A review by beanwa
Paul Takes the Form of A Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor

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. 

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. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings