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brianreadsbooks 's review for:
Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl
by Andrea Lawlor
Lawlor did something in this story I’ve never seen before (and I *have* read another book with a gender-changing lead character). They created a fully realized character in Paul, with consistent thoughts, feelings, emotions even as he tries on roles and genders stolen or put upon him like clothes from a thrift shop. Almost to the letter, Lawlor explores what it means to come into LGBT adulthood. The result is an utterly enthralling coming-of-age for a single-yet-plural human in the pre-iPhone 1990s.
Also, this book has so much sex. All kinds of sex. Graphic, specific, deep, passionate, apathetic, full-on, hardcore sex. And it’s exciting, even when it’s not the kind of sex I’ve wanted or even thought about before. But it’s not about sex, it’s about the relationships and self-exploration. But it *is* about the sex, because you can’t untangle those things.
Read it if you’re a queer of any kind. This book is for you, to challenge you to think outside your letter. Cishet folks are welcome, but you’re a guest in Lawlor’s very queer house.
A taste (from the beginning – no spoilers here):
“He decided to break out the unopened European-style briefs his old sociology professor had inappropriately brought him back from Spain last summer. They looked enough like girls’ underwear and wouldn’t disrupt the line. He dropped his swishy loose army pants and his shoplifted French-cut boxers, and stared at his penis until it shrank, tucked itself into the tight little crawl- space of his former balls. He stepped into the black briefs and admired his smooth front with his hands and eyes, then found the red lace bra he’d borrowed from that girl in New York.”
I’m really glad I picked this up at Gay’s the Word book shop in London – it was a perfect read for Pride.
Follow me on Instagram for more #bookstagram reviews and photos: @brianreadsbooks
Also, this book has so much sex. All kinds of sex. Graphic, specific, deep, passionate, apathetic, full-on, hardcore sex. And it’s exciting, even when it’s not the kind of sex I’ve wanted or even thought about before. But it’s not about sex, it’s about the relationships and self-exploration. But it *is* about the sex, because you can’t untangle those things.
Read it if you’re a queer of any kind. This book is for you, to challenge you to think outside your letter. Cishet folks are welcome, but you’re a guest in Lawlor’s very queer house.
A taste (from the beginning – no spoilers here):
“He decided to break out the unopened European-style briefs his old sociology professor had inappropriately brought him back from Spain last summer. They looked enough like girls’ underwear and wouldn’t disrupt the line. He dropped his swishy loose army pants and his shoplifted French-cut boxers, and stared at his penis until it shrank, tucked itself into the tight little crawl- space of his former balls. He stepped into the black briefs and admired his smooth front with his hands and eyes, then found the red lace bra he’d borrowed from that girl in New York.”
I’m really glad I picked this up at Gay’s the Word book shop in London – it was a perfect read for Pride.
Follow me on Instagram for more #bookstagram reviews and photos: @brianreadsbooks