A full of emotion novel that will teach you so much about being a person and seeing what other people go through

Thank you Netgalley for a copy for an honest review

Drag is an interesting cultural aspect of modern society with songs and dance moves and beauty pageants and TV programmes. To read about a personal experience is fascinatingand helps develop understanding of those who participate in it. The different characters and their reasons for being in drag, and the issues they overcome help develop this understanding.

Sadly this didn’t hold my attention for long. It felt a little forced and lacked the vibrancy I was expecting from the author.

Beautifully written, refreshingly honest. Full of heart, humor, heartbreak and one individual’s trials and tribulations of finding and living their authentic selves.

It was a good read, informative laugh out loud funny and sad in parts too. I got bored wuth the political stuff. Overall I would recommend this book.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

This book is everything you could hope for. Hilarious, acerbic, humble, tragic, witty, fabulous - it has it all. Not only is Crystal Rasmussen an incredible performer but they are also a fantastic writer. Honestly, it's kind of hard not to hate them. I devoured this book so quickly that it gave me heartburn. It's not some shallow book by a z-grade celebrity with nothing to say. Instead, Crystal artfully utilises snort-inducing stories as a weapon to protect you from the heavier moments that seep through the cracks in some of the books more tender moments. Their friend, Amrou Al-Kadhi (aka Glamrou), published Unicorn: The Memoir of a Muslim Drag Queen (also an outstanding read) around the same time and these two books couldn't be more different but are also equally infused with charm and heartbreak. If you haven't read either of these titles yet then run, run, run to feast your eyes on it.

A year in the life of Crystal, Diary of a Drag Queen does exactly what it promises, full of with heart and hilarity. It's a brilliant exploration of social commentary, entertainment and the wonders of drag. Witty and wild.

A very funny, emotional book that does not shrink away from anything.
If you are easily offended or do not want to read about all of the in's and out's of sexual escapades, then this book is not for you.
I loved it.

Like many people, I love drag race and drag shows in general. So naturally when I saw this I had to read this. Such a joyous read by Rasmussen, bursting with colour, emotion and wonder.

What’s it About? It’s what is says on the tin, this one. It's a year in the life of Drag Queen Crystal Rasmussen, told through their personal diaries.
What I liked I love that this wasn't what I expected. I was expecting it to be glamourous and fabulous and full of witty and cutting drag queen escapades. It's not. It's raw and honest and yes ok sometimes it made me laugh but it also made me achingly sad. This book packs no punches - and nor should it. Crystal is telling - with unflinching honesty - what life is like for them, what life is like as part of the LGBT+ community and a lot of the time it isn't pretty. They talk about being punched in the face just because of how they look, of unrequited love and the hook-ups they hope will ease the pain. It's intimate - and by intimate I mean like really really intimate, and also graphic; this is not a book for the prudish. It's a 'tell it how it is' book and I liked that - and Rasmussen is a great writer.
What I liked Less Whilst I didn't have a problem with the more shocking anecdotes, or the sex scenes I couldn't help but wonder if really, they might have been included just for the shock value. I get that they happened and I get that they're part of the story as a whole and that this is a memoir and so it's not really for me to say what should and shouldn't be included but I don't know - I feel like this was part social commentary and part reminiscence about dirty sex and I would have really liked to have gotten to know Crystal themsleves just a little bit better.

This upset the more reserved side of me - not the subject matter but the language and style of writing.. It does convey the author's feelings of insecurity and attitude towards self-loathing but it too often felt as though it was being written purely to provoke and somehow prove something. However, this brazen approach could be exactly what appeals to some.
Written in diary format this provides little by way of descriptive background but packs in plenty of emotion and feeling. I was particularly touched by the way the author begins to understand how many men can feel constrained by society when his father recounts his desire to wear his black crackly nail polish.
For me, personally, this was very difficult and not very pleasant reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ebury Press (Penguin Random House) for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a wild ride through a year in Crystal's life, and one you won't regret being along for.

