"...but this is Puerto Rico: time flows differently in the Caribbean, where summer never ends and the months melt together into one long hot day."

Thank you to Feminist Press for the advanced reading copy via Edelweiss. This short story collection comes out May 9th, 2024. Several short stories explore themes of queerness, loneliness, drug use, and being a youth in Puerto Rico. The stories range from dreamy, vibrant, drug-induced mayhem through the city streets, to a teen's devastating, raw, testimonial of living out their days isolated and unloved for being queer.
My heart just ached through some of these...confessions; the tortured lamenting of a soul that doesn't belong anywhere and seeking comfort in any way that feels acceptance.
And other stories are just horny as fuck! Hahah
I enjoyed my time with Gabriel Carle, walking around with them, taking in the sights and smells and vibes of Puerto Rico. Very transportive and vibrating with life--a stong voice.

"There's something in the water or in the air or in the heat that makes us dig our own graves, then climb into them and wait for hurricane season, for water to cleanse us, submerge us, drown us. Then stagnate."15 s giada492 86

The tales in Bad Seed paint a bleak picture of Puerto Rico’s gay youths and their lives: homophobia, the disconnect with one’s family and the constant fear of getting a positive result on an HIV test are some of the constants of these short stories. But among the bad there’s the community, both in internet subcultures (tumblr is mentioned multiple times, it’s the first time I see that name in a book, but so is twitter’s nsfw scene) and in extremely messy friendship groups.

The majority of the protagonists are in high school or university, and I was afraid the target would make it so that the language of the book would be sanitised the typical YA or NY we get in publishing at the moment — but luckily for us, Puerto Rico shows its independence from the United States by using a colloquial and crude tone, one that you’d expect from a kid in that age range when not supervised. It kind of reminded me of british cult series Skins, in a way (I only watched the first season, and the similarities as far as I can guess are only in the portrayal of young people that have to fend for themselves in a society that doesn’t want them).

One of the short stories puts itself in reference to Larry Kramer’s Faggot which made me want to read that novel as well, but from the plot synopsis I can see how it could be a blueprint for the collection itself.

I would to see what else Gabriel Carle has to say, and whether a novel with a more substantial plot is in the works. For now this book sits at 3.5 stars.

Thank you Edelweiss and The Feminist Press for giving me access to the review copy!lgtbqa short-stories young-adult4 s Omar101 2

La verdad, quedé sorprendido.
Fue una recomendación de una amigx y se
la agradezco.
Mi experiencia con literatura de Puerto Rico es una agridulce, aprecio mucho sus características mágico-tropicales pero hay algo en la voz narrativa puertorriqueña que siempre me expulsa de la lectura.
"Mala Leche", no fue el caso.
Gabriel Carle en su mayoría logra escapar ese elemento (del que yo mismo en mis escrituras padezco). Es lúdica y creativa su voz narrativa.
En esta colección de cuentos se encuentran narradores en primera, tercera y segunda (!) persona. Siendo esta última la más que me capturó por su carácter fantasioso.
Los cuentos toman lugar en muchos espacios por los que he transcurrido y esta familiaridad junto a la contemporaneidad de sus temas fueron muy bien recibidos.
Explora la homosexualidad boricua de una manera real y cruda. Desde la crianza en el clóset consumiendo televisión gringa, la vida estudiantil en la UPR en Río Piedras, y los rincones íntimos donde se refugia el paria y sus drogas, y el amor y sexo queer.
Aunque desconozco si es verdad, los cuentos parecerían cargar un peso personal. Son emotivos y honestos. Y aunque quedé enajenado de algunos pensamientos y pedazos de texto, no dejan atrás lo particular que sí aprecio de la ficción boricua: la diversión linguística, la consciencia sociocultural y el atrevimiento.3 s Jorge SanchezAuthor 1 book2

La primera colección de cuentos de Gabriel Carle me parece más que pertinente para nuestros tiempos. Con una prosa fresca, renovada, despojada de cultismos, lúcida, pensada para los lectores que reconocen los referentes de los ‘90 porque pertenecen a esa generación. Los seis cuentos de Carle me recuerdan un verso del ilustre poeta peruano, César Vallejo: «Zumba el tedio enfrascado». Estos personajes están enfrascados en la cotidianeidad, que también es la marginalidad, en los temas que atañen a la sociedad contemporánea, tanto dentro como fuera de Puerto Rico. Indudablemente el mejor cuento de la colección es «Moñas de Marruecos», pero cada uno tiene su gancho bien preparado para agarrar a cualquier lector que desee adentrarse en la narrativa de un escritor puertorriqueño de calidad indubitable, como lo es Carle.3 s endrju272 60

I don't think there's a bad story in this collection. They are of varying degree of interest, of course, but all of them are written with desire - with desire for other bodies, other places, other times. Most of the stories are as drenched in melancholy as Puerto Rico is in the rain. Favs must be "Luisito" and "In the Bathhouse", awfully bleak but all the more political for that.2 s Sam Boman8

very strange. good. very good. 2 s Amelia Teske17

“I don’t care about air-conditioning. I care about white rice. I don’t care about the meaning of life. I care about masturbation. I don’t care about small children. I care about the liberation of Puerto Rico. I don’t care about love. But then, I do. Then again, I couldn’t give a shit.”

Each and every one of these stories totally engulfed me into their unforgiving erotic griminess and queer hedonism. Well done. 1 Translator Monkey592 12

A nice collection; I admit, only half of the stories really grabbed me, the others seemed to be variations on the exact same theme, with frankly LITTLE variation. Carle is clearly a talented writer, and I look forward to reading what else he has on tap.
1 sara364 99

"so i've come to the conclusion that love doesn’t actually exist—or maybe it does? maybe i've felt it, for real, outside a momentary hormonal flash? no, i know better. love is just a perfect illusion that escapes all reason."

this was such an amazing collection of stories about queerness from a pov/lense i've never read from. gabriel carle has a way with words that make you flinch from how honest and sensual they are you feel you need to look over your shoulder every few minutes to make sure nobody's reading along with you. some of my favorites were "in heat" "luisito" and "in the bathhouse" Sam Hughes780 59

I am so thankful to Feminist Press and Gabriel Carle for granting me advanced physical access to this book before it hits shelves on May 7, 2024. Bad Seed is a short read, but an impactful one, touching upon our storyteller’s time growing up in Puerto Rico in and out of the closet, from his youth to his young adult and later on years. I really enjoyed how liberating these tales were for our narrator, and feel it will be the perfect read for PRIDE Month in the next several months. Kyle227 8

A very gritty and harsh collection of short stories dealing with queerness in Puerto Rica with a further emphasis and college courses in the humanities. An interesting and raw group of stories that provoke a lot of thought. Edgar Rios Salgado62 3

Autor del comentario:
=================================