The Diary of a Sugarbaby

by J.Q. Gagliastro

“I was a sugarbaby, I admit. I am not proud of it, though others seem to sensationalize the lifestyle. They see glitz and glamor, never food or a place to sleep. Film and literature have only shown one side of a sugarbaby’s life. They villainize us and make us out to be either sluts or golddiggers or airheads. And well, they’re right. I am no saint. I am a whore—a selfish, greedy, ageist whore who is worth nothing except in bed. Life was no fairytale as a sugarbaby. But it was one grotesque, unlawful act after another. Yet somehow, that life pales in comparison to my life as a Minor. While sugaring and Minority have similarities, no one could’ve prepared me for what the Divided did to us.”

In J. Q. Gagliastro’s dystopian future, the aging patriarchy and rising hate crimes have led to a mass genocide of queer Americans. Oppression has killed what was left of the United and sired what has now become the Divided, a world where human trafficking is legal, the youth are sexualized, and heteronormativity is enforced. Dime—a former sugarbaby—chronicles his experiences as the nation around him embraces gerontocracy, and he himself becomes the property of an Elder. Deprived of his freedoms, his family, and even music, Dime clings to his memories all the while grappling with the concepts of family, home, and depth in love. A scathing satire, a cautionary tale, and a reflection of its time!

Genres: Dystopia

290 pages, Paperback

Published November 3, 2023

About the author

J.Q. Gagliastro is the author of The Diary of a Sugarbaby and Mercury to the Moon. The Diary of a Sugarbaby is a #1 bestseller in LGBTQ+ Fiction, a #2 bestseller in Dystopian Fiction, and a bestseller in Epistolary Fiction and Political Fiction. NYC's Queer Book Club selected The Diary of a Sugarbaby as their October 2024 book. An instructor at the University of Florida shortlisted The Diary of a Sugarbaby as required text for their queer studies program. The Diary of a Sugarbaby was a 2023 finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards in Adult Fiction. In August 2024, Gagliastro appeared on Chicago's WGN TV with journalist Sean Lewis. The Diary of a Sugarbaby was featured in The New York Review of Books, both April and May 2024 issues. Gagliastro went on an eight-stop Sugarbaby Book Tour that included NYC, D.C., Chicago, West Hartford, Glastonbury, Annapolis, Keene, and Philadelphia. Over 1,000 copies of The Diary of a Sugarbaby were sold within the first year of its publication. The Manhattan Book Review called The Diary of a Sugarbaby "The Handmaid's Tale on steroids!" Kirkus Reviews called it "a frightening novel about an unthinkable future!" And according to The BookLife Prize, The Diary of a Sugarbaby is a "dark satirical work of sci-fi!" While The Diary of a Sugarbaby is fiction, Gagliastro ties in their experiences as a homeless youth and twists them into a dramatic political satire. Mercury to the Moon is a fantasy adventure novel for all reading ages, illustrated entirely by Gagliastro. The Los Angeles Book Review hailed it as "an imaginative triumph!" Upon its release in 2025, Mercury to the Moon became an instant bestseller in Young Adult Fiction, Magical Realism, and Alien Sci-Fi. Please visit Gagliastro's site and follow their Instagram for upcoming books, tour dates, merch, and more!

Reviews

[Andrew Eder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Handmaids tale for gay people. So if you like Handmaids tale this is like identical. But really really good! You go from passive internal thought to really raw and triggering body horror, which is shocking and I love being shocked. Great character development and writing. Really engaging and really enjoyed!

[MikeLikesBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very powerful novel. Dime is a young person. They are non-binary. They are taunted and even kicked out of their home at age 16. To pay life’s expenses they turn to sugar daddies. They are young and very good looking. We gain insight what it’s like being a sugar baby. Then the country passes a bill making all between 18-35 Minors. They have no rights. Elders have all the rights, powers and privileges. So Dime moves from sugar daddies to Elders, but now their services are mandatory. A Minor who doesn’t comply can be punished, gang raped or even executed. It’s not a good life for Minors.

What I like about this novel is the author, who is also binary and lived the life of a sugar baby, gives us a glimpse of the struggles, the feeling of being used for their youthness and body to how they also use the sugar daddies and later the forced relationship (if you can call it that of the Elders). We see there are trust issues even with friends. I found it very fascinating. Being wealthy, white, male, CIS, Christian, and “heterosexual” has given the ruling class a lot of power and control. We get to see life through the eyes of a queer sugar baby.

[Matty Standerski · Rating 5 out of 5]

a very raw, terrifying, sexy, thrilling, and emotional look at a dystopian society. gagliastro did a really great job of intertwining the diary entries of the past with the terrible reality of Dime’s present. moments disgusted me, moments brought me peace, moments made me cry. a full journey of emotions from beginning to end. happy election season!

