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emmajh91's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Outing, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Cursing, Transphobia, Drug use, Eating disorder, Lesbophobia, Blood, Child abuse, Hate crime, and Homophobia
kaitlinwarwick's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, Self harm, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Deadnaming, Mental illness, Drug use, Outing, Lesbophobia, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Alcohol, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
cghegan's review against another edition
3.25
Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Sexual assault, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Outing, Stalking, Blood, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, and Transphobia
Minor: Bullying
tiudragonfly's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Gaslighting, Rape, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Body shaming, Stalking, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Mental illness
marijne's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, Self harm, Sexual assault, Pandemic/Epidemic, Homophobia, Stalking, and Transphobia
tigger89's review against another edition
4.5
As far as the queer memoir side of things go, this was a satisfying, illuminating read. Obviously Page's experience isn't everybody's experience. He admits that he's privileged in many ways, but he isn't ashamed — nor should he be — in recounting his lived experiences. I was particularly interested in his depiction of life as a closeted queer person, secretly dating women while working in the film industry, as well as how his childhood experiences shaped how he interacted with the world as an adult. I would caution readers that there are many passages — particular pertaining to sexual assault and gender dysphoria — that read as incompletely-processed trauma. There's not a lot of shielding on the emotions. Page provides content warnings at the front of the book, so please, take them seriously.
For the celebrity side of things, I don't really feel qualified to judge. I primarily know Page from his activism, and also I watched Juno. So mostly I was interested in how the celebrity stuff interacted with the queer stuff, and all the names just washed over me. The experience worked for me, but I can also understand someone who might want more anchoring being frustrated at the lack of explanation of who most of these people were. And of course there was the obligatory discretion, where "a member of crew" or "an acquaintance" did horrible things. I have no idea who those people were. In a way, the facelessness works. They could be anybody and we wouldn't know, which is the reality, since we know the list of people who have faced consequences for their behavior is woefully limited.
I personally loved the nonlinear format. The chapters are each gathered around a theme, concept, or state of mind, though it's not always obvious when you start off. Sometimes I had to flip back through, looking at the chapter title, before I spotted the connection and understood why the things were arranged the way they were. Another thing that will bother some people is Page's writing style. He frequently emphasizes or describes by stringing together several short sentence fragments. Distinct, painting a picture, individually striking. While Page is guilty of blatant comma abuse, I actually liked it. But I completely understand why it made some readers' skin crawl.
Important question time: do the dogs die?
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, Child abuse, Homophobia, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Transphobia
Moderate: Car accident, Alcohol, Cancer, and Outing
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, and Animal death
green_squids's review against another edition
1.75
Graphic: Gaslighting, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Bullying, Blood, Deadnaming, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Cursing, Dysphoria, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Hate crime, Outing, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Death of parent
emilysbookishlife's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Self harm, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Stalking, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
amelianotthepilot's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Deadnaming, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Outing, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
alexg52's review against another edition
4.5
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Transphobia