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A review by pero_tefi
The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara
4.0
This was honestly going to be a 5 stars, and logically I have no faults to add except that my heart has suffered because of all the characters that suffered and so my enjoyment was affected by the harsh amount of drama (mainly it started with Venus and then worsened with Juanito, I was still waiting for something to turn out well but nope).
The book in itself is about the house of Xtravaganza, the first all latin house of the Ball community in Harlem, New York. 17 year old Angel meets Henry, and so they decide to start a house, a found family, in which she would be able to help the young LGBTQ latin kids that ended up alone as they weren't accepted by their families. I kept thinking about POSE, the TV series, but many have mentioned the actual documentary of this house (yes, it is an actual house, this book counts as a mix of fiction and non-fiction), called Paris is Burning. I love reading about houses, and the way the community in the AIDS burst, when they received the most hatred, found each other. But the book also shows how even finding people who care, and do their best, is sometimes not enough, and its not because love was lacking, but because thats just humanity. The things the characters that one loves end up doing, the feelings as you read how they lose themselves, how they make mistakes, and you can't do anything to help, you can't even give them a hug, is so painful. And it worsens with the scenes of love, and how maybe just a change in words could have kept things from happening, but it's such a small hope, because no one could have guessed how bad it got, and no one was to blame.
I don't think I will forget this book, or even Angel, Venus, Juanito and Daniel. Even if there were fictional events, I know these characters are somehow real, that the experiences and emotions are real, and are out there. im so sorry that its real.
The book in itself is about the house of Xtravaganza, the first all latin house of the Ball community in Harlem, New York. 17 year old Angel meets Henry, and so they decide to start a house, a found family, in which she would be able to help the young LGBTQ latin kids that ended up alone as they weren't accepted by their families. I kept thinking about POSE, the TV series, but many have mentioned the actual documentary of this house (yes, it is an actual house, this book counts as a mix of fiction and non-fiction), called Paris is Burning. I love reading about houses, and the way the community in the AIDS burst, when they received the most hatred, found each other. But the book also shows how even finding people who care, and do their best, is sometimes not enough, and its not because love was lacking, but because thats just humanity. The things the characters that one loves end up doing, the feelings as you read how they lose themselves, how they make mistakes, and you can't do anything to help, you can't even give them a hug, is so painful. And it worsens with the scenes of love, and how maybe just a change in words could have kept things from happening, but it's such a small hope, because no one could have guessed how bad it got, and no one was to blame.
I don't think I will forget this book, or even Angel, Venus, Juanito and Daniel. Even if there were fictional events, I know these characters are somehow real, that the experiences and emotions are real, and are out there. im so sorry that its real.