The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
bronzeageholly's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
In one word? Masterful.
Paul/Polly’s character is so well crafted she/he could walk off the page and I wouldn’t know they weren’t real.
This is a book of personal journey, perfect for those who love a flawed protagonist. We drift with Paul/Polly as they tackle passion, grief, guilt, loss, gratitude. We are afloat in the heady haze of existence with them, learning (or not learning) about themselves along the way.
Change is omnipresent for Paul/Polly, most significantly in their gender fluidity but also in friendships, living situations, identity, jobs, relationships, music, and bars.
The short stories that were placed throughout the text were so enticing. They reminded me a lot of Jerome K Jerome’s ‘Three Men in a Boat’; the reader is left wondering whether there is something a little more we were meant to get from the tale, another moral left to find, an extra metaphor left to uncover.
All in all, this book is a stunning and unreserved tribute to community, to finding ourselves, to being aware of ourselves, to queer theory and queer love and queer freedom.
((definitely an 18+ read!))
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Drug use
courtneyfalling's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Wow. I cried at the ending. I have so many big thoughts on gender and queerness and community and sex and grief.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death and Transphobia
imaginaryisobel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Alcoholism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Terminal illness, Death, Vomit, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Minor: Classism and Racism
artstitute's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book was slow, quiet, and reflective, and I was happy to settle back and be along for the ride. Paul's kind of a dick, but I have a soft spot for him anyway.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Terminal illness
Minor: Vomit, Homophobia, and Stalking
The AIDS epidemic is referenced and discussed.mimi_mimsel's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Minor: Death
ramalam98's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is such an interesting book and definitely one to reread at some point.
I truly feel like it defies categorisation - it's slice of life but action-packed but just vibes but completely alien but mundane.
Paul as a character is obnoxious and self-obsessed but in a way that is so obviously because he feels lost within the world and within himself that you can't help but love him. The book follows about a year of his life in the early 90's, and while I wasn't around back then to confirm, the time and place felt so vibrantly captured.Â
It's a very compelling book, though slow at times and I think either a bit more plot or a bit more character development would have given it a higher rating from me.
Also as a warning, it's one of those books with a lot of sex but none of it is particularly pleasant to read.Â
I truly feel like it defies categorisation - it's slice of life but action-packed but just vibes but completely alien but mundane.
Paul as a character is obnoxious and self-obsessed but in a way that is so obviously because he feels lost within the world and within himself that you can't help but love him. The book follows about a year of his life in the early 90's, and while I wasn't around back then to confirm, the time and place felt so vibrantly captured.Â
It's a very compelling book, though slow at times and I think either a bit more plot or a bit more character development would have given it a higher rating from me.
Also as a warning, it's one of those books with a lot of sex but none of it is particularly pleasant to read.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Vomit and Death
addie's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Drug use
Moderate: Mental illness, Grief, and Sexual assault
Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Death
gwarren's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
An interesting take on gender, sexuality and fluidity. Lots of parts I enjoyed, others I felt I was losing a connection with the character more than how it was suggested I should be...Â
Liked the ambiguity of the ending and the chaos Paul/Polly's life seemed to follow throughout the narrative and appreciated the sex positive, non-binary, shape-shifting protagonist.
Also want to mention how grounded the setting of the story was. There were so many references to 90's pop culture, the LGBT+ community, the AIDS crisis (and it's after effects) and similarities between today's queer youth to then.Â
Overall, an enjoyable story with lots to sink your teeth into. May read again in the future.
Liked the ambiguity of the ending and the chaos Paul/Polly's life seemed to follow throughout the narrative and appreciated the sex positive, non-binary, shape-shifting protagonist.
Also want to mention how grounded the setting of the story was. There were so many references to 90's pop culture, the LGBT+ community, the AIDS crisis (and it's after effects) and similarities between today's queer youth to then.Â
Overall, an enjoyable story with lots to sink your teeth into. May read again in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use and Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, and Transphobia
beanwa's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I really struggled to get into this book. I bought it last year, read the first chapter, put it down. Then picked it up again four months ago - reread the first chapter, put it down. Then a week ago, I decided I just had to soldier on and get this book over with. And I ended up fucking loving it!!!!
