A review by vatodd
Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor

adventurous 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

4.5

It is a snap shot novel. You are following a 20 something Paul through a year-ish of his life in the early to mid 90s. Not much plot mostly just listening to his internal narrative as he floats around. Enjoyable, easy read. Some of the queer cultural references went over my head but I don't think you need to be a queer music scholar to get the gist of those. For a young person who didn't live through this time I liked it as it wasn't wholly focused on the AIDS crisis but it is sprinkled in so it isn't an all consuming bummer but like I think a lot of queer media set in that time can be. It felt very realistic to a 20 something coming of an age story without it being too "a very special episode" cheesy except for the end. I think honestly the last page felt very out of place in my opinion but overall very good. One of my first magical realism books and was fun. It doesn't dive deep into his powers which makes sense as it's not a fantasy element but a metaphor so if you are hoping to dive deep into that aspect of the plot sorry it doesn't really go anywhere.