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elisalasater's review against another edition
2.75
Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Drug use
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
sarahmcg's review against another edition
Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Addiction
Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content
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
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
ktdakotareads's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug use, Grief, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Addiction, Abandonment, Death, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
boomwormbrittany's review
5.0
I really liked this memoir and thought it was a pretty interesting read! RuPaul is very candid about his life experiences in this book from growing up with parents who were dysfunctional with each other to his years trying to find his fame. I really liked seeing his candor in this and how he didn't shy away from talking about the things that he did that most would find hard to believe.
I thought his reflection not only on the drag scene but the LGBTQIA+ scene from the 70's to today was really interesting. He was very enmeshed in those scenes and it was interesting ot see him talk about the big players he got to be around and become friends with during this time.
This memoir is a lot of reflection on RuPaul's life as he grew up and learned hard truths that we all have to learn. I thought he did this with great poise and I appreciated getting a look into his story.
I would say if you ever wanted to know more about RuPaul and his past, definitely pick this book up.
Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism and Drug abuse
aus10england's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Drug abuse, and Alcohol