PositiveThe New York Times Book ReviewAs with writers like Marlon James and Nicole Dennis-Benn, Mendez’s dialect-writing stretches the boundaries of a language owned by no one ... Mendez writes Jesse’s desires in an honest, unprecious and often raunchy staccato ... The writing is delicious and subtle throughout, often punctuated by musical references that ground it in the decades it explores ... Mendez balances the story atop the shifting tectonic plates of dislocation, and in the gaps Jesse discovers new friends and lovers who show him, through unexpected kindness, what it’s like to be seen. That a Black gay man can embrace the totality of his lust, and others’ lust for him. It’s unclear how Mendez will land this bold, horny and at times unmoored debut until a line toward the end winks at just how this unwieldy tale works: \'You’ve lost your center of gravity,\' a friend tells Jesse. \'So to survive, you’ll need to take steps to create another.\'