The first chapter is sex scene after sex scene, which was a bit off-putting, but I'm really glad I stuck with it in the end. I love Paul, love Jane, I love how delightfully camp, cool, overly romantic, and pretentious Paul is - while still remaining vaguely self aware. The book often pokes fun at Paul's youthful romanticism, which I really enjoyed.Â
I rated this five stars because of how much fun I had reading it and how much I loved the concept (especially as a non-binary/gender fluid person!!) - but I did find the ending a bit unsatisfying + I found the artsy snippets (fairy tale-esque, mythical, etc.) a bit boring. Mostly because I wanted to get back to Paul! The ending felt open ended, which on one hand makes sense as Paul is in his very early 20s but I wish he'd gotten a better ending.Â
The first chapter is sex scene after sex scene, which was a bit off-putting, but I'm really glad I stuck with it in the end. I love Paul, love Jane, I love how delightfully camp, cool, overly romantic, and pretentious Paul is - while still remaining vaguely self aware. The book often pokes fun at Paul's youthful romanticism, which I really enjoyed.Â
I rated this five stars because of how much fun I had reading it and how much I loved the concept (especially as a non-binary/gender fluid person!!) - but I did find the ending a bit unsatisfying + I found the artsy snippets (fairy tale-esque, mythical, etc.) a bit boring. Mostly because I wanted to get back to Paul! The ending felt open ended, which on one hand makes sense as Paul is in his very early 20s but I wish he'd gotten a better ending.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia, Alcohol, Vomit, and Death
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
 Paul Takes the Form of A Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor 🌺
🌟🌟🌟🌟✨
🌺 The plot: Paul Polydoris is a shapeshifter bouncing around the queer scene in the US in 1993. Able to transform his body at will, he uses his powers to hedonistically explore sexual experiences with the men and women he meets. However, when he falls in love with a woman - as a woman - he's pitched head-first into heartbreak and a reckoning with who and what he is.
The best kind of magical realism for me is one that feels liberating to read because it allows you to tunnel out of (and critique!) the rigid structures of reality, and this book did that with the gendered body. Paul's magical powers don't invent a fluidity that doesn't exist when it comes to gender or identity, they just make it literal, as well as illuminating how artificial the categories we impose upon bodies are. Though Paul undoubtedly experiences things differently when presenting as Polly vs as Paul, this doesn't mean he's two people - he is one changeable person, full of possibilities.
As well as critiquing rigid gender categories, the book also takes aim at compulsory heterosexuality. All bar, I think, two of Paul's sexual encounters in the novel are queer, and I found myself dreading the conclusion of his encounter with a straight man when he was presenting as Polly. After the free flow of his earlier encounters, each explorative and variously fulfilling, not fitting any one mold, the sudden encounter with heteropatriarchal roles (my English degrees are jumping out here lmao) was jarring, and spoke volumes about the limited possibilities of sex within this system. It's a book that is a huge fuck-you to binaries and I loved it.
🌺 Read it if you love plotless novels, books where almost every character is queer, and critiques of the gender binary. Also if you want to read about absolute shedloads of sex lol
🚫 Avoid it if you need a plot or a definitive ending - the loose ends fly free at the end of this novel!Â
🌟🌟🌟🌟✨
🌺 The plot: Paul Polydoris is a shapeshifter bouncing around the queer scene in the US in 1993. Able to transform his body at will, he uses his powers to hedonistically explore sexual experiences with the men and women he meets. However, when he falls in love with a woman - as a woman - he's pitched head-first into heartbreak and a reckoning with who and what he is.
The best kind of magical realism for me is one that feels liberating to read because it allows you to tunnel out of (and critique!) the rigid structures of reality, and this book did that with the gendered body. Paul's magical powers don't invent a fluidity that doesn't exist when it comes to gender or identity, they just make it literal, as well as illuminating how artificial the categories we impose upon bodies are. Though Paul undoubtedly experiences things differently when presenting as Polly vs as Paul, this doesn't mean he's two people - he is one changeable person, full of possibilities.
As well as critiquing rigid gender categories, the book also takes aim at compulsory heterosexuality. All bar, I think, two of Paul's sexual encounters in the novel are queer, and I found myself dreading the conclusion of his encounter with a straight man when he was presenting as Polly. After the free flow of his earlier encounters, each explorative and variously fulfilling, not fitting any one mold, the sudden encounter with heteropatriarchal roles (my English degrees are jumping out here lmao) was jarring, and spoke volumes about the limited possibilities of sex within this system. It's a book that is a huge fuck-you to binaries and I loved it.
🌺 Read it if you love plotless novels, books where almost every character is queer, and critiques of the gender binary. Also if you want to read about absolute shedloads of sex lol
🚫 Avoid it if you need a plot or a definitive ending - the loose ends fly free at the end of this novel!Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia and Death