very thoughtful review, thank you! I agree, there are many parts that could be improved with editing--the load-bearing nature of writing one's first novel while sick, then trying to get out from under it before it collapses. Much easier to sustain quality with shorter works, and I've written so many different things, I'm sure you can find something more "pure" and elegant. It is difficult for me to let go of that purity...but sacrifices to dignity must be made.
"lifechanging", yeah, I think there's a lot of ways people describe my work that are simultaneously flattering but annoying if used too broadly. it's a very specific book and everyone has a very different life, so all I hope is that it finds the people who are into this shit, and that everyone else can feel comfortable ignoring it.
lolicore at a penthouse, I was thinking of how the rich borrow other people's taste, hire people to have taste for them, how the internet gives them proximity to weird interpenetrations of culture yet no ability to understand it. inspired by some cursed things I've seen in the art world...
glad you liked the blake parts. that special window of a teen's life where another person can get you to kill for them...it's so real and intoxicating and feverish...
"faggot-subaltern", "island", yes! there are some real self-hating islands out there, I hope anyone who feels trapped in that kind of prison can feel more comfortable worming into the faggot soil.
thanks again for this review, it's very fair and insightful!