i wanted to like this book, but it was seriously flawed in its construction. it's the story of a young trans man. he has a bit of a stormy relationship with his father, who was largely absent while he was growing up, but they re-connect soon after the protaganist transitions & the dad is starting to feel his mortality. eventually the father gets sick & the protag takes care of him while he dies. after the father's death, the young man finds his inheritance: a box full of love letters exchanged b

i wanted to like this book, but it was seriously flawed in its construction. it's the story of a young trans man. he has a bit of a stormy relationship with his father, who was largely absent while he was growing up, but they re-connect soon after the protaganist transitions & the dad is starting to feel his mortality. eventually the father gets sick & the protag takes care of him while he dies. after the father's death, the young man finds his inheritance: a box full of love letters exchanged between his parents during their courtship, & an old photograph of the woman on the cover, who is a mexican poet & radical feminist. the young man discovers that this poet lady & his grandmother had some kind of youthful affair & maybe were the OTP (one true pairing). somehow this inspires the young man to ditch claifornia & move to new york, & this is where things fall apart. within like three pages, the dude meets some woman at a party, & i don't know. she sounds fucking obnoxious to me, like natalie portman's character in "garden state," but frillier. i'm just not into frippery & ridiculousness. i am attracted to practicality & efficiency in prospective dates. if i wanted glitter & flowers everywhere, i would have been a raver or a party planner. anyway. the next thing we know, this pair has been together for seven years. huh? & then 9/11 happens. huh? & the girlfriend flips the fuck out & disappears in the middle of the night & won't tell the protag where she is--only that she somehow feels the need to help survivors of 9/11. what the fuck is going on here? then the girlfriend comes back. & then she leaves again. & this is all supposed to be really emotionally wrenching & horrific. i mean, it eats up literally half the book. but i just don't care because this relationship wasn't built up at all & i'm still thinking that the girlfriend sounded annoying just from the party scene, let alone all these ridiculous flights of fancy to help 9/11 survivors. & there's an occasional foray into the past, with this poet lady making out with the protag's knocked up grandma, & i'm like, wait, what in the fuck is happening? did i fall asleep somewhere? is there an editor or a competent novel plotter in the house? the language is pretty gorgeous, & the basic elements of the story could have been pulled together into something really compelling, but as is, it's kind of a hot mess. three stars was a touch generous.