Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Pageboy by Elliot Page

44 reviews

sierrabowers's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I feel like it’s almost impossible not to give a memoir 5 stars, simply because it is someone else’s life experience, and how am I to judge that? But this one was very good. It highlights the importance of being kind to everyone, especially those in the LGBT+ community. I enjoyed hearing Elliot narrate his own audiobook because I could hear the emotions in his voice throughout the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Blood, Child abuse, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Deadnaming, Sexual content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Outing, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Vomit, Biphobia, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Body shaming

usuallyaudio's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

I loved hearing Elliot Page's journey, espicially it read by the author. It was very introspective and heart wrenching to hear his struggles, and being able to peek behind the curtain of the film industry as a young LGBT+ individual. His stories were sincere, and he kept identities anonymous for those who didn't want to be named. 

The timeline jumped around somewhat, and only once was I unsure when a story was taking place. I am so happy for Page that he felt safe, secure and confident enough to share his story, but am so sorry he had to go through as much as he did. Page also graciously  acknowledged his privilege, and how it helped him quickly receive medical/gender affirming care once he was finally ready to reach for it. I hope this memoir can help others feel seen, and can help to create safer spaces and foster healthy relationships. I really look forward to what he will do next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Eating disorder, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Transphobia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Vomit, Sexual content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Medical content, Alcohol, Excrement, Emotional abuse, and Stalking

Minor: Vomit, Addiction, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Confinement, Sexism, Violence, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Drug use, Gore, Outing, Cancer, Deadnaming, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Child abuse, Car accident, and Pedophilia

brandie_abbie19's review

dark hopeful sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexism, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual violence, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic

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

matildamercury's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

2.5

This book made me feel warm and fuzzy a lot simply because I came of age as a lesbian with Elliot’s movies and coming out. I also really liked the descriptions of Canada and, as always, the dyke drama tea. 

However after completing it, I realised I really disliked it. 

This memoir finished with no actual introspection, self realisation or broader contextualisation. The closest thing we got was the pitiful chapter on his top surgery. He basically talked about how amazing it was and how relieved he felt but that he felt a need to express his gratitude bc of his privilege (eg lots of trans men don’t have the money, community supports etc to access top surgery) - before ending it with a “but it’s my basic rights and I shouldn’t have to feel grateful because I deserved it” ? And that was pretty much it in the way of acknowledging broader contexts for his life. Which included things such as: anorexia, self harm, emotional abuse by a parent, having a pedophilic stalker as a teenage girl, large scale homophobia and transphobia, and the list goes on !!! I was truly expecting these struggles to be rooted by Elliot societally and acknowledge the wider traumas of growing up in a patriarchy, and maybe solidarity with other gnc/trans/gay people but no. Nothing. Really disappointing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Blood, Child abuse, Vomit, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Pedophilia

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.

raptorq's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Transphobia, Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Body shaming, Sexism, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Sexual content, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Religious bigotry

epellicci's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

3.0

Mixed feelings about this one.

I found the narrative of the book all over the place. It was really difficult to keep track of the people and places in Elliot Page's life because the timeline jumped back and forth, and he takes tangents about history and environment which I wasn't sure I understood the relevance of. The book is also really quite graphic at times. Given the personal topic, and how low Page's mental health has been I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but it was shocking non-the-less.

Despite this, I truly admire the strength and courage that went into writing Pageboy. It is so vulnerable and yet also celebratory, and I would imagine intensely comforting to someone who may be going through questioning their gender identity or the potentially daunting process of transitioning. The book has such an authentic feel, and is a testimony to the value of finding your people and of visibility. 

Page has put in some serious work to begin healing from trauma and shame, and it felt like a privilege to be invited to witness some of that journey. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Transphobia, Mental illness, Body horror, Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Homophobia

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, and Stalking

Minor: Religious bigotry and Suicidal thoughts

takarakei's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

I applaud Elliot for being able to tell his story with such openness. The chapters jump back and forth through time, which makes it a bit hard to follow on audio. I think anyone who is part of the LGBTQIA+ community will find resonance in the struggles of a world set in the binary. I do want to get a copy from my library so I can go find some quotes that I found so poignant, as there were several that really hit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Homophobia, Eating disorder, Self harm, Lesbophobia, and Transphobia

Moderate: Bullying, Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Medical content

Minor: Religious bigotry

crum_93's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

4.5

Such a well-written and read memoir. I really enjoyed hearing this in Elliot’s voice. Thank you for sharing your story!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Homophobia, and Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual assault and Religious bigotry