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.

A quick and digestible, informative introduction to asexuality. There wasn't any new information here for me, but I think this would be great to explain asexuality to allos, or for people who are questioning if the label may fit them.

I am writing this review as someone who is asexual and aromantic. If you want to know what those words mean, and why they're not the same thing, pick up this book. Like Alex Gino's <i>Rick</i>, it's a work that I wish had been around when I was younger - as Muldoon and Hernandez note several times, many ace people grow up feeling broken or wrong or like freaks, because asexuality really has historically been the invisible orientation. The negative stereotypes that they go over in the book are intimately familiar and all too recognizable, and that's why this slim volume is so important - because there's nothing wrong with being anywhere on the ace or aro spectrums.

If there's one thing I wish had been touched on, it's that your orientation doesn't affect your consumption of media. To a degree we understand this mostly through the female consumption of BL (boys' love, or homoerotic) manga, but one question I've often gotten is "why do you read so many romance novels if you're aroace?" Until society at large understands that that's like asking someone "why do you read mystery novels if you're not planning the perfect murder?," we'll still have a ways to go.

That's not going to knock a star off of my review, though. Until we can all feel safe and normal in our skin, we need works that explain things in a warm, friendly, and non-judgemental manner. This one does that. Please read it.

4.5/5 stars

This is the book I wish I had read when I was younger. This is a quick and easy guide to asexuality. The book is extremely accessible and highlights even the basic concepts of the umbrella of asexuality. The book provides for what is asexuality, it's difference from aromanticism, the myths/stereotypes/weird questions asexual people face, the (lack of) representation in media, and the experience of growing up ace. Anyone can read this book (even children!), whether you're straight or gay or bi or ace or questioning. The illustrations are very cute. I loved that the creators also included talk about being insecure about our sexuality,and feeling like you're broken or a robot. I just wish that the illustrations were colorful instead of B&W, and that the book contained more information about aromanticism. I very well know that asexuality and aromanticism are different and do not necessarily coincide. But many times they coexist together (plus there is little to no information available on aromanticism). This is a very short and accessible read, recommend this to everyone.

This is a great little guide to asexuality. I just recently discovered I'm on the ace spectrum and this was not only really validating for me it also helped clear up some lingering confusion i had about my own sexuality as I also identify as a lesbian. This guide isn't just great for those questioning their sexuality either this is a great guide to give to the people in your life who may have some questions or even to just help you feel more comfortable coming out (when you are fully ready and it is safe. Please never feel pressure to come out) This is really just a handy guide all around and honestly I recommend everyone should read it. Knowledge breeds compassion and I think unfortunate a lot of people misundstand what asexuality is and this really helps negate that. This really is the perfect handy little guide.

Overall this is a a pretty nice introduction to a complicated topic. This would be a good jumping off point for people that are questioning or allos trying to understand their ace friends. “The A in LGBTQIA+” section was a little messy. I wish it would have said explicitly that the A is never for Ally. It’s not untrue that some people believe that, but here they say that it doesn’t really matter one way or another. It may not matter to the authors, but it does matter to much of the ace (and aro and agender) communities. It’s up to individuals if they want to claim the label of queer, but suggesting the A may or may not demand inclusion is frustrating. This section goes on to say that aces may be queer in other ways, which felt pretty invalidating to heteroromantic aces, who are still queer. I don’t think the authors intended this, but it can definitely be read that way.

Thank you for letting me read this arc.

I read this book in such a short amount of time but the information and understanding I received was amazing! This book helped me a lot with my own identity, whilst being easy to read and a book that anyone of all ages could grasp and understand.

I really enjoyed reading this, the drawings and text were fab as well as all the information. I highly recommend this book, whatever sexuality you may be!!

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book # 93/100

I’m so glad I got an arc of this book!!!!! This short but very educational book should be available in all schools, libraries and places of work!

The term Asexuality is relatively new to me and before reading this book I wasn’t 100% sure what it meant and how it differed from Aromantics.

I’m glad this book covers the essentials in only pages which makes it extremely easy to read and understand!

I will be sharing this book with all my friends as it has been a topic in our conversations!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!!!!

A great resource that should be available to wider communities and definitely to schools for sex-ed teaching.
Wonderful conversation to have about feeling "broken" and the harmful stereotypes seen in TV - however it would have been great to see example of the positive rep also seen on TV (Todd's arc from Bojack Horseman comes to mind, and Sex Education also had ace character(s)). I hope the final copy is in colour, as the black and white pages definitely took away from the concept. - the art style isn't really my thing either, and I found the 4th wall talking to me offputting.

This graphic novel is a combination of facts about asexuality/aromanticism and the spectrum(s) they fall on, alongside anecdotes from the two authors themselves (who are both ace and differ on where they place on the spectrum).

Well... where do I even start?

I think the intention was good, but the execution not so much...

There is one big issue and that is the chapter refering to the A in LGBTQIA+. The A is not for ally, it has never been, it will never be. A stands for Asexual, Aromantic and Agender and white some aces personally don't consider themselves as part of the community, the A still stands for that, never for allie and there's no debate, that's just facts. It really made me mad to see something like that, especially in an ownvoices book.

On top of that, I think the book focuses much more on the personal experiences of the authors than on the representation. It is overly simplistic and I get that it's supposed to be a quick and easy guide, but some topics just weren't handled with the care and detailed they deserved. For example, when talking about the spectrum of asexuality they talk about the gray area refering to being sex-repulsed, sex-neutral or sex-favorable but that has nothing to do with being ace because it is not about attraction but about the action of having sex, so someone sex-neutral is not gray-sexual. I found that to be very confusing and not very well explained.

I think this book could have been longer and it could have taken the time and space to explain things right. A quick search on google provides way more information. And while I love iniciatives like this one and I do think they could be very helpful and useful, the executions was so poor it partially defeats the purpose.

Of course not everything was bad and I think we could still rescue some parts of it, but overall I would never ever recommend this. There's way better books in the topic (though not many because you know, it is the invisible sexualtity after all, but still...). And I'm just sad because I got really excited about another book on asexuality coming out but this was just not it, sorry.