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challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
As other reviewers have noted, I think that this memoir lacks a coherent structure and thus is hard to follow. The narrative seems to be stream of consciousness, so if you know a lot about Elliot's career and personal life, it may be easier to follow along. For me, I mostly know Elliot through Inception and Umbrella Academy, so I felt very disorientated. I think that it could have been structured either thematically or chronologically; maybe a side-by-side, this was my professional life versus my personal experience in different years? That said, I did value his insights on gender identity, self-expression, and how acting can challenge and encourage your sense of self. Elliot's experience as a trans man is unique to him, but I think a lot of the emotions and changing relationships he described are fairly universal or at least easy to understand.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Sexual content, Transphobia, Stalking, Dysphoria
Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
this has been sitting on my shelf for a while and i think i picked it up at the right time. quite heavy, but it was nice to learn more about a public figure i look up to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Outing, Dysphoria
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
The richness of Elliot's experiences are held back by the structure of this book. The lack of chronology made it hard to track Elliot's emotional journey at times. Though chronology doesn't have to be rigid or strict, I should be able to follow along should there be a break. Equally difficult to follow along with at times was the hyperspecificity of street names of places I had no familiarity with, such as Los Angeles and Halifax.
There are some lines in this book re: rejection of Hollywood glamor, stage parents, and power structures that were so profound yet concise that I found myself writing them down. I also found myself enraptured by Elliot's descriptions of the broader history of his hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia, of which I knew nothing before reading this book.
The chapter where Elliot describes all of his traumatic physical and sexual assault experiences back to back really walloped me and I had to put the book down for a few days. It was triggering, a jarring spike in the pacing of the memoir that doesn't return.
The cutoff point where Elliot transitions and moves out of NYC, breaking up with his spouse who, book-wise, pops up out of nowhere, felt very rushed. He seems to be in the middle of processing what this next step means as he writes, and if he'd finished the book years later I wonder how differently that would be written. Remember how affectionately he writes about his years as an inexperienced baby gay... I've heard many older trans folks describe their early transition selves similarly!
There are some lines in this book re: rejection of Hollywood glamor, stage parents, and power structures that were so profound yet concise that I found myself writing them down. I also found myself enraptured by Elliot's descriptions of the broader history of his hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia, of which I knew nothing before reading this book.
The chapter where Elliot describes
The cutoff point where Elliot
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Stalking
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
I found myself relating to a lot of the themes Elliot covered regarding finding his own expression of gender. I felt a lot of sympathy towards him for experiencing so much hate and transphobia. It makes me eternally grateful to not have experienced so much outward hate and fear.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia
Moderate: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders
slow-paced
I had wanted sooo deeply to love this book - I had assumed, as a trans man and fan of Elliot, that it would be a pivotal, vital reading experience for me. And it was mostly...just okay, if not a bit boring - with some moments being extremely unpleasant and frustrating. Many things, like the abuse he's suffered throughout his life, are supposed to be infuriating, but his general writing style and seemingly life-long immaturity should not have been.
His descriptions make many things that are supposed to be fun, beautiful or even sexy - very strange and often unpleasant to read. I didn't come away from this book knowing much significant new information about Elliot. This book, for the most part, is more a chronicle of all of the people he's dated.
It's especially frustrating that towards the end, that he can even partially acknowledge his many character flaws that come up in his personal behavior throughout the memoir (like jumping from relationship to relationship because of his discomfort in being alone) but then undermines that by seemingly still engaging in that behavior (writing an entire book about all his exes and ending that book partially with the hopeful adult re-connection with a high school sweetheart.)
Everyone is at different points of their journey, and I applaud him for his openness in discussing the disgusting abuses he's experienced, both in the entertainment industry and in his family life. I think I was just really hoping for some wisdom, or eye opening perspectives. I hadn't expected to be constantly annoyed and frustrated by the actions of someone pretty significantly older than myself.
And yeah, the constantly significant time skips are very disorienting.
Overall I'm super happy that other people have found this book to be the inspirational, deeply moving piece that I had wanted it to be. But for now...I'm gonna go pick out another book to help me celebrate pride.
