CW: internalized lesbophobia (gets resolved), homophobia, bullying, absent father, racism and microaggressions, toxic masculinity & misogynistic comments, recreational drug use, drinking, drugging, and subsequent memory loss.

I'm very torn on my rating for this. It's between a 3.5/4 star because I did really, really love the first half of the book but I felt some comments about transness could've been re-written. It's very important while writing a book about drag culture to include the difference between DRAG and being trans as they're vastly different. Also, to know (and research) about RuPaul's transphobia toward trans women. 

There's a poem, Glitter Ball that says "Know that your audience makes assumptions about you, your gender presentation, and the gender you were assigned at birth" and that must have been an editing mistake because you're assigned your sex at birth, not your gender. There's also an instance where Michael says he's still getting used to using they/them pronouns which definitely could've been reworded though it wasn't meant with malice because Michael has had a lack of queer representation around him growing up and at university he meets more queer, trans and gender non-conforming people. The poem about trans men was really touching and I enjoyed that. Though, I wish that there was a larger discussion about trans women. 

Nonetheless, I did thoroughly enjoy the rest of Michael's coming-of-age story though it is dark and not a happy go-lucky coming out story by any means. It is written in verse rather than traditional format which I did enjoy. But, I liked Michael's own poems more. They really stood out to me and told me how Michael was feeling. I also loved the meaning and symbolism of "The Black Flamingo", it really tied the story together. Would recommend, just be cautious if you're trans and/or gender non-conforming and are sensitive when transness is talked about.