This felt like an infomercial for allos learning about aces. Definitely a 101 that could easily be found with a quick google search. The graphic novelization aspect was interesting but not to my taste.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I requested A Quick & Easy Guide to Asexuality because I have friends who identify as asexual, and wanted to educate myself about it.

This short comic book is a wonderful resource for asexual people, allies, or just people who are interested in this topic that isn't talked about often enough.

As I am not asexual myself, I can't talk about how it represents the community, but for someone who is an ally, this was a great overview, clearing up misconceptions, and explaining the concept of this sexual orientation in a simple and fun way.

This is exactly what it says it is: a quick and easy guide. This appropriate for any age who can read about 80 pages of a book and will be a fantastic resource to hand to friends and families after coming out. There is a lot here for people who ace, and I can see this being beyond helpful for anyone questioning if they might be ace. A worthy and needed addition suitable for all public libraries.

A quick and Easy Guide to Asexuality can be considered to be a really basic guide to understand Asexuality, useful to both Allos as well as questioning Asexuals, as mentioned in the beginning as well. I really loved reading through the book - the illustrations were very cute!

I really liked how it dealt with the basic and most important things about asexuality - explanation, different sexual orientation, how it is an orientation which is as present as any other sexual orientation like heterosexual or bisexual, the common "questions" and "stereotypes" around asexuality, the grey area existing in the asexuality spectrum and also discussion around how sexual orientation is different from romantic orientation and yes these are separate things!

But I do have a problem with this book - the "A" in the LGBTQIAP+ doesn't stand for Ally in any way. I understand that the book was written primarily based on personal experiences and research but that shouldn't erase ace people from queer spaces. Defining the "A" properly is important because honestly there is no grey area as to whether asexuals belong in queer spaces. The basic explanation for the same is that it is a "sexual orientation" which isn't heterosexual even though there might be aces who experience other kinds of attraction in a hetero manner. And there's no point in defining the "A" for Allies because what is even the rationale behind it?

The "A" in LGBTQIAP+ refers to AGENDER, AROMANTIC and ASEXUAL as umbrella terms encompassing tonnes of different identities. Understanding this is important because the feeling of alienation from the cishet spaces as well as queer spaces isn't uncommon and even though one can argue that you have to find your own space wherein you are comfortable, the feeling of being separate. So yes, there isn’t any doubt whether or not asexuals belong in the “A”. Apart from that I would really like to pass on this book to people…!!!!

Note: I was provided with an arc of this book via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review

REVIEW: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (rounded up to 5)

Thank you to @netgalley and @Onipress for this ARC!

I am a staunch ally to the LGBTQAI+ community, and continue to need/want more and more education. I really appreciated the opportunity to review this book. I can honestly say I learned a lot!

Asexuality is often viewed as the invisible orientation. It is often ignored, disregarded, or viewed as a trauma response. In the mental health field for over a decade, I was initially taught that being ace = sex repulsed. Working with this community helped challenge my education/indoctrination, and I appreciate books like this that will continue to educate others on the continuum of orientation and identity.

I highly recommend this book. It’ll help open conversations and hopefully build understanding for fellow allos. I’ll end up buying this and having it on hand for those exploring their true, authentic selves.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

Okay firstly, I needed this. Especially the dating section--what an absolute blessing. BRB while I go over into the corner and cuddle my blanket of validation.

Most of this graphic novel is genuinely great. It's been written as a conversation and it works very well, informative without ever being too overwhelming or feeling like a lecture. It's still an introduction and if you've already done research on the subject, this may be a little basic for you. I'd recommend this to somewhere like a library so people can see this on the shelf, pick it up and have the opportunity to explore this for free, in a safe space. They have also provided further resources (books and websites) in the back, which is great.

I'm not sure I'd pay for it when you can find the same things online--if you already know to look, that is!

The illustrations are lovely--including visual aids to explain the spectrum and the split attraction model. They're simple but engaging. (And diverse, which is always fantastic to see!)

