This book is not about the AIDS epidemic in the way we are used to. It celebrates as much the lives as it griefs the deaths. As records of personal experience with the AIDS crisis are rare, I find this book would always be important, but it is particularly because “almost exclusively these records have focused on dying rather than surviving”.

While the main event may be the fight of Derek Frost’s partner (Jeremy, called J) with the disease, we are also given the context of their lives around it; another thing that I find sets this book apart. This seemingly off-topic beginning to the book may turn readers away at first, but I encourage you to keep reading. 

We read about the aftermath of this fight: the AidsArk charity (founded by Derek and J); this book was initially a tale about the organization. This book is, I think, the story of AidsArk and the life (of the founders) surrounding it.

There was a bunch of new things I found out still (about AIDS, queer life, and much more), and I find Frost’s takes on queer culture and queer experience important, bringing nuance and alternative.

The chapters at points feel disjointed, but I think it also illustrates what living through that period and experiences was like - after all, think about this: while the first mention of AIDS is at page 60, by page 120 you’ve lost track of the body count. 

This book is a love letter: from Derek to J, to AidsArk, to lost friends, to lost lives, to people still fighting, to Life itself, to Remembrance. 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.