His descriptions make many things that are supposed to be fun, beautiful or even sexy - very strange and often unpleasant to read. I didn't come away from this book knowing much significant new information about Elliot. This book, for the most part, is more a chronicle of all of the people he's dated.
It's especially frustrating that towards the end, that he can even partially acknowledge his many character flaws that come up in his personal behavior throughout the memoir (like jumping from relationship to relationship because of his discomfort in being alone) but then undermines that by seemingly still engaging in that behavior (writing an entire book about all his exes and ending that book partially with the hopeful adult re-connection with a high school sweetheart.)
Everyone is at different points of their journey, and I applaud him for his openness in discussing the disgusting abuses he's experienced, both in the entertainment industry and in his family life. I think I was just really hoping for some wisdom, or eye opening perspectives. I hadn't expected to be constantly annoyed and frustrated by the actions of someone pretty significantly older than myself.
And yeah, the constantly significant time skips are very disorienting.
Overall I'm super happy that other people have found this book to be the inspirational, deeply moving piece that I had wanted it to be. But for now...I'm gonna go pick out another book to help me celebrate pride.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Transphobia
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Ah. I don’t know what to say - I loved this so much. To have not only a famous trans person, but such an infellegent and creative trans person share his memoirs and reflections is so beautiful. His personal storytelling is delightful and captivating, and beautifully detailed. His language is sensitive and informed, and a role model for modern men. Yay trans people :))))
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Vomit
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Dysphoria
Moderate: Self harm
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
i always preface this by saying that it is not up to me to rate or even consider a rating for a memoir. it automatically gets five stars. it's not my life, and it shouldn't be evaluated by me.
some things i'd like to note about pageboy is the timing and pacing of the novel. it went back and forth in time, never continuously being linear. as someone who isn't very pop culture savvy, i don't know much about actors or movies. not growing up with elliot page during the book left me scratching my head about going from a current time to being a kid to being a teenager.
it was hard for me to follow and understand. the chapters were riddled with trauma, history, homophobia, transphobia, and the horrors of child stardom. it was sporadic and random, graphic and violently described, an attribute i've seen people being upset about. i think it keeps it real, shows that there isn't any other way to write about these past aggressions and events. they are just as unexpected and unavoidable in the narrative as they would have been (and are) in real life.
the book explores elliot's thoughts on his sexuality, concept of gender, and exploitation as a child star.
i'm not a die hard elliot page fan (...yet) just due to my inherent lack of film watching, but a few of the described films make me wanna watch them. juno, surprise!, is something i doubt ive seen at an age i understood it. i also would like to see the scene where they did the stunt in the car without being buckled in.
overall, this is a very dark and painful memoir by page. i can tell he poured a lot of emotion and suffering into it, and i wish him the healing he deserves. glad to see that he is finally able to be who he always knew he was.
some things i'd like to note about pageboy is the timing and pacing of the novel. it went back and forth in time, never continuously being linear. as someone who isn't very pop culture savvy, i don't know much about actors or movies. not growing up with elliot page during the book left me scratching my head about going from a current time to being a kid to being a teenager.
it was hard for me to follow and understand. the chapters were riddled with trauma, history, homophobia, transphobia, and the horrors of child stardom. it was sporadic and random, graphic and violently described, an attribute i've seen people being upset about. i think it keeps it real, shows that there isn't any other way to write about these past aggressions and events. they are just as unexpected and unavoidable in the narrative as they would have been (and are) in real life.
the book explores elliot's thoughts on his sexuality, concept of gender, and exploitation as a child star.
i'm not a die hard elliot page fan (...yet) just due to my inherent lack of film watching, but a few of the described films make me wanna watch them. juno, surprise!, is something i doubt ive seen at an age i understood it. i also would like to see the scene where they did the stunt in the car without being buckled in.
overall, this is a very dark and painful memoir by page. i can tell he poured a lot of emotion and suffering into it, and i wish him the healing he deserves. glad to see that he is finally able to be who he always knew he was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Dysphoria
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Stalking
Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Excrement, Alcohol
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Transphobia
Moderate: Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Dysphoria