Trans Sex is the first book by Kelvin Sparks, a UK-based blogger who writes about sex, kink, and gender on his website https://kelvinsparks.com/. As other reviewers have noted, Trans Sex: A Guide for Adults is less of a how-to and more of a collection of sex education. I found the chapters that discussed post-op sensation for trans folks to be incredibly helpful. I also appreciated the other, more widely discussed, information about lube, kink, and safer sex. As a social worker who writes letters to support trans clients in accessing gender affirming care in the US, I am always looking for resources to better understand how these surgeries can affect my client's lives. I really appreciated the opportunity to learn about how HRT and different procedures can affect sex and sensitivity.

Thanks so much to Kelvin Sparks and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for this ARC through NetGalley! Trans Sex: A Guide for Adults is available as of November 2022 :) Definitely recommended for trans folks and for professionals (doctors, social workers) who work with the public.

Trans Sex is a book important not only to those who identify as transgender, but also to those who may have trans partners or anyone who wants more education on sex lives and mechanics outside of cisgender bodies.

Now, this is a Sex Ed book. I wish this book had been available decades ago when my own (miserable failure) of Sex Ed was provided. This book is short, but packs a hefty amount of information. There are no needless frills. The language is straight-forward, clear, and as inclusive as possible given the cultural lexicon at the time of writing. The list of things I wish I'd known before reading this book is not insignificant. While this book's obvious primary focus is on sexual education for trans individuals, I think it should be essential reading for anyone looking to engage in meaningful and fulfilling sex.

I would describe this as a practical introduction to the various changes that happen when taking hormones or after having trans affirming surgery and how that impacts how you have sex. On that basis it is excellent, the information is thorough, clear and easy to follow, useful for individuals, their partners and psychosexual therapists wishing to understand more. It is less good on the emotional aspect, for example it says in the opening chapter how important it is to be able to say what you want, ask for that and know that is ok. The way it is written you would expect there to be some idea of how you can talk about sex with a partner but it never materialises, although the author does reference Emily Nagoski's Come as you are which is excellent for this. As a practical guide it is great.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Although a lot of this information wasn't new to me personally, this book does exactly what it set out to do! Trans Sex is a detailed overview on sex ed through a trans lense, highlighting many topics ranging from various ways trans people might receive gender affirming care, to safer sex practices and levels of risk, to different ways trans people can have sex and engage with kink! This book is a very good overview that would be helpful for anyone to read (whether they're trans or not)! I really appreciated the straightforward approach of this book, as well as the neutral descriptions of sex! It's hard to find sex ed material that doesn't rigorously gender various bodies and acts, so this was refreshing!

Kelvin Sparks is a popular sex blogger who takes us through the ins and outs (literally!) of navigating sex and surgery as a transgender person. Exploring desire, arousal, pleasure, kink, dysphoria, consent and more, it’s a one-stop-shop for all your trans sex educational needs. As a cisgender woman, I found it very insightful and I learned so much about what transgender people go through when they have surgery and their sexual experiences. These topics are all dealt with very sensitively and plenty of myths are busted. It’s a highly useful resource for gender non-conforming people and even for cisgender readers, it’s very educational!

I want to preface this by saying I am not a trans person, so perhaps I had no business reading this book. However, I have a loved one who is trans, and I am always looking for ways to better understand her journey and be a better ally to her and the trans community.

Also, I tend to have a lot of questions, but sometimes feel hesitant to ask for fear I might say something wrong or overstep my bounds. So this book answered many of my questions.

After reading this, I think this book is a great guide for transgender people who need guidance or want to enhance their sex lives.

One thing I wasn't expecting was the amount of general information on sex (much of which is applicable to most anyone regardless of gender). Sparks covered consent, toys, sex drive, arousal, safer sex, shame, communication, STDs, and contraceptives.

Some areas did speak specifically to trans people, and I learned a lot, especially about the medications and hormone therapies most commonly used. With that said, I think including that basic information can be helpful, especially for someone reassigning to a gender they haven't been familiar with their whole life. I imagine sometimes people may need a roadmap.

There are also detailed areas about the different types of surgeries, which I knew little about. The kind of information given in those sections may be comforting and helpful to those considering/doing gender reassignment surgery. And it helped me understand the process of what people go through during their surgeries.

If anything, this book could be a comforting buddy to whoever needs extra support and wants to safely explore their own sexuality. It may answer many questions and introduce new information you may not have known before.

I highly recommend it.

The name made me pick up the book, if not the cover. The book serves as a comprehensive sex education that is simply trans-inclusionary. Going over the topics of communication and consent, sexual health, and the gamut of gender affirming surgeries available to trans masculine and trans feminine folks.

After finishing the book, I was immediately recommending the title to academics who work in the field of relationships and sexuality. Because for me, a Transgender woman, I was aware of virtually all of the procedures and activities outlined, but i just KNOW that this text will have so much new knowledge for cisgender individuals. If people learned Sex Ed from a text like this, they would be getting all their bases covered and then also learning about Trans folks. Not bad in my book!

"Tans Sex" by Kelvin Sparks is much needed book not only about practicalities of engaging in sex as a transgender or with a transgender person, but also about the topic of experiencing desire, arousal and getting to know one's most intimate needs.

Kelvin Sparks quotes contemporary educators and provides great resources on understanding all parts of sexual experience, including consent.

I think "Trans Sex" will be a good and complex resource not only for transgender readers but also for inclusive sex educators and therapists who want to expand their knowledge.

Trans Sex by Kelvin Sparks what have I just read!!! This book was so honest and nothing like the sex education you received at school all those years ago and it was aLong time ago!!!! This is a guide is here to help you on your journey to sexual discovery and fulfilment. It was an interesting book and something like this should be done at schools etc to help others understand what Trans Sex is about and help others who may feel different about themselves or others.