There are sections that tug on the old emotions--growing up ace, stereotypes etc.--but overall it's a very uplifting, informative graphic novel.

However, the section at the end discusses "where do people on the ace spectrum fit in the LGBTQIA+ community?" is not clear enough for me. A stands for asexual, aromantic, and agender. I feel like that should have been a clear line drawn. This section <i>does</i> discuss both the positive responses and the challenges ace people face in the wider queer community, it does not erase that in any fashion; but it also doesn't draw a conclusive line of: <b>you deserve a space here.</b> at the end of the section. And, in my opinion, it should. I'm not sure who the writers were trying to accommodate in purposefully making this "open ended" ?

I'm lucky that I've been blessed with a wonderful queer community who I know love and accept me. It's very important that ace people are made aware of the issues we're facing, but if I was just figuring stuff out from nothing, this openendedness would have likely been detrimental, keeping me out of queer spaces for longer.

This section is the only reason why I haven't rated it 5 star.

I really liked this graphic novel style guide to Asexuality! There are a lot of misconceptions around asexuality, particularly on the internet, so I thought this was a really informative introduction into what it really means. I liked that the authors included they're own experiences as it helped demonstrate the spectrum of people that identify under the umbrella term of asexuality. The book discusses what asexuality is, what it isn't, what it means to date and to have sex, and how it is viewed by society. I really liked that it was illustrated, I think it made it easier to engage with. If you're interested in learning more, this is a great introductory book!

The Quick & Easy Guide to Asexuality was a great introduction to the subject, managing to be both informative and approachable at the same time. Even though the guide was a short and easy read, it managed to pack a lot of information into its mere 72 pages.

I really loved that the book was written by two asexual authors. Their personal experiences helped to enrich the book and make it that much more informative and engaging.

While the book didn't cover every single question you may have ever had about asexuality, it does a truly impressive job of answering some of the most frequently asked. For anything beyond the scope of the Quick & Easy Guide, a list of further resources is helpfully provided at the end.

To start, obviously there is no way this book or any other single book could possibly cover the whole asexual spectrum, so if you're looking for the world's most comprehensive ace book, this isn't it and that's okay. However, this is such an excellent primer for people who might have recently heard about asexuality, people who want to support a newly out ace friend, people who are questioning, or anyone else who might want a quick intro into asexuality. For such a short book, it's impressive how much they manage to cover: definitions, the Split Attraction Model, stereotypes, growing up ace, and more. I would love to see a copy of the entire Quick & Easy Guide series in every public library, because I can only imagine how much good could come from younger audiences having accessibility to a wider spectrum of LGBTQIA+ books. If you're looking for more research after this guide, there's also a handy resource list in the back. Five stars, I want to send this to all my allo friends, check it out when it comes out!

A really straightforward and well-presented introduction. I like how it stresses the variety of feelings asexuality can cover, as sometimes this can be sacrificed in an attempt to be concise and unified rather than comprehensive. It was also great to see the differentiation between how asexuality can be seen in communities online versus in person, an important distinction to make particularly for those who've previously relied on online information.
The art and layout were a great fit. Visually different enough to stand out but also let the information be conveyed clearly.

Quick and simple dive into Asexuality that would be especially good for high school libraries. I fall into the Ace spectrum myself, and I think a lot more people do than they realize since it's not a term heard often. I'm glad that's starting to change and people have one more book to add to the list!

Thank you to netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

I'm always looking to get a better understanding of other people's minds, and this book is the perfect start to learning more about asexuality. Whether you're ace yourself, or you just want a little kick-start to start your journey toward understanding other people, it's a very well explained book. It tackles the most misunderstood stereotypes about asexuality, and goes a long way to explain the different types of asexuality. To be recommended to anyone wanting (or needing) to learn more about this.

A Quick & Easy Guide to Asexuality was indeed a quick guide to asexuality that I got very little out of aside from the bit about demisexuality which I had not heard about before. I would say this may be better intended for younger ACE readers or for someone who is very uninformed about asexuality. It was okay for an introductory to ACE but might not be a beneficial read for someone who is aware they are somewhere on the ACE spectrum or has lived experiences that differ from the examples given.

