Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Pageboy by Elliot Page

140 reviews

trinidaddy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Transphobia, Eating disorder, Cursing, Hate crime, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Stalking, Bullying, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Medical content, and Toxic relationship

mychemegan's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

2.5

It's hard to rate memoirs and I think Elliot has the right to share his story however he feels best represents what he has to say. But in my opinion this book fell really flat. I felt that it would have benefited from a linear storyline and found jumping from one age to another without any indication of doing so really confusing and disjointed. I also just felt that it lacked introspection. We heard incredibly graphic depictions of homophobia, abuse, and his sexual exploits, but it felt like we got the pain without the resolution or growth from it. And hey, maybe that is where he's at in his life! Maybe he is still processing all this pain and still has growing and reflection to do. I guess I just struggled with /why/ he wrote the book. I can see how it would be cathartic for him to let all this out, but I'm not sure what the reader has to gain from it. Overall, I appreciate that he shared his story and I'm glad I read it, it just really left me wanting more in the bad way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Stalking, Bullying, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

kelisabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual content, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Blood, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Transphobia, Drug use, Medical content, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Self harm

stellahadz's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Dysphoria, Stalking, Transphobia, and Homophobia

Moderate: Medical content, Eating disorder, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, and Deadnaming

Minor: Excrement and Vomit

jnestwd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

"It was too much to play a role on-screen when the role I played in my personal life was suffocating me already."

Pageboy by Elliot Page sheds light on the cruel, messy, and often torturous experience of growing up transgender in the Hollywood spotlight.

As a life-long fan of Elliot's acting work, and as a fellow queer, I was excited to read this as part of a queer book club. 

I devoured the pages, feeling mostly extraordinarily uncomfortable by the pain and shockingly relatable emotional abuse that Elliot endured as a child from those meant to love and support him, finding few moments of joy and laughter as I annotated my copy of the book.

Rating this book is tricky, as on one hand, I deeply related to, and understood much of Page's pain. But on the other, found, at many times, the prose to be overly self-indulgent and often lit with cliches. As with many of the other reviews, I agree that the writing could have been tightened up. Elliot's search for catharsis through the writing of this work bleeds through the page and whilst I applaud his openness and vulnerability from a lifetime of keeping his true thoughts and feelings bottled up inside, it has a tendency to read like a diary entry.

The timeline jumps back and forth without a common thread or obvious purpose, and in my view the book is best read as a collection of personal essays rather than a linear memoir. 

THAT BEING SAID! I genuinely enjoyed this book and felt deeply moved by it. The anecdotes on the different healthy relationships Elliot has made throughout his life were beautiful and inspiring, and I enjoyed chuckling along with certain queer tendencies that exist no matter your gender (immediately falling in love. amirite.)

Honestly, go off Elliot. You deserve to have your voice heard, multiple references to shitting and all. Love you xoxoxo

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Gaslighting, Self harm, Transphobia, Bullying, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, and Homophobia

hazelwood's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

This was a very interesting and reflective read for me, I was surprised how open and honest Elliot was able to be with his audience, especially about very sensitive and personal moments in his life. It really felt like a friend who was telling you about his life. And I related to a lot of what he went through in regards to being transgender. 

That said, I haven't read many memoirs in my life, so take this with a grain of salt: I didn't really like the way the book is written with the events all out of order. It was confusing and tended to give me metaphorical whiplash. But maybe that's just the way memoirs are. I also wish that Elliot had gone into more about his transition and his feelings about it. The whole thing felt rushed into at the end of the book, with only a few sentences about taking hormones. I get it if he wants privacy about his current life, but considering how depressing the rest of the book's events are, I feel like readers could benefit from seeing more of the light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps the memoir could have been left to simmer for a few years while Elliot got used to his "new" life, giving him more moments of trans joy to write about?  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Excrement, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Dysphoria, Medical content, Sexual assault, Stalking, Rape, Drug use, Hate crime, Deadnaming, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Self harm, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

just_curious34's review against another edition

hopeful reflective fast-paced

4.0

A queer coming-of-self story, an autobiography of a 35 year old. 

It was a quick read, alternating between seemingly universal queer stories and Elliot inadvertently name dropping stars that played an important role in his life. 

I enjoyed this book. It was a very fast read for me, perhaps because I really enjoyed reading the representation I felt he gave to different parts of my queer life.   

But at the same time, in many ways, many of the stories feel very surface level. It felt like when there was something that was difficult, such as when he was to blame for a failed relationship, Page would often lose the words or change the subject (most commonly in the middle of the book). While this is his right as the author, this book feels like it was written to help Elliot process his pain that’s still very fresh, rather than impart his wisdom after the fact. I’d be curious what this book would look like if he wrote it in 10+ years.

Content warning: Page talks pretty openly and graphically about his sex life over the years. It is part of what makes this book very queer, but may affect who you recommend the book to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Sexual content

Moderate: Gaslighting, Stalking, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Transphobia, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Pandemic/Epidemic, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, and Mental illness

rad's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Dysphoria

Moderate: Sexual assault, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Homophobia

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

keziahgoodman's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Transphobia, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Bullying, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Outing, Rape, and Sexual assault

andthenweread's review against another edition

3.5

i enjoyed listening to elliot tell his own story, but the non-chronological timelines of the book made it a bit difficult to keep track of what happened when. it was also a bleaker read than i anticipated, but that proves that elliot is a strong person who’s overcome many hardships. i’m so glad he is able to finally accept himself and feel safe enough to be freely queer in the world <3 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Rape, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, and Sexual assault