Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Pageboy: A Memoir by Elliot Page

112 reviews

imscrem's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

2.5

I appreciate that Elliot Page took the time to write down his story. I listened to the audiobook, and found it difficult at times to understand what time period in his life he was writing from due to the somewhat jumpy narrative.  I didn’t enjoy hearing about his sexual escapades or the many, many times he was sexually abused, but I have to acknowledge that these are true parts of his story and the book would not have been complete without them. It was uncomfortable to hear about who licked what while I rode the subway. Overall, I this book definitely wasn’t what I expected — I thought it would be a more uplifting take on the trans experience, but came out thinking it’s more of a dismal array of all the ways that people can be horrific to someone for being different. I wish the world was kinder. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Deadnaming, Death, Physical abuse, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Minor: Vomit, Car accident, and Pandemic/Epidemic

kthompson19's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.25

This is not a great memoir. It jumps around in time and theme, often fails to meaningfully explore the themes presented, and simply seems to attempt to cover far too much without any single unifying narrative. 

That said, this was still impactful for me as a gender non-conforming person. Page’s experience with dysphoria rang true to my own experiences as a kid. His descriptions are vivid and poetic, disturbing in the way they’re able to capture what not being at home in your body feels like. A resonant read, but still one that I was ready to be finished with. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Eating disorder, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Drug use, and Alcohol

courtsport's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

Reflective journey through Elliot's early life and how it was shaped by his trans identity, which took him many years to come to terms with. This autobio sheds light on the lived experience of the pain and joys of moving through the world as a closeted and then publicly queer and trans person. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Vomit, and Alcohol

maryellen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Dysphoria, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Alcohol

jem_carstairs's review

emotional inspiring reflective

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Eating disorder, Transphobia, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Gaslighting

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

robinks's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.25

I was excited to see that Page read his own audiobook - memoirs always seem to have a greater impact on me when done this way. However, the chapters felt so disorganized to me, both in chronology and topic. While I appreciate Page’s acknowledgement of his privileged identities, I want to read more memoirs by trans folks of color.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Bullying, Deadnaming, Drug use, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

Minor: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Pandemic/Epidemic

acechemicals's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Deadnaming, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Cancer, Death, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Outing, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

perth_is's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

reading_diaries's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

Amazing book! In no way are the actual events or experiences great or deserving for any person but the way in which Elliot Page told the story and brought more awareness to a variety of topics is something he should be applauded for. This books deals with a lot of sick and troubling topics, most of which I was unaware before going into so please read the content warnings.

Growing up watching Elliot Page on the big screen as a fellow Canadian, it felt surreal and now listening as a filmmaker, I feel more sadden by the what he went through. It's absolutely inexcusable the behaviour and the trauma Elliot Page went through over the course of his life. His stepmom makes my skin crawl. And the pedophile stalker makes my stomach turn. It feels wrong that one person had to endure multiple traumas at once without ever fully healing from the last one. 

Overall I will say this book was a little hard to follow. There were multiple times where I picked up the book and didn't quite know what year it was and what we following. Felt more like a diary entry than a book - which in this case I did actually enjoy since it's a memoir and super personal about his life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, and Stalking

Moderate: Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

Minor: Alcohol

olliereads04's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Transphobia

Moderate: Alcohol