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 Elliot’s 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 assaultedfluffyfox's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Eating disorder, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Body shaming, Sexism, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Biphobia, Bullying, Homophobia, Outing, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Drug use, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Rape
bashsbooks's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Stalking, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Outing, Self harm, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Vomit, Pandemic/Epidemic, Bullying, and Toxic friendship
-Deadnaming isn't really, like traditional deadnaming -Elliot chooses to use his former first name at some points and comments on it specifically in his initial author's note. I only note it so you're not surprised to see/hear it. -Child abuse is neglect and verbal.kate_ka's review against another edition
4.75
Der Schreibstil ist ziemlich nah am der Art, wie er spricht. Das find ich schön. Macht das Lesen zu einem persönlichen Gespräch. An einigen Stellen musste ich das Buch weglegen, weil seine Erlebnisse so schmerzhaft sind.
Man merkt auch, dass er sich mit queerer Theorie und Aktivismus beschäftigt hat.
Die Zeitsprünge sind tatsächlich verwirrend. Dazu die ganzen Namen. Im Interview hatte er gesagt, er wollte seine Geschichte nicht chronologisch erzählen, sondern entlang der Reise, des sich selbst Näherkommens und Entfernen. Ich finde das ist gelungen. Die letzten Seiten habe ich mit einem Lächeln gelesen.
Graphic: Outing, Self harm, Rape, Torture, Transphobia, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Deadnaming and Stalking
emmajh91's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Outing, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Cursing, Transphobia, Drug use, Eating disorder, Lesbophobia, Blood, Child abuse, Hate crime, and Homophobia
kaitlinwarwick's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, Self harm, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Deadnaming, Mental illness, Drug use, Outing, Lesbophobia, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Alcohol, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
cghegan's review against another edition
3.25
Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Sexual assault, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Outing, Stalking, Blood, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, and Transphobia
Minor: Bullying
tiudragonfly's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Gaslighting, Rape, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Body shaming, Stalking, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Mental illness
marijne's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, Self harm, Sexual assault, Pandemic/Epidemic, Homophobia, Stalking, and Transphobia
tigger89's review against another edition
4.5
As far as the queer memoir side of things go, this was a satisfying, illuminating read. Obviously Page's experience isn't everybody's experience. He admits that he's privileged in many ways, but he isn't ashamed — nor should he be — in recounting his lived experiences. I was particularly interested in his depiction of life as a closeted queer person, secretly dating women while working in the film industry, as well as how his childhood experiences shaped how he interacted with the world as an adult. I would caution readers that there are many passages — particular pertaining to sexual assault and gender dysphoria — that read as incompletely-processed trauma. There's not a lot of shielding on the emotions. Page provides content warnings at the front of the book, so please, take them seriously.
For the celebrity side of things, I don't really feel qualified to judge. I primarily know Page from his activism, and also I watched Juno. So mostly I was interested in how the celebrity stuff interacted with the queer stuff, and all the names just washed over me. The experience worked for me, but I can also understand someone who might want more anchoring being frustrated at the lack of explanation of who most of these people were. And of course there was the obligatory discretion, where "a member of crew" or "an acquaintance" did horrible things. I have no idea who those people were. In a way, the facelessness works. They could be anybody and we wouldn't know, which is the reality, since we know the list of people who have faced consequences for their behavior is woefully limited.
I personally loved the nonlinear format. The chapters are each gathered around a theme, concept, or state of mind, though it's not always obvious when you start off. Sometimes I had to flip back through, looking at the chapter title, before I spotted the connection and understood why the things were arranged the way they were. Another thing that will bother some people is Page's writing style. He frequently emphasizes or describes by stringing together several short sentence fragments. Distinct, painting a picture, individually striking. While Page is guilty of blatant comma abuse, I actually liked it. But I completely understand why it made some readers' skin crawl.
Important question time: do the dogs die?
Spoiler
Page owns two dogs over the course of the book. The first is alluded to as passing offscreen, and the second is still alive and well as if the end of the book.Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, Child abuse, Homophobia, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Transphobia
Moderate: Car accident, Alcohol, Cancer, and Outing
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, and Animal death