Scan barcode
A review by gegoory
Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor
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
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.
but in sf,
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content