. Had I picked up this when I was questioning, I would have been terrified of identifying as bi.

I did appreciate the author explaining their biases in the beginning, and the perspective they were writing from. It made it easier to understand their commentary throughout the book.

As many other reviewers have commented, I was not entirely comfortable with the part about other “similar” labels. The information about labels such as omni and queer was very limited, and the part about pansexuality was still very focused on bisexuality. The things said about bisexuality there were said later as well, so it feels strange to include it there too. It also felt strange to suggest that people identify as pansexual simply because they’re biphobic. Especially when the author also states “I don’t consider it my place to prescribe how queer people express themselves” in the book.

At some points it almost feels like the book is trying to claim that bi people have it worse than others, as if there is some kind of competition. We can’t measure the hurting and trauma of a group, and we cannot compare it to that of another group. Us bi people have not had it easy, no, but neither have other lgbtq+ people.

The book is very repetitive. Information is repeated within chapters, and also in different ones as well.

It was very focused on the author’s personal experiences, opinions, and feelings. This was especially clear when there was suddenly a random part where they talked (ranted, more like it) about slurs. I was not expecting slur discourse in this book, and it doesn’t exactly feel like the right place for it.

Other than these things, I did enjoy the book. It was, as I had hoped, an easy start to my non-fiction reading. And it was interesting to read about something I could relate to - even though what I related to weren’t always positive experiences - and learn a bit about the history of the identity.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I usually don't read a lot of non-fiction, but when I read the title, I couldn't help but reques it!

Overall, I enjoyed it but I think it got quite repetitive and I got bored after a while. It also focused a lot of attention on the struggles the bi+ community faces, and while that's important, it also made me feel sad, being a member of the bi+ community myself. I wouldn't recommend it to questioning folks, because I think the negativity would overwhelm them, but I would recommend it more to seasoned bisexuals or queer people in general who are looking to know more about their community.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy.

Bi the Way by Lois Shearing is said to be a guide to help you get to know and embrace Bisexuality and it's target market seems to be those who are newly out as Bisexual or who are not quite sure weather they are Bisexual or not. Basically, from what I read about this book, it was a guide to help newly Bisexual people embrace their sexuality and life their best lives. However, from reading this book I believe this generic description is wrong and I will explore why in this review. Because of the nature of this book and how I found it, I will have to start with looking at the things I disliked in this book first before moving on to what I liked about this book.

There are a few things I dislike about this book and I will try and cover all of these although they might all come out at once. Also, it is important that I say that I am not writing about the negatives to stop you from reading this book, I still believe you should read this book and come up with your own opinions, however, I am just informing you on what I picked up in this book and why I did not like this book. The main reason is the book does not seem to be much like what it is described as in the title but I will come to that soon.

From reading the description for this book, it sounds like the book would introduce newly out Bisexual people and those who are unsure about their sexuality. It also lacks a key element of any 'guide' as I would say it did not really answer many questions that newly Bisexual people may want answering and does not really seem to speak about Bisexuality at a basic level which I thought it would have if this book was written for those who are newly out as Bisexual. The book got quite advanced and quite confusing in places very quickly which may not have made this book entirely accessible.

Furthermore, this book seems to be a bit of a rant on all things Bisexual. This is because it seemed that Bisexual people were constantly blaming Straights, Gays and Lesbians for all their problems like Bi erasure and other such problems. Although this most likely is a problem, is it really fair to blame everyone else for this problem? Not everyone are against Bisexuality and so it is unfair to portray it in such a way. I did read this book to learn more about Bisexuality and what it was, and I did learn more and although the book went a bit off focus I still learned lots which was good but may have been more suited in a follow up book.

From the above, I therefore believe this book is more of an intermediate guide to Bisexuality and you could even go as far as saying it is an introduction to Bisexual activism. It introduces Bisexuals to some of the problems and issues that the Bisexual community are facing and why they are facing these problems. This book is better for those who are already out as Bisexual and are now comfortable being Bisexual and so want to help other Bisexual people.

Anyway, this book was not all bad and I do have some praises for the author. The start of the book did indeed give us some background details which informed us what Bisexuality actually is and the many types of Bisexuality which was good. It even made me question my sexuality and Might have even made me consider whether or not I am Bisexual myself which is strange as before I started reading this book I have always been adamant that I am straight. Therefore, I would like to thank the author for helping me come to terms with my own identity.

