Drawn to Sex: The Basics Review

DRAWN TO SEX: THE BASICS

Created: Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan
Writers: Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan
Artist: Erika Moen
Publisher: Limerence Press/Oni Press 

Review by Insha Fitzpatrick

I’ve always been one of those people that kept their curiosity opened about everything having to deal with sex or sexuality. It’s such a fascinating bit of yourself that’s always thought of as taboo. However, you should be able to dive in and learn about yourself and others. That being said, there’s a lot of things about sex that we have yet to discover and some of the best learning material is waiting for you. If you’re looking for a beginners guide to figure out yourself in a fun and friendly way, Drawn to Sex is something that you must and need to read to start a journey that only YOU can decide. 

Drawn to Sex comes to us from Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan, an adorable married couple that are sex educators and creators of Oh Joy Sex Toy, an education website for all things sexy. Oh Joy Sex Toy tackles a ton of topics including sex toy reviews, gender, kinks, and other varied topics of sexuality. The couple had such a massive and expansive detailed collection that they curated their comics into three volumes with the same name. (Check out our review of Volumes 1-3 here!) However, for Drawn to Sex, they start from the tip-top, the very beginning. We start from the very basics of ‘Am I ready for sex?’ and work our way through with safety, doing you, and doing others. 

Sex, to some, can feel like a DAUNTING topic. I remember when I was younger, the concept of being with someone that intimately scared the f*ck out of me. Now, it doesn’t seem like that much of a big deal (still scares the sh*t out of me but that’s natural.) Luckily, we have people like Erika and Matthew to guide us from the first starting point of why you want to do this into doing the deed itself (with yourself or other people).

Drawn to Sex feels so natural. That’s a huge deal. Some sex education books can feel stiff and analytic. Only relying on the statistics to get their point across. Meon and Nolan make this feel so genuine where you’re learning but in a fun way! It lays the groundwork for essential talks and decisions that should be had once starting a journey and gives the straight scoop about sex. You want to know all the facts instead of the bits and pieces immediately being thrown at you. You want to learn the pros and cons of what’s happening so you can make an informed decision for yourself. 

Meon and Nolan cover topics such as consent, proper condom use, contraception and more. It covers topics that you may feel uncomfortable talking about it out loud. Yet Erica and Matthew give you the information in a friendly sense instead of throwing out balls of information. They take your hand and guide you, dear pervert, with open arms, hearts, and minds. They not only give you their experiences but factual information from fantastic sources as well. The couple provides the pros and cons of various products like IUD’s, condoms, emergency contraception. They also lay out different ways of doing it with other people that are very safe for you and your partners.

All of the chapters have something so unique in them, but the best section, to me, was Sexting. It’s so hard to address sexting nowadays because we live in the age where scumbags sadly exist. Thus, discussing topics like this is such a must for people not to be scumbags. Erika and Matthew come at it (and every chapter in this book for that matter) with such a realistic approach. They talk consent, sharing pictures, taking precautions, trust and more. It’s one of the best things I’ve read in awhile having to deal with the subject. It was only a couple pages long. That’s saying something guys. 

VERDICT: BUY IT! I can’t recommend Drawn to Sex or Oh Joy Sex Toy enough. If you’re looking to start your journey or brush up on your sex education, I highly recommended picking up this book. You deserve an excellent deep dive once in a while. Erika Meon and Matthew Nolan create a safe, sex-positive environment to communicate information for yourself and potential partners.