Bad Habit

‘I urge you to read Bad Habit' PEDRO ALMODÓVAR 'Had me hooked from the first page … Savour every word' DUA LIPA ‘The book that everyone is reading’ NEW YORK TIMES 'Sublime' ÉDOUARD LOUIS A SERVICE95 BOOK CLUB PICK Beautifully written and told in an irresistible voice, Bad Habit is a powerfully moving coming-of-age novel following a young trans woman in 1980s Madrid. 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. Beautiful and deeply moving, Bad Habit by Alana S Portero is translated by Mara Faye Lethem, and deftly illuminates the search for identity and the power of chosen family. Bad Habit is an unforgettable story of self-realisation that speaks to the outsider in all of us. 'A work of deep humility’ GUARDIAN ‘An engulfing novel’ AVNI DOSHI ‘Believe the hype!' OKECHUKWU NZELU ‘A revelation … made me weep more than once’ SABA SAMS ‘Infused with camp humour, pathos and the spirit of resilience’ AMELIA ABRAHAMS 'Affecting and evocative' OBSERVER 'Painful yet unquestionably hopeful' NICOLA DINAN ‘Portero’s elegant storytelling catches a celestial light’ ELOGHOSA OSUNDE ‘Leaves you stunned’ TRAVIS ALABANZA ‘Obliges the reader to hold back (or unleash) their feelings chapter after chapter’ VOGUE SPAIN ‘The most talked-about debut of the year’ TIME OUT SPAIN

‘I urge you to read Bad Habit' PEDRO ALMODÓVAR 'Had me hooked from the first page … Savour every word' DUA LIPA ‘The book that everyone is reading’ NEW YORK TIMES 'Sublime' ÉDOUARD LOUIS A SERVICE95 BOOK CLUB PICK Beautifully written and told in an irresistible voice, Bad Habit is a powerfully moving coming-of-age novel following a young trans woman in 1980s Madrid. 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. Beautiful and deeply moving, Bad Habit by Alana S Portero is translated by Mara Faye Lethem, and deftly illuminates the search for identity and the power of chosen family. Bad Habit is an unforgettable story of self-realisation that speaks to the outsider in all of us. 'A work of deep humility’ GUARDIAN ‘An engulfing novel’ AVNI DOSHI ‘Believe the hype!' OKECHUKWU NZELU ‘A revelation … made me weep more than once’ SABA SAMS ‘Infused with camp humour, pathos and the spirit of resilience’ AMELIA ABRAHAMS 'Affecting and evocative' OBSERVER 'Painful yet unquestionably hopeful' NICOLA DINAN ‘Portero’s elegant storytelling catches a celestial light’ ELOGHOSA OSUNDE ‘Leaves you stunned’ TRAVIS ALABANZA ‘Obliges the reader to hold back (or unleash) their feelings chapter after chapter’ VOGUE SPAIN ‘The most talked-about debut of the year’ TIME OUT SPAIN

BRIAR I was infatuated with Asher Kelley the moment he came tumbling through my brother's window five years ago. Even bruised and bloodied, he was the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen. We couldn't ever be together. I was too young, and he was too untouchable. He was too troubled, and I was too naive. But the heart is rebellious, and mine decided it didn't care about any of those things. As I got older, harmless flirting turned to stolen moments in dark corners. Until one day, he was gone without a trace. Now, three years later, he's back. Callous and cruel. He's my brother's best friend. My parents' worst nightmare. I should hate him. But like a Bad Habit, I can't quit him. ASHER I was drawn to Briar Vale from the first time she looked up at me with stars in her big, blue eyes. She was just a kid, nothing but elbows and knees, but she was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. We could never be together. I was too old and she was too off limits. She was too good and I was too fucked up. Eventually, the temptation became too much to resist. I risked everything for a kiss and she betrayed me. Three years have passed and I'm forced to see her again, but now she's all grown up. She's my best friend's baby sister. My downfall. I hate her for what she did. But she's always been my drug of choice

