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toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Alexandra Billings: a trans, latinx women, an actress, a singer, a teacher, a star of stage & screen, a wife, and someone who has lived a crazy and full life. I have been a fan of Alexandra Billings for a long time, I feel like she has always been involved in some capacity in any show that I've watched, like Grey's or How To Get Away With Murder. It wasn't until I started watching Transparent in 2014 that I really became curious about who she was. Fast-forward to the pandemic when I started getting into TikTok and she appeared on my for you page. Of course, I followed immediately. The surprising thing was that she followed me back, and we've been mutuals ever since. I have no idea what ever made her follow me, but I feel blessed to be on the following list of someone who I consider an absolute icon.
"This Time For Me" is an unforgettable memoir written by this incomparable woman. It explores her beginnings as a young kid who has no language for the things she is feeling, it delves into the darkness of her addiction, the AIDS crisis, and her personal experience with it. The people she speaks about in her memoir range from trans sisters of hers from her cabaret days to - wait for it - Larry Kramer! She writes about the friends she lost to AIDS with a sensitivity that could only be written by someone who is HIV+ themselves. She provides heart-wrenching account of what it was really like to live through that time, and I cried the entire time I listened to those sections. Every friend she wrote about felt alive to me, like I knew them, like they were a friend. Alexandra writes of her wife ChrisAnne with so much love and respect - their love story spanning from 1976 all the way to now. I simply love it. I love *them.*
I'm not going to sit here and pretend that Alex is perfect, though - she would hate that. Through the book, Alex is not afraid to let you know what mistakes she made along the way: in her relationships and in any other area. She is unflinchingly honest about who she is, through and through, take it or leave it. I, my dear Alex, will take it.
"This Time For Me" is an unforgettable memoir written by this incomparable woman. It explores her beginnings as a young kid who has no language for the things she is feeling, it delves into the darkness of her addiction, the AIDS crisis, and her personal experience with it. The people she speaks about in her memoir range from trans sisters of hers from her cabaret days to - wait for it - Larry Kramer! She writes about the friends she lost to AIDS with a sensitivity that could only be written by someone who is HIV+ themselves. She provides heart-wrenching account of what it was really like to live through that time, and I cried the entire time I listened to those sections. Every friend she wrote about felt alive to me, like I knew them, like they were a friend. Alexandra writes of her wife ChrisAnne with so much love and respect - their love story spanning from 1976 all the way to now. I simply love it. I love *them.*
I'm not going to sit here and pretend that Alex is perfect, though - she would hate that. Through the book, Alex is not afraid to let you know what mistakes she made along the way: in her relationships and in any other area. She is unflinchingly honest about who she is, through and through, take it or leave it. I, my dear Alex, will take it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
balladsandbookends's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.75