Bi the Way by Lois Shearing

 Bi the Way by Lois Shearing is said to be a guide to help you get to know and embrace Bisexuality and it's target market seems to be those who are newly out as Bisexual or who are not quite sure weather they are Bisexual or not. Basically, from what I read about this book, it was a guide to help newly Bisexual people embrace their sexuality and life their best lives. However, from reading this book I believe this generic description is wrong and I will explore why in this review. Because of the nature of this book and how I found it, I will have to start with looking at the things I disliked in this book first before moving on to what I liked about this book.

There are a few things I dislike about this book and I will try and cover all of these although they might all come out at once. Also, it is important that I say that I am not writing about the negatives to stop you from reading this book, I still believe you should read this book and come up with your own opinions, however, I am just informing you on what I picked up in this book and why I did not like this book. The main reason is the book does not seem to be much like what it is described as in the title but I will come to that soon.

From reading the description for this book, it sounds like the book would introduce newly out Bisexual people and those who are unsure about their sexuality. It also lacks a key element of any 'guide' as I would say it did not really answer many questions that newly Bisexual people may want answering and does not really seem to speak about Bisexuality at a basic level which I thought it would have if this book was written for those who are newly out as Bisexual. The book got quite advanced and quite confusing in places very quickly which may not have made this book entirely accessible.

Furthermore, this book seems to be a bit of a rant on all things Bisexual. This is because it seemed that Bisexual people were constantly blaming Straights, Gays and Lesbians for all their problems like Bi erasure and other such problems. Although this most likely is a problem, is it really fair to blame everyone else for this problem? Not everyone are against Bisexuality and so it is unfair to portray it in such a way. I did read this book to learn more about Bisexuality and what it was, and I did learn more and although the book went a bit off focus I still learned lots which was good but may have been more suited in a follow up book. 

From the above, I therefore believe this book is more of an intermediate guide to Bisexuality and you could even go as far as saying it is an introduction to Bisexual activism. It introduces Bisexuals to some of the problems and issues that the Bisexual community are facing and why they are facing these problems. This book is better for those who are already out as Bisexual and are now comfortable being Bisexual and so want to help other Bisexual people. 

Anyway, this book was not all bad and I do have some praises for the author. The start of the book did indeed give us some background details which informed us what Bisexuality actually is and the many types of Bisexuality which was good. It even made me question my sexuality and Might have even made me consider whether or not I am Bisexual myself which is strange as before I started reading this book I have always been adamant that I am straight. Therefore, I would like to thank the author for helping me come to terms with my own identity.

Altogether, I rate this book 2 stars which makes it an alright book. It is important I mention that 2 stars does not mean it is a bad book, it just means that it was more of an average book which may not be fully suited to the specified target market or that I personally may not have liked it. I do not like calling books bad or making decisions for other people about books. I give it this rating as although there are some good points, some of the points I would say are not completely relevant but I do still suggest you read this book yourself. I would also like to thank NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for an exclusive arc copy before the publishing date in return for a honest review. Thank you very much for allowing me to read and review this book.