Sara's Review of The House of Impossible Beauties
Title: The House of Impossible Beauties
Author: Joseph Cassara
Bookseller: Sara Franco (@girlintinyhat)
Happy Pride month all!! I try my hardest to read and support authors and people from the LGBTQ+ community all year round but Pride month is such a wonderful month and such a great time to really dig in and find some new LGBTQ+ voices to love.
Confession time: I got an advanced copy of this book many, many moons ago and then let it sit on my shelf. I never felt like I was in the right head space to pick up something like this. I wanted to be in a space of absorption rather than escapism. I felt that this book need to be read and absorbed and cherished and I was right!
At the beginning we meet Angel, Venus, Dorian, Hector, Daniel, Juanito. Not in that order and not all at once but we learn that they make up the House of Xtravaganza. A house where they are always welcome, always loved and never, ever judged.
This is a book about being who you are and never apologizing for it despite the rest of society telling you to. It all takes place in the late 80's when the threat of and the reality of AIDS was at one of its highest peaks and the tragedy that underlies the story is felt through the pages.
This book tugged at my heart strings, it made me smile from the fierceness of the characters and it made me tear up in joy at the love they had for one another. All around this book was an incredible read, we see everything happening through the eyes of each character and get a glimpse into their thoughts and feelings. It was a wonderful tool to make sure we knew every character and we were given a chance to root for and feel for each and every one of them.
I just think that this book is beautiful from start to finish and everywhere in between the book and story and especially the characters are beautiful. There are moments of pain that we are witness to but I found that, that pain was important to see and added so much depth to the story. I think that the thing I liked most about it was that the pain and sadness kind of lingered through the whole book but not as a gimmick but rather because life can be tragic. It made everything feel real and tangible and it added so much to the whole book.
This is a wonderful book that I hope to be able to recommend to as many people as possible. It is genuinely just a wonderful book that has all the feels in it. 4 stars for sure!
You can follow Sara on instagram: @girlintinyhat
See her other book reviews here: Sara F.
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