Mercury to the Moon

J.Q. Gagliastro’s Mercury to the Moon is an imaginative triumph. It’s a sprawling space-fantasy that fuses coming-of-age themes with alien mysticism, social critique, and radiant, otherworldly worldbuilding. It’s equal parts whimsical and sobering, serving readers a journey across planets, identities, and emotional landscapes.

The story follows Truman Howard, a queer, working-class teenager attending an elite international boarding school tucked away in the Canadian Rockies. Truman’s early life is marked by hardship: he’s poor among the wealthy, kind among the cruel, and abandoned by his parents. His roommate, Ash, is the poster boy for toxic masculinity, and Truman’s thrift-store clothes and gentle spirit make him a target. Despite his resilience, loneliness clings to him like fog. These grounded, emotionally resonant early chapters read like a literary contemporary YA novel until everything changes.

When a freak river appears on a ski slope and Truman miraculously survives while others do not, the story pivots into the fantastical. Enter Angenciel Mortimer, a magnetic figure who introduces Truman to his true nature: he is an alien, an “aquaura” and “empath” with the will to manipulate water and feel others’ emotions. With that revelation, the book launches into cosmic territory.

Thematically, Mercury to the Moon is rich and multilayered. One of its core themes is belonging, the desperate human need to be seen and understood. Truman’s journey from isolation to a makeshift family of powered peers mirrors the experience of many marginalized teens, especially LGBTQ+ youth. There’s also a strong environmental undercurrent; the book opens with a plea to save Earth, not terraform other planets, a message reinforced by the beautifully described alien worlds that often reflect back our own flaws and hopes.

Another major theme is identity formation. Truman must grapple not just with his past but with the roles of power, empathy, and anger in shaping who he wants to be. The concept of “wills”—alien abilities tied to one’s emotions or traumatic experiences—adds a layer of allegory, suggesting that our most painful moments often unlock our greatest potential.

Gagliastro’s prose is poetic and vibrant. From the plum-tinted streets of Mercury to the cherry blossom-adorned dragon named Cherry, the imagery is lush and cinematic. The author’s background in illustration shows—every setting pops off the page with surreal beauty. Some moments read like mythology retold through the lens of modern queerness and cultural fusion.

Gagliastro’s work will appeal to fans of Percy Jackson, The House in the Cerulean Sea, and Heartstopper—but with its own signature voice and aesthetic.

In short, Mercury to the Moon is an ambitious, inclusive, and emotionally intelligent start to a saga that champions empathy, imagination, and the unshakable belief that misfits can save the universe.