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planning2read's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Deadnaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
redroseses's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Deadnaming, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
taratearex's review against another edition
5.0
One thing to note about this memoir is that it is told in a non-linear way- he notes this at the beginning of the book and the reason for this - that our stories and our healing are non-linear. I understand and appreciate this stylistic choice, but I will say it was often challenging and took me out of the moment. Sometimes he would start an essay and plant you in time and place and other times you were dropped into the moment in time and sort of had to just wait to get your bearings until he revealed how old he was or what movie he was working on, sometimes I'd google when a movie came out or when his coming out speech was because I couldn't really get my bearings as to when something was happening. I think I was able to stay connected to his story as a queer and nonbinary person, and as a fan, but I can see how this would be too challenging for some folks to stay engaged, I do think it's worth continuing and listening to his story, but it's definitely a challenging style choice.
Content warnings: homophobia, transphobia, eating disorder, self harm, sexual assault, stalking, suicidal thoughts, abusive parents, childhood trauma
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Stalking, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Blood and Vomit
laurenkimoto's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
olivia_piepmeier's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
kelly_e's review against another edition
4.25
Author: Elliot Page
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4.25
Pub Date: June 6, 2023
T H R E E • W O R D S
Moving • Important • Fearless
📖 S Y N O P S I S
“Can I kiss you?” It was two months before the world premiere of Juno, and Elliot Page was in his first ever queer bar. The hot summer air hung heavy around him as he looked at her. And then it happened. In front of everyone. A previously unfathomable experience. Here he was on the precipice of discovering himself as a queer person, as a trans person. Getting closer to his desires, his dreams, himself, without the repression he’d carried for so long. But for Elliot, two steps forward had always come with one step back.
With Juno’s massive success, Elliot became one of the world’s most beloved actors. His dreams were coming true, but the pressure to perform suffocated him. He was forced to play the part of the glossy young starlet, a role that made his skin crawl, on and off set. The career that had been an escape out of his reality and into a world of imagination was suddenly a nightmare.
As he navigated criticism and abuse from some of the most powerful people in Hollywood, a past that snapped at his heels, and a society dead set on forcing him into a binary, Elliot often stayed silent, unsure of what to do, until enough was enough. Pageboy is the story of a life pushed to the brink. But at its core, it's a winding journey of what it means to untangle ourselves from the expectations of others is an ode to stepping into who we truly are with defiance, strength, and joy.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Pageboy was one of my most anticipated memoirs of 2023, so I was excited when I was able to score a copy on release day being first-in-line at my library. As a fellow Canadian, I've been an Elliot Page fan from his time in Juno and have been following his journey ever since.
While there have been many criticisms on the structure of this memoir, in my opinion, the writing style mirrors the journey - one step forward, two steps back. An ongoing journey. It's for this reason that the jumping around seemed intentional. I do typically prefer a linear cohesiveness, in this one I felt as though it worked as a literary tool.
He delves deep, giving the reader a full behind-the-scenes glance into the intimate details of his life - touching on sex, love, trauma and Hollywood. At times I felt it was more sexually vulgar than I'd been anticipating, but this is more a matter of personal preference than anything else.
It's obvious that Page has a love of books and I absolutely love how he details the ways in which books have helped him, and that it's his hope in penning his own story that it can help someone in their own journey. In my opinion, this is necessary reading for everyone. Page explains in his author's note, Pageboy is his story. How one person's story is one person's story, but this book will help expand a growing wealth of trans literature.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• memoir lovers
• everyone!
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"I’ve spent much of my life chipping away toward the truth, while terrified to cause a collapse."
"But the answer was in the silence, the answer would only come when I chose to listen."
Graphic: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Transphobia, Medical content, Lesbophobia, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Stalking, and Alcohol
hannahpings's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol and Pandemic/Epidemic
dananana's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Stalking, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Deadnaming, Sexism, and Blood
amandaquotidianbooks's review against another edition
3.75
Moderate: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
lycangrrl's review against another edition
4.25
Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Excrement, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Deadnaming, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Alcohol