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sophie42's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Grief, Death, and Outing
Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, and Adult/minor relationship
datgirllani's review against another edition
challenging
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia
sydneyreviews's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
reads like glee fanfiction, if you like that kind of thing. luckily for me, i do. it's very much a typical high school teen rom-com, but with some diverse identities shoehorned in. while iranian-american protagonist leila has her ethnic identity well fleshed out, the same can't be said for saskia or lisa. a swing and a miss!
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia
nannahnannah's review against another edition
3.0
Ugh, I don't know how to feel about this book! I don't know what to think.
On one hand, it's incredibly diverse, and that's great! But then again, Sara Farizan doesn't always handle that diversity well, which is . . . not so great. :/
A high-school junior, Leila is a student at a preppy academy, a 1st generation Persian immigrant, and unknown to anyone, a lesbian. Life is hard enough already without anyone knowing about that.
But when new-student Saskia enters her life, Leila is immediately smitten and has a harder time hiding herself from everyone, including herself. But Saskia brings with her a whole world of drama, and Leila wonders if Saskia's even a good person, if her feelings for her are real or superficial, and what it really means (re: title) to have a crush.
So, what this book does really well:
- the main character dealing with her emotions/becoming familiar with her sexuality, especially coming from a traditional Persian family, etc.
- the relationship between Leila and her family (this is done SO well)
- the relationship between Leila and Lisa (I won't get into this too much to not spoil anything, but it's very sweet)
- basically the main and lots of secondary characters are done Very well, and it's so lovely to witness
- that ending! it wraps up in such a satisfactory way, that I momentarily forgot everything I disliked about it and just reveled in that beautiful ending :'))
What this book . . . really doesn't do well: (and it's a lot)
- bi representation
--- Lisa, a bi character, vehemently denies the label of bi, instead just wanting to be "____sexual", and haven't we all seen that 1000 times in the media? Everyone hates the b word!!
--- Saskia. We don't know her sexuality. We assume she's straight ("I can't even look at my own vagina in a mirror! ew!"(cissexism warning), but then again she looks at Leila with lust in her eye, and goes out of her way to continue to kiss her and pursue her, so . . . is she curious? Does she have internalized hobophobia? We don't know. But it DOES seem like she's falling into the evil, promiscuous, and over-sexualized bisexual stereotype that needs to die. :/
- transphobic stereotypes
--- Toward the end of the book, Leila and the only gay character team up to help middle school students put on Cinderella with a twist: Cinderella is . . . non-gender conforming? At least that's what they said. But . . . when we actually see the play, the character of Cinderella is simply performed by a boy in a dress who's speaking in falsetto for laughs. That's . . . simple transphobia there, not anything non-gender conforming. The book even specified it was done for humor, so . . .
- bad representation of lgbt ppl in general
--- The only gay character is someone named Tomas, who's a very flamboyant man. Now that's not bad, because many gay men are flamboyant, but Tomas enjoys being a straight woman's accessory, openly hates "hardcore lesbians", and lives only for other people's drama without having any other character--or character development. He has no other personality, and even says he wants/has no other connections than what will give him drama.
--- There's a group of stagehands Leila meets who she (and everyone else) assumes are lesbians. She has this superior attitude throughout the entire book of "not like other lesbians" and even goes as far to say "will I end up like them? will I date someone like them??". AKA, lesbians who are feminists, lesbians who don't shave their legs, lesbians who aren't very feminine, etc. I don't know what Sara Farizan has against lesbians, but what the hell.
Anyway, it's sooo tough to rate this book, or even like it? Because there was so much that I didn't like about that made it tough to enjoy. Even if there was much I did like about it!
On one hand, it's incredibly diverse, and that's great! But then again, Sara Farizan doesn't always handle that diversity well, which is . . . not so great. :/
A high-school junior, Leila is a student at a preppy academy, a 1st generation Persian immigrant, and unknown to anyone, a lesbian. Life is hard enough already without anyone knowing about that.
But when new-student Saskia enters her life, Leila is immediately smitten and has a harder time hiding herself from everyone, including herself. But Saskia brings with her a whole world of drama, and Leila wonders if Saskia's even a good person, if her feelings for her are real or superficial, and what it really means (re: title) to have a crush.
So, what this book does really well:
- the main character dealing with her emotions/becoming familiar with her sexuality, especially coming from a traditional Persian family, etc.
- the relationship between Leila and her family (this is done SO well)
- the relationship between Leila and Lisa (I won't get into this too much to not spoil anything, but it's very sweet)
- basically the main and lots of secondary characters are done Very well, and it's so lovely to witness
- that ending! it wraps up in such a satisfactory way, that I momentarily forgot everything I disliked about it and just reveled in that beautiful ending :'))
What this book . . . really doesn't do well: (and it's a lot)
- bi representation
--- Lisa, a bi character, vehemently denies the label of bi, instead just wanting to be "____sexual", and haven't we all seen that 1000 times in the media? Everyone hates the b word!!
