Scan barcode
A review by achillreads
Beautiful Monster: A Becoming by Miles Borrero
5.0
(I was provided a NetGalley ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
It was a very touching read that is an honest and true introspection into a queer artist's mind as he goes through life. Borrero expresses the struggles and many internal dilemmas we trans people have with a contemporary yet poetic tongue that brings out all the emotion within the queer experience.
So, in terms of a review, I'd more like to talk about my experiences with the book.
As a queer trans man, reading through his words that were so similar to what I've been thinking and feeling through felt assuring. Sometimes, it feels like nothing will turn out to be great cause I wasn't born in a country that isn't welcoming for people like me at all, but seeing Borrero's adventure through life sparked a bit of hope in me that good things can happen. Reading about various queer experiences as a queer person is always enlightening, but reading about a trans man who isn't a textbook example like me is a whole other world because of this very reason.
Reading this inspired me to write and do stuff, which was unexpected. Usually, reading memoirs just makes me research more about the person or what they talk about, but this time, I wanted to pursue my creative side more. As I have read through Borrero's poetic prose about the joys and griefs of his life, his words encouraged me to get back to expressing myself in my queer glory. Because oftentimes, our queerness seems to be filtered by the people around us to fit a mould that was set to be us. And despite knowing this for the last few years, reading his experiences on breaking his shell and becoming himself made me rethink the ways I was living.
Other than my sentimental input about the book, I really liked the person based chapter structure. The centre is set from the chapter title, and then you form around it the more you read. This format mixed in with his writing, it creates a true vision into the queer creative's mind. Occasional perspective changes and poetry added in between made this "vision" a lot better, I think. Cause it's the memoir of a creative, and so his mind should be represented by the formatting and writing. It was beautiful in that way.
It has been a very good read. It's one of the best memoirs I've read where I found myself marking pages cause the quotes would surely stick with me.
It was a very touching read that is an honest and true introspection into a queer artist's mind as he goes through life. Borrero expresses the struggles and many internal dilemmas we trans people have with a contemporary yet poetic tongue that brings out all the emotion within the queer experience.
So, in terms of a review, I'd more like to talk about my experiences with the book.
As a queer trans man, reading through his words that were so similar to what I've been thinking and feeling through felt assuring. Sometimes, it feels like nothing will turn out to be great cause I wasn't born in a country that isn't welcoming for people like me at all, but seeing Borrero's adventure through life sparked a bit of hope in me that good things can happen. Reading about various queer experiences as a queer person is always enlightening, but reading about a trans man who isn't a textbook example like me is a whole other world because of this very reason.
Reading this inspired me to write and do stuff, which was unexpected. Usually, reading memoirs just makes me research more about the person or what they talk about, but this time, I wanted to pursue my creative side more. As I have read through Borrero's poetic prose about the joys and griefs of his life, his words encouraged me to get back to expressing myself in my queer glory. Because oftentimes, our queerness seems to be filtered by the people around us to fit a mould that was set to be us. And despite knowing this for the last few years, reading his experiences on breaking his shell and becoming himself made me rethink the ways I was living.
Other than my sentimental input about the book, I really liked the person based chapter structure. The centre is set from the chapter title, and then you form around it the more you read. This format mixed in with his writing, it creates a true vision into the queer creative's mind. Occasional perspective changes and poetry added in between made this "vision" a lot better, I think. Cause it's the memoir of a creative, and so his mind should be represented by the formatting and writing. It was beautiful in that way.
It has been a very good read. It's one of the best memoirs I've read where I found myself marking pages cause the quotes would surely stick with me.