Cover Image: A Quick & Easy Guide to Asexuality

A Quick & Easy Guide to Asexuality

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Great, informative and well-drawn. It's really relatable and I can imagine helpful to allos and allies.

Was this review helpful?

An informative guide on asexuality and what it is. Very simplistic and straightforward, which was both a good thing and a bad thing. It could have been a bit more extensive in my opinion, but it was stated at the very beginning that only the basics would be covered.

Was this review helpful?

The title says it all! This graphic novel is a quick read about an under-represented topic: asexuality. The authors do an excellent job of explaining the nuances of asexuality and its difference from aromanticism. Like anything in life, it's a spectrum, and this book does a great job of explaining the spectrum of feelings, attraction, and choices considered by ace individuals.

Was this review helpful?

This book is one i am going to recommend for school libraries--it's so accessible, informative without being dry, and totally school-appropriate for a range of reading levels. I can imagine it being really helpful for people who are ace/grey, or who are trying to understand what it means.

Was this review helpful?

This is exactly what it says: a quick and easy guide to asexuality.
For someone who is already "in the know" it didn't impart any extra info. I do wish it had gone more into the charts and some of the other ace-umbrella terminologies, but for what it is, it's fine. It is definitely written more toward supporting ace folx and not necessarily those who want to learn more about the identity as a whole.

Was this review helpful?

To be published in my blog (Dec-6): https://tintanocturna.blogspot.com/2021/12/comic-quick-easy-guide-to-asexuality.html

I was interested in the book precisely because of the subject it deals with. We always hear about homosexuality, bisexuality, trans, and so on, but never about asexuality. I myself have two friends who are asexual who have been difficult to understand, one more than the other, so I had too many questions about it, answers to which I found in this book.

Far from being an academic work, it's a very easy to understand and enjoy comic made by two asexuals who tell their experiences, thoughts, feelings, and even the effects that growing up as asexual people had on themselves and their environment. The conversation style has always worked for me, and although I would have preferred it to be a color book (I smile just imagining it), the effect is still present: it answers many questions.

However, reading other opinions, I saw that a controversial point is the subject of the A in the acronym LGBTQIA+. Based on the book, it's unclear whether A is Asexual, Ally, Aromatic, Agender, or anything else, and some readers felt the creators were implicitly saying that asexuals are not welcome in the community. As far as I'm concerned, the A easily represents all the identities I mentioned, Ally being the last, and the book made it clear that, while they have had a complicated relationship with the community, aces belong to it. (I will talk about the acronym later).

I thoroughly enjoyed the honesty, the sense of humor, the metaphors, and the reading in general. I think that while they could have done it longer, Molly Muldoon and Will Hernandez did a good job with A Quick & Easy Guide to Asexuality. The script is clear, the art is attractive, and it makes you want to read the rest of the series as soon as you finish this one; I already have one in my sights, hehe. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in sexual diversity, asexuality, knows someone who identifies as asexual, or is just curious about it. The list of resources at the end is terrific, plus it includes another free book.

Was this review helpful?

This is the book I needed when I first came to learn about asexuality! It's short, sweet, and simple. When I was first "coming out" to people, I wish I had had this guide to help me explain some of the misconceptions that I was still learning myself. Overall, I think this is a really valuable resource for everyone, ace or not!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4371186569?book_show_action=false

Was this review helpful?

I am so beyond grateful to have been able to have been given a chance to review this book. I am asexual, and I have been so happy to see so many more books on asexuality or with ace characters. While there is a lot that I appreciate and even liked about this graphic novel, there are also several things I take issue with.

I will start with the positive. This book is exactly what it promises to be. A relatively short and easy guide to understanding the basics of asexuality. To an extent, I wish I had had something like this when I was younger and confused. It would've meant so much and helped me understand myself a lot earlier than I did. I like the way that asexuality was broken down and discussed. I also appreciated that it was written as if they were having a conversation with someone who was was willing to learn. They started with the very basic definition of what asexuality is and went from there to answers to the common questions we get asked, which allowed them to break down the differences between sexual attraction and sex drive/libido and how attraction does not equal action. I also liked the metaphor they used as well as how they broke down the difference between asexuality and aromanticism. I especially am grateful that they discussed the gray areas of asexuality since that is where I fall.

