Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor

10 reviews

sarah984's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was an interesting portrait of a tumultuous time, but the pov character (and most of the other characters honestly) was almost unbearable to read about, and the ending felt like it kind of petered out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Terminal illness, Vomit, Transphobia, and Grief

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Child abuse, Homophobia, Addiction, Lesbophobia, Animal cruelty, Classism, and Infidelity

james1star's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I find this book quite a hard one to cement my thoughts on…. overall I think it was a decent read but also had quite a few issues too. In it we’re following Paul (/Polly), a twenty two year old old queer person in the early nighties. But he (the character is very likely what we’d call non-binary with they/them pronouns now but Lawlor decides to only use ‘he’ so I will too) is also a shapeshifter, able to change his body and parts and flips between male and female biologically. It’s set first in Iowa city with a more emerging queer scene, but moves to Provincetown and San Francisco where the queer history of these places are more established but obviously different given the New England coastal town and thriving city locations. In these spaces, Paul explores his sexuality and gender identity in a rather eye-opening way trying to categorise himself but ‘failing’ to do so given he really doesn’t know. There’s also little folk-like tales interspersed throughout which I came to read as alternative origin stories of how Paul got his shape shifting powers from and whilst they didn’t really add anything to the story, they were good.

Whilst above is the main plot, it’s in many ways a love letter to the nighties. Lawlor infuses many references to the music, tv and film, books, art and other parts of the culture with a strong focus on queer creators which I revelled in. They at times list these mentions and I had to do so too because the decade was a time of great change with many facets to discover. What’s also great is the inclusion of time-specific mentions as we’re following queer characters and their lives in a time of queer-phobia and the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the eighties following into the early nighties. The best part for me was from the pages 273-278 where Paul is thinking back to his time spent in New York with an old partner as they worked with AIDS organisations and it was just exceptional: the topic, what happened and in a sense the anger and injustice present in that little passage was so hard hitting and despite the theme I loved it. 

The book definitely had things to say and messages to put across but they’re cheapened by what I found to be my main criticism of the book. And that’s the hyper fixation on sex. I liked how sex positive and freeing I guess it was to start but when the same things are basically rehashed multiple times it gets boring and rather crude too. Paul’s sexual encounters and ‘victories’ were focused on far too much and it took me out of the story. It’s also clear Lawlor put more detail and emphasis on this then the other passages and descriptions which aren’t bad but I could tell a divide. 

Overall, I would recommend this and it’s rather unique but the real meaning and crux of what the author was trying to portray and say was definitely cheapened by what happens for most of the book. It got better as it went along but what had already happened was too much to not allow any higher rating then I’ve given it. It’s possible on a re-read I might get more but unlikely. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse, Lesbophobia, Terminal illness, Death, Homophobia, Hate crime, Grief, Drug use, and Cursing

bronzeageholly's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

In one word? Masterful.

Paul/Polly’s character is so well crafted she/he could walk off the page and I wouldn’t know they weren’t real.

This is a book of personal journey, perfect for those who love a flawed protagonist. We drift with Paul/Polly as they tackle passion, grief, guilt, loss, gratitude. We are afloat in the heady haze of existence with them, learning (or not learning) about themselves along the way.

Change is omnipresent for Paul/Polly, most significantly in their gender fluidity but also in friendships, living situations, identity, jobs, relationships, music, and bars.

The short stories that were placed throughout the text were so enticing. They reminded me a lot of Jerome K Jerome’s ‘Three Men in a Boat’; the reader is left wondering whether there is something a little more we were meant to get from the tale, another moral left to find, an extra metaphor left to uncover.

All in all, this book is a stunning and unreserved tribute to community, to finding ourselves, to being aware of ourselves, to queer theory and queer love and queer freedom.

((definitely an 18+ read!))

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Drug use

addie's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Drug use

Moderate: Mental illness, Grief, and Sexual assault

Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Death

packedjam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

i think this book was very good at what it set out to do. unfortunately for me, what it set out to do drove me up the wall

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol and Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Cursing, Homophobia, Vomit, Grief, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Transphobia

levtitticus's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Drug use

Moderate: Grief, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Addiction, Medical content, Mental illness, Outing, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

lucypratt7's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol

Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Death, and Terminal illness

iheartm4m's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This book has a lot of potential but Lawlor takes gender identity and sexuality to a literal and physical form that feels necessary for some of the plot but not all. the book pointed to understanding the world through different lenses (girl, woman, man, beta, alpha, lesbian, bisexual) and how a person that has flowed through the gender/sexuality spectrum can and will expirience these situations portrayed in the book throughout their younger years. 
This can be eye opening for those who are are cis/het/certain in their sexuality/gender, but for those who have always fell through the cracks when it comes to identity, this book is a bit obvious. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Homophobia, Grief, Cursing, Sexual content, Death, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Racism

Moderate: Classism, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Gaslighting, and Biphobia

Minor: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Drug use, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Addiction, Blood, Eating disorder, and Infidelity

noahsingh's review

medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

so so good, instant new favourite book. feel weirdly intensely grateful to Andrea Lawlor as a fellow trans person. can't actually express how much reading this meant to me as a trans bi guy, so nice to be able to read a coming-of-age-esque book with a character whose actually relatable to me as a queer trans person and really just can't wait to read whatever Lawlor writes next. love the fantasy bits intertwined with Paul/Polly's story and all the pretentious references and that the book ends so openly, but with the protagonist young, happy and living Queer life to the fullest, love that for him/her/them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Grief, Drug use, Transphobia, Death, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Sexism, and Alcohol

jameslyons's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Body horror

Moderate: Transphobia, Death, Grief, and Vomit

Minor: Lesbophobia, Animal cruelty, Dysphoria, and Terminal illness