[Cody McKay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly was enjoying the book and reading it in small snippets over the month. After the 2024 election, I could not stomach the idea of going back into the world of Dime. However, I am glad I did. It is an absolutely fantastic queer dystopian story.

[Owen Sacco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was not at all what I expected when I picked this up at the bookstore, but I was pleasantly surprised with a great read! Loved every second of it I didn’t want to put it down.

[Tyra Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

fell below my expectations based on the summary, i wanted it to give handmaids tale but it was a far less fleshed out concept than that. if nothing else, a super quick read as i finished in one day!

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the book in about 36 hours, the delay being because I had a guest in town. It grips the reader quickly and keeps the attention with page-turning intrigue and heartbreak.

A lot of queer "literature" is trash. I know this having been a reviewer for a gay paper; I've seen so much garbage out there that claims its right to exist simply by having been written by an LGBTQ person. That's not enough. You have to be good. And Gagliastro is good.

The book's tone, voice, and linguistic clarity is strong from the first moments and remains so to the last. As a result, the narrating character is clear, although opaque, adding complexity to a complex story. The book interweaves present horrors with past ones, current anxieties with past fears, but it adds more than a dash of defiance. It's not a story of mere victimhood (an easy and tedious trope these days), but one of overcoming debilitating hardship. Luckily, the eventual triumph of the lead character does't become saccharine, and we leave the book as haunted as Dime, wondering how we've compromised ourselves and whether or not the entire piece is a metaphor for the puritanical and hypocritical society in which we already find ourselves imprisoned.

I highly recommend this book.

[Adna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was supremely devastating to read. Even so, when I was not reading it, I wanted to be reading it to fully experience this world that has similarities to our own world today. This book is filled with tragedies and a lot of trauma and loss and lack of hope, but its ending gave it a bit of a lighter tone and a hope that not all was lost during this journey. I think this book does a good job of exploring how humans can use and abuse their own selfishness, and how it can involuntarily end up hurting us and others. This book shows us that while no one is perfect, there is always a chance for us to show where we stand on the right side and the wrong side of history. While some people will die as martyrs others will succumb to the horrible nature of ideologies of those more powerful than them.

This book really delves into how money and power are two things that certain types of people can never get enough of. And in that power and greed it can end up destroying societies.
While there is a lot of discussion and symbols of power, greed, sex, money, loss of power and freedom, it would be remiss to also not touch upon the horrific endeavors of homophobia, transphobia, and queer-phobia in general that occurred in this novel. For our main character to have all of these negative experiences with all of these daddies, to deal with money and horrible relationships, only to finally find someone that he truly loves and cherishes... only for that person to be ripped away from him forever? What an absolute travesty.

Reading about Weston also just made me realize what all is held in the balance when we chose who to be with - and who to love and spend our time with. Had our protagonist stayed with any of the sugar daddies, or found Weston earlier, his life could have went on an entirely different trajectory. I think it is important to remember that we do have the power to remain fully present in our lives and realize how good we may, or may not, have things. Even something as simple as spending Sundays drinking coffee with someone you love, is an experience that you would never think you would once think back and realize you may have taken advantage of how much freedom and enthusiasm for life you had in those moments. This quote really hit me hard: "Philly was there I watched the United divide, where I began my life as a Minor, and where I lost the freedom I thought I didn't have."

This book does seem to be a anthology of experiences of just one person in this world, but it was also really nice to hear about his other friendships along the way, and where they all landed in their lives during the divide.

I understand that this book might have some truths weaved in it from the author's life experiences, but I have to give it to him in the really creative and horrific way he created an entire dystopian universe around his experiences. Some moments were very brutal. But in a way, just very necessary for readers to understand how twisted some people can be - in their power and in their loss of it. Ultimately everyone in this book either was powerful, thought they had power, had zero power, or lost it and then regained it eventually.

