Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl

my only critique would be the interludes and random short stories unrelated to the plot scattered throughout the book, in my opinion, didn’t do much to advance the story, so i found them a bit distracting. i loved the writing, except the parts that went into literary-academic speak territory, and at times it was too referential (and i say this because a lot of it i wasn’t familiar with!). but the humor, heat, and heartbreak, the subtle magical realism and realness, and the journey through queer history and underground was sublime. oddly, i find myself thinking of paul’s character constantly and his silent judgments of our social world.

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bronzeageholly's review against another edition

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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!))

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courtneyfalling's review against another edition

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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.

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inabin's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

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gegoory's review against another edition

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emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

wow
holy shit
fuck
wow

what a book
it took me almost a month to finish this just because of how often i would read a section and have to put it down or walk away for a bit. there are so many deeply emotional moments, or even if not emotional, moments that cut to the core.
paul is so sad, and so young. so much happens to him, and he is so so changed when we leave him.

i loved the craft of the book. the way the text is divided, with mythos and flashback and time skip taking equal precedent at their respective breaks. i loved the way we were soaked in who paul is and how he thinks and goes through his life

his experience in michigan and provincetown especially hit me so hard. how he acted and reacted to being a dyke, and how lawlor puts it all in writing, was so deeply visceral. those moments are the ones that made me have to step away the most frequently.

his time in sf (and his time in chicago) are so. sad.

robin

clocks him so hard with

paul hiding

and it really felt like it was exactly that in chicago too
but in sf,

paul finding out about tony

destroyed me. i cried then the hardest i had the whole book, and this book made me cry so many times. but that part killed me. eviscerated me. it takes so much of who paul had been in the novel so far, so many little moments and details, and cinches the loop closed, pulls it all together

the ending is not sad. the end kind of just happens. it peters out. all things i heard abt the end of the book
but i think i like it! after everything, and because of everything, it contrasts well with how much he was chasing and hiding. i think i came to rly love paul at the end despite everything

i wouldnt say this was a joy to read. in fact it was really stressful a lot of the time. but wow it was so good. big recommendation to anyone gay and especially anyone trans, and everyone say thank you andrea lawlor

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imaginaryisobel's review against another edition

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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

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artstitute's review against another edition

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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.

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ramalam98's review against another edition

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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.

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.

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