A review by nerdydeathwitch
Pageboy by Elliot Page

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

3.0

I don't want to critique a memoir because I feel like people have different goals when writing them. I think that this was probably written as part of the author's healing journey and in that way, I hope it provided him with what he needed and will provide other people on similar journeys with what they need. I have no doubt that this could be a 4 or 5 star read for some people. It just wasn't for me, perhaps because I am in a very different place in regards to healing from trauma.  If you are someone with complex trauma who still gets actively triggered, I recommend that you check out the trigger warnings for this book before you read it and have some self care or support lined up before you start. The narrative very much showcases the experience of complex ptsd (nonlinear narrative scenes that function like emotional flashbacks, self hatred and shame woven throughout the book, bouts of dissociation, and swinging between the extremes of social isolation, limerance, and codependency) but does so without any kind of acknowledgement of cptsd. I'm not sure if that was an intentional choice but without that additional context, the story feels incomplete. (Or, at the very least, like a missed opportunity for reflection and drawing connections beyond one's self).
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