Finally he gains the courage - with the help of many great people in his life - to pursue his dream of becoming a drag queen and fully comprehend his (dull, reserved and unauthentic) life before. When life suddenly takes an unexpected turn, Ted is forced to re-evaluate his priorities and make some changes.

When Ted is pleading with Giles to not break up with him, to not abandon what they had - if Ted is going to squeal and mewl his pleas - I can not take it seriously.Anyone who has complicated feelings of putting family first, or whose parents expected their own needs to be met first, will recognise the family dynamics in Ted's relationships. Stanley is purely fantabulosa, he’s just an icon, super super lovable and funny, a great personality but we too get to see some of his painful past. He is rather a complex character, struggling with his sexuality against the background of family history and the social politics of his native country which have caused so much heartache.

Thankfully Ted is able to help Stanley feel more accepted in his home at Memory House, and Stanley is so proud of Ted for embracing his own wants in life, even at an older age, as it is a fitting tribute to all the LGBTQIA+ people who came before, and who couldn't live a life free to be who they were. A beautifully written story of one person’s struggle to find himself and become the person he always wanted to be. Emotional abuse, infidelity, friendships, marriage breakdowns and parental pressure, along with the issue of how sadly homophobia is still prevalent in some countries, play huge roles within Ted’s story. Chapters do not flow together seamlessly; in fact, there is a jump between each chapter where some amount of time has passed. Matt Cain really knows how to dish out the feel good vibes with love at factor 1000 to leave a reader glowing with happiness and romance.

This is revealed slowly throughout the book in a series of anonymous notes, but it doesn't actually add anything to the story. Even though the main story is about Ted realising who he really is inside and his journey to achieving his dream, there are some very important side stories too. This was a good choice in theory, as it allows us to get into the minds of each character and see their reasoning and perspective on events, but it is undercut by each character’s thought process not really being all that different from the others; they all talk about what is happening, remember something but refuse to go into detail right now because it is not the proper time to reveal this history to the reader, go through a bought of self doubt, and then make a remark in first person italics. Ted is not the only one on a road to self-discovery in this story of finding oneself and identifying and embracing and loving yourself as who you are.

This is something I really like in stories, and I think it was done well here, as we were continuously shown relevant scenes that inform Ted’s current fears or worries. This made every chapter feel like an individual scene, which continued to make this book feel like a play. Also seeing how Ted and Oskar became closer, how they each shared their personal histories, how Oskar reacted to Ted's decision to continue dressing in drag - how it made him unsure of himself and how it allowed for him to better embrace himself as a gay person, despite his reservations, despite his fears of not publicly coming out. Becoming Ted is a glorious read, a story of identity and belonging, of friendship and love — it’s a touching, joyous, heartwarming hug-in-a-book.He keeps himself to himself, his only happiness for the moment being his bicycle rides together with his determination to learn a new English word every day. Seeing his personality shine and taking brave and bold steps towards his future, warmed my heart and brought tears to my eyes. He doesn't feel Polish, he doesn't feel like an immigrant, he just doesn't feel developed enough full stop. And this is true for all three perspectives we are given, and a large part of what makes each character fundamentally sound the same — we don’t get to see inside any of their hearts and minds and are instead just passively told about them.