Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You

Set in modern day New York, this is a young adult novel about a young man who is so overwhelmed at the prospect of finishing high school that he wants to bow out completely, move to the country and live the quietest life he can possibly imagine, forsaking the university and city life expected of him.

This protagonist is an introverted character who finds people and noise and uncertainty painful. James is a wonderful insight into introversion and its teenage outworkings.

This is also a story about a young man trying to work out his sexuality; this is neither about being gay nor is it about coming out and everything that entails. Rather, this part of the book is a subtle exploration of what might be. By the end of the novel the reader is no better off than the protagonist in regards to having things all worked out. This is just the beginning.