To say I enjoyed reading this would make it seem like it was a fun time, but it wasn't fun. Just a very all encapsulating experience. This is a world you do not want to be a part of but really digs its claws into you.
More favorite quotes:
"Despite all the adversity, I held my queerness like a dream worth returning to. Some people admired my courage. Others glared."
"New York was where I was called a faggot for the first time, where I learned I was the smartest in my class, and where I accepted that, despite every uplifting novel I read and every heartwarming movie I watched, nothing ever truly matters."
"Being a kind person though, and a naïve one as well, I allowed everyone to have a chance at being my friend. But to welcome everyone into your garden is to let in snakes."
"When the Law allows you to do something, more people do it than you would expect."
"She was so loving I didn't care if she was late to everything. Okay, maybe a little. But where she lacked in clocks she made up for in heart and soul."
"[The Elders] call their companionship loyalty, but ultimately, it's just control."
"I enjoy compliments, yes, and accept them graciously. But moments like these - comments and observations centered only around my beauty - make me think perhaps I am on earth for one thing and one thing only. That's all I am to these people. Some beautiful thing for them to behold, and looks tangible enough to claim. An object, a trophy, a prize."
"I miss being out.
Those years hold my life's truest, most cherished moments.
I want to say they were the happiest times of my life, I do.
And in retrospect, especially with everything happening nowadays, they were objectively the happiest times of my life.
But I can't truly mean that because it did not feel that way at the time. I was broke and homeless and selling my body just to get by. I lied to people I loved and daddies I despised. And I was foolish enough to believe those lies myself. I worked myself to the bone. I was focused too much on money, security, and freedom. I chose the wrong things over real love. I missed out on life and often forgot to stop and breathe.
But I'll never forget what it really meant to just be. To be my authentic, queer self. To find family in friends. To chase desire and passion. Those moments are snapshots in my mind, a treasure saved for rainy days.
I'm pissed. At a time with knowledge at the tips of our fingers, we never learned a goddamn thing."
"Interesting, isn't it? How our minds might not recall the details, but our bodies do?"
"People cling to hope like children with imaginary friends."
"Just because you don't know what home is supposed to feel like doesn't mean you don't have it. Yes, some people will bully and abandon you. But there are kind people out there who will help you pick up your things. And if there's no one, you are someone. You can save yourself."
"To remember you is to acknowledge what I will never have again."
"Ironic, isn't it? The love you're supposed to be born into turns out to be a source of hate."
"A fear and a dream twist and collide into one beautiful nightmare. Some dreams never come true, but fears always do."

[Lucy J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up because I thought I saw the author give it a 5* rating on here which is the level of c*nt I support. Pretty damn graphic and slightly repetitive, but deffo thought-provoking with an interesting concept.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is powerful and well written. A dystopia for gays and worth your time!

[Colby · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-3.75 stars
This month our queer book club dove into The Diary of a Sugar Baby by @jqgagliastro—a dystopian novel that feels terrifyingly close to reality. In this future, hate crimes have escalated to genocide, human trafficking is legal, and everyone under 35 has almost no rights. A gerontocracy enforces heteronormativity while stripping youth of their freedoms and humanity.
Told through the diary of Dime, a former sugarbaby turned property of an Elder, it reads like someone’s private thoughts—sometimes repetitive, but intentionally so. That monotony really made me feel the exhaustion of a life without choice.
As Dime reflects on family, love, and autonomy, the book asks: what separates a consensual relationship built on a power imbalance from one that’s entirely forced? And what happens when a society both idolizes and erases its youth?
What stuck with me most was how easy it was to see echoes of our world here: bans, rising hate, lost rights, and even how looks and thinness can define worth in queer spaces.
This story left me unsettled and full of questions that I can’t wait to bring to our discussion with the author this month.
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[Sharon Hajj · Rating 5 out of 5]

JQ Gagliastro compares their book Diary of a Sugarbaby to The Handmaid’s Tale.

While reading this, during a trip to the library, I picked up On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. Maybe because I read them at the same time I saw parallels between them too. Vuong’s character wrote a letter to his mother, while Gagliastro’s character Dime wrote in his journal, but both convey their emotions about their lives.

Dime reflects on their family, friends, and the difficulty of living in a world where often they’re not wanted. So often a person is labeled as one thing instead of as a complex human, and they want to remind people they have hopes and dreams. They’re intelligent, creative, generous and resilient. They search for love like everyone else. When they finally find it, it’s too late.

One of the parts that bothered me so much is how their father kicked them out at the age of sixteen for being non-binary (Dime in the book and Gagliastro in real life). I found this heartbreaking. What they learn by this is to only depend on themself for everything. 💔 Learning to accept love and help is a big challenge for them.

As a warning, it’s graphic and deeply unsettling.

Since Margaret Atwood said everything in The Handmaid’s Tale actually happened somewhere in the world, I can only hope Gagliastro’s world stays only as fiction.

[Lyndsay LaSota · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book over a week ago, and it’s still on my mind — a powerful, unsettling, and beautifully written reflection on identity, survival, and systemic control.

Given the current political climate in the U.S. and rise of religious nationalism, I want to say up front: this book may be a very strong trigger for some readers. This novel does discuss sexual assault, body horror, violence and suicide. Please take care while reading.

The main character, Dime is a non-binary queer adult who shares a deeply personal account of navigating life after being rejected by their family and peers. They’re forced to make difficult, often painful choices just to survive — including turning to ‘unconventional’ means to pay off college debt, pay for a roof over their head and stay afloat in a world that refuses to accept them.

