This was a really great book by influencer Dylan Mulaney! I was already a fan of hers, and I really appreciated her candidness here as well as her sharing all the ups and downs of the past few years. It was also great to hear her read the audiobook in her own voice!

<b>“Everyone hates women. Men hate women and women hate women. It’s the one thing we can all agree on.” -The Barbie Movie</b>

As a cis woman, I can genuinely say that most of these experiences are just part of being a woman, only amplified. It really hurts my heart that the progress of womanhood is set so far back by our own gender. Adding trans women to our ranks doesn’t take anything away from us. In fact, I think it’s helping us. It’s shed a light on already existing sexism. I really hope for a world where people like Dylan don’t have to be the guinea pigs or the punching bags. Especially over something so fluid as gender norms.

There were moments in this book where I felt like Dylan was a little out of touch, but I think she herself would be the first one to acknowledge her own privilege. There were also moments where I felt extreme empathy for her. How taxing it must be to be a social media influencer. How mentally exhausting it must be to be chronically online. Most of all how lonely. It’s really a stark reminder that you don’t know what people are going through.

As for beergate… fuck that beer company and fuck all the companies that have rolled back their DEI programs. This will come back to bite them in the ass, and soon. It’s clear as day that this is the conservative fascists last attempt to gain total and complete control, because if they don’t take complete control, we are going back with our liberal vengeance.


Thank you to NetGalley and RBMedia for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I followed Dylan through her girlhood journey on Insta and although she's a little extra (to my introverted self) I loved listening to her story and highly recommend the audiobook so you can hear it all in her voice! No matter what your views are, this woman is resilient, smart, and undeniably kind. Her journey was not an easy one but she made me laugh out loud more than once!
Thanks to RBmedia and NetGalley for the audiobook for review!

Thank you to Netgalley and RecordedBooks for this ALC.

I love Dylan as a person and think shes amazing, however this book just isn't for me. It felt disjointed and all over the place, and I can't handle that in writing. I think that maybe the book should have gone though another round of edits, but I also understand that it was structured off of how she talks normally, so I can't complain too much.

It just wasn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia for the ARC!

I usually love memoirs regardless of its intended target audience, but I feel like the target demographic for this memoir in particular is very niche, and I simply don't fit into it. I like and support Dylan and wish her the best always, but this missed the mark for me because of the detached LA haze covering her life that I, as someone from a UK working class background, can just not relate to. It reminded me A LOT of Paris Hilton's memoir, and it wasn't a surprise when the Hilton sisters were mentioned in the thanks and acknowledgments. I enjoyed PH's memoir, but had the same issue with the LA vs ROW detachment.

Aside from the actual content, I found Mulvaney to be a great narrator. Her pace matched the high-speed associated with her TikTok videos, she was very emotive and brought life to the words, and it was easy to listen and remain engaged. Unfortunately there are some editing issues with lines repeating, but I'm sure these have already been flagged in a QC.

3/5

P.S. The cover is GORGEOUS

What a brave girl Dylan Mulvaney is. I loved listening to her story throughout. Highs and lows and really projecting such a positive attitude is inspiring. Reading this book has reminded me of the importance in showing others you are an ally and speaking out.

Thank you for sharing your story - its just beginning!

5 Stars - thank you Netgalley for the advanced reader copy!

I absolutely loved this book! This was the perfect read for the Trans Rights Readathon. I think way too many people think they need to write a memoir for some reason, but if there's anyone who should it’s Dylan Mulvaney. She has so many stories — that are so important and deserve to be told — and she's such a good story teller. I loved hearing her tell it herself, but I honestly want to go buy a physical copy now!

Being privileged to have been born into my true gender, I cannot even imagine how many issues might other people have. This book truly opened my eyes that non-binary and transitioning people don’t just struggle with broad issues like acceptance by the society or the government, but they also have every day challenges, even as small as making a decision what bathroom to use in the cafe.
I had never even thought how deeply traumatic their experiences can be and how mentally strong one should be to go the transition path hoping that one day life will finally get easier and bring the true sense of belonging.
Thank you Dylan and NetGalley for introducing me to this. I hope that if I ever meet a trans girl I won’t misgender her, I hope I’ll be kind, supportive, and maybe even able to share at least one advise about girlhood with her.

Growing up as a 90’s kid you weren’t really pushed to be your inner self. That if your inside didn’t really match your outside, well that’s ok. Just keep on being the outside you…. Don’t you want to fit in? But what that taught us was to be better to our children…. Raise them how you wanted.
This has also taught me to look outside the box, to learn more about others to better serve them and sympathize with people’s struggles. My children are better people with more diverse groups of friends…. I loved Dylan’s raw power to expose herself to teach me how to understand what she felt and how she opened herself up to new experiences to teach me to be more sympathetic to things I don’t understand but what to.
Dylan is such a trailblazer for me. So many times in my own life I’ve questioned myself in the darkness never allowing those things to see the light of day for fear of being mocked but Dylan is showing me and others that by allowing others to see that rawness it can help so many people discover something special about themselves.

