Review: The Times I Knew I Was Gay

The Times I Knew I Was Gay by Eleanor Crewes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love autobiographical graphic novels. It love learning about people - and with a graphic novel, you get to know more about the person than just the words that they share - you get to literally see how they see themselves in the way that they draw themselves. I'd had this on my radar to read for awhile, but a combination of it being a book club read and it being Pride Month made me glad to pick this up.

Ellie's story isn't one of someone that knew she was gay from an early age. In fact, for a long time, she tried living a straight life and just thought she wasn't doing something right. This is the story of how she maneuvered trying to fit in, to hide parts of herself so that she would fit in with the kids around her. She talks about her relationships with men, her high school and college years, her realization that she was gay, and then hiding that realization from herself for several more years. She looks unflinchingly at the various relationships that she's had - friendships and family relationships as well as romantic ones. It's a wonderful story of acceptance that I would recommend to anyone, especially those who are either coming to accept themselves as they are or accept a loved one as the same.

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