A lovely, engaging book that grabs one from the first page. tThis book makes for a beautiful gift for the queer people in your life. The illustrations are amazing and the advice is priceless. The stories and advice are relevant and real and beautiful. Can be read again and again. This book and its message is a gift to us all. As a fellow men ever of the LGBT community this book is a must read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Affirming, validating of multiple perspectives and experiences, this book is a collection of questions and answers by and for lesbian, bisexual, and queer women and people of marginalized genders. The question submissions were kept anonymous and the authors sought expert advice to answer some of the questions. The intro has trigger warnings with specific page references, which I loved. Court's work started as a zine years ago and I am so glad it is now available as a book from Chronicle Books.

Funny, delightful, and frankly real. A joy and a good drop-in read. A must for any baby gays, senior lesbians, or any queer person who just wants a relatable laugh.

This book is also perfect for our “baby gays”!!!!

I see so many videos on TikTok asking the same questions found in The Ex-Girlfriend of My Ex-Girlfriend Is My Girlfriend by our baby gays that I just want to scream: “Read this book!!!”

“the dating pool is really, really small when you’re queer. It’s so small, it’s more like a hot tub.”

Maddy Court has this book setup advice column style, so we read a short blurb by Court and then questions from queer folks which Court answers. Of course in the process of answering these questions Court shares their own experiences and we get to know them in the process.

I didn’t find any of the advice given to be “wrong”. Court stresses that everyone has to proceed in life at their own pace which I wholeheartedly agree with. Most of the advice is common sense, but when you are deep in your own dilemma sometimes you can’t see the sky so it takes someone else to say it.

Court does say something that I want to echo: be who you are. You don’t need to cut your hair, wear plaid, or carabiner to be “more queer”. Be you. If you want to shout from the rooftops that you are queer, then wear all of the rainbow merchandise you want. If you want to be more subtle, attend LGBTQ+ events. Get involved in our community. Wear a pronoun tag. Believe me, we know you are queer. If you “pass” more often as straight, attending these events tells people that you are in the rainbow field in some capacity. You do NOT need to change who you are. I personally love a woman with long hair and short dresses. That is actually my huge turn-on, from one femme to another.

I make this book sound like it is only for the baby gays and it is not. There are questions and answers for everyone. If you have been in a relationship for awhile and you are back on the dating scene. If you bounce from one relationship to another and are wondering what could be the reason. Or even if you just want some laughs around a dinner party gathering. It can be a great conversation starter.

I like The Ex-Girlfriend of My Ex-Girlfriend Is My Girlfriend and if you are single for this upcoming Valentine’s Day, are wondering why, and don’t want to be…maybe you should give Maddy Court’s book a read.

I received a free copy of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.

I admittedly loved the zines but Maddy makes an able transition to book form, retaining the charm of the zine format (thanks also to Wroten's illustrations) with the practical advice she dispenses.

This is a really enjoyable and fun read, I ended up purchasing it for myself and for a friend for Christmas. Feels like reading an agony aunt in a magazine but in a much more modern setting, with relatable queer problems and humour

I didn't finish reading this, mainly because I found out that the author was not someone I wanted to support. Regardless, what I read was well written and will appeal to queer people.

Great book, so fun and witty, definitely recommending to all of my friends!
I enjoyed this book very much, I really loved it.

I really liked how Maddy Court helped a lot of people with this book.
The Ex-Girlfriend of my Ex-Girlfriend is my Girlfriend is a book borne out of a queer zine that focuses on advice for LGBTQ+ people. It's divided into advice columns about love, life and queer existence. It's recommendend to a younger audience (late teens, early twenties).
It's divided on six chapters that cover many topics that are usually on everyone's minds like crushes, coming out, heartbreak, family and friends.

The art in the book is inventive and really goes well with the contents of the book. The writing is clear and straightforward. A really interesting book.

I was interested to read this book as I've followed the author on instagram and have always wanted to buy her zines! From what I've read about the zines, the book is not the same in terms of illustrations and style, but it has plenty of cute and colorful illustrations. This book is filled with useful advice for queer women and non-binary people. It may not be applicable to all people in the LGBTQ community, but it does have a lot of different stories with advice told in a friendly, personal tone. Plus, the author has some guest contributors to speak on topics that are unfamiliar to her.

I love Maddy’s stuff on Instagram, and this is more of the same (funny and very queer), but she’s also very good at giving advice! Like many great advice columnists, she reveals a lot about herself as she does so.

This book is relatable, funny, and heartbreaking, and it will be helpful to a lot of people. I wished I could highlight huge portions of it (I was reading it in Adobe Digital Editions, so I couldn’t).

There’s so much about internalized homophobia and being awkward and insecure. Maddy is very understanding and gentle, even when chiding people for their choices — she often admits she probably would have done the exact same dumb or unhealthy thing.

The illustrations and design of the book are also great. Also, there are guest experts! I won’t ruin who, but it’s very cool. My one critique is that, as fun as having guest experts is, sometimes their advice vibe is wildly different from Maddy’s, which can be a little jarring.

