This is one of those books that was exactly what I needed to read in the exact moment I read it. However, it's also incredible in its own right. (Shraya is a rare stars who writes both polemics and fiction with equal fluidity.) It follows two South Asian trans artists working in Toronto. They're both about the same age, and one is established as a niche singer, and one is rising on the popular music scene. They become friends. It gets complicated.

I really liked seeing a portrayal of friendship and community over romance. There are six or seven major characters, all of whom are South Asian women, none of whom have major romance plots. What matters, for the purposes of this story is friendship, and friendship is really difficult sometimes, and sometimes can be life ruining.

What Shraya really captured for me was the complexities and emotional roller coaster when close friendship is combined with creative fields where there's a perceived scramble for limited attention and resources, and success is a zero sum game, then adding the funhouse mirrors of social media. The perspectives and actions of all the characters made so much sense, and it gives the story the rolling weight of a Shakespearian tragedy. I read straight through with my heart in my throat, knowing this was going to end badly despite everyone involved trying so hard to avoid ruin. So much of the book is about a struggle to have a functional community in a culture that seems to mandate competition, as well as, after, how to attempt to repair the damage and heal. Without spoilers, the ending is one of the best punches to the heart I've run into in a long, long time.

There's also some funny and cutting commentary on race in the Canadian arts scene, in an "Oh, God, I knew these people" kind of way.