With an unapologetically forthright portrayal of this aggressively queer-unfriendly world and xenophobia's generational echoes in North America, Kim Fu stuns with her debut novel.

If one is (very fairly and understandably) looking for a more joyful story (along the lines of If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo), that is not this book

(though the ending is happy)

. If one can contend with the emotional challenges and portrayals of queerphobia, I highly recommend this novel. To me, it read as a trans, bildungsroman story prioritizing elucidation and a cogent appeal to compassion of cis readers. This entails certain pros and cons, of course, but I think it feels appropriate considering the author's individual standpoint.

Support a queer author and their incredible debut novel!