I definitely kind of skimmed parts, but with a mind to hopefully return to them when they’re more relevant to me. I would totally buy this book to own a physical copy.

Overall, this book would make a great gift for a baby gay -- or for yourself, even if you’ve been gay for ages!

Thanks so much to Netgalley for the eARC.

This advice book is geared more towards people in their twenties and those just coming out, but I wish it had existed when I was a teenager.

The questions tackle a variety of topics from coming out, to having crushes, to relationship woes and the answers are pretty matter of fact.

Being a looky-loo is both the best and worst part of reading an advice column. I mean what’s more satisfying than hearing about a love life worse than your own? Or more affirming than realizing that there’s someone grappling with the same struggles as you. The fact is, good advice columns manage to both build us up and make us stronger, as well as break our issues down into manageable elements.

Great advice columns do all that, too, but instead of making the reader feel like a spectator, they make us feel like we have skin in whatever game, as well. The column stops being a mirror and instead becomes a bridge. The balance between letter writer, columnist, and reader becomes almost an asynchronous, communal experience.

And that’s just what “The Ex-Girlfriend of My Ez-Girlfriend Is My Girlfriend” delivers. Based on the author’s zine of the same name, it should appeal to old and new reader’s alike, as it features never before published letters. It’s not the first thoughtful, intentional, well-written collection of advice column classics. Nor is it the first queer-centered one. Or even the first female-identifying focused queer one (check out “Ask a Queer Chick”). But as queer relationships (and the recognition that they’re not fairytale perfect) become increasingly the stuff of out-loud conversations, up-to-date advice is at a premium, which makes this particular collection a valuable commodity, indeed. The richness of the advice here is due in large part to the acknowledgement by Maddy Court that sometimes definitive answers are elusive, and even when they’re not, she doesn’t know them all. For those questions she passes the pen to a bevy of guest columnists, who speak eloquently and often emotionally from a place of lived experience. This is some quality by-queers-for-queers, own voices stuff, right here. Weaving the whole shebang together are the lush illustrations of comic creator Kelsey Wroten (if you haven’t checked out “Cannonball,” put it on your to-read list immediately), which are the closest thing to a warm embrace that you’ll ever find on the printed page. They are the perfect complememt to Court’s counseling.

No matter your labels (or lack there of), pronouns, or current relationship status, you’ll find family here.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing access to this book in exchange for an honest review.*

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The writing pulled me right in, making me feel like I was getting advice from a close friend. Someone with my best interests at heart, but not afraid be brutally honest and tell me when I’m the one who needs to make a change. The various guest authors added a variety of perspectives and allowed the book to include a broader range of questions while maintaining the familiar tone. I found it quite comforting to read such a hopeful advice book, and I know that this book will be so helpful for many others!

A must-read, particularly for queer women and non-binary people!
This book talks for itself - advice columns about love, life and queer existence. The inclusion of "guest speakers" is a great addition for inclusivity and allowed for the best advice-giving possible!
If it won't help you personally (although, it probably will), it will at least give you a better insight to some problems other people may have, and think about how you could better interact with them.

I really wish I could have reviewed this book, but I could not make the app work on my phone. I'll be looking to buy it when it releases, and if it's as good as I hope it is, will recommend it to friends.

What a fun, easy read! This is such a darn good title for an advice book on queer dating, friendship, and love, I cannot even stand it.

The writing is thoughtful, funny, and self-aware in a way that makes the reader feel both like they're talking to a trusted friend and a wise mentor. The advice skews to a younger audience (late teens, early twenties), and encompasses a wide range of topics and identities. The author even brings in guest experts to give advice on topics she doesn't feel fully equipped to speak on and these guest experts added fresh tone and spark.

Kelsey Wroten's illustrations are unique and delightful and all-together empowering.

All-around a wonderful read for any queer looking to feel a sense of community in the beautiful chaos of life.

Thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this one. Most of the advice in it is heartfelt and sensitive, and the addition of guest experts to cover the more intersectional parts of the queer experience was an excellent idea (although some of the guest experts did seem a little more interested in self-promotion or, in one case, being quite unkind to the person who asked for advice; I would have liked a bit more editing in a few of those.) The range of topics covered was pretty enormous, considering the relatively small size of this book, and I think most queer women or people of marginalised genders will probably recognise at least one of their own dating experiences in this one. Absolutely recommend this one for any queer woman or femme who's ever wondered if they're the outlier for sharing 8 ex girlfriends with their housemate, or who just wants to feel Seen (TM).

this book is so interactive ! It’s a q/a type of story about sexuality, fears, complicated and simple things you have to deal when you’re in a relationship. I loved the illustrations in this book especially the last one. This book is full of advice for lesbians from a lesbian. It’s an own voice and maybe that’s why this book seems more personal and beautiful. It’s like a Ms.Manners but in a LGBTQIA+ type of way.
Thanks to #Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for the honest review.