In "Trans Sex", Kelvin Sparks offers a detailed look at many topics related to human sexuality from a transinclusive, non-assuming perspective. With a holistic and educative focus, it sheds light on the way different body parts work when under different circumstances, without assuming at any point that they will belong to people who identify with this or that gender. The many different options for transitioning are covered, from both an anatomical and a hormonal point of view, and its effects on a wide range of topics (from how the post-op body works, to desire) are also described.

The book covers the concept of sex itself; the notion of safer sex, versus an ideal of (100%) safe sex; toys and gear; kink, and the different kinds of sex there are. Oral, vaginal, manual and grinding, and anal, are all covered in different chapters, and explained in ways that do not assume what body part, or what role, belongs to whom. One of the most meaningful concepts that this book covered, though, was the idea of authentic consent versus enthusiastic consent. Since the trans* comunity is at a uniquely high risk of all forms of violence, sexual violence included, I found this to be a really important concept both for trans* people themselves, and for potential sexual and/or romantic partners.

As the partner of a transmasc person, I loved having this book. Not only does it provide detailed information into how post-op transmasc bodies on HRT work, but it also provides deep insight into how the different ways to have sexual intercourse are like with such bodies. I was endlessly grateful to have found such a complete source of information that enables me to understand my partner's experience better, as well as to be able to learn quite a lot about how things are for him regarding sexuality. I would recommend this book to everyone, trans* or cis, since the teachings and consent-based lessons it delivers apply to all bodies, and all people.

Transmasculine sex educator/blogger Kelvin Sparks has written the sex guide I’ve always wanted and didn’t know I needed. Trans Sex is a very good general guide to sex, including topics such as desire, consent, anatomy, safer sex, toys, kink, and some basic how-to guidance for different types of sex acts. All of this is written in a friendly and inclusive way, and while some of the material is specific to the transgender experience, much of the content would be helpful for any audience.

As someone who is queer/questioning and has a trans partner who is considering gender confirmation surgery, I got a lot out of this book. My only complaint is that I would have liked more detail in some areas, but this is a great place to start, and the author has included endnotes and a recommended reading list.

I was provided an unproofed ARC through NetGalley that I volunteered to review.

To start, I think there's a bit of a difference to "a guide for adults" and "nothing like the sex education you received at school." Even with the longer description, I was expecting a bit more... sex. Sex education focused on the action, the intrecacies! That's not to say there isn't some helpful, frank advice on different sex acts and ways of thinking and talking about, and having sex, but I do want to acknowledge the gap there.

After readjusting my expectations to think of this less as a "guide for adults [to have sex]" and more of "nothing like the sex education you received at school," I think this is a really important book that fills an incredibly important gap in comprehensive introduction to sex and sexuality literature. Sparks is easy to read, and does a solid job of not assuming that certain language or experiences are familiar to a reader—even if gender affirming surgeries, PrEP, kink, or anything else are familar to you, I do really think there's something helpful for any reader.

However, I did spend the first fourth or so of the book wondering if I, a trans kinky reader, was actually the audience for this book: I couldn't quite tell when Sparks was writing for a cis audience, versus a trans audience. I think he settles into a tone after walking through trans medical care that makes it clear that he's writing for any reader who happens to find TRANS SEX, but the first section took me longer to settle into. Perhaps that reflects my unfamiliarity with his work, but I'm glad I stuck around!

Incredibly informative and interesting! Trans people are a demographic that are constantly forgotten about or ignored and going into this I knew shockingly little about how our own sexuality could work especially after hormones. This really helped me understand how HRT could change things for me as a trans man and also the experiences trans women could have and I'm infinitely lucky to have gotten a free copy of this from Netgalley!

Easy to read and informational, would be a great guide for cis partners unfamiliar with trans anatomy

As someone who was never taught basic human anatomy, and as a nonbinary person with a lot of invasive questions that no one seems to want to share the answers to, everything I found in this book was extremely important and helpful.

I think this book can be useful not just to trans people, but to anyone as it covers a lot of topics and in broad ways, too. It’s a sex education guide that explores as much as it can, always making sure to include trans people in the narrative, too (also talking about their bodies and the ways they can change).

I thought this was an informative book about the intricacies of having an intimate relationship/interaction with someone that is not cisgender. As a cisgender man, some of what is talked about I've learned through other sources previously but I liked how it was presented here with non-gender specific terms and with consideration to those of a non-binary, transgender, or non-specified nature. But then that information is expanded upon in terms that those of the aforementioned nature might identify with but with further consideration that nothing is specific and that everyone is different.

This was a lot of fun! I liked the writer's style and felt like I learned a lot while reading this. Would definitely recommend to other people!

4.25 stars

*eARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

this was a really good read. i can definitely say i'm not the target audience so can't speak to its accuracy as a whole but i learned a lot of really valuable information. sex theory was integrated but presented in a helpful and accessible way. the most useful chapter for me was the one about physical impact of transition as this was really helpful context throughout the book, and the author coped well with the limitations of the lack of research into trans bodies and hormone treatment/surgery and synthesised a lot of information well, acknowledging when certain information was formed from anecdotal evidence. also it was great that the author didn't presume the identities of people who go down certain transition paths.

i'm really happy this exists and would recommend to trans people and partners of trans people - it contains so much helpful information about transition, safer sex, contraception, HIV treatment, kink, etc.

While I don't think this is a 100% complete guide, it's still very informative and inclusive in a way that's easily digestible without the academic feel. Highly suggest this to any trans adults who didn't see themselves in sex ed classes growing up, or allies and potential partners of trans people who want to learn more.