This is the second book I've read by Meg-John Barker, and they're always really interesting! I'm always grateful for books like these which take a lot of information which can otherwise be quite heavy and daunting, and present it in an accessible, visual format that is easier to read and digest. It's full of fascinating insights and history, with a bit of humour thrown in too for good measure. Plus, the artwork is beautiful!

"Sexuality: A Graphic Guide" is an essential resource for anyone looking to understand and explore the complex world of human sexuality. The book is brilliantly written by Meg-John Barker and illustrated by Julia Scheele, and it does an excellent job of breaking down complicated topics into digestible and approachable content.

The graphic guide covers a wide range of topics, including sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual consent, communication, and sexual health. It's incredibly inclusive, providing insights into a variety of perspectives and experiences. What's more, the guide is packed with helpful resources, including exercises, tips, and further reading suggestions.

One of the things that I love about this book is how engaging and interactive it is. The illustrations are beautiful and colorful, and they do an excellent job of conveying the content in a way that's easy to understand. The exercises are also very helpful in encouraging readers to reflect on their own experiences and beliefs.

Overall, "Sexuality: A Graphic Guide" is an outstanding resource that I would recommend to anyone. Whether you're just starting to explore your own sexuality or you're interested in learning more about the experiences of others, this book has something for everyone. It's a must-read, and I give it a 5/5 rating.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me this eARC to review.

This was a very informative book about sexuality that was inclusive. I would recommend this to people who are interesed in this sort of book.

Apologies in advance for the lateness of this review, but I was unable to access my account for a while.

I read about Meg-John’s work via their contributions to Mae Martin’s book, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read their own work. And oh my gosh, I couldn’t have been more delighted by the surprise I received upon opening this review copy.

Graphic non-fiction is one of my favourite genres and this is a fantastic addition to my collection. Aside from learning about queer history from someone as knowledgable as Meg-John, the art was gorgeous and the tone was so accessible. This is perfect for someone who wants to get into reading queer theory, but isn’t sure where to start. Plus, it’s stunning!

Thank you for the ebook.
I really enjoyed this book and recommended it to almost all of my friends. Very informative and easy to read.

I received an ARC for this from Netgalley a year ago and didn't get around to reading it until now. This book has since been published and is available from your favourite bookstore.

This book is incredible. As I started reading, my main reaction was 'if I'd had this in my school library in my early teens, my life would've been very different' - it read like a text aimed, if not at children, then very widely (but without talking down). Informative at first, laying out the history of sexuality (and being very western/eurocentric/straight about it) and the background needed before getting into the grittier stuff later in the book. Then as I continued reading, I kept nodding going yes, yes, of course, I know this, this checks out, this is also what I found - not in a 'duh' way, but more like...I have read some of the literature myself that informed the book (Gloria Anzaldúa comes to mind), I have done some of the thinking myself, I have attempted to articulate some of that thinking in the fiction I write. Towards the end I had a facepalm moment of "this is a queer book". I had been so sucked into this book being an addition to my personal canon, if you can put it that way, that I didn't realise that nothing about this book is written from a heteronormative perspective.

I do think this is a book that everybody should read, queer or straight. The language is clear, concise, the graphic elements enhance the text and help clarify points, and though I felt at times that some topics were skimmed over a little too quickly (one page, where they could've have two), overall I am very happy with the breadth of content and the level of detail. This reads like a primer, yes, and I think it would be a very useful book in schools (not just for sex-ed purposes - I would like to think that certain of my former teachers would've found ways to use excerpts of this book in several classes) as there are loads of questions asked that could serve as jump-off points for in-class discussions. At the same time I feel like it's doing this book a disservice to call it "just" a primer, because of how thorough it is in covering as many bases as possible.

I think if you are somebody who is only starting to look into writings about sexuality this is a good place to start as each topic covered is introduced, discussed, and contextualised - and if you want to read more about a given topic, there are further sources for you to look up and delve into. I also think that even if you are somebody who spends a lot of time reading and thinking and discussing sexuality, there will be new concepts in this book to grapple with. New to me topics included chrononormativity and cruel optimism, and ecosexuality.

On a final note, I liked a lot that this book didn't only describe the history of sexuality and the status quo, but also went ahead and not only questioned all of it, but asked questions about what the future of sex and sexuality looks like. I personally didn't find the book thought-provoking as such as I was already grappling with some of the topics in the book, but I won't hesitate to describe it that way. I think it's an important, incredible book, and everybody should read it.

What a wonderful book discussing sexuality. This book for a graphic novel is filled with information and insightful information that would be a great starting point for anyone wanting to look further into this topic. The graphic novel is very well formatted in page layout and easy to read.
This is the type of book that should be in schools. The education in this book could help many younger readers.
Would happily recommend to anyone but think would work well for teenagers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely brilliant graphic novel! Educational, humorous and a very real discussion about sex and sexuality and the way that is is presented to us throughout our lives and the shame that we can feel about our own sexuality. I absolutely adored this and it made me immediately go and purchase their other graphic novels - Queer and Gender.

