Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Pageboy

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

theverycraftyvegan's review

hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

“It’s not trans people who suffer from a sickness, but the society that fosters such hate.” - Elliot Page

A wonderfully hopeful yet sometimes heartbreaking book about life as a trans person as told by a trans person. And not just any person but a celebrity. Because of this book I now know how horrible things were for Elliot before he came out, when he first came out, and when he came out again.

The chapters where he reflects on his parents, their reactions, and how they treated him broke me into a million pieces. I love my children and always will; no matter who they are or grow up to be.

Elliot describing what it felt like to finally be able to be his true self and feel comfortable in his skin was so powerful. I’m glad the world has him and this memoir.

Though will say, speaking as a Canadian myself, Elliot talks about ketchup chips a lot. I’m surprised he didn’t bring up Tim Hortons more.

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leonormsousa's review

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

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e11en's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

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epellicci's review against another edition

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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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av0universe's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense

3.5

Honestly, how do you rate a non-fiction book? Especially one that it's a memoir, like it's someone else's life ? (anyway I'll think about it and maybe come back to rate it-or maybe not)

So, this book is my first non-fiction ever. It's was a wild ride and it was amazing, difficult to read but so full of emotion and lessons. As a non-binary young person, reading about Elliot's long journey to acceopt themselves reminded myself how lucky I am to be in a safe space to come out and how lucky I am to have figured it out so early in my life.

As I said, this book is difficult to read/listen. I felt so seen but so fucking enraged and sad at the same time, no one deserves to go through what Elliot went through on his childhood on top of the constant feeling of not belonging as the person other people suppose you are.

Please, check trigger warnings if you're inclined to read this, it touches some topics in depth.

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emmajh91's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0

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chromiumboron's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

I have always loved Elliot Page, and he really got me good with this book.

Towards the end, he wrote about how he is unsure if he ever truly experienced love because although he feels like he has, how can that be true when he hasn't been him until now? I had to take a beat with this. I have been reflecting a lot on unconditional love and what that looks like as a queer person who is related to a lot of homophobic people. Can it truly exist? My queer journey is different than Elliot's, but the sentiment is relatable all the same. Later on that same page, he talks about possibilities and how that is perhaps a main thing we're missing in a world lacking representation. For many queer people, it's simply not an option to be queer. It's not a possibility that enters our brain. I found this deeply relatable, as well, not having recognized my own queerness until later in my twenties.

Lastly, I appreciated the way in which Elliot wrote about his father and the emotional neglect he experienced and how it affected their relationship and his growth as a person. I think it's common for people to experience "milder" forms of abuse and to not recognize it as such simply because it's not as severe as we might picture when someone says the word abuse. I use the term mild cautiously, as abuse is abuse and doesn't feel mild. I appreciated the honesty with which Elliot talked about their experience because I think that many of us will recognize some of our own experience in his. By recognizing the emotional neglect as abuse, Elliot is creating space for others who look up to him and read this book to do the same. As someone who has been grappling with toxic family dynamics a lot lately, this space was really appreciated and needed.</spoilers/>

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