The House of Impossible Beauties: A Novel

Update (02/11/2018): I finished this book and I'm experiencing so many emotions that I'm not sure I'll be able to convey how incredibly beautiful this book is—it's so much more than a novel, it's an exquisite novel that pays overdue homage to the diverse voices of 1980s/1990s LGBT life that have often been overshadowed. Cassara has written a bold, raw, and compassionate story about life. He does an incredible job shedding light on the lives of transgender youth during a time that provided little support and resulted in many young people running away from home. Cassara's novel will stay with you, it will linger, it will command a permanent place in your heart. - - - - - - Disclaimer: I'm only 50 pages into this book, but I can't put it down. Joseph Cassara's novel is beautiful, raw, real, and... it's brilliant. It's a powerful novel that tells the stories of LGBT young people during the 1980s and 1990s. Through their stories, we bear witness to LGBT voices that have largely been overshadowed and under-told. In short, the stories have yearned to be shared and Cassara has given them a voice. The novel takes place at an important juncture in LGBT history and right from the beginning you're introduced to society's shifting views regarding LGBT people. From the first few pages, the novel takes off with a pace that immediately turns it into a page-turner. Cassara's novel is likely to receive many accolades, but my greatest hope for this book is that it's read far-and-wide by…

The characters were so real. You felt every emotion and cried at every death and injustice. You get so pulled in and engrossed in their lives, anticipating the next chapter even as you dread it, because you know another inevitable tragedy awaits in the coming pages. This was an emotional rollercoaster. Great debut album.