Scan barcode
kjlewis494's review
4.0
Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Cursing, Cancer, and Domestic abuse
badbadwolf's review
4.0
Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Addiction, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Outing, Homophobia, Cancer, Death, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Grief
tigger89's review
4.5
The story picks up in his early childhood back in the '60s, with his parents' divorce. As he traces his life through his teenage years and into his 20s, he reflects on the double-edged sword of his independence and drive, values instilled in him by his mother. I was satisfied with how well this narrative held true from chapter to chapter, driving straight from his childhood through to his troubled adult relationships. It felt like a memoir that had something specific to say, rather than merely being a collection of related anecdotes from someone's life.
While each chapter centers around a specific place or theme, he mostly keeps it linear, avoiding a lot of the jumping from childhood to adulthood and back again that tends to happen in queer memoir. That said, I did sometimes struggle to grasp how much time was passing. I knew roughly where I was in relation to other things, but at times I couldn't have told you if RuPaul was 20 or 25, 25 or 30. The ending in particular surprised me, as I'd failed to realize just how far into the 90s we'd gotten. Part of this might be my age, as I don't necessarily have the innate knowledge of when the various cultural touchstones were current and I wasn't looking them up as fastidiously as I could have been.
Moderate: Abandonment, Cancer, Drug use, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, and Racial slurs
katemeadow's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Addiction, Drug use, and Cancer
devynreadsnovels's review
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Racism, Physical abuse, Classism, Cursing, Death, Addiction, Abandonment, Violence, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Drug use, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Biphobia, Bullying, Transphobia, Cancer, and Infidelity
_aurora_'s review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Cursing, Grief, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Bullying, Cancer, Drug use, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia