Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Pageboy

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Pageboy by Elliot Page

86 reviews

vixenreader's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.25

A structure based on the journey towards self-love, this memoir is deeply poignant, unflinching, and vulnerable, and a honest experience about how wilful ignorance and prejudice ultimately perpetrates the bigotry experienced by the trans community.

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crybabybea's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced

4.5

This was a really uniquely written memoir told from quite a unique perspective as Elliot Page is currently one of the only openly out trans celebrities in popular culture. I was a bit scared to read this because I had heard it was poorly put together with a non-linear timeline that didn't really land; but I'm happy to say I'm pleasantly surprised and I actually thought the non-linear style worked really well for the point Elliot was trying to make! Queerness is messy and there are so many factors that impact how somebody discovers or pushes away their own queerness, and I think Elliot's writing really sold that feeling well. I also think he is just a great writer in general. You can tell he put a lot of time and heart into making sure the stories he told felt immersive and detailed in just the right way. I think the non-liner timeline helped me as a reader focus on the emotions that Elliot experienced rather than the nitty gritty details of when and where things happened and why. There were also some moments of poetic prose that I think were done quite well also.

I will say this felt a bit unedited, especially near the end. Page repeats himself pretty often (one of the most memorable being his constantly feeling like he needs to "shit blood") which isn't too terrible but was something I noticed. I didn't factor this into my review, but the audiobook also felt a bit lesser quality; there were multiple times that lines were repeated because takes weren't edited properly, and there were random drops in audio quality that weren't awful but definitely noticeable.

This is overall an inspiring, heartfelt story but there is a healthy mix of heartbreak as well. I was especially moved by the way Elliot told his experience with homophobia, internal and external, and how that kept him from finding his identity for so long. I also found the perspective of trying to navigate queerness while also trying to navigate celebrity culture and his career as an actor super intriguing.

I think if you go into this knowing it's not going to be a typical memoir with a clear, linear timeline, you will enjoy it, and especially if you are already a fan of Elliot.

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fanboyriot's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

Deciding to love yourself was the whole point of this book. All the ups and downs of life, the self discovery of a trans person. The pain of being trans and living in a world not built for trans people.

While some of the pacing was a bit awkward and the timeline was difficult to follow but I ended up loving listening to this; especially since the author was also the narrator.

I learned a lot about this author and I’m so happy that he was in a place to write this book and share it with the world. I also liked how he mentioned several times about his privilege in a very genuine way, actually acknowledging the problems with trans healthcare and other issues as well.

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phouka's review against another edition

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funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.25

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mels_reading_log's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

5.0

This book was so good, but in that way that breaks your heart. I hate that Elliot had to deal with everything he has and didn’t always have people around him to make him feel safe. I’m so happy that he had the courage to write this book and that it has become so popular. It’s so important and empowering to hear queer and trans voices. This is just one trans person’s story, but hearing the joy and relief in his voice when he talked of being out and surgery gives me hope for others, that they feel safe enough to be themselves as well.

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stevia333k's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

4.25

The last 3rd was good, and i say this because the first 2 thirds were violent as hell. I had to learn that he was in a lot of action movies basically in order to handle it & i also could only listen 10 minutes at a time at triple speed.

Anyways, after a while certain parts about being trans were like oh good my transfemme self isn't alone.

The relationships though & the shadow work kinda went over my head because I'm aromantic but the workplace accident (because of how wreckless the directors were to black & queer lives) helped connect me to the kind of stuff he meant, so I am thankful he included workplace incidents like that.

Also the memoir isn't told as chronologically, so basically if you're taking notes then I recommend trying to make a character list sort of glossary since the time dimension doesn't sort them, but some segments are like public letters.

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