​We the Animals by Justin Torres is a novel about three brothers who live with an abusive father. The youngest, and the narrator, describes moments where they play around with their mother at the kitchen when they were young, and watch as their father digs a hole and they all go inside it, in addition to other moments. One day, the mother decides to pack up everything and the boys to try and flee the father, but as they hang around the park, the mother can’t bring herself to completely leave so they return home. We get moments of the boys throwing rocks at a neighbor’s house, and the neighbor’s son invites them into his basement where they watch gay porn. Another moment where the father takes the youngest to Niagara Falls, dangles him over the edge, and when they arrive at a museum, the father notes how pretty his son is. All of it comes to a head when the boys are older and the youngest hangs around a bus station restroom hoping to have sex with men. Eventually, as a bus driver asks him where he’s going, he is brought onto the bus where the man touches him. When the youngest arrives home however, his family has found his journal which he’s written down his fantasies. This causes his parents to take him to get institutionalized. At the end, right before they’re about to make him leave their home, his father bathes him while his mother watches, and his brothers sit outside in their truck.
 
Torres writes so succinctly and powerfully that the characters feel so real in their rendition. We get to see the collective feeling of the brothers in the beginning due to the abusiveness of their father, which showcases the brothers splintering in the end of the novel. Its lyrical quality reminds me of Ocean Vuong’s writing which felt completely heartbreaking but also true to the character’s experiences. I particularly felt that the chapter ‘Us Proper’ worked so well with the voice that Torres cultivates. The brothers are brash and violent which is a product of how they were treated by their father. I remember hearing on a Tin House podcast that because he was on a bus, he had to write one of the chapters in his head and memorize it. The novel is short, but every word felt so intentional. I think it’ll be one of those novels I’ll be returning to over and over again.
 
Final Rating: 5/5

​How We Named the Stars by Andrés N. Ordorcia is a novel about a man, Daniel, who comes to terms with his sexuality upon meeting his college roommate in Ithaca, Sam. Sam is a soccer player who doesn’t fit the ordinary understanding of being queer. However, as Daniel and Sam get to know each other, there are signs that Daniel picks up on: being spooned during a camping trip, kisses, stares, and touches that last a little too long for mere friendship. As their freshman year progresses, they run with each other and the tension of Daniel’s love pulls them together. All of Daniel’s friends encourage him to be more forthright with Sam, where they go to a queer party, and eventually Sam invites Daniel out to a party with all the soccer players after he wins their college game. Their will-they-won’t-they continues on until Daniel explains to Sam his feelings for him. Then, they have sex in the last few weeks of the year. However, Sam hasn’t quite understood his sexuality and so near the end of the year, he pulls farther away from Daniel, where he plans to live in a frat house instead of with Daniel. During summer break, Daniel goes to Mexico to bring his grandfather back to America when he receives an email from Sam that he’s not ready to be out and that they should stop seeing each other. This breaks Daniel while he tries to keep up appearances for his grandfather and family in Mexico. At his welcome party, Daniel meets the wealthy caterer, Diego, who falls quickly for him. Diego invites Daniel out that night where Daniel tries to process his feelings for Sam while also trying to handle Diego. Diego and Daniel then go on a trip where they make love and their relationship blossoms, though Daniel’s true feelings lie with Sam. Then, Daniel gets a call from Sam’s mother saying that Sam died in a drunken car accident without a seatbelt. Daniel is so heartbroken that he retracts himself from his family, drinking and sleeping and trying to figure out how he’d be able to live. In an attempt to get him out of his shell, his grandfather talks to him about his uncle, Daniel, who was also gay and died after accidently being shot by his best friend. Diego then reaches out to invite Daniel out, where Diego’s true intentions are revealed where he only wants Daniel and not for Daniel to process his loss. Daniel ditches Diego after they fight where he eventually returns to his grandfather’s house. It takes Daniel an understanding and an opening up to his grandfather for him to start the process of moving on. When Daniel is able to start thinking about the next year, he goes through his emails where he finds Sam’s final email saying he loved him and that it was stupid of him to write the email before. And so, to reconnect with his uncle’s best friend and provide closure to his uncle’s death, Daniel and his grandfather go to his uncle’s best friend. They talk and go to his uncle’s gravesite where all three men try to process life, death, love, and loss.
 
 Ordorcia frames the novel with Daniel writing to Sam after returning for his sophomore year. Essentially he is in the middle of processing his loss by talking to his dead lover, which provides a beautiful and reflective understanding of Daniel and Sam’s relationship. At the beginning of each chapter, there’s also a diary entry we later learn is from Daniel’s uncle describing his feelings for other men and his desire for activism during the AIDs crisis. It’s a truly intense story of first love, how to process death, and a family’s desire to reconnect.
 
Final Rating: 5/5

​New Ohio Review Issue 34 is a collection of poetry, short stories, essays and reviews. I particularly enjoyed ‘visiting the Natural History Museum with my 97-Year-Old Dad’ by Michael Mark, ‘The Hair Cutting’ by Ockert Greeff, ‘In Our Nature’ by Sunni Brown Wilkinson, ‘My Body is a Cemetery’ by Eliza Sullivan, ‘Pantoum’ by Maria Martin, and ‘Kate Sessions Park’ by Bruce McKay. In ‘Kate Sessions Park’, McKay describes a girl, Fatima, who helps an intellectually disabled girl, Cici. When Fatima and the speaker bring Cici to a junior lifeguarding event, Cici pees herself, which causes Fatima to drive her to a beach 90 miles away, effectively getting her fired from helping Cici. It’s a raw story that works with the speaker’s sense of observations and intuitions.
 
Final Rating; 3.5/5