My favorite thing must be when they discussed how they learned they were asexual, and one person said they learned the term demisexual in fanfic and it just clicked for them. That is exactly what happened to me when I first came across the term, grey-asexual, in fanfiction two years ago.

Now onto what I did not care for. There was a lot missing about asexuality that could have been covered, but I do understand that this is meant to be the basics, and they provide sources in the back for further understanding. However, I did not like how unclear and unwell they handled the discussion of what the A in LGBTQIA+ stands for. They say it is unclear what exactly it can or should stand for and that some people consider it to mean Ally. I wish they would have shut that down because the A simply does not mean ally and it never has. Ally is not a queer identity and to disregard how important it is to acknowledge that can be incredibly harmful to questioning aces when they are trying to determine where they belong and if they fit in the queer community. I feel like it is also harmful to not acknowledge that we do inherently belong in the community. They tease around giving a straight forward declarative statement that the A stands for aces, aros, and agender and that we are queer enough to be in the community, This gives too many people room to doubt their belonging and other many other people room to try to use this as a way to gatekeep them from the community.

As much as I appreciate that they discuss the different ways to be ace, whether that is someone comfortable with sex or sex repulsed, etc, I do not feel like they talked enough about each since it is so focused on only the two contributors and their asexual expression.

While I feel like this is a great starter guide that is both easy and will answer a lot of the more immediate questions, it still feels like it leaves a lot of work up to us aces to still have to break down the ending that we are part of what the A stands for and that we are queer enough.

I feel like if you are willing to expend the effort to break down that stigma at the end, this can be a good guide for questioning aces or people wanting to learn more about asexuality. At the end of the day, this is just a starter guide, and if you want more resources on asexuality, they provide a list of them at the end, which could be very helpful.

Was this review helpful?

As part of the LGBT+ community, this book meant a lot for me. I needed a simple and organized explanation like this one, to understand better the Ace/Aro community. But, sometimes, I felt it was too much information in a text box. By the other hand, the ilustrations are beautiful.

Was this review helpful?

In my experience, most books that discuss LGBTQA+ identities barely cover asexuality. It often feels like a footnote, but no longer. As a graphic novel, this was a quick and informative read about asexuality. Because it's a subject being taught, some moments felt a little cheesy, but they get the message across. Asexuality is a complex matter with a whole spectrum of different possibilities, but the explanations were made simply. I especially appreciate that the book acknowledges that they can't possibly cover everything about asexuality, as everyone's experience is different, and offers additional resources for exploration.

Was this review helpful?

A Quick and Easy Guide to Asexuality is a graphic novel that goes over the basics of asexuality and common questions that come up. Both the author and illustrator are asexual.

Three words to describe this book: Informative. Straightforward. Articulate.

Cover: I love it! I especially love the use of the ace flag colors and many ace symbols.

Story: While this graphic novel does not have a traditional story, I felt that this guide transitioned from one topic to another seamlessly. I felt like the questions that came up for me were the questions that they answered in the next sections. Some of the topics covered included, the asexuality spectrum, dating while asexual, growing up ace, and ace stereotypes.

Illustrations: Beautiful black and gray illustrations. I also liked that they used a variety of panel sizes to fit the content from full page to ¼ page. This makes it interesting to the eye to move through the content.

Verdict: Highly recommend! In my first year of being queer and dating, I went on two dates with someone who was demisexual. I did not know what this meant at the time despite what Google told me. I wish I had this book at that time.

ARC was provided to me by Oni Press, in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Great information, but it seemed to change audience at times. The best part of this was the cake metaphor, which works well in a non-fiction graphic novel.

Was this review helpful?

I got this on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoy this series, and being ace myself I love seeing myself represented! It explains things in a good way, and I felt like it brought up a lot of misconceptions and dealt with them! Would recommend this for everyone, and will 100% buy a physical copy once it gets out!