Part-autobiography, part rumination on queer identity, consent, racism, homophobia, heteronormativity and hyper-masculinity, Crystal Rasmussen’s Diary of a Drag Queen is a hilarious, honest, hugely educational book that is certainly not to be missed. As a gay, queer, femme, non-binary drag queen, Rasmussen lives every moment of their life authentically, not holding anything back, not pretending to be someone they are not to appeal to masses, and that is exactly what you will find within the pages of their book; a no holds barred, authentic, unflinching honest look at a year in their life in all of its gritty, fabulous, whirlwind glory.
Honestly, there is just something about Crystal Rasmussen, their life or their writing style or even just something about their narrative voice, that manages to make them feel like a friend; like you are sitting down and being dished all of the gossip on their life over the past few months over a few margaritas, instead of just reading about them in a book. And, let me be completely honest here, even if I had the opportunity to just be on the periphery of Crystal’s orbit, I would surely have ascended into heaven.
Because, you will laugh; laugh so much that you will not be able to read it on the train, or in a cafe, or even in your own living room when you’re sat with other people. As, even though I would love to sit down with someone and open their minds up to the topics that Rasmussen explores, I do not think that my elderly relatives would be able to handle the true realities of Grindr hook-ups, or sex clubs in Berlin.
Furthermore, the wittiness and intelligence that they bring to their humour, their frequent rumination about failing at love, or at sex, or at work, or even at life; translates effortlessly over to the more serious topics that are discussed. It is not a textbook, or an overly complex essay collection, instead the book feels like a more ‘woke’ friend giving you the nudge to explore more, to think more, to be more.
And, because of that and so much more, I know that I will always keep this book close at hand because, even if there is no one in my life that is there, or even just no one that understands, I know that Crystal always will.

I really enjoyed this book. Incredibly humorous although, be warned, the sex scenes are VERY explicit! Great read.

Not a book for squeamish prudes. Nothing held back in this hard to put down journey of self preservation and survival in the life of cross dressing entertainment artist Crystal. My heart goes out to the families and supporting network of friends who witness such harsh choices taken and given by living this life. It goes to some deep and dark places and will show you a life of which you can never have fully been aware unless your path and destiny crosses with this lifestyle. How incredibly brave to have opened up and spoken the truth of harsh and difficult times in this world of judgement and bigotry. To be loved and to love should be the basic right of every human being on this planet no matter how they appear to others. You will be shocked and moved by the truth and fear and be unbelievably lifted by the humour and comedy underneath the grime.

I really loved this! I have read reviews suggesting this is too crude or too vulgar, but I think the author does a lovely job of describing the reality of their life as well as the wider political issues facing non binary people, drag performers and the wider creative and arts community which stem from the working classes and rarely see recognition. Rasmussen has taught me a lot- I've laughed, and cried along with them, and I've questioned some of my own thinking along the way. An excellent read.

How often do you pick up a book to read and it turns out to be very different from what you expected?

Thinking along the lines of a book that I read a few months ago, I was expecting a tongue-in-cheek look at the glamorous side of being a drag queen, but this was very much more than that. It’s a stark look at sex, the right to identify as you wish and the prejudices that still arise from all sides of the LGBTQ+ community.

Told in diary format, the reader follows Crystal throughout a period of a year. It is a selection of powerful, amusing and incredibly moving stories that I took with a very large pinch of salt.

“Diary of a Drag Queen” was so intimately told by Crystal and it felt like I was a personal confidante. This made it very easy to like Crystal and therefore the book as a whole.

The diary style gave the author more ability to choose the parts to be shared or not and for me, some of these appeared to have been included to spice things up for their shock content. This affected some of the vital issues and points that were being made.

All in all, I really enjoyed this witty, thought-provoking and entertaining book and I think it was a very worthwhile read.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Penguin Random House UK, Ebury Publishing via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Drag Queen's are my guilty pleasure and I couldn't wait to read this! If you are in any way prudish then this is not the book for you, told in diary format we follow Crystals trials and tribulations on the drag scene.  There were moments that it didn't feel like it was a genuine diary that it felt far fetched and made up for comedic relief or shock value, and also being a Diary the author was able to pick and chose what to share which a lot of where merely for the shock value I feel, but none the less this book had me in tears of laughter one min, then shock, then serious the next.

This book is not for the faint hearted. It contains countless graphic sex scenes, some of which are pretty stomach churning. To be honest, I'd have preferred to learn more about Rasmussen's drag work than hear about yet another Grinder hook up.

However, there's also a lot of vulnerability here, as well as political discourse on sexuality and gender and an engaging sense of humour that makes this worth persevering with.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.