Altogether, I rate this book 2 stars which makes it an alright book. It is important I mention that 2 stars does not mean it is a bad book, it just means that it was more of an average book which may not be fully suited to the specified target market or that I personally may not have liked it. I do not like calling books bad or making decisions for other people about books. I give it this rating as although there are some good points, some of the points I would say are not completely relevant but I do still suggest you read this book yourself. I would also like to thank NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for an exclusive arc copy before the publishing date in return for an honest review. Thank you very much for allowing me to read and review this book.

I thought this was a really insightful yet easy to read way for me to learn loads of new things about Bisexuality. It was upsetting to read at times but I'm glad i pushed through.

I really liked this book.. It helps not only figure out how you may fit, but also helps learn about others too. It makes really good points, and may help someone feel better too. I really think everyone should learn on these topics, not only to help stigma, to figure how you feel, but also to help educate others. I highly recommend this one!

It seemed to me to be a very helpful book for not only those coming to terms with their bisexuality but also those looking to know more about it.

When I saw Bi The Way I requested it immediately. Now I think it was a mistake. The author started off normal, like anyone would. But then, they decided to bring pansexuality and stated that pansexuality *won't* exist and the reason pansexuality exists is biphobia. I thought this was pretty offensive and definetly shouldn't have been even thought about.

Bi the Way was my first nonfiction read entirely about my own identity, and it was amazing to learn so much about the history of bisexual people and the fight we've endured throughout history and in the present day. There was a lot of information inside this that I didn't know before picking it up, and that I'm grateful to have read. Reading the snippets from other bi people who contributed to the book was also really meaningful for me. Through those brief times of insight into their lives, I realized that my experiences as a bisexual person are worth being included in something like this, just as theirs are. This helped me gain back some of the confidence that has been suffering under a lot of biphobia in the past few years. I truly believe that I needed to read from those people, and I'm glad that I got the opportunity to.

With that being said, there is the issue that many readers have talked about in other reviews: the first chapter of this book talks about pansexuality, and insinuates that pansexuality is the same thing as bisexuality but used by people who do not want to support the idea of the gender binary. Stripped down, the statement is nothing more than pan-erasure intended to show that pansexuality and bisexuality are essentially the same things, which is not at all true. To make it worse, the book also includes a quote from Emma Seely that, basically, says that pansexuality is pointless and biphobic. This is a gross, dangerous mind process and quote. Shearing, the author of this book, notes under the quote that they do not necessarily agree with Seely's opinion, stating first that pansexuality is not "inherently biphobic", then stating, "In my mind, the overlap between bi and pan should not be a cause of friction but of celebration; as a community, multi-gender attracted people have come far enough in our journey for acceptance and visibility that we can create multiple words for our similar experiences, desires, and attractions." Pansexuality is being described as just another name for bisexuality and described as not-always-but-sometimes-biphobic. I struggle to understand why any of this content was included in the first place, as Shearing could have–if they wanted to–stated that pansexuality and bisexuality are two completely different and valid labels for completely different and valid experiences, without ever having to bring in the panphobic content at all. Seely's quote, along with any and all other panphobic content, has no place in this book. While I am excited to see a nonfiction book about bisexuality that taught me a lot, I am extremely saddened to see it come at the expense of another marginalized group.

Overall, I learned a lot. Without the panphobic content, this would've easily been a five star read for me as an own voices reader. I was eager to keep reading and learn more, highlighting stats and making mental notes along the way. However, I cannot condone the panphobic comments made and am exceptionally sorry to any pan person who feels that their sexuality has been invalidated by the claims inside this.

This is a very well written book. It's quite well researched and open minded. This would be great for friends&family of people who just came out as Bi as well as people who are considering coming out as Bi. There's a great Bi community represented that truly needed this book.

2.5 to 3 stars
It's been a few weeks and I'm still not fully sure how I feel about this one. I was expecting more of a how-to guide like This Book is Gay and this wasn't that. For me, it focussed too much on all the challenges bi people face versus acting as a resource to work through those issues it just kept stating them and how they all fit together which is important but there's so much more than that. The submissions weren't very diverse and it kind of all felt like the writer's opinions more than a book to help people find themselves. The author also made some panphobic statements which were not cool. The book felt like it was only targetted at female-identifying people who are most interested in the same as opposed to the bi community as a whole which is what I would have wanted. There were just a lot of things I thought were missing that would have really helped me if I was a teen who had picked up this book based on my own past experiences this book wouldn't have helped me as much as I think it was intended to. I am really glad that a book like this exists and I hope that it inspires more books and encourages others to write similar books and for them to be published because it's definitely something missing.

