A reasonable if over simplified guide; better than nothing but room for improvement. Might purchase if nothing better comes up in the next year.

When it comes to graphic novels for this year, these titles are among the top tiers.
My first introduction to these books was A Quick & Easy Guide to Asexuality. I got an Arc digital copy of thanks to @onipress and after reading it, I was moved to check out other titles, and I ended up with A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identities.

What I liked about these books is how informative, easy to understand and interesting it is.
Like it's a book whether you are queer, still discovering yourself or an ally, you just need to read these books. Such an important read, that comes with learning, unlearning and relearning.

A wonderful primer on a topic not familiar to many, I found this guide to be well-researched and utilized evidence-based literature to inform their book. I have no qualms putting this on my shelf and recommending to queer and allies alike!

Pretty good and relatable! I liked the illustrations and the way it was a dialogue. Though I pretty much knew everything about the topic... as someone who is experienced lol.

First of all, thank you for this e-ARC!
5⭐️!

I think this is a great resource for anyone who is questioning their sexuality, OR just anyone who wants to learn more about people who are ACE. The more literature out there the better, and I think it would be a great book to have in libraries, or sex-ed courses. I feel like there is a lot of mystery around being ACE and what exactly that means, but this guide was perfect for answering many of the common questions!!

Overall and really great read and highly recommend for people curious about asexuality!

xx
-Christine

The structure here is simple: we are presented with a pair of narrators both of whom identify as asexual though their experience differs. And that's sort of the point of the whole book. We are exploring the spectrum of asexuality. Thus the book becomes more about what asexuality isn't rather than what it is. It's a solid book to have available to those with questions ho are perhaps scared to ask.

This is a good introductory lesson to those who want to learn more about Asexuality. It does get a little technical/wordy initially but that eases off and the graphics are very helpful in relation to the text. It comes across as very personable and friendly, welcoming those who want to understand, either for themselves, others or just to increase their awareness.
A quick, easy read that covers the basics and is enjoyable to learn from.
I received an ARC via NetGalley and am happily giving a review.

A simple but complete guide to Asexuality in an easy format. A solid addition to the Quick & Easy guide series. This entire series is recommended to support teens trying to learn about their gender & sexuality as well as that of other people.

This comic is a sweet, soothing balm on my frayed and embittered soul. I'm not sure what to say except that everyone should read it. For ace people, it's a moment to feel seen, to have a spark of community. For allo people, come get an idea of what it is to be ace and how to be supportive and understanding of the experience.

I felt seen and affirmed in these pages. I laughed at the foolish ace stereotypes, was delighted to discover I could claim axolotls and cake as mascots *cheers*, and was relieved to have cartoon people look deep into my eyes and tell me I'm not invisible and I'm not broken. In less than 100 pages, the comic covers grey areas of sexuality, growing up and dating as an ace person, and feeling unwelcome or not included as a part of the queer community. In other words, it covers a lot in a small space, and it's all important, relevant stuff. Seriously. Read it.

I think was a pretty solid introduction to asexuality to both allies and people who are potentially questioning theirs sexuality. I love how careful the book is about distinguishing asexuality and aromanticism and covering the wide spectrum of asexuality. It was well-structured and accessible. Also, the art was pleasant to look at without being overwhelming and distracting.

A Quick & Easy Guide to Asexuality written by Molly Muldoon, illustated and co-written by Will Hernandez. is the newest title in the “Quick & Easy Guide” series focusing on the spectrum of sexulaity and identity. Other publishing credits for this book include: lettering by Angie Knowles, book design by Kate Z. Stone and editing by Ari Yarwood and Amanada Meadow. These guides in comic form are published through Limerence Press, an imprint of Oni Press, that publishes quality erotica, sex education, and gender and sexuality studies comics. The imprint focuses on positive, inclusive, and approachable books that reflect a wide variety of emotional and intimate experiences. Asexuality is often called The Invisible Orientation and here this comic drawn like handbook serves to make it an more visual one.

I knew that I interested in reading and reviewing this title as I have own the other titles in the series including A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identities, A Quick & Easy Guide to Sex & Disability and A Quick & Easy Guide to Consent. While the first entry mentioned is a longer read, the following titles are much shorter and function as educational, fun shorts that prove to be essential and great reference material in the way that pamphlets in the guidance office in schools wanted to be. The newest title by the creative team of writer Molly Muldoon and cartoonist Will Hernandez, both in the Ace community is another worthy addition to not only this series, or imprint but the comics as a medium.

What I appreciate perhaps the most is the casual conversation paced flow of information presented in this book that the series is known for. Readers are not just thrown a book with pages crammed with info. Instead we follow the creative team of Muldoon and Hernandez as they literally talk it out, starting with the “Common Questions Aces Get asked” segment. Then again and again they reiterate that while asexuality is a real identity and those who are ace are valid. While neither writer or illustrator are experts, their lived experiences and personal insight make this charming book just right for folks like me who love the comic medium and enjoy reading and sharing educational texts.