Was this review helpful?

It was really easy to read and had a ton of amazingly simple points and guidelines on how to be a kinder person to people who come under the spectrum and who need some consideration.

The information in the book was written as a conversation that held my interest very well.

The art could have been a bit better but it showed diverse characters very well.

The art is okay but it could have been a bit colourful just for the sake of being lovely and the conversation bubbles could be more distributed.

I have nothing much to say because this was a very simple and easy graphic novel to read.

Thank you @netgalley for the review copy.

Was this review helpful?

This is a really well thought-out and clear explanation of asexuality that would be appropriate for younger teens and up! It uses very accessible language and keeps things simple and appropriate for younger audiences. I wasn't a huge fan of the art style though, and thought it might be a bit dense for some younger readers.

Was this review helpful?

What a fun book! This graphic novel provides exactly what is advertised, concisely covering a range of topics within the realm of asexuality. Definitely a good tool for any age, not just adult readers.

Was this review helpful?

Interesting read for anyone wondering about all things Ace. Came to understand some friends’ self-proclaimed identities as well as my own better. Good start for anyone trying to understand themselves or others better. The creators did a great job of presenting the basics and providing further follow-up materials. Major guiding themes (self-acceptance and communication). Talking about these things with others can beco fusing and nerve wracking.or all involved. This resource can be a great starting point.

Was this review helpful?

This started pretty well, though overly simplistic but it's a "quick and easy guide" so that was bound to happen. I wasn't mad at first. Then they started talking about asexuals in the LGBTQIAP+ community and somehow said that the A might mean ally and that asexuals didn't really have their place in the community. And that's fucked, there's no debate about what the A might mean. A never means Ally. It means Asexual, Agender and Aromantic. Saying anything else is wrong and damaging.
I am asexual and therefore I am Queer and have my place in the community.

Was this review helpful?

A huge thank you to Oni Press and Netgalley for letting me read the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I've always been curious about the ace orientation because, as it's pointed out in this Quick and Easy Guide, there's not a lot of information or representation out there. Though this graphic novel is short, it is packed with a lot of good information. I learned a lot by reading it! The formatting is great too. It's divided into several chapters or sections that cover specific general topics about being ace.

I think the biggest plus in this book is how affirming it is. The authors go out of their way to tell people who may be exploring asexuality as a part of their identity that they are normal and accepted. Their feelings are valid and they are not broken. This is a wonderful, positive tool perfect for those who want to learn more about asexuality.

Was this review helpful?

A book that should probably be one of the suggested reads in high-school sex-education class. I think that could help a lot of wondering kids around. This is a very quick intro that helps everyone grasp the Asexuality term. I only discovered about it 2 years ago when I saw the LGBT term had grown quite a bit in recent years and I wondered what it now covered. I had the shock to realise there was a term to define how I had always felt, and now I identify as ace.
I think this could potentially help a lot of people feel less pressure to be "like everyone" and maybe give them a community, though this book seem to hesitantly suggest asexuals might find a place in the queer community. They leave it open, which surprised me as I discovered about asexuality only thanks to the queer acronym, so I'm very happy to have it there. And it's an unfortunate choice, because that might mean some asexuals could be denied a place in what should be a safe area for minority sexual orientations, when they feel alone. I do believe most schools now have some kind of support groups for queer students and I believe ace kids should be welcome there. Ace people are often alienated by the whole society just because sex is so prevalent and there is very little representation. Explaining a lack of something is very difficult in general.
Don't expect details here. This is really an intro that cannot cover such a large umbrella term, but it gives much needed basics. The cake analogy is there - similar to the tea analogy for explaining consent, making it a much clearer concept to explain to everyone.
We do only get a talking head type of comic here - it's got that education vibe, and something a little more dynamic would have been nice, especially when the authors talk about their personal experience (sadly demi-sexual / grey-sexual wasn't really explained, just mentioned really.)

Was this review helpful?