Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Pageboy by Elliot Page

87 reviews

larzhagen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

Let me preface my review by saying that I am so incredibly happy for Elliot Page for finding joy in his authentic self.

As a long-time fan of Page, I was eager to read PageBoy (I pre-ordered a signed copy). We need more transmasculine stories! That's why it hurts to share that I didn't enjoy PageBoy very much.

Reason 1: Rather than following a linear narrative, Page recounts moments in his life seemingly at random. So, then, his timeline is incredibly challenging to piece together. It's difficult to keep track of his relationships, living situations, etc.

Reason 2: PageBoy is heavily solemn with no breaks (aside from maybe ch.Buckets). It reads like a catalog of Page's hardships, sometimes diving into graphic depictions of assault/violent situations. Page loves to write about shit and blood.

Reason 3: PageBoy centered predominantly around Page's romantic relationships and sexual experiences. I may be off base, but it seems Page is still attempting to unhealthily gauge/validate his masculinity by retelling these situations. 

Now the positive: I'd say PageBoy succeeds as an art piece. Elliot includes many excerpts from speeches, books, songs, movies throughout his nonlinear structure.  PageBoy is a wonderful collage-esque expression of self-healing and reflection.

Ultimately, PageBoy is a testament of trans courage. While it didn't align with my expectations, I still feel incredibly fortunate to have a signed copy, and I did resonate with it quite a bit. In the end though, I will be reserved when recommending it to others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Stalking, and Dysphoria

teatales's review against another edition

3.75

Really compelling. Beautifully written. Quite a lot of intense content. Also some of the non-linear storytelling I found hard to place

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Bullying and Blood

braveprincess11's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

ari20's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Blood

green_squids's review against another edition

reflective sad tense medium-paced

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Pandemic/Epidemic

amelianotthepilot's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective sad tense

3.5

elliot page’s life experiences from growing up queer in the film industry and coming out to realizing he’s trans.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

chris_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, and Car accident

Minor: Bullying, Drug use, Transphobia, Excrement, Religious bigotry, and Pandemic/Epidemic

leahfoko's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Stalking, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Minor: Blood, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

eni_iilorak's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad

4.75

It feels weird to rate someone's memoir but I want to give it many stars to counterbalance the deductions by other reviewers based on the book's structure.

The non-linear narrative was a clever and interesting choice. If it feels fragmented, that's exactly the point. It is also refreshingly different from the more typical year-by-year account. This is not a typical autobiography after all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Medical content, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Drug use, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Outing, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing and Deadnaming

eleasereads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail