A review by scruffycat
The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara

challenging dark sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This novel is about the ball scene in New York in the 80s, and while it's an important story to tell, this wasn't the best resource for this. Many of the people in that scene suffered terribly, as do many trans people, from violence, discrimination, lack of economic opportunity, and the devastation of AIDS. 

Generally, that scene is lauded for the amazing resilience and creation of found families, the attitude that if the world wasn't going to give anything to the people, they'd create their own support systems.  That focus is only seen in brief glimpses here. Instead, the author chooses to go deep into the brutality.  It doesn't seem that the author has empathy for the characters, which makes the whole book comes across as suffer porn. It's difficult and, frankly, I'd recommend watching the TV series Pose instead. Pose contains some of the same exact stories, which I'm guessing is based on research on the real-life people in that scene, but treats the characters with love and honor while still acknowledging the tragedies.    
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