It's a brief but interesting book with a curious style of illustration. The thought being discussed is how much (in times past) humans have relied on touch as a method of greeting, of comfort, and now much now (in the time of Covid), all the things that many took for granted become signs of danger and contagion.

The book doesn't go into great depth with the nature of things, but it makes the clear point that touch is indeed one of the senses by which we (humans) most define our reality, if you can touch something, it becomes real, and if you can't touch it, is it real? We have been starved for the closeness that most of us crave, and now comes the question of whether or not it's something that we can get back, or indeed, if it's something that we want to get back.

There's a few exercises in the book about exploring touch with others, but also a number of warnings about how touch can be inappropriate, and while I can see why a caution would be appropriate for some, it struck me as being at odds with the general message of touch being something essential to most people.

Doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the book, interesting and particularly relevant in a world where most of us have been denied it for a very long time.

This was a very interesting perception on what touch is. I really liked what the author said about the different types of touch. It made me look at it quite differently, and positively. I felt as though it was a bit repetitive, but it wasn't necessarily annoying. Luckily, I thought the art was phenomenal. The illustrations where calming and helpful. Overall, this was a fast and peaceful read that I recommend to anyone feeling nervous or angry.


(Thank you Netgalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for providing me with an eARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

'Touch is Really Strange' is the latest addition to the Really Strange Series. Told in the form of graphic novels, this book addresses the question of how we perceive touch and explores the power of touch and also it's limits. This was a fairy informative book that doesn't just give you the facts, but also brings in real life scenarios to get it's point across. It touches on real-life events that are currently happening such as the coronavirus-- how that is limiting our ability to touch--and discusses the MeToo movement as well. The illustrations used throughout this graphic novel are beautiful and really elevates the layout of information visually.

Thank you NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for this advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was interesting. I learned quite a bit about the psychological and physiological implications of touch, some obvious and others remarkable. The version I received was clearly not the final edit, but I still enjoyed it.

This graphic novel was really amazing. During a time where I can’t even ask for a hug from friends because I’m scared to bring back COVID to my parents, my mental health has been at an all time low. It’s good to see that physical contact is something we need to stay happy and sane in this world. I loved the art style and how the story flowed. The resources as the bottom are a great touch as well. Overall a great graphic novel. I’d love to has this in my collections.

I really enjoyed this book. The graphics, for one, were gorgeous. I loved how the colour represented different feelings, and situations. I found the information provided in the book very interesting. It was fascinating to learn about touch, how our bodies perceive it, how it works, and why we need and like touch. I think this book would be great for anyone interested in touch and physical connection. The information was so fascinating and the art was absolutely beautiful. It is definitely a great read.

It’s interesting to see a book about exploring the world of “touch” and how any of us can’t do that at the moment due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. It does good to show the different types of excercises you can do with someone and it gives references on what other news outlets have said regarding touch. However I would have liked if this book distinguished more of what the differences are to what is a bad/ good touch to bring more awareness. For example, exploring more of touch with and without consent should have been added to the graphic novel.

It’s a fair enough book but there were a few puzzle pieces missing from it...

Thanks Netgalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for supplying me this graphic novel!

So I love the idea of non-fiction science comics, and I think exploring the ways that we as a culture have staved ourselves of touch is really important, but this comic really set off "woo" and pseudoscience warning bells. Maybe I'm just a nerd, but I kept wanting citations and references to back up the claims that were being made. Loved the minimalist art, however.

After reading the synopsis of “Touch Is Really Strange,” I was determined to review this new release. For those who have experienced trauma, touch can indeed be strange, triggering, uncomfortable, and sometimes frightening. Reclaiming this fifth sense is an essential part of the therapeutic journey. I found this graphic to be a remarkable study of how necessary and yet complicated touch can be. I believe the author, Steve Haines, created a masterpiece and I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy! The soothing illustrations by Sophie Standing, scientific content, and acknowledgement of emotions associated with touch combine into an accessible, nonthreatening guide. I found myself lingering on each page to absorb the content, admire the art, and picture incorporating this book into sessions with clients who struggled with touch as a result of trauma. As a clinical supervisor, I intend to use this book to aid new therapists in developing trauma-informed approaches to discussing touch in sessions with young adults and adults in treatment. I also believe this book to be a useful educational guide for anyone in a profession that involves touching others as a way to improve policies and client care; from massage therapists to nurses to hair stylists, and more.

