A review by catisbookish
Pageboy by Elliot Page

2.0

It pains me to give this memoir such a low rating, but I have to be honest - this was not good.  I’m a fan of Elliot Page’s work as an actor, and I could not be more happy for him that he has now found comfort and confidence in himself and his body, and that he feels his identity is now aligned and true.  In saying that, I’m really unsure why he wrote this memoir.  It was unfocused, clumsy, and frankly, didn’t actually SAY much.  I have no problem if things aren’t in a chronological order, but there has to be a reason.  The chapters could have been divides up into topics, into talking about different aspects or feelings around queerness and gender identity, or about phases that he has been through in his life.  Instead, this was a bunch of jumbled up sexscapades, homophobic encouters, and complicated family dynamics.  All of which I usually enjoy!  But things were commented on in such a level of shallowness: this happened, I felt sad/mad/happy/scared, I met this person, I did that thing, etc.  There was little to no depth, there was very little contemplation on the life experiences that were depicted, and there was no real message at all.  That,  coupled with the disorganized mess of shoving random stories together without any transitions or explanations as to where we are in Elliot’s life, made for a confusing and frustrating read.  The thing is, I think this could have been worked into a really interesting memoir because clearly Elliot has been through A LOT and has come a significantly long way and overcome a lot of obstacles, both in Hollywood and in his personal life.  But my honest take on this is that Elliot Page is just not a very talented writer, at least not in this form.  Or he needed a better editor.  Regardless, this could have been really great with some help and some more thought into WHAT he was actually trying to say, what message he wanted to give the world based on his own personal experiences in life.  

Also a little side note - I read this as an audiobook, and I was surprised at how stilted the performance was from Elliot.  I’m not sure if I’m the only one who feels this way, but it just made the read a little bit more uncomfortable.  

FINAL NOTE:  Why are we constantly shitting blood?