What makes this book unforgettable is how it shifts into a dystopian very-near future — one that feels disturbingly plausible. A new authoritarian regime rises to power and strips an entire generation of their autonomy, reducing them to property. It’s a chilling look at how quickly a society can unravel — and how easily cycles of abuse can repeat, even among those who once suffered under them. The story works as both metaphor and mirror, shining a spotlight on what happens when humanity, consent, and identity are systematically erased.
And yet — despite the horror — there are moments of real beauty. The author begins to experience something rare and precious: true, unconditional love. Those tender moments shine all the brighter against the darkness.

Ahhh this book... it’s vulnerable, horrifying, and beautiful all at once.
It’s not a light read, but it’s an essential one. If you’re drawn to stories that discuss queerness, power, survival, and what it costs to be “other” in a broken world — this one will stay with you too.

[Alejandro Deschamps · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing to read, it feels so light and easy despite having such a shocking storytelling. It feels like walking into a very realistic dream where extreme things happen. The way the author manages to keep you hooked on the story but still giving you this chaotic continuity its exquisite. This book is filled with rich honest takes on political and humanists subjetcs of todays life, tackeld in a way that’s meant for everyone to understand. Even tho the Author is quite young the way the book achieves to speak in an ageless poetic language helps the reader of today and tomorrow to take a deep dive in the intricate and heavy dilemas that the book give to us.

[Arturo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first self-published book and it helped my overcome my prejudices about self-published authors (perhaps I read it because I myself will probably end up self-publishing haha)

In my personal opinion, the story was well-written and the dystopian world-building was simple yet accomplished. If I did not give the book 5 stars is because it got a bit repetitive whenever the narrator and protagonist kept talking about his place in the world due to his looks and kept saying he was more than a pretty face.

[Danielle Gagliastri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an exceptionally well written book, that was a particularly quick read. I couldn’t put it down! In my opinion, I agree that it is The Handmaids Tale on steroids for sure. In todays society I feel like a lot of people could benefit from reading this book. It gives insight into Dimes life, the good, the bad, and everything in between. It really is eye opening and emotional. I hope more people take the opportunity to read this book with an open mind and could learn a thing or two from it. I certainly did. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars. <3

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don’t let the title fool u. This isn’t your typical tounge in cheek gay rom com where the wacky misadventures of our hero leads to self growth and true love. No, TDS is a harrowing tale of survival in a horrific dystopian society where abuse, control and persecution is the law. You will look at coworkers , neighbors, youth, minorities, elders and even yourself differently after living J.Q. Gagliastro’s America. Read this book and ask yourself what parts will never happen and what parts already have.

[Allison Carvalho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diary of a Sugarbaby really surprised me, in the best way. This novel was eye opening for me. J.Q. Gagliastro weaved together real life stories with a dystopian twist that kept me hooked. It was a fast paced and effortless read, yet it lingered in my mind long after I finished. Gagliastro has a talent for writing queer and diverse characters and experiences that I really appreciate.

Recommend this book for dystopian fans, those that want an eye opening read, and people who are seeking queer representation in books.

[Jeff Ainsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book takes you on a wild journey of a not so unrealistic dystopia. The true anecdotes contextualized in this story grip at the heart but also show a real life struggle for those in the LGBTQ+ community. Hatred of self, disdain from “straights”, and a will to survive catapult the protagonist through a reflection of life’s troubling journey. In the end, I’m curious to know your take on how you feel the character views their self, their journey, and their future!

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting read, very unique and different although if you were to compare it to something it would be like a gay version of Divergent or The Hunger Games but with a bit more realism. Reads like part biography or diary and part dystopian future novel.

[Evanskeybro · Rating 5 out of 5]

JQ is not just a sexy guy but writes a smart and compelling story that is winning over readers and critics. This book is hard to put down so you will read it fast. Hopefully JQ will give us a sequel soon!

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciated that I could relate to some of the struggles mentioned and the feelings that come with them. I think these are not always easily captured in queer novels.

[Ivy Emory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unsettling to read. Important to read. Poignant

[Gordanna]

I cannot in good conscience rate someone’s tragedies. Though this was a dystopian fiction, many of the events were based on the author, and he’s an adorable human being!

[PJ Guippone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ll start with the positives. I thought the narrator was interesting, and the concept was a really creative way to provide insight and a fairly compelling story. I couldn’t really put it down, especially in the final 50 pages, which were a really lovely payoff.

But I’ve never needed a payoff so badly. I can’t really name how many times in this book I thought about how much I really didn’t like it. I couldn’t put it down because I wanted it to just be over so badly. The interesting concept and story was completely drowned by the endless philosophizing and rambling. For a book so close to being a philosophy book, a collection of short stories, and a true novel, it ended almost being none of the three. The amount of personal views and shallow references really just bogs down from all the interesting and poignant things the book says.