I am extremely grateful to both NetGalley and the publisher for the privilege of being able to review this book in an honest manner in exchange for an advance e-copy. I’m extremely motivated to read the other books in this series as I anticipate they will be similarly as applicable for use within clinical therapy sessions.

My thanks to NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers/Singing Dragon for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

The eARC formatting was off, making this a difficult book to read and follow. I'm not sure if it was due to the format or not, but it didn't seem like a graphic novel, it seemed like a bunch of paragraphs with pictures inserted every once in a while. I wasn't fond of the artwork and the writing seemed very scattershot and all over the place. There wasn't a smooth flow with a logical (that I could tell anyway) procession of the information being given.

Much of it felt repeated and I DNF'd at 37%. I was also disappointed in how the subject matter was presented, as from the title, "Touch is Really Strange", I assumed it was about how touch is perceived and is an issue for those who are non-neurotypical and I wanted to learn about that, not about how touch can be both a positive and a negative (hugs from loved ones vs. #metoo).

While this didn't work for me, I would recommend this to those who are interested in the topic of touch and the science behind it, at least for a flip-through.

Any recommendations for books about touch for those who are non-neurotypical and their loved ones, I would greatly appreciate it! 2, this wasn't what I was expecting or wanted but it wasn't bad, stars. Just not the right book for me right now.

I was absolutely delighted by this Graphic Novel for adults. The author explores the science behind touch and how it influences our lives, with colorful and expressive illustrations. The author is sure to point out that this book is not about erotic touch, and has exercises at the end that guide the reader through exploring touch and how it can help them grow and heal.

This book has a lot of interesting information about touch but seems to be designed for a very specific community (bodyworkers). Some parts were interesting but there were a few boring moments. The art is gorgeous. I love the almost cut paper effect of it. I’m baffled by the decision to put additional notes on the bottom of the page in red, which often clashes with the otherwise lovely color scheme.

Thank you NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was.... not what I wanted... After reading the description, I thought this was going to be a really good read. I'm very disappointed. Basic graphics within a very academic tome about touch! Honestly, I wouldn't call this a graphic novel!

This graphic novel by Steve Haines is all about touch and the science of touch which is very interesting. The writer looks at touch and how it plays such a big part in our lives and how it can affect us psychologically in many different ways. The writer looks at different types of Touch and how this impacts each individual. It is also full of quotes from scientific studies on the subject which is quite interesting to read through.

I like this book because it spoke about something we would not normally think about and would normally forget about. This infographic book shows us that Touch is much more that we think and affects almost every part of our life. I also like how this book was written as a graphic novel as it helps draw the reader in and makes the reader even more interested. Furthermore, this is the science that is not taught in schools and so it is good to get this book out there for teenagers specifically to educate them about touch.

There is nothing I can think of with this book which I disliked which is good. As I said, it teaches us about something that is often overlooked and not spoken about. This book also allows us to make inferences of what will happen with the lack of touch because of the Coronavirus pandemic. It was also very interesting to see how some cities from around the world touch more than others and it was highly interesting and would allow for a follow-up book explaining why touch is more common in let's say France but less common in the United Kingdom.

Altogether, I rate this book 3 Stars making it a good book. This is because it successfully looked at a topic which many people know little about and often overlook and so don't understand the impact that this sense has on our daily life. I think this is a topic that should be taught in schools so we can have more positive connotations with touch rather than negative connotations. It would be nice if there was a follow-up book talking about sexual touch and how that impacts our lives also.

Not sure how to review this. I love the art from Sophie Standing. The choice to use Neo impressionistic style gave real power to Steve Haines’s words. There were a couple of pages that struck a chord with me. The main thesis of the book as I understood it was that we need to reevaluate our understanding of touch and how important it is. Given what has happened due to Covid-19 most of us already realise this. The science is explained briefly but I have seen some criticism that it is overly simplistic. As a primer, it works fairly well. It is a short book with some fascinating ideas that due to the format weren’t given time to develop. Check it out for the art which is beautiful but don’t expect anything too deep.

