Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Pageboy: A Memoir

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Pageboy: A Memoir by Elliot Page

81 reviews

pearlisarobot's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This was the memoir I didn’t know I needed in my life. Elliot Page’s reflections contained so much Canadian content that I haven’t seen in many books, and loved being able to recognize so many places or cultural touchstones growing up in a similar era. Memoirs are an incredible format to let people in to your lived experiences and takes a lot of courage to write and share. That is no exception in this memoir, and I appreciate the rawness, vulnerability and emotional honesty that Page expresses. I think that if you liked I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy, you’ll enjoy Page’s memoir and his reflections on the entertainment industry, challenging family dynamics, mental well-being, love, and finding and expressing one’s identity in the spotlight.

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justkyliep's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.5

Reading this was a pretty interesting experience. A good one and one I was happy to have had, but...? In many ways, this memoir was exactly what I expected. It was almost comedic how easily I could guess which movies had been most impactful to Page and had the best sets/casts. And of course, coming out stories are only so many flavors of the same feelings. None of this is bad, and I was happy with the quality of the writing and the journey.

What caught me off guard was how bleak this memoir could be—easily comparable to I'm Glad My Mom Died. I like when things are truthful and I don't mind reading something depressing, but I was definitely unprepared. While I'm happy I took the time to read this, I'm definitely just as happy to be finished. I'm happy Elliot is past those chapters in his life as well. I hope his life doesn't require a second memoir like this, but I'd love to see him write again.

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cdace8's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative sad slow-paced

4.0

If you like raw and chaotic memoirs this is for you.

I enjoyed and didn't enjoy this book all a the same time. I loved the story & was saddened by all the things Elliot has gone through.

This book very much felt like a conversation and the timeline jumps all over the place.

No matter what it is a brave story to tell and I will always be an Elliot Page fan :)

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epellicci's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad slow-paced

3.0

Mixed feelings about this one.

I found the narrative of the book all over the place. It was really difficult to keep track of the people and places in Elliot Page's life because the timeline jumped back and forth, and he takes tangents about history and environment which I wasn't sure I understood the relevance of. The book is also really quite graphic at times. Given the personal topic, and how low Page's mental health has been I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but it was shocking non-the-less.

Despite this, I truly admire the strength and courage that went into writing Pageboy. It is so vulnerable and yet also celebratory, and I would imagine intensely comforting to someone who may be going through questioning their gender identity or the potentially daunting process of transitioning. The book has such an authentic feel, and is a testimony to the value of finding your people and of visibility.

Page has put in some serious work to begin healing from trauma and shame, and it felt like a privilege to be invited to witness some of that journey.

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