The Arena of the Unwell

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Nevada by Imogen Binnie – I’m counting the UK publication this year as making it released in 2022, though clearly it’s not from 2022. I also would have liked Isaac to be given more page time, at least before Noah becomes wholly obsessed with Dylan/Fraser. When he starts getting to know Dylan, who is a couple of years older than him, he sees him as a cure to the overwhelming emptiness that has become increasingly hard to keep at bay. We also see how this deeply affects him in his day-to-day life, and how careless he is with his own safety and wellbeing.

Every time I listen to it now I'm reminded of how surreal the experience was and how everything was so scary and uncertain and I wasn't even going to be able to hug my mum for a couple of weeks when I got home, but something about this album just felt so optimistic and comforting. An exhilarating reflection on abuse, the NHS, and queerness in the music industry, this is a debut that will surely make waves. On top of that, the feeling of ennui cultivated as a result of these issues is shown for what it is; in all of its non-glamour. As such he seems to feel an increased sense of alienation and has few opportunities for romantic encounters.

was not well developed enough for the conclusion to really affect me – it was all happening at a distance. This adds to his existing issues to do with depression, low self-worth, alcohol abuse and lack of motivation. A trailblazing, conversation-starting history of women’s health—from the earliest medical ideas about women’s illnesses to hormones and autoimmune diseases—brought together in a fascinating sweeping. As a lot of the book is about mental health and a toxic relationship, it can be intense, but also funny. He published his debut non-fiction title The Appendix: Transmasculine Joy in a Transphobic Culture as part of 404 Inkling’s series, and his debut novel publishes in Spring 2022.

That being said, I wrote The Arena of the Unwell with queerness in mind, so I’m glad it’s finding that audience. I also feel like for a character study, I don't feel like the characters developed much from page one to page 300. Songs you can inhabit, and listen to on auto-repeat for every nuance and interplay between Jo’s astonishing voice, Rob’s gorgeously hissy fit guitar and the solid underpinnings of Simon and Caz’s bass n drum structures. After he and his friend Mairead go to a secret comeback gig by their favourite band Smiling Politely, Noah runs into Dylan, a bartender he’s wanted to approach for ages. Pulled into a toxic and codependent relationship with Dylan and his brooding, enigmatic friend Fraser, Noah bounces distractedly between sweaty gigs and clubs, swapping beds and friends along the way.There’s a weird mix of noise and hush around me as some people realise what’s happened and others don’t. His infatuation with Dylan is complicated by the fact that Dylan is ‘straight’ and by his living arrangements: Dylan lives with Fraser, an incredibly mercurial man who doesn’t take kindly to Noah ‘inserting’ himself into their lives. They never really let Noah in, keeping him in the dark about the true nature of their relationship, nor are they honest about their intentions with him, hell, sometimes they do not even consider him at all. As Smiling Politely gear up to their first album in five years, he finds himself navigating their intense relationship, all while counting down his NHS-allocated therapy hours and spiralling mental health. I think the clearest influence is in the little music journalism interludes that pop up between some of the chapters.