All the Pretty Boys by Jay Castelletti

A novel about a boy who refuses to disappear.

In January 1990, fifteen-year-old Dillon Reynolds rides his bike out of a religious cult and straight into a world he was taught to fear.

Raised on shame and obedience, Dillon has never been allowed to question himself. When a same-sex encounter with his best friend is exposed and a church inquiry threatens to cast him out, he runs, heading for Sydney with little money, a vague plan, and no safety net.

In Kings Cross, survival comes at a cost. Forced into uneasy alliances, Dillon finds himself working ‘The Wall’, where protection and danger are inseparable. Here, men cruise by, money comes easy, but as young men start disappearing, he realises how permanently one of those car doors can close.

When Dillon moves deeper into sex work, the freedom it offers begins to fray. With others’ lives at stake, Dillon must decide if survival is enough or whether a postcard future awaits him. Each step forces him to reckon with what he must surrender … and what he will protect at any cost.

Set in Sydney’s red-light district at its most dangerous, All the Pretty Boys is a fast-moving, unflinching novel about a boy forced to decide who he will become once survival is no longer enough.

If he survives at all.

“Powerful, beautifully written and emotionally gripping… shocking and uplifting.”
— Verified Amazon Purchaser

“A dark subject matter, but tastefully done… tragic, heartbreaking, yet filled with hope.”
— Karen, Amazon Top 500 Reviewer

“I thought I’d read one chapter before sleep. I couldn’t put it down.”
— Verified Amazon Purchaser

“A gripping, insightful and thoroughly entertaining debut.”
— Verified Amazon Purchaser

“A rare find among LGBTQ fiction. One of the few books I will return to again and again.”
— Verified Amazon Purchaser

“It speaks on important social issues, handles love, friendship and betrayal expertly, and hurts that part of your chest you leave exposed to authors to play with.”
— Lotus Ann Hobson, Medium