The artwork in A Quick & Easy Guide to Asexuality feels cartoony in a loved way that never feels like caricatures on the page.appropriate for folks reading and learning at this level of information. Following along with the body language of the characters and hilarious facial expressions is a treat for certain panels like the slight shojo sparkly eyes of Muldoon and Will on one page. Muldoon’s reaction to a Fabio-like man telling her, with a rose in his mouth, that she just “hasn’t met the right person” is another page to look out for.
Having the art in black and white versus color doesn’t lessen the visuals but instead empowers the messages of the book more. This is especially felt in the elaborating of the spectrum of asexuality. As a reader, I felt it was easy to follow along when the creative team touches on the “shades of gray”.

This is further felt in my first glimpse at the split attraction model, which as noted in the beginning notes is not a deeper analysis of the model but just a quick intro which feels appropriate for folks reading and learning at this level of information. Muldoon and Hernandez literally walk a curious bystander across the chart answering questions and I had a light bulb moment with the “Not everyone is a one size fits all” experience when it comes to ace identities. Perhaps the best lesson this graphic novel gave me was making me aware of the diversity of the many identities under the ace spectrum.


As a quick and introductory primer, the creative team does a great job with laying down the foundation with definitions and going back to the wide spectrum for human sexuality but especially for ace folks. While I appreciate the chapter that cleared up the questions I had on the differences between asexuality and aromantism. I did find myself wanting more pages on ace stereotypes and more resources at the back of the book beyond a page. One of the authors mentions demisexuality but never elaborates on it. But, on the positive side: on the resources page I was happy to see a free pdf on there and a number of websites, including a few on tumblr which are accessible digitally and without a visit to a library which is a win for accessibility reasons.

Lastly, in the later pages, As invisible and dismissed as ace folks are in overall representation I would have loved a more definite claiming of the A in LGBTQIA for Aces. Or Aromatic or Agender versus reminding us of Ally which while I consider myself to be one, I don't feel I need to be included. It’s a small criticism but it is also one I’ve seen in other reviews by Ace folks that’s worth sharing and acknowledging.

I found A Quick & Easy Guide to Asexuality to be a positive exploration of sexuality that isn’t widely understood by society and functions somewhere between an self-help book, a graphic novel and a LGBTQIA resource. Intended to be a quick read intended to introduce the basics and lead readers deeper research online and elsewhere, this text is best for curious minds, allies wanting a starting point for research and most definitely those who are visual learners and comic lovers.

Der “Quick & Easy Guide to Asexuality” ist genau das, was der Name verspricht: Ein kurzweiliger und leicht zu verstehender Ratgeber zum Thema Asexualität und dem asexuellen Spektrum. Auf 76 Seiten zeigen die beiden Autor:innen/Zeichner:innen, was es wirklich bedeutet, ace zu sein, und räumen sowohl mit Klischees als auch mit Halbwahrheiten auf.

Das ganze Buch ist wie ein Comic aufgebaut, in dem die Autor:innen die Hauptrollen übernehmen und ihren allosexuellen (= nicht asexuellen) Freund:innen und Bekanntschaften von ihren Erfahrungen auf dem asexuellen Spektrum berichten. Dabei beantworten sie nicht nur deren Fragen in Bezug auf Asexualität (Die im Übrigen sehr realistisch sind. Die meisten davon wurden mir persönlich auch schon von Allos gestellt, die meine Identität nicht begreifen konnten.), sondern erklären außerdem die bekanntesten Labels auf dem Spektrum, wie bsp. grey(a)sexuell und demisexuell. Des Weiteren widmen sie sich den Unterschieden zwischen sexueller und romantischer Anziehung und betonen, dass sexuelle Anziehung nichts mit der Libido oder der persönlichen Einstellung zu sexuellen Handlungen zu tun hat.

Zugegeben, auf 76 Comicseiten ist es kaum möglich, jede einzelne Identität auf einem so gewaltigen Spektrum oder alle Aspekte des Ace-Seins darzustellen, aber Molly Muldoon und Will Hernandez haben es geschafft, die grundlegenden Informationen interessant und leicht verständlich rüberzubringen. Gerade für allosexuelle Menschen, die sich zum ersten Mal mit dem Thema beschäftigen, ist der Guide ein wirklich guter Einsteig.

Da ich mich jedoch selbst auf dem asexuellen Spektrum befinde und mich schon zuvor intensiv damit beschäftigt habe, war mir jedoch der Großteil der Themen nicht neu. Trotzdem habe ich den Comic gerne gelesen und konnte in Hinblick auf für allosexuelle Menschen verständliche Formulierungen einiges mitnehmen. Außerdem habe ich mit diesem Titel eine neue Leseempfehlung für alle, die sich über Asexualität und alles, was dazugehört, belesen möchten.

this book is such a sweet and affirming intro to asexuality, i found it very inspiring. now i hope the delightful authors will do the same for aromantic. asexuality is lack of sexual attraction, and it's on a continuum, from sometimes and a little to always and a lot. it is a sexual orientation, but since it's on a continuum (and also you can be asexual but not aromantic) it combines with sexual orientations, so that you can be asexual gay or asexual straight or pretty much anything you can think of. also asexual people can be trans cuz trans identify is not a sexual orientation i.e. says nothing about what/who you desire. most importantly, asexuality is not the result of trauma, or anything that can be cured or you would want to cure. like all sexual orientation it is pretty much innate and lovely and something to respect and nurture.