Dua Lipa's September Book Club Pick! Included in The Guardian 's Best Translated Fiction of 2024 "[ Bad Habit ] shows us that a 'trans novel' can actually be anything it wants to be." - New York Times "A novel that could very well serve as a surrogate mother for future children who grow up lonely and trans." - Washington Post Combining the raw realism and vulnerability of Shuggie Bain and Detransition, Baby with the poignant sensibility of Pedro Almod?var, a staggering coming-of-age novel deeply rooted in the struggles of a trans woman growing up in Madrid. Anchored by the voice of its sweet and defiant narrator, Bad Habit casts a trans woman's trying youth as a heartfelt odyssey. Raised in an animated yet impoverished blue-collar neighborhood, Alana S. Portero's protagonist struggles to find her place. As the city around her changes-the heroin epidemic that ravages Madrid through the '80s and '90s, rallying calls of worker solidarity and the pulsing beat of the city's night scene- she becomes increasingly detached from the world and, most crucially, herself. Yet through her eyes, the streets and people of Madrid are illuminated by a poetry absent from everyday life. And by this guiding light she begins to plot her own course, from Margarita, the local trans woman whose unspoken kinship both captivates and frightens her, to Jay, her first love and source of an inevitable heartbreak, to the irrepressible diva Caramel. As she forges ahead, she sets her compass to a personal north star: endeavoring to find herself. But with each step forward, she is confronted by a violence she doesn't yet know how to counter; in this exciting, often terrifying, world each choice is truly a matter of life and death. With her first novel, Alana S. Portero strikingly underscores the ties between gender and class, the search for identity, and the power of sisterhood and community. Gentle but blistering, Bad Habit is a mesmerizing story of self-realization that speaks to the outsider in all of us. Translated from the Spanish by Mara Faye Lethem

BRIAR I was infatuated with Asher Kelley the moment he came tumbling through my brother's window five years ago. Even bruised and bloodied, he was the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen. We couldn't ever be together. I was too young, and he was too untouchable. He was too troubled, and I was too naive. But the heart is rebellious, and mine decided it didn't care about any of those things. As I got older, harmless flirting turned to stolen moments in dark corners. Until one day, he was gone without a trace. Now, three years later, he's back. Callous and cruel. He's my brother's best friend. My parents' worst nightmare. I should hate him. But like a Bad Habit, I can't quit him. ASHER I was drawn to Briar Vale from the first time she looked up at me with stars in her big, blue eyes. She was just a kid, nothing but elbows and knees, but she was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. We could never be together. I was too old and she was too off limits. She was too good and I was too fucked up. Eventually, the temptation became too much to resist. I risked everything for a kiss and she betrayed me. Three years have passed and I'm forced to see her again, but now she's all grown up. She's my best friend's baby sister. My downfall. I hate her for what she did. But she's always been my drug of choice

Dua Lipa's September Book Club Pick! Included in The Guardian 's Best Translated Fiction of 2024 "[ Bad Habit ] shows us that a 'trans novel' can actually be anything it wants to be." - New York Times "A novel that could very well serve as a surrogate mother for future children who grow up lonely and trans." - Washington Post Combining the raw realism and vulnerability of Shuggie Bain and Detransition, Baby with the poignant sensibility of Pedro Almod?var, a staggering coming-of-age novel deeply rooted in the struggles of a trans woman growing up in Madrid. Anchored by the voice of its sweet and defiant narrator, Bad Habit casts a trans woman's trying youth as a heartfelt odyssey. Raised in an animated yet impoverished blue-collar neighborhood, Alana S. Portero's protagonist struggles to find her place. As the city around her changes-the heroin epidemic that ravages Madrid through the '80s and '90s, rallying calls of worker solidarity and the pulsing beat of the city's night scene- she becomes increasingly detached from the world and, most crucially, herself. Yet through her eyes, the streets and people of Madrid are illuminated by a poetry absent from everyday life. And by this guiding light she begins to plot her own course, from Margarita, the local trans woman whose unspoken kinship both captivates and frightens her, to Jay, her first love and source of an inevitable heartbreak, to the irrepressible diva Caramel. As she forges ahead, she sets her compass to a personal north star: endeavoring to find herself. But with each step forward, she is confronted by a violence she doesn't yet know how to counter; in this exciting, often terrifying, world each choice is truly a matter of life and death. With her first novel, Alana S. Portero strikingly underscores the ties between gender and class, the search for identity, and the power of sisterhood and community. Gentle but blistering, Bad Habit is a mesmerizing story of self-realization that speaks to the outsider in all of us. Translated from the Spanish by Mara Faye Lethem