In Houston, an Afro-Latino boy battles his way through his teenage years, dealing with his sexuality, his angry brother, his absent father, his mother's struggling restaurant, and more. We see him through his coming-of-age in a series of short stories that also expand outward to other residents of his community.

LOT, to me, is about love and despair and how to the two overlap. Love and despair over family, chosen family, and your hometown. Despair that makes you want to leave and start fresh somewhere new, but love that keeps you here. It's a complicated set of emotions, especially when what you're loving and what you're despairing aren't fixed points.

I've read several short story collections recently that contained a few overlapping stories, but I don't think I've ever read one quite like this, with one continuing plotline that runs the whole book interspersed with other neighboring stories. I felt like it gave me a deeper connection to the characters - I wasn't left feeling like I read an incomplete story like I often do with other collections. I think I'll be chewing on this one for a long time.