In the wake of his father’s suicide, sixteen-year-old Aaron Soto struggles to find happiness in his Bronx housing project. While his girlfriend Genevieve supports him, Aaron develops an intense bond with a new friend, Thomas, which leads him to question his sexual identity. Disoriented by his neighborhood's internal prejudices and his own lingering grief, Aaron considers undergoing a memory-alteration procedure at the Leteo Institute. This medical intervention promises to suppress painful memories and unwanted attractions, offering a permanent way to forget his past and conform to social expectations.
LGBTQ+ youth and readers of contemporary young adult fiction turn to this story for its direct look at the intersection of poverty and identity. It attracts those interested in how speculative technology might interact with the human psyche. The reader gains an understanding of the relationship between trauma and personal history, concluding that identity is formed through experiences that cannot be surgically removed without losing oneself. The narrative demonstrates the difficulty of finding self-acceptance in environments that demand conformity.
- Published
- 2015
- Language
- EN
