I found this so hyper focused on the core tension of the novel it became more and more solipsistic as it progressed. The prose were great, but fairly swingy/uneven, too. The world itself doesn’t feel at all convincing. Lots of hand waving as to how it functions, in some ways suiting the character, other times feeling deeply strange that he wouldn’t note or be aware of things. It’s slightly too melodramatic as well, but that could be a result of the narration, which I thought was excellent.

However the core of it, including the characterization of the character and the tie from him to Giovanni’s Room (obviously the importance of queer stories) to be fairly novel and a well executed heart of the thing that delivers the goods.