It was okay and I probably won't recommend this one unless someone asks me about the basics of ACE. Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this book.

This is a short, easily readable guide to asexuality--as the cover says it's quick and easy. The illustrations and flow were good, the tone/conversational format was also good. I think books like this are very necessary resources in libraries and bookstores, for everyone--those who are ace, those who are questioning, and those who want to know more about the topic, those who want to be a support to ace friends or family.

I think it was a little brief on some explanations and could benefit from a bit more discussion/elaboration. I do think it is important to stress that if you are going to mention the A in LGBTQIA+ then it's important to delineate what it stands for, and as far as I know ally isn't part of that definition. It's an important distinction and one that is very relevant to conversations. Allies are necessary and valued but the A has a purpose other than for allies.

I think this is a good starter book and the resources at the end are helpful, although more may have been nice. I do think some definitions and examples could have been a bit clearer. I learned from this book but it could have been a bit more detailed and expository.

A good book for every library. Books like this are needed.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

3 / 5 Stars

Honestly, I've got mixed feelings about this one.
On the one hand, it's a good and important book. You can tell and feel that everyone involved in this has put a lot of time, care and passion into this. It's got good intentions and the people who wrote and drew this didn't mean any harm. I'm sure of it.
It's also bringing up good points and hints at some problems, but -as introductions go - isn't too deep in that.
I did enjoy the pages about Demisexuality. I think they did a nice job witht that. It's not much, but what's on the page is nice.


On the other hand, it's not quite what I hoped it would be. There are a view areas where the book seems too afraid to give a clear answer. It's obviously trying to reach everyone, but by doing so, it reaches no one.

LGBTQIA is a term I don't use often. Because I'm gucci with LGBT+. Today is one of those days, that I feel a strong desire to use the long term. Because

The A in LGBTQIA stands for Asexual, Aromantic & Agender. NOT!!! Ally.

It has never stood for Ally and it will never stand for ally in the future!!!

Don't you dare say stuff like "Yeah, but some aces don't feel like-"
Good for those aces!! If they don't want to call themselves queer, they don't have to!
But that doesn't change the fact, that we're queer! We do NOT have to be any other LGBT+ Orientation on TOP of our Asexual one. Being asexual is enough!
Being ourselves is enough! Always has been!!

There is asexual history that proofs that! Want me to give you a list of sources? Because I will do so! But I shouldn't have to, because this was YOUR JOB book!

The section of "Ace Representation in Media" wasn't the strongest either. I appreciate what it trys, but as someone who's read a lot of really bad rep, I can confidently say, that the ace coded but not ace people aren't our biggest problem. Especially since we didn't even mention Sheldon Cooper. I think I wrote two term papers about that guy and the impact he had. Not because he's a genius and there's too much knowledge in his brain and he has to sacrifice love for the good of science. He's a genius AND he's ace. He's also repulsed. Until he isn't :)) *cugh* fix it story line + acephobia *cough*
Also, what has Spock ever done to you? Be nice to him.
I understand the Sherlock critic, but only because I've written a paper about that and know that ONE! Sherlock WAS ACE and then they FIXED HIM. It was wild. But that's not what this guide means when they mention him.
What my ramblings are trying to say is, that there are a lot of fix-it storys out there, that we could have addresed but didn't. What we did instead was give examples of not asexual tropes. What do I mean by that? Those people are not ace, never have been and never will be. They ARE a problem. But they aren't really a problem one needs to discuss in an asexual rep in media segment of a book that has only so much page time left for this kind of thing.
My personal Anti-Ace Depictions in Media are:

A is ace. X happens. Hurrey, we fixed them and they are not ace anymore :D

B is ace. C is allo. They could have been happy IF ONLY B weren't ace. :c

Aliens, Robots and 300 IQ people aren't our enemy.

