Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Pageboy by Elliot Page

16 reviews

stevia333k's review

dark tense slow-paced

4.25

The last 3rd was good, and i say this because the first 2 thirds were violent as hell. I had to learn that he was in a lot of action movies basically in order to handle it & i also could only listen 10 minutes at a time at triple speed. 

Anyways, after a while certain parts about being trans were like oh good my transfemme self isn't alone. 

The relationships though & the shadow work kinda went over my head because I'm aromantic but the workplace accident (because of how wreckless the directors were to black & queer lives) helped connect me to the kind of stuff he meant, so I am thankful he included workplace incidents like that.

Also the memoir isn't told as chronologically, so basically if you're taking notes then I recommend trying to make a character list sort of glossary since the time dimension doesn't sort them, but some segments are like public letters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Terminal illness, Dysphoria, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Toxic relationship, Vomit, War, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Confinement, Death, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Cancer, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Torture, Violence, Blood, Hate crime, Sexual content, Transphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Gore, Grief, Body horror, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Self harm

rainbowbrarian's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Alcohol, Blood, Homophobia, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Sexual assault, Addiction, Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Stalking, Torture, and Transphobia

emma_b_rhodes's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Hate crime, Dysphoria, Medical content, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Bullying, Deadnaming, and Sexual content

bumblemee's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad

I'm very glad Elliot wrote this book - he says in the beginning that he has "nothing new to say", but it doesn't have to be new to be impactful. I hope this book reaches a lot of people who need it.
I liked the writing style (read in German though), it was easy to read and felt very close to a thought process. However, sometimes it felt like too much of a thought process to me. It was hard to follow at times because the book didn't have much of a timeline. Sometimes a chapter starts with something in current day, then goes back to something that happened a few years ago, only to go back into Elliots teenage years and back again. It was a little hard for me sometimes to keep up with all the names and places and figuring out which year we were in, as well as piecing together what happened at the same time.
Other than that, I was emotionally involved and it was very interesting to have an insight into Elliots life and his long way to self acceptance. 

Must say though that you should take the content warnings into consideration and also beware that most of this book describes a person basically constantly suffering on some level. Idk, I think you have to be in the right mindset to read this, even if it ends on a hopeful note.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Transphobia, Rape, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Religious bigotry, and Torture

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This was the memoir I didn’t know I needed in my life. Elliot Page’s reflections contained so much Canadian content that I haven’t seen in many books, and loved being able to recognize so many places or cultural touchstones growing up in a similar era. Memoirs are an incredible format to let people in to your lived experiences and takes a lot of courage to write and share. That is no exception in this memoir, and I appreciate the rawness, vulnerability and emotional honesty that Page expresses. I think that if you liked I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy, you’ll enjoy Page’s memoir and his reflections on the entertainment industry, challenging family dynamics, mental well-being, love, and finding and expressing one’s identity in the spotlight.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Sexual content, Dysphoria, Torture, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Stalking, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

Minor: Alcohol

thriftstoreclown's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Rape, Self harm, Stalking, and Torture

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Deadnaming, Pregnancy, Vomit, and Excrement

Some of these subjects are kind of par for the course when contextualized with what we know about Elliot publicly already (as a public figure who came out as a lesbian in 2014 before eventually coming out as trans) such as lesbophobia, transphobia, religious bigotry, mentions of (potential) hate crimes. But Elliot’s story is also full of history not only around the Canadian landscape of his youth, but also of characters that he has played, and he does not shy away from sharing all of the gory details of

a local explosion that devastated Nova Scotia, or even the way that one of his film characters was murdered.

, which are mentioned in great detail. There are also several instances mentioned in detail where Elliot describes being

sexually assaulted

, and he also describes other instances of verbal abuse, often closely linked.

kate_ka's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

Sehr intimes Buch. 
Der Schreibstil ist ziemlich nah am der Art, wie er spricht. Das find ich schön. Macht das Lesen zu einem persönlichen Gespräch. An einigen Stellen musste ich das Buch weglegen, weil seine Erlebnisse so schmerzhaft sind. 
Man merkt auch, dass er sich mit queerer Theorie und Aktivismus beschäftigt hat.

Die Zeitsprünge sind tatsächlich verwirrend. Dazu die ganzen Namen. Im Interview hatte er gesagt, er wollte seine Geschichte nicht chronologisch erzählen, sondern entlang der Reise, des sich selbst Näherkommens und Entfernen. Ich finde das ist gelungen. Die letzten Seiten habe ich mit einem Lächeln gelesen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Self harm, Rape, Torture, Transphobia, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Deadnaming and Stalking

braveprincess11's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Blood, Eating disorder, Torture, Stalking, Body horror, Sexual assault, Cursing, Child abuse, Medical content, Excrement, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Dysphoria, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Bullying

Minor: Self harm, Murder, Alcohol, and Suicidal thoughts

morningsunwildflower's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

2.5

Elliot tells his story in an unchronological order, it makes it hard to follow. 
Make sure you read the TW if you need any, this book contains many of them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, and Vomit

carriepond's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.25

Pageboy is the memoir of actor Elliot Page. Although it is a celebrity memoir in the sense that it recounts some of his experiences working as an actor, including relationships with fellow actors and all manner of abuse from fellow actors or directors, it is not a sensationalist or "tell-all" type of account. Rather, the touchstone of Page's memoir is the toll that remaining closeted about his sexuality and gender identity had on all aspects of his life, making it difficult to forge meaningful relationships or to ever truly relax within himself, and taking him to some dark places-- self-harm, disordered eating, suicidal ideation.

This book has a lot of really gut-wrenching, sad moments and others that will piss you off. But there are also so many beautiful moments where Page describes being held up by those who loved and supported him over the years and the feeling of ease, euphoria, and completeness that emerged once he stepped into his truth. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Sexual assault, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Outing, Torture, Transphobia, Eating disorder, Homophobia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Deadnaming