thriftstoreclown's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Rape, Self harm, Stalking, and Torture
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Deadnaming, Pregnancy, Vomit, and Excrement
Some of these subjects are kind of par for the course when contextualized with what we know about Elliot publicly already (as a public figure who came out as a lesbian in 2014 before eventually coming out as trans) such as lesbophobia, transphobia, religious bigotry, mentions of (potential) hate crimes. But Elliotβs story is also full of history not only around the Canadian landscape of his youth, but also of characters that he has played, and he does not shy away from sharing all of the gory details ofSpoiler
a local explosion that devastated Nova Scotia, or even the way that one of his film characters was murdered.Spoiler
sexually assaultedbooksandcoffeewithlexi's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Sexual content and Excrement
Moderate: Vomit
jamiejanae_6's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Dysphoria, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Stalking, Bullying, Eating disorder, and Excrement
elijah__'s review against another edition
3.5
It's hard not to compare this book to I'm Glad My Mom Died, which is written in a similar voice, is another memoir by an actor, and shares several themes and topics -- and, frankly, McCurdy is simply the better writer. When Page jumps back and forth between periods of his life, it doesn't feel intentional or logical; while stories need not be presented in chronological order to be understood, the jumps are constant and confusing in Pageboy, as Page often leaves little to no indication that the setting has changed. While two editors are credited, I felt that the novel could've been combed over and cleaned up a bit more thoroughly. It feels like a friend telling you a convoluted, twisting story -- with all the errors and confusions that entails -- but with flowery language and metaphor thrown in, often without an apparent benefit to the prose.
That being said, I think the bones of a good memoir are present; Page has lived an interesting life and has interesting things to say about the film industry, love, and queerness, even if I don't think these things are expressed as well as they could be.
Graphic: Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Rape, Bullying, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Misogyny
woweewhoa's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Transphobia
Moderate: Stalking, Rape, Excrement, Alcohol, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Death, and Dysphoria
Minor: War
veelaughtland's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Drug use, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Bullying, Eating disorder, Excrement, Hate crime, Infidelity, Cursing, Grief, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, and Self harm
larzhagen's review against another edition
3.5
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.Β
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.Β 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.
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Blood, Stalking, Hate crime, Excrement, and Eating disorder
braveprincess11's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Blood, Eating disorder, Torture, Stalking, Body horror, Sexual assault, Cursing, Child abuse, Medical content, Excrement, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Dysphoria, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Bullying
Minor: Self harm, Murder, Alcohol, and Suicidal thoughts
green_squids's review against another edition
1.75
Graphic: Gaslighting, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Bullying, Blood, Deadnaming, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Cursing, Dysphoria, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Hate crime, Outing, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Death of parent
scarylavender's review against another edition
2.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Stalking
Moderate: Excrement and Hate crime