Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Pageboy by Elliot Page

6 reviews

larzhagen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

Let me preface my review by saying that I am so incredibly happy for Elliot Page for finding joy in his authentic self.

As a long-time fan of Page, I was eager to read PageBoy (I pre-ordered a signed copy). We need more transmasculine stories! That's why it hurts to share that I didn't enjoy PageBoy very much.

Reason 1: Rather than following a linear narrative, Page recounts moments in his life seemingly at random. So, then, his timeline is incredibly challenging to piece together. It's difficult to keep track of his relationships, living situations, etc.

Reason 2: PageBoy is heavily solemn with no breaks (aside from maybe ch.Buckets). It reads like a catalog of Page's hardships, sometimes diving into graphic depictions of assault/violent situations. Page loves to write about shit and blood.

Reason 3: PageBoy centered predominantly around Page's romantic relationships and sexual experiences. I may be off base, but it seems Page is still attempting to unhealthily gauge/validate his masculinity by retelling these situations. 

Now the positive: I'd say PageBoy succeeds as an art piece. Elliot includes many excerpts from speeches, books, songs, movies throughout his nonlinear structure.  PageBoy is a wonderful collage-esque expression of self-healing and reflection.

Ultimately, PageBoy is a testament of trans courage. While it didn't align with my expectations, I still feel incredibly fortunate to have a signed copy, and I did resonate with it quite a bit. In the end though, I will be reserved when recommending it to others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Blood, Stalking, Hate crime, Excrement, and Eating disorder

ofi's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Vomit, Transphobia, Homophobia, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, and Bullying

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

eleasereads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Outing, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Body shaming, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Transphobia, Medical content, Self harm, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

planning2read's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Gore, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Sexual violence, and Homophobia

Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, and Alcohol

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

khakipantsofsex's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Self harm, Dysphoria, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Eating disorder

scripturient's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

This is a deeply personal and intimate narrative, so i'm not going to give a star rating.
I do feel that it was hard to follow at times, very non-linear, jumbled episodes that were hard to connect when you don't know the people or the timeline.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Bullying and Domestic abuse