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

adventurous funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Distilled down to its essence, Paul takes the form of a mortal girl is a horny, genderfluid coming-of-age novel. Paul is a messy protagonist who doesn't seem to have any goals beyond sleeping with everyone he deems cute or cool. Paul does ultimately have some character development, though it takes a while. Getting to know and then mirroring himself after older queer folks eventually allows him to realize who and how he wants to be.

While this novel is unique conceptually, I didn't love it merely because I am not the intended audience. I think that this novel would be so meaningful and powerful to someone young & queer in the early 1990s, when this book is set. There were so many era-specific cultural references that I could feel going completely over my head. Furthermore, and maybe I'm a prude (?) but I enjoy a little bit more plot or characterization beyond "Paul had sex with this person and then this person" over and over again. Large swaths of the novel were composed entirely of detailed descriptions of Paul's conquests.

I am doing @openbookopen's Queer Your Year reading challenge and one of the prompts is "Genderfuckery!" and if Paul takes the form of a mortal girl could be summed up in one word, it would definitely be that. Also - this was my first read of #transrightsreadathon 2024!
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