My last complaint: Sex-Repulsed Asexuals.
Everytime sex-repulsion comes up it's in context of trauma. As a sex-repulsed ace who WAS NOT traumaticed this makes me sad and angry. It's as if this book is trying to push us into the realm of bad rep and black ship of the family teritory. I'm neither. I'm very happy to not have sex and I'm very happy to be ace and I'm very happy to be repulsed. I would have loved to see this book talk about that when it comes to relationships and love. We do, in like, one sentence and then we're done with it and I'm like: OK, thanks for nothing, I guess.
I know that action & attraction aren't the same thing. And I appreciate that the book covered that, but, I almost felt like that narrative came on the cost of positive sex-repulsed ace talk.

The book is also making a really weird flex when talking about the ace spectrum that's kinda confusing if you don't know what they're talking about.

I understand, that this is just an introduction, but as such, I feel like, it should get the basics straight. As in:
What is asexulity
and what isn't.
What really is a problem we have to face
and what isn't.

Like I said, I do love the message, vibe and feel this book was going for. I also appreciate the personal experiences, but I just can't help but feel excluded.

This quick and easy guide was very readable and covered the basics of what it means to be asexual. I was pleased to see that both authors are ace and could share their own experiences. The book really is a very quick guide so I would have liked more, but there are recommendations for what to read next.

Absolutely adored this book. I was a little apprehensive going in as an Ace person as rep has traditionally been poor in the past. However, this comic was inclusive and I could easily see my experience within the pages. A must read for anyone who is unsure of what asexuality is and Ace people who would like to feel like they are not alone.

At first blush, "A Quick & Easy Guide to Asexuality," seems like an amazing idea. There's good intention behind it and a genuine desire to share important and sometimes difficult to find information in a positive forum. However, this book trips a bit in the execution, and while I appreciate the want to help others understand the topic better, feels like it takes the approach of viewing (or at least appealing more to) the allo cis het population more so than the ace community it wants to discuss.

There are definitely some solid explanations within this book, and bits and pieces could be taken to use to educate those who have just begun there journey, either into exploring asexuality for themselves or as an ally.

One of the issues is that this graphic novel/comic goes out of it's way to separate sexual attraction from sexual action, but then proceeds to conflate the two immediately after it, stating "While others feel romantic attraction to people but don't have any desire to have sex or do sexual activities with them. Those people are asexual." They also go on to explain the difference between ace and aro as one wanting the sex without the romance and the other wanting the romance without the sex and, to it's credit, expands on that as well, but it's still leaning heavily on action when it should be talking about attraction. If there's to be a clear line between attraction and action, then there shouldn't be a discussion of action in a way that muddies the truth. While this feels more like bad wording than an intentional change in tone, it is still confusing and obscures things further.

They also mentioned "ally" in the LGBTQIA+, and do nothing to actually dispel it. The 'A' isn't for ally. It never was, and this feels like it DOES matter. The comic also goes on to have one of the main characters state that they have "never felt unwelcomed in queer spaces in real life," which, if that is their experience, that's fine, but the LGBTQIA+ community has a number of big issues involving ace & aro silencing/phobia/erasure, and to pretend that it doesn't, even in this simplified explanation, does a real disservice to the book as a whole. The comic seems to reinforce the idea that allosexuals outside of the LGBTQIA+ community are to blame.

Overall, I wanted to like this more. It definitely has its merits but a good number of flaws begin to overshadow them by the end of the book.

This book caught my eye because someone close to me recently came out as ace. I had a basic understanding, but am glad I was able to get a fuller picture from reading this graphic novel. The topics covered varied from an explanation of what it means to be ace for different people to a discussion about harmful stereotypes such as the "asexual genius," "prude," and "victim." I feel better equipped now to have thoughtful, informed conversations with my friends, families, and students.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I loved this! I already knew a lot about asexuality and aromanticism but this still cleared up some other things for me. I think this graphic novel will be very informative for people who want to know more about the aroace spectrum.