i LOVE that the book emphasizes that it's all part of queerness, that is, part of smashing the narrow narrow narrow heteropatriarchal norms that would have us all have sex and have sex in the same way and with the same set of people. in reality we are all so fucking different and since we are told from day one that difference is not okay we are all so full of shameful secrets that have no reason to be at all so fuck the heteropatriarchy.

the book is wonderfully drawn and super fast and such a clarion call to kindness, i wish everyone read it. finally, a propos of nothing, let us all leave trans kids alone! let us let them play sports! let us let them get medical care! enough with the cruelty (if you care about this as much as i do, throw a few bucks to the ACLU, which is fighting state legislatures in the USA who want to ban trans kids tooth and nail, and follow chase strangio, a trans lawyer with the ACLU, on twitter).

This is a great introductory guide to asexuality! Although I did not learn any new information from it (because I am on the asexual spectrum and have done significant research already), it is a book I would recommend to readers who are trying to learn more, or perhaps even wondering if they might be on the spectrum. I'm glad that different identities of the LGBTQ+ community are getting more representation!

First, I want to thank Oni Press and NetGalley for giving me free access to this title in exchange for an honest review.

As someone who already knows about asexuality, there were times where the book felt a little repetitive. But, I think if a reader is not familiar with asexuality, the seemingly repetitive parts are confirming and clearing up possible misunderstandings.

The dialogue style of the book makes what the authors are conveying even more approachable. In addition, their way of wording questions and answers posed within the book gives the sense that they are open to good faith questions from people who want to understand better.

I definitely recommend this as a resource for anyone who either hasn't heard of asexuality or does not yet know much about it.

I was wondering whether to rate this book 1 or 2 stars, but ended up settling on 1. It is just not a good resource, even if some of the information in it is correct. To contextualize, I’m on the asexual spectrum, so this review is influenced by my experience in the ace community and other resources I’ve read.
........................


<b>The first problem </b> I have with it is more surface-level and it’s the art and information presentation. Most of the art is just the authors’ avatars and information is almost exclusively presented in lengthy speech bubbles. There is also sections where I’m convinced the artist just got fed up with drawing hands so he had the avatars awkwardly holding their arms behind their backs. I feel like having mediocre art and no imaginative presentation of information completely defeats the purpose of making a comic book guide.

<b>The second thing</b> that bothered me was the unorganized structure. The book defines the split attraction model, on which almost all asexual people base their labels, almost halfway through. The authors also seem more interested in explaining what asexuality isn’t than what it is, which is a problem I’ve seen in some asexual resources.

<b>The final problem </b> I had with the book, and <i>the most glaring one</i>, was the completely outdated discussion on asexuality in queer spaces. I can forgive some older resources for making an ambiguous statement on the topic, however, I don’t really think that’s acceptable in a current resource. This book has a section called “The A in LGBTQIA” which said “it doesn’t really matter” what the A stands for. It does matter and asexuality has been accepted in many queer spaces.
It’s harmful to say that putting asexuality outside the realm of queerness (so in the realm of heterosexuality) is a possibility, because it’s implying that all the different ways in which asexual are disadvantaged (both legally and socially) compared to heterosexuals don’t matter. For further discussion on this topic, I’d recommend Ace by Angela Chen and possibly The invisible orientation (the stance is ambiguous, but the discussion is more in-depth).

Another great addition to the quick and easy guides series. I wish there was a bit more about aro vs ace.

It was very informative. As someone who was interested to learn more about the topic, it was very helpful. I think it will be good for a variety of people to learn and understand more.

As someone who is asexual, I really appreciate this book. It made it so easy to help explain to people who asked what it meant to be asexual. This is something I had just figured out for myself and was really grateful to have a way to help educate those in my life about what I had been struggling to put a name to for so long. I have read most of the books in this series and have found them to be well done, and very informative. I will be buying copies for the library I work at to help others as well.

"The first thing we need to do is demystify asexuality! You'd be surprised at how much people don't know. Or just assume. Firstly, the most important thing to know about asexuality is that it means not feeling sexual attraction. That's it."

A great intro to asexuality for folks unfamiliar or who are looking for a little clarification. Sections cover "What is Asexuality?", "The Spectrum of Asexuality", "Asexuality and Aromanticism", "Dating While Asexual", "Growing Up Ace", "Ace Stereotypes", and "The "A" in LGBTQIA+". This is a graphic novel, with information presented as a conversation between the two creators and sometimes other people or the reader. Good emphasis on "being ace doesn't mean you're broken" and the variety of experiences that fall under the umbrella of asexuality. And of course you can't have a light-hearted book about asexuality without mention of cake and axolotls! Overall, this series is called quick and easy for a reason. Short overview with additional resources at the back, both books and websites.

Thank you to Oni Press and NetGalley for the eARC. A Quick & Easy Guide to Asexuality was published at the end of March.