I enjoyed Dylan's book and I am always a big fan of listening to audiobooks narrated by the author themselves as it gives a unique perspective of the story as it is meant to sound. I think Dylan did a good job documenting her journey and I'm sure big things still lay in her future.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC! And a huge thank you to Dylan for sharing your story with us. In our political environment today, it is essential that we listen to the voices of the trans community. I didn't know of Dylan before reading her memoir, but it was a delight to hear her honest experiences. Her story is so funny and lighthearted but also reflective to hear her journey about her transition.

i don't usually five memoirs but this was SO good. i'm so happy she narrated this herself and even without the supporting illustrations, i loved listening to it. it was funny, it was sad, it was relatable.

Definitely recommend listening to this memoir as it’s read in Dylan’s voice and makes it super fun. She sings in it which I feel you really get a sense of who she is. Do I think some parts scream privilege, absolutely, but she also touches on that. I think we all can admit at times we have some privilege in us so it didn’t bug me. Obviously, I’m an ally with the LGBTQ+ community and trans community so it didn’t bug me. If you have an issue with that community, don’t read this book, simple as that. I love memoirs because you learn so much more about a person, their struggles, their interests, their friendships, etc. I think Dylan covered a lot in this book and made it fun and casual as well.

This is one of my new favorite memoirs! I've been following Dylan since she began her Day #___ of Girlhood series on TikTok. She did such a beautiful job telling her story in a way that was vulnerable, but filled with her signature bubbly sense of humor. This is also great for fans of I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy.

I don't typically rate memoires, but I very much enjoyed every moment of this book. I hadn't been familiar with Dylan Mulvaney before receiving this ARC, but I absolutely wanted to support them as they share their journey. The book is read by Dylan themself, and I very much enjoy their personality.

Thank you for sharing your story with us, Dylan. I feel that I will definitely be supporting you in your future endeavors and look forward to learning more about you.

I remember the first time I saw Dylan on TikTok (the early, early days of girlhood like Day 12 or something) & not quite understand who this person was but knowing immediately that she & I would be friends. And that’s what this book felt like, just two friends chit chatting away. Tea was spilled, tears were shed & at the end it felt like a giant hug.

Thank you so much to NetGalley & the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Trans Rights Readathon 2025 #2

I have no time for conservatives or TERFs. I unfortunately had to turn off comments from non-friends due to other reviews, but please feel free to see yourself out if you "don't believe in LGBTQ+." Thanks.

I actually wasn't familiar with Dylan before this book, but I enjoyed the epistolary style on audio. It's giving middle school diary, which I obviously had.

I get having conservative parents. I get disagreeing with them while still loving them. I hate that Dylan deals with so much hatred. I hate the current administration. I don't think the last one did much better, but that's neither here nor there.

Anyway, read this for a little queer joy. And obviously, trans lives matter.

tw: misgendering, suicidal ideation, transphobia

🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Recorded Books

thank you Dylan, NetGalley, and Abrams for this advanced reader audiobook copy in exchange for an honest review.

i knew very little of dylan before this book. i have just seen her with chris olsen while scrolling my fyp a few times. this story was so informative and vulnerable and i can't thank her enough for that. i know she will get hate for this story, but i hope she see's how many LGBTQIA+ she will be helping. so much personality and love in these pages!

I remember watching Dylan’s first 100 days of girlhood on TikTok, and being aware of the backlash she received for living and thriving in a world that continues to barely allows transgender people to survive.

Paper Doll: Notes from a late bloomer was a bittersweet anecdotal memoir, with Dylan narrating her story of coming out, parental relationships, accessing gender affirming care, and of course: going viral on TikTok throughout her early days of girlhood.

I enjoyed listening to Dylan, and listened to her whole book in one day!

Dylan Mulvaney's Paper Doll was an amazing listen that I recommend everybody listen to. It is imformative and captivating from start to end.

I followed Dylan's transition into womanhood day by day and loved that she was open to showing her transition to the world so that everybody who was willing to watch could follow along for the journey. Hearing everything she went through, including the whole Beer-gate debacle and how those who are unwilling to open their minds to the possibilty that not everybody is a "one-size" fits all gender, she is somebody that the trans community should look up to because she advocates for everybody. I have always considered myself an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, with my sister having come out to me when they were a teenager, to gage how it would be taken by our parents. They are now proudly out and proud and I love that for them because they can live their authentic life, how they want to, other people's opinions be damned.

While I can see why Dyaln wouldn't want to be the face of the Trans community, especially when there are plenty of others to come before her. She has helped guide the way to show that she is who she always has been, except for who she was on the outside and she decided to do something about it to look exaclty how she felt. I loved the humor and emotion that she shared with the world .

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free audiobook copy of Paper Doll by Dyaln Mulvaney.