This book is written mostly diary style, which is nice, and sounds very much like I'd imagine a conversation with Dylan going. It gives a pretty honest look at what it's like to transition as an influencer. I do appreciate Dylan addressing how privileged she was to be able to get and afford the affirming healthcare that she needed as quickly as she did.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Abrams | Abrams Image and to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I really like Dylan and I was really excited to see that she had a book. I knew that it was one that I must read.

I loved hearing about her journey navigating being a trans person. She shares her story with humor and I really liked that. I listened to part of this as an audiobook ( which she reads) and I highly recommend it.

I love Dylan Mulvaney. I loved hearing how much she’s learned in the last few years especially since beergate. I loved hearing that she pointed out that she doesn’t speak for every trans person.

So glad I got to read this memoir! Great writing and interesting to hear her story. A wonderful read!

Thank you NetGalley and Dylan Mulvaney!

I'm fairly familiar with Dylan from TikTok and other social media, but as I'm a Millennial and she's Gen Z, I'm not quite as intimately familiar with her goings on as someone a few years younger may be. However, I think her book, which includes essays in the "present" day and journal entries from the start of her very public transition, is a vulnerable look at her life, both as a trans woman and a newfound celebrity. She's funny, honest, and genuine, and I think her likability make this a quick, easy, and enjoyable reading experience.

I really loved hearing the past few years from Dylan’s perspective! She is such a cool and funny person and this book reflects that so well.

I loved the style of this book - the journal entries interspersed with essays about specific points of her journey.

If you would enjoy reading a memoir from Dylan Mulvaney, I would highly recommend this book. I’d also recommend it if you are curious about her perspective, how a trans influencer came to be, or if you enjoy pop culture and memoirs!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dylan's publishers for an advance copy of this book!

While I had this ARC before the election, I only picked it up after, which made Dylan's story all the more important, urgent, and powerful. AND, I deeply appreciate the power in Dylan's reflections because these reflections clearly come from an authentic place, which I find refreshing.

Highly, highly recommend.

Once again, I need to gush over have beautiful the cover is. Dylan is GORGEOUS.
Knowing Dylan from TikTok is one thing, but this memoir is so much more. This was like reading Dylan's diary, sometimes literally because she did put in diary entries. I loved this. It was so intimate to hear how her transition was, how her rise to fame went and how she handled (and didn't). I loved jumping back and forth with the narrative. This was truly beautiful. Thank you for letting us in.

Paper Doll was a very unique and interesting read that gave context to a lot the "controversy" surrounding Dylan Mullaney and her transition. While reading Paper Doll I actually realized that I knew very little about who Dylan was beyond her TikTok account.

The things Iiked about Paper Doll:
The formatting of the diary like entries really humanize Dylan and her point of view on the events of her first year as a woman.
The essay format portions really helped flesh out who Dylan is as a person, and why she is so interesting.
I like that Dylan acknowledges that her journey as a transwoman and as a woman is her own, and that she can't and doesn't want to speak for everyone whose story may be similar to hers.

What I didn't like:
The journal entries and the essay sections are strong separately, but I didn’t like the combination of the two. The switch between formatting, grammar, etc. between the two styles of writing was just distracting enough for me and my ADHD that I struggled to read the book. Sometimes the transition between the two portions was confusing, and I kept having to reread parts because I felt like I was missing things.

The online journal quality of ALL CAPS was kind of jarring, and I would have to back track because I was so focused on the caps and would have to reread those pages again to be able to focus on the words surrounding them. This was kind of frustrating for me personally. (I know that's a personal thing, though, and not everyone who will read this has the same processing issues as me.)

I know Paper Doll is going for an authentic and candid retelling of Dylan's experience, but there were a few situations where I felt like I was given too much information about a situation. Again, this is a personal preference thing, though. While I don't consider myself a prude, some of the little asides included were too detailed for me. The only thing I can think to compare the experience to is when you order a Sprite, and then when you take the first sip of your drink and its Coke, and your brain goes "did I order this?!"

Overall, I really did enjoy reading Paper Doll. I think Dylan Mulvaney and her team did a great job of really putting her voice in the book from start to finish. The book feels like you could be scrolling through Dylan's TikTok's, and listening to her explain these situations herself, and I think that's really what sets it aside from other memoirs that end up feeling a little too clinical.

