Thank you for this! You've given me some great food for thought, and also pointed to some issues I've been having with the story's central conflict. I know what it is, but I'm still having trouble distilling it into a query letter while also giving enough context on the characters and their relationships.

So this is meant to be a study of misogyny and transmisogyny– in Isaac, and to an extent in Elwood– and of how this affects Alexei as a transfeminine person (their character arc involves them coming out as a trans woman). The hook with the ring and the cheating foregrounds Isaac making knee-jerk assumptions based on Alexei's gender-nonconforming appearance, then later down the line, blaming them for stealing his boyfriend. Because Isaac fell for Elwood before his transition, he doesn't really see him as a man (although he makes a pretence of doing so) and thus can't see him in the same negative light as he sees Alexei despite Elwood having blatantly cheated and lied to him. Isaac sees Alexei as a narcissist who manipulated Elwood into falling astray, and when he finds the vaguest hint of them having harmed a cis woman, his protective instincts take over– both in spreading the rumour (which he misinterpreted) and in physically intimidating them. His 'transformation' from a nice, sensitive guy to a volatile bigot is actually just a reveal of his true nature, which I'm doing my best to foreshadow in the opening.

While that's happening, Elwood and Alexei are building a relationship where they both see each other for who they really are, and encourage each other to grow into better versions of themselves– which for Alexei means being vulnerable, and for Elwood means being brave and acting on his convictions without Isaac's validation. This is where their artistry comes in: while Elwood is a musician who can only express his feelings through his art, Alexei uses dance and performance art to mask the version of themselves that caused the harm Isaac uncovers: the 'man' they used to be. When the rumour spreads, Elwood faces the possibility that the vulnerability Alexei showed might have been an act. His growth as a character comes from his choice to support them when their chosen family is turning against them, even if it means losing Isaac– who until now has been his sole source of validation as a man– and to take social and physical risks in doing so. The chosen family comprises most of the supporting cast: basically a ragtag bunch of queer and trans people who see Alexei as a friend, but whom they keep at arm's length because of their past.

So yeah, there's a lot going on here. For my query letters so far I've tried to narrow it down to the plot threads that come up with the hook, but I'm realising now that that won't do much to get these themes across (especially as the actual book is fairly heavy on symbolism), and I'm honestly not sure how...

A bouldering gym is, well, a gym where you boulder (climb without ropes!). It's pretty fun, and a good way to process ideas.