Such a good book of historical importance building up to today and I also loved how inclusive it was. This is one I will re-read and have already encouraged people I know to read as it approaches a complex topic with dignity and respect in a very easy to read way!

Such an informative read! So many historical elements within this book from learning the history of sexualities to what the mindset was etc. The graphics in the book were a great addition to the learning process. I enjoyed browsing this book!

This is a really informative guide about what can be a heavy and diffcult topic. There are a cast of varied characters who take us on a journey through how the different concepts of sexuality came about and how things have changed over the years. This was a really interesting and informative read!

You guys, this graphic non-fiction book is everything. It was so inclusive of all genders and sexualities, so clear and precise as much as informative and complete. I couldn’t say if the content was this good, since it is one of the first non-fiction book I read about sexuality, I am normally more into gender and queer theories. Here, the author and illustrator give another vision on sexuality, through a lot of different perspective.

First, it gives an historical outlook on how sexuality evolved through history, how the spectrum(s) are shaped and reshaped with every generations and their movements. I wasn’t expecting something this complete and yet this simple on sexual history through time, oppression, movements and theories. It was a delight to read about all this, since it is an aspect of anthropology that is often left aside because of how taboo it is.

I loved every part of this graphic guide the same but how happy was I to discover it includes people of the aroace spectrum (such as myself)! That is the perfect depiction that you can’t talk about sexuality and romance without talking about us. Because we might be at the other end of the spectrum, but we still have things to say, stories to deliver and important outlooks to give. I was so deeply touched and felt soo heard and seen when the author themselves said we should listen more to ace and aro people, because we might have a lot of things to give to sexuality theories.

There is also a deeply interesting part about genders and how the binary and monogamy affect and shape sexuality in our western society, and how it might stop us from expressing our desire as we’d like. I found it very inclusive and precise, even when dealing with very sensitive subjects such as paedophilia: it was talking about it, explaining it, without ever validating it or giving it credit. In this way, I found this work brilliant.

And if you are not convinced yet: there is a whole chapter about consent and how important it is in sex and life in general. But it goes beyond the « no means no » and the « enthusiastic yes », way beyond. I actually think I will get my hands on a physical copy of this one very quick, because I need to have it in order to re-read and re-read and re-read this wonderful work.

A really informative and interesting read - but I expected nothing less from the same duo who brought us Queer and Gender. Would highly recommend this to anyone who wants a better understanding of sexuality. It's so important that we learn to understand and respect people - and to me respecting ones' sexuality is just another facet of that.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

I will always have a deep love for any books regarding sex and understanding all binaries and non-binaries.

This blew me away.

For someone like me who is confident on their sexuality but so open to change this is perfection. Not only does it talk about the understanding of sexuality being on a spectrum but talking about the act of sex itself. Oh and so much more.

This is sheer perfection to me but I was expecting the graphic guide part of it to be a focus not an add on to the chapters so I could of done without the images (even though I did love them!) The seemed disconnected somehow.

Highly recommend this!

I had trouble reading this book on my Kindle as it wasn't properly displaying. However, I think it makes a fascinating and informative read. There are a lot of things to learn in an approachable and fun way. On this basis, I would definitely recommend it to friends and family that would be interested in the subject.

Unfortunately I couldn't read this book as it wouldn't download, it kept giving me a error message.

However I will give it 3 stars for the amazing cover.

I will review it again when it's released!

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Sex needs to be talked about more. This book was an informative and interesting read about a topic that is often considered taboo. The writing was concise and easy to understand but packed in a lot of content.

The illustrations were well done and really added to the reading experience.

I felt like this was a really excellent overview of gender and sexuality theory. I'm studying a masters in Gender at the moment and appreciated how well Sexuality covered a range of topics and theorists in an incredibly accessible way. The drawings articulate the points well, and make it engaging and fun to look through. Definitely more of an introduction to theory and these topics, but certainly worth the read.

This, just like the other graphic guides I have read. Offered a wealth of information in an easy to understand way. It was interesting, informative and comprehensive. The illustrations were high quality and really helped present the information attractively.

My only issue was that reading on an e reader meant the ubiquitous speech bubbles and captions were sometimes too small/low res to read.

Full RTC; Very good insight into sexuality as a whole, had a lot to teach me as someone who is already very comfortable in their sexuality. Would be a brilliant addition to a school library for the older students, as some of tge illustrations are explicit. Read a little bit like a textbook but in a way that meant you could dip in and out of it as you want to find out information, whereas I read this all in one go and found myself bored at times.