Gaysians

From the acclaimed author of the YA graphic novel Flamer, comes a gorgeous, heart-warming adult debut following four gay Asians as they navigate love, identity, and friendship in Seattle during the early aughts. When AJ arrives in Seattle, naïve and eager for a new, gay, life, he has no friends, no job, no money. His first apartment sits so far north of the gayborhood that "not even lesbians live there." Leaning into his identity for the first time in his life, AJ he walks past the velvet rope into his first gay bar and discovers what he moved across the country to find: gay men who are out, proud, and unashamed. That first night, a chance spilled drink unites him with new group of friends, also of Asian descent: K, ethereal drag queen, activist, matriarch; John, introverted gaymer who doesn't feel seen in real life; reckless Steven, who wields his good looks to secure validation via sex (whites only, please); and Tai and Eddie, the "perfect" Chinese-American couple. Together, this "Boy Luck Club" helps AJ navigate his new semi-fabulous life, with its equal trials and unbridled joys. But just as AJ begins to find his way, a devastating attack splinters the group, and tests everything each one of them knows about love, friendship, and family. A meticulously observed, gorgeously-crafted snapshot of gay culture in the pulsing early years of the tech boom, Gaysians renders its hilarious, flamboyant, human protagonists with love and individuality, showing tenderly the particular joy of queer friendship and yearning.