My favorite quote (that foreshadowed the ups and downs of her year):

"These days, sometimes I don’t know if feeling like you are “the moment” is worth it. It’s a dangerous thing to believe, that you have IT, that you’ve obtained IT, because then at any moment IT can be gone. IT is disposable."

I want to thank Netgalley, Abrams, and Dylan Mulvaney for providing me with a copy of Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book so much, and truly, made me go back to some of the horrible things I have seen on the internet about Dylan, and by reading her own words I can see that we will never really know what other are going through.

I loved the first person narration. Dylan made me feel a part of her journey through the pages. I liked all the background explained on her childhood and teen years, but also of course her journey through the 365 Days of Girlhood.

I though this was a fun, interesting, honest and informative memoir. I appreciate the author's vulnerability and honesty.

I really enjoyed this memoir - I love the first person narration, it really felt like Dylan is talking directly to me while reading. That personal style of writing works really well for me in a memoir, especially one with such personal stories as this one.

Dylan is so raw in this book, you can feel her emotions as she's writing the journal entries, and how the mass public opinion is affecting her daily life. I thought the stories about her mother were truly heart breaking, and it was very brave to share those parts of her story. Having someone so important not being as supportive as you like or need is such a real and relatable struggle, so including those stories adds some value here as well.

I wish the arc had all of the illustrations, but I guess I'll just have to buy a copy once it's published to get to see them all for myself!

Paper Doll is a charming expansion on her "Days of Girlhood" tiktok series. Mulvaney's enthusiastic personality makes this book very fun to read, even in its more serious moments. Overall, I really enjoyed learning more about Dylan and I love how well the cover works with the book's essays, illustrations, and diary entries.

Sometimes I struggle with memoirs who are written by young people, especially those who are considered "influencers", but I didn't have trouble with this one. I've been following Dylan since the early days of her "Days of Girlhood" Tiktok series, and find her to be such a funny and delightful personality. Although Dylan is young and has a lot more to experience (I'm sure she'll have so much success), she still has plenty of wisdom to share in this book, especially when it pertains to figuring out your gender identity, exploring sexuality, navigating family dynamics when coming out, and being a public figure who is exposed to scrutiny. I like that the book is told in a sort of diary style, which makes it feel like you're one of Dylan's close, personal friends and she's telling you these stories at a sleepover. It makes for a casual, quick read that will still leave an impression.

I realy like Dylan, I don't know how anyone can not like her. Such a good story teller, you can't help but route for her. Loved this book!

Having watched some of Dylan's TikToks early on and being familiar with the unfair backlash she faced after her brand sponsorship took a turn, I was interested in learning more about her story. The structure of the book works well, alternating between the year of her public transition and providing larger context by sharing her experiences in the time before and since. Of course I would recommend this to her fans, but I also think many people who are unfamiliar with her story would find it interesting and informative.

One of the most beautiful and authentic memoirs I’ve read yet.

Mulvaney’s personality is reflected through her writing style which makes Paper Doll such a fun read! Not only is she naturally funny and enthusiastic, she also shows a very raw and emotional side to herself that will have anyone—no matter who they are or how they identify—empathizing and, at their best, trying to understand her struggles, desires, and fears.

Even though the book is a collection of notes, essays, journal entries, and fun illustrations(!), Mulvaney’s organization forms her journey through womanhood in an understandable narrative like a story. Not only did this make reading Paper Doll an even more enjoyable experience (as someone who reads fiction more often than nonfiction), it also helped me follow along and keep track of all the events and people in Mulvaney’s life.

There’s so many things to learn when it comes to educating yourself about trans experiences, and Mulvaney puts you in her heels to guide you along through that. Whether it be “Trans 101” or how heartbreakingly painful experiencing gender dysphoria can be, Paper Doll has that all and then some. There’s parts within that I find myself relating to so very deeply, and had me exploring my own self and identity as well (in a good, much needed way), and I think that’s a testament to how much Mulvaney put her realest self and heart into this while establishing that medium of experience and education to reach out to her audience.

