I Might Be in Trouble by Daniel Aleman was so much fun to read. I haven't been able to read much all year, but this one was good it reinvigorated me. I thought it was going to be a queer thriller that I would just breeze through but the captivating writing and endearing protagonist had me hooked and locked in until the end. There were so many moments I laughed at the ridiculous things that kept happening but by the end I was in literal tears. I couldnt help but fall in love with David and hes a character I won't easily forget.

I really vibed with Aleman's writing style and found myself pausing at some really beautiful and introspective prose. Wrapped up in the fast-paced mystery were some interesting themes of queer, dating/hook up culture, grief, parental death, father-son relationships, racist stepparents, imposter syndrome and behind the scenes of the publishing world. My heart broke every time David had to interact with his father and stepmother. I really just wanted him to win because people treated him so poorly at times. Aleman did a great job balancing the laugh out loud moments with pulling at the heartstrings emotional scenes. Overall, this was such a great read and left me wanting to read more from Aleman.

Here are some of my favorite quotes:
▪︎ "Fiction is fiction, David....."Except that it isn’t. Fiction contains truth and everyone knows that."
▪︎ "Isn't it a privilege, really? To want and be wanted back? To have loved and lost—not once, not twice, but five times?"
▪︎ "Different people draw the line at different places."
▪︎ "I'll never understand why everyone is so quick to judge people with daddy issues but not the fathers who are responsible for causing those issues in the first place."
▪︎ "What I find funny, though, is that people talk about dreams coming true as if it were a point of arrival—a final destination, and once you've reached it, there should be no going back."
▪︎ "I guess grief can do that to you—it erases your memory, erases parts of you that you never even knew you were losing until one day you look back and realize that they're gone."

Thank you to @grandcentralpub @hearourvoicesbt for the gifted copy and tour opportunity.