Bad Habit

¿I urge you to read Alana S. Portero''s Bad Habit'' PEDRO ALM¿VAR¿Obliges the reader to hold back (or unleash) their feelings chapter after chapter¿ VOGUE SPAINThe most talked-about debut of the year¿ TIME OUT SPAINTold in an irresistible, heartrending voice, Bad Habit takes us deep into the lives of the residents of a godforsaken Madrid neighbourhood ironically named after a holy saint.An unnamed young trans woman grows up in a working class suburb that has no place for her. She discovers community and kinship in downtown Madrid, amid a lively party scene animated by junkies, pop divas, and fallen angels. But with each step she takes forward, she finds herself confronted by a violence she does not yet know how to counter; in this thrilling and yet often terrifying world each choice can truly be a matter of life and death.Blistering and compassionate, Bad Habit by Alana S Portero is translated by Mara Faye Lethem, and deftly illuminates the ties between gender and class, the search for

‘I urge you to read Bad Habit'' PEDRO ALMÓDVAR‘An engulfing novel’ AVNI DOSHI‘The book that everyone is reading’NEW YORK TIMESTold in an irresistible, heartrending voice, Bad Habit takes us deep into the lives of the residents of a godforsaken Madrid neighbourhood ironically named after a holy saint.An unnamed young trans woman grows up in a working-class suburb that has no place for her. She discovers community and kinship in downtown Madrid, amid a dazzling party scene animated by charming junkies, glamorous pop divas, and fallen angels. With each step she takes forward in the city, she finds herself confronted by an antagonism she does not yet know how to counter. In this thrilling and yet often frightening place each decision can have the highest of stakes and yet she knows that only she can forge a path forward to the life she truly wants to live.Blistering and compassionate, Bad Habit by Alana S Portero is translated by Mara Faye Lethem, and deftly illuminates the ties between gender and class, the search for identity, and the power of chosen family. Shimmering in its lyrical beauty and vivid in its realism, Bad Habit is a searing, mesmerising story of self-realisation that speaks to the outsider in all of us.‘A ballad, a quest, a revelation. It made me weep more than once’ SABA SAMS''Painful yet unquestionably hopeful'' NICOLA DINAN‘Portero’s elegant storytelling catches a celestial light, illuminating the body in ways beyond language’ ELOGHOSA OSUNDE''An unforgettable story …Believe the hype!'' OKECHUKWU NZELU‘Elegant and brutal, Portero''s writing pierces all of our defences and lets the crying light in’ MORGAN M PAGE‘Devastating yet beautiful’ TRAVIS ALABANZA‘Obliges the reader to hold back (or unleash) their feelings chapter after chapter’VOGUE SPAIN