Unfortunately, I really struggled to enjoy the writing of this book. I read this knowing nothing of the series but being fond of graphic novels, I thought I'd give it a try. I do think Sophie Standing's illustrations are really nice, some reviewers here have said the art style might be simple but I think they're really great.

I was under the impression this would be a story but it's a very closely cited academic seeming essay. The problem is there's no structure or focus here, the key message is hard to grasp, some controversial things are said both on the scientific and cultural level. It's hard to know what the book is trying to do, it sometimes seems to be ushering us into being comfortable with being touched, but then also making touch seem hostile and dangerous.

I found the drawings and the writing seem very disconnected it, reading it I could tell this was not a single author. It's not because the subject of the drawing or writing was wrong, the tones just didn't match. The drawings have this personal abstract element and accompany this impersonal dry science. I think the science did not need to be quoted so heavily as much of it are theoretical concepts that could have been paraphrased or changed more simply. I felt as if this was the research for an essay about Touch, but something happened to the narrator last minute so the research was used as is, instead.

Having a PhD in Neuroscience (coincidentally, I had no idea this was a book about science at all), made it a bit more gruelling to read, as I thought some parts were oversimplified, lacking emphasis and potentially incorrect. But, honestly, my main gripes with the book would've held had I read this as a teenager a decade ago with the mindset that a good book must be more cohesive and nuanced no matter how fantastic and humane its subject matter. If you want to write about a sensitive topic, then one should write sensitively? I feel like the content doesn't match the book genre of being a comic (in its writing), nor of being a science non-fiction essay (in its brevity). I felt like giving this 2* for the drawings alone but when I think about it, I see this book as a hot mess that could've been much better with editing as the content is there. But something about the way it is written lacks a bit of sensitivity, or 'touch', for the subject matter?

But of course, there are always some reviewers who have liked it, so my views may not reflect your own. So if touch is something you are interested in exploring the science and nature of, this might be an interesting quick read of the main mysteries it holds for human interaction.

I had previously read Anxiety is Really Strange by Steve Haines and Forgiveness is Really Strange by Masi Noor, so when I saw this new title within this little series available on NetGalley I decided to pick it up. Touch is Really Strange, by Steve Haines, is a graphic novel which looks at how touch changes our perception of the world, as well as how it can impact our emotions.

I thought that the main body of the novel was done well, the graphics have a beautiful but plain styling to them which I like and the information is interesting. There are footnotes to expand on details if you want the information, but if you're there for the bare bones you don't need to pay attention to those.

I like how the book covers physical responses to touch, as well as how touch as a sense allows us to feel our place in the world and also the emotional impact that touch such as hugs can have. The pandemic was mentioned in here, saying that it's a difficult time for touch at the moment, which I appreciated, but it made the next section even more odd.

The end portion of the graphic novel is made up of exercises in touch to try...with a partner. Now I know that there will be a decent number of people who are living with other people right now, who might even be willing to do this. But there are large numbers of people living alone. After having mentioned earlier on in the novel that it's difficult for those who crave touch due to the social distancing restrictions, why would you then put a bunch of exercises into the book which all involve touching someone else? It just felt really odd and out of touch. I know that this book needs to be relatable after the pandemic times, but in that case I think it would've been better to leave out any direct mention of it at all.

Without that weird touching section this would've been a 3 star read, but with that addition? I've dropped it down to 2 stars. But if you do happen to live with someone who would be willing to try out touch exercises with you, then give this graphic novel a go!

I thought the book was okay. I think that I might not be the right demographic for the text and would recommend to others who want to practice and look into how touch can help us but for myself I was not particularly wow’d.

I don't think this was the book for me. I was really drawn in by the cover illustration but found the copy within the book very dry and skim read large sections. Although the premise of the book is quite interesting, I felt it just didnt quite hit the mark.

Margaret Atwood (2010) beautifully captures the importance of touch: ‘Touch comes before sight, before speech. It is the first language and the last and it always tells the truth.’
This is a really good mostly factual book about the importance of touch for humans, something that is extremely current due to the global pandemic.

Overall, I really enjoyed this graphic novel! The illustrations especially are really unique!

I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.