Thank you to Netgalley for this very informative read. This is by no means a guide to being bisexual but more of an exploration of bisexual experiences. I enjoyed the parts where every day people talk about their experience with being bi and gender.

I would consider this to be a promising start for anyone who identifies as bisexual or isn't sure about where to start regarding identifying their sexuality.

This book gives a solid education on bi-sexuality! The author shares their own experiences and experiences of other bi-sexual folks. There is also a section surrounding social media and how this factors into conversations around bi-sexuality. I think this book could be wonderful for folks wanting to learn more about bi-sexuality and identity!

Bi the Way is an in-depth and necessary look at what it means to bisexual in today's world. Shearing takes on everything from biphobia and bi-erasure to 'bi privilege' to the memes of bi culture online. It's refreshing to see queer literature out there focusing on bisexuality and the misinterpretations of folks attracted to multiple genders. Shearing expertly navigates the world of stereotypes, explaining and challenging each of them and trying to pull away the negative lens that bisexuality is often seen through. It's also validating to see someone put these misconceptions into words, and explain how they affect each of us in the bi+ community. Shearing has voiced the trials and tribulations of the bi+ community and validated our fears and feelings. I hope this book becomes a comfort to other bi+ folks and an education to our LGBTQ+ and our cishet friends alike.

This book provides a perfect amount of information to help understand bisexuality. The book also explains different sexualities as well to help the reader understand the differences of each. If anyone is curious about what bisexuality is or is bi and wants to read more about themselves and other bisexual experiences, this is the book for you.

Thank you to Jessica Kingsley Publishing and NetGalley for providing an ARC copy of this book free of charge in exchange for a honest rating and review.

First of all, let me say I’m really glad that this kind of content is being put out into the world and it’s very refreshing to have someone speak about this topic in a way that is open and inclusive. It’s also great that you spoke openly about your own biases and privilege prior to, and during the bulk of this book.

There are however, large issues with the formatting of the book in kindle including red text, character/spacing issues with words being separated by weird breaks. I think it would be beneficial to have someone go through and check the kindle version of this text to proofread and edit these issues in a uniform way.

The actual content is great and seeing the way different members of the bi-community chose to identify and how they experience their attractions at various points in their lives and different situations is really insightful and reflective of conversations and thoughts I’ve had myself.

I especially related to the passage where the author stated that there are different times in her life that she only felt attraction to one gender and almost convinced herself out of her bi-sexual label. The gaslighting and doubts that occur as a result of that label are bound to make people question their own sexuality at least once or twice in their lives.

Good luck with the full release later and I hope the formatting issues are fixed easily.

Shearing has written an excellent guide to bisexuality and their passion for bisexual activism really shows in all the research they have done. However, there is a glaring issue in the first chapter where they erase the pansexual identity. Whatever Shearing may think, pansexuality and bisexuality are not the same thing and it very harmful to the pansexual community to erase their identity, saying that pansexuality is just the label people use for bisexuality who think 'bi' only exists within the construct of the gender binary. While there is incredible and useful material here for people who identify as bisexual - history, myth-busting, community resources - it is troubling that the first couple of chapters (the panphobic ones) are targeted more at people who may be questioning and who may, in fact, be pan instead of bi. Shearing rightly points out the biphobia within the LGBTQPIA+ community; they should now examine their own panphobia and not seek to define an identity which is not theirs.

Other than this, it was an informative book that was validating for me to read. Were it not for the dangerous panphobia, I would be recommending it to all of my bi+ friends and give it the highest possible rating. I will not be promoting this book on my Instagram blog.

First of all, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this. Speaking as someone who considers themselves as bisexual, it was both eye-opening and interesting to view what another bisexual identifying person has to say. It was also very interesting reading the view from other people who consider themselves bisexual, a mixture of another sexuality etc.

If you are interested in viewing this I recommend it. You’re not only going to be seeing the view from one individual, but also various people in the LGBTQ+ Community. It gives you lessons about other sexualities as well, at least the basics of them.

To the author, please keep your head up. You’re doing amazing.

I really didn't like this and DNF-ed it after a couple of chapters as I didn't like the idea that it devalued other sexualities whilst exploring bisexuality. All sexualities are important and focusing on one doesn't mean you should negate another.