Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Pageboy

I don't want to critique a memoir because I feel like people have different goals when writing them. I think that this was probably written as part of the author's healing journey and in that way, I hope it provided him with what he needed and will provide other people on similar journeys with what they need. I have no doubt that this could be a 4 or 5 star read for some people. It just wasn't for me, perhaps because I am in a very different place in regards to healing from trauma. If you are someone with complex trauma who still gets actively triggered, I recommend that you check out the trigger warnings for this book before you read it and have some self care or support lined up before you start. The narrative very much showcases the experience of complex ptsd (nonlinear narrative scenes that function like emotional flashbacks, self hatred and shame woven throughout the book, bouts of dissociation, and swinging between the extremes of social isolation, limerance, and codependency) but does so without any kind of acknowledgement of cptsd. I'm not sure if that was an intentional choice but without that additional context, the story feels incomplete. (Or, at the very least, like a missed opportunity for reflection and drawing connections beyond one's self).

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azaline's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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tishtashohmygosh's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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ashleighaddams's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

To receive a story so honest, so beautifully narrated was honestly a surprise to me.
This memoir illustrates a life time of struggle, inauthentic and genuine connectivity with others, a journey of self discovery and coming into their identity.
Elliot Page manages to create a memoir that can connect to the hearts of many, particularly trans people who need to know their own identity doesn’t necessarily come to overnight.
He manages to articulate the struggle inside a brain that so many of us grapple with.
I will be forever grateful and truly honoured that we were privileged to be told about his life.

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lzimmeade's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

2.5

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vaughtgn's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

4.5

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inkerly's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

4.0

3.9 ish stars

The memoir broke me. Literally. My heart would break in every chapter or my jaw would drop . Im not an Elliot Page fan but I enjoy movies he’s been in (Juno, Inception), and I like that he is one of the more relatable celebrities. Elliot has been through a lot in his 37 years of living and he was failed multiple times by the adults around him. I thought I would be reading a book about the inspiring journey of a transman coming into his identity but what I’m left with is the story of a man who is still trying to pick up the pieces of his life and resolve undue childhood trauma while breaking barriers and staying true to himself. I think the fact that Elliot’s journey is still “to be continued” makes this book raw and real, but at the same time reading it also felt like reading a sequence of disjointed events (all sad) that didn’t provide complete closure. Based on recent articles and photos of him I sense that his journey with his body dysmorphia is not completely over. I support Elliot and hope that this new chapter of his life makes him stronger and better than he can ever imagine.

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