TOGETHA

This timely follow-up to 2023’s Pritty uncovers more of the elaborate political conspiracy targeting Black, queer, working-class communities, while casting gang life and masculinity in a whole new light.

Boyfriends Leroy and Jay had finally figured out how to make their romance work when they were nearly killed. This sequel picks up in the wake of that close call. The teens are determined to bring down the Bainbridges, a powerful local family with political aspirations who have secretly been behind the rise in gang violence in Savannah, Georgia. The Bainbridges’ efforts have turned the media against the BDs, or Black Diamonds, sowing division within their ranks and even leading to the creation of a gang whose sole purpose is finishing the group off. While Jay plans to utilize his love-letter writing business to undermine the Bainbridges’ network and gather evidence of their wrongdoing, Leroy commits more fully to the BDs, revealing a refreshingly progressive and restorative version of the group that’s more in line with historical grassroots Black activism. The first-person narration shifts among the points of view of the two lovers plus another boy, Will, manifesting a complicated love triangle—and eventually a queer quadrilateral—alongside the high-stakes politicking. Love is messy. Gang violence is real. But by story’s end, the young men’s intimacy and tenderness are offered plainly as a path toward healing and liberation.

A masterclass in love for those who feel unlovable.