Wednesday 20 June 2018

Let's talk about guys, girls and sex by Swati Shome: a review

Some books attract you with their blurb. Some, with the title. While some, with their cover. Then again, there are books that attract you at first glance for the reason they are being written. Swati Shome’s Let's talk about guys, girls and sex is one book that formed the latter for me. Sex education is something that is a very pressing and important issue in today's time and I couldn't help myself after seeing a book that handles the very same issue.



About the back cover- Sex is never an easy subject to talk about. And that, perhaps, is why most people know so little about it. Let's talk about guys, girls and sex takes a light hearted yet illuminating stance and start a very important dialogue. The journey from teenage to adulthood is often the most daunting. And to make it even more complicated, there is heaps of seldom verifiable information online. Can you catch AIDS by having lunch with a HIV positive friend? What is an erection? Is this love or just lust? What are the different contraceptives available in the market? How does one get pregnant? Targeted at young adults and their parents, each chapter starts with a story that makes the topic easy to relate to. Author Swati Shome use her years of experience with young adults to open the channels of communication. Everything you need to know about the mystery That surrounds sex lies within these pages. So come on, let's talk!

One misconception that anyone can have after reading the title of the book is that the book is about porn. The very same misconception is disregarded by the author in the author's note itself when she says it is not porn and whoever will think that will be disappointed. It is about a modern approach to sex education, which is much needed in today's time. Divided into 7 parts and dealing with the most important issues of sex education this book is a much needed one in today's time.

Every chapter of this book starts with a story which forms that premise of the following chapter. That apart, every chapter deals with significant issues. As far as the book blurb is concerned, it just gives an idea of what the book is about. It is when you open the book, you get to see that the book is covering all the basics according to how you should breach the topic of sex with your parents, your students and how does it look and what are the troubles that you may face, the hormonal issues and it's about the people, about what happens and how the internet is responsible about it.

This gives a fair understanding of sex education in a very modern day possible way. One of the best things I felt about this book is that the motive of the author is very clear out here. The author never wanted to preach about sex education. She wanted to start a debate topic and a discussion amongst people and she became very much successful, according to me. The way the book has been written is very lucid and every single kind of a person will be able to read it without having a problem.  

If I have to speak about the cons of the book, then there aren't many. One of the few things that I felt missing in this book is probably a bit more stories or a bit more definition or rather examples of situations which would've made the book a more interesting read. I love the fact that there are illustrations at some places in the book and that is why it attracts my expectations more that if a few more illustrations could have been used then some places would have worked more. All in all I love the fact that there are helpline numbers at the end of the book. For me, hoping to read more from the author, I would rate this book, 4.5 out of 5. Also hoping, the book reaches where it should and makes the mark.

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