“They smelled my difference – my sharp, sad, pansy scent. They believed I would know a world larger than their own. They hated me for my good grades, for my white ways. All at once they were disgusted, and jealous, and deeply protective, and deeply proud,” (p. 105).  Suspenseful and dramatic, Torres creates a coming of age story of a nameless narrator, a young  boy yearning to fit into the dysfunctional, violent yet loving warmth that is his family,  breaking free from their bonds to face his truth: his sexuality. We do not even know the name of the main character, yet we somehow sympathize with him. It’s almost magic how as a reader we can become the nameless.

The boy leads us on a turbulent journey to New York, the home of a working class, mixed Puerto Rican family. His father, a somewhat tortured character, displays a certain fierceness that at best comes off protective, and at worst abusive. His mother then tries to pick up the broken pieces the father leaves behind, learning from a young age about the misgivings of adulthood. His brothers, clueless at times, care more about enjoying the world and all its vices never worrying about tomorrow.

The story’s growing tension is almost palpable considering how well Torres  juxtaposes the boy’s feelings of both love and hate for his family.  Torres continues this juxtaposition of opposing view points throughout. The boy remarks how, “He had all kinds of names for us, castaways, stowaways, hideaways, fugitives, punks, city slickers, bastards…He also called us sweets, babies, innocents, poor pitiful creatures, Gods own,” (p. 35). Even though the main character does not disclose his identity by way of a name, we see him through the eyes of a peripheral character who surmises his ’creature’-like nature.

The boy’s evolution to becoming an ‘animal’ isn’t right away revealed; we are always at the edge of our seats trying to figure out when will the turning point of transformation begin. Each chapter gets harder and harder to put down as we peer into the boy’s relationship to each family member through short vignettes. Torres’s fluid writing keeps us tuned in to each word akin to a Netflix saga we can’t help but binge watch. There’s never a dull moment since the story’s overall tone throughout constantly changes.

This novel taps into the truths of life, the journey of self discovery, and the complexity of family in a such relatable manner so that even those who are perhaps not an avid reader, can identify with the nameless.