Paper Doll is a must-read for everyone, but especially for those who love Mulvaney or wish to learn what being transgender is like—more specially, being a trans woman in a growing world.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing an ARC (Advanced Readers Copy). This review is based off of an uncorrected proof.

"𝕋𝕚𝕜𝕋𝕠𝕜 𝕗𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕞𝕖 𝕦𝕡, 𝕓𝕚𝕘 𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕞𝕖, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕒 𝕕𝕖𝕧𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕞𝕖"

“𝔸𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕕 𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕡𝕖𝕠𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕞𝕖 𝕘𝕠, 𝕀 𝕒𝕝𝕤𝕠 𝕜𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕛𝕠𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤"

Two of my fav quotes from this book sum up Dylan’s journey perfectly. Her desire to be a voice for trans people while also knowing some people hate her so much for being her true self. Luckily for everyone, she didn’t let those people win.

You know that person that when they meet you they start talking to you like you’re their best friend in the whole entire world? That’s this audiobook.

I honestly can’t say enough good things about this memoir. All the ways I could describe how friendly, deep, thoughtful, insightful, compelling, funny, witty, and fun this memoir is gets lost in how badly I want to describe the genius that was dylan’s narration.

I absolutely loved the layout of this ebook. The journal format, the doodles, the “cue this song for this specific emotion”, the intro, her ending words and everything in between. This book is Dylan Mulvaney through and through from how it’s read to how it’s written. You can’t get more honest than this.

This memoir took me through all my feelings, and I absolutely loved it. Dylan narrating this memoir herself basically turns an audiobook into a one-woman play. SHE.IS.AMAZING. She tells the story the way she intended it to be read, and no one could’ve done it better.

You’ll be happy you listened and lucky you got to take this journey through girlhood with a woman who is still figuring it out like the rest of us

Dylan explores adulthood, sex, queerness, transitioning, motherhood, friendship, finding purpose, social media, social media cleansing, speaking her truth, identity, sexuality, bullying, abuse, childhood trauma, transphobia, girlhood and womanhood. So be prepared to cry, laugh, grieve, and have a rip roaring time with this gal.

She goes into depth about personal topics that most people would overthink too much. But Dylan puts it alllll out there and makes us realize that us females have dealt with what she’s going through: first kisses, losing our virginity, penis tucking lol, and getting naked with your best friend from childhood and chilling in the bath tub.

She realizes her worth doesn’t come from the number of followers you have or the number of external factors giving you free stuff or inviting you to celebrity events. It comes from within, and sometimes a night in, journaling, and eating junk food is better for you than accepting an invite to fashion week.

Do you want a blatantly honest and real account of girlhood from a unique perspective? That’s what you get with Dylan Mulvaney.

PAPER DOLL by Dylan Mulvaney is the trans memoir that has been missing from my life. Dylan has such life, light, and heart and every word she writes springs from the page with such honesty and humor - even the really, really difficult bits. I love Dylan and she is such a treasure. It was such a pleasure and a joy to get to experience her words so early and I can't wait for the world to learn more about this queen!

Paper Doll: Notes From A Late Bloomer by Dylan Mulvaney is just fantastic! I could not put it down.

I have been following Dylan’s journey since discovering her “Days of Girlhood” series here on Instagram. Dylan is a trans woman who very publicly shared her transition in her mid-20s. Shortly after celebrating her first “official” year of girlhood, she became the target of an insane amount of hate for participating in a Bud Light ad campaign. Getting to hear the details of her story in her own words in this book was just perfection and made me love her that much more.

I loved that she started the book with “How to Read Paper Doll Without Wanting to Pull Your Hair Out,” and gave a guide to the timelines in the book. The book alternates between journal entries from her first 365 days of transitioning (2022-2023) and essays, primarily from the months and years following that period.

Hearing that she told her mom who she is as a 4-year-old (and obviously wasn’t affirmed at that point…) and following the journey of their relationship was really impactful. And it’s just written so authentically in her voice, it felt like she was sitting next to me just telling me her story as a friend. (Gosh I wish we were friends!!)

So to all my fellow memoir fans - this one is a must-read!

I adore this book. I've watched Dylan's journey on social media for quite a while, and it was nice to see/read the story in a different way. The written words of Dylan are just beautiful and heartbreaking and raw and real. Just a beautiful book.