--- Saskia. We don't know her sexuality. We assume she's straight ("I can't even look at my own vagina in a mirror! ew!"(cissexism warning), but then again she looks at Leila with lust in her eye, and goes out of her way to continue to kiss her and pursue her, so . . . is she curious? Does she have internalized hobophobia? We don't know. But it DOES seem like she's falling into the evil, promiscuous, and over-sexualized bisexual stereotype that needs to die. :/
- transphobic stereotypes
--- Toward the end of the book, Leila and the only gay character team up to help middle school students put on Cinderella with a twist: Cinderella is . . . non-gender conforming? At least that's what they said. But . . . when we actually see the play, the character of Cinderella is simply performed by a boy in a dress who's speaking in falsetto for laughs. That's . . . simple transphobia there, not anything non-gender conforming. The book even specified it was done for humor, so . . .
- bad representation of lgbt ppl in general
--- The only gay character is someone named Tomas, who's a very flamboyant man. Now that's not bad, because many gay men are flamboyant, but Tomas enjoys being a straight woman's accessory, openly hates "hardcore lesbians", and lives only for other people's drama without having any other character--or character development. He has no other personality, and even says he wants/has no other connections than what will give him drama.
--- There's a group of stagehands Leila meets who she (and everyone else) assumes are lesbians. She has this superior attitude throughout the entire book of "not like other lesbians" and even goes as far to say "will I end up like them? will I date someone like them??". AKA, lesbians who are feminists, lesbians who don't shave their legs, lesbians who aren't very feminine, etc. I don't know what Sara Farizan has against lesbians, but what the hell.
Anyway, it's sooo tough to rate this book, or even like it? Because there was so much that I didn't like about that made it tough to enjoy. Even if there was much I did like about it!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Antisemitism
also: biphobia, lesbophobia, lesbophobic slurs; forced coming-out; cissexism, unhealthy relationshipsfinesilkflower's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
In this coming-of-age queer novel, Leila, the daughter of Iranian immigrants, worries about coming out to her parents while experiencing the ups and downs of her first crush on a totally unsuitable new girl. Odd pacing, with the climax near the middle and a ton of denouement.
This book is 8 years old as of this writing, and it already feels incredibly dated. (Tbh, I suspect it felt that way at the time, as well.) My main problem is the characterization of the queer or perceived-queer background characters, mostly members of the theater crew (I'll just call them "theater kids"). They are all played for laughs, but in a "laughing at" rather than "laughing with" way; they are broad caricatures mocked for their gender nonconformity, lack of interest in heterosexual beauty ideals, and adherence to tired stereotypes. The only gay male character is a dramatic theater diva whom Leila finds ridiculous and annoying; the rest of the theater kids are girls who listen to Ani DiFranco and snipe at each other over PETA petitions. It's like a time warp of lesbian jokes that were cliché even in 1995.
And no, it doesn't help when it turns out that they aren't even lesbians!! omg lol! they're straight!!! This feels like a get-out-of-jail-free card designed to let Farizan continue making them the butt of lesbian jokes without it technically being homophobic. But it still feels mean-spirited (and is still butch-phobic, GNC-phobic, and like actually also homophobic because it is mocking people for "seeming" queer.) It just feels like the inverse of that thing in the early 2000's where critics praised The L Word for not having any butch characters and only showing skinny, feminine, traditionally hot lesbians. It's an attempt to erase the existence of butch lesbians, cast butch lesbian-ness itself as a nasty stereotype, and deny the relationship between queerness and rejecting the heterosexual gaze.
I feel like Farizan even made up new offensive stereotypes I've never heard of before, like that gay men hate lesbians. When he finds out that Leila is into girls, the only gay character, Tomas, says, "Ew, gross." Like, what????
Has Sara Farizan met any queer people?
Then, later, all the theater kids get together for a party and it's boring. What??? No, these people would throw the best parties.
I found it extremely alienating as a queer person (and former theater kid) to be in Leila's POV as she perceives the theater kids with disgust and fear, but I assumed this was to to set up character development where she'd come to love and respect them and consider herself one of them. Which... I guess she comes to be fond of them, but the respect is never there, nor the sense of solidarity. The theater kids are always played for laughs for being over-the-top, annoying, and weird. It's just profoundly counterproductive if Farizan's aim is actually to make queer kids feel seen and loved. Like sure you can be seen and loved as long as you're "normal" (read: straight-acting, gender-conforming), not like one of "those" queers.
And this is leaving aside the bi rep, which consists of a "greedy bisexual" cardboard villain and a not-like-other-bi's "not into labels" character.
Sheesh.
Okay, there were some things I liked:
- The overall idea of the story, in which Leila's first crush is toxic and bad for her. I feel like this shines a light on how closeted queer teens can so easily fall into emotionally abusive relationships because they are so wowed a having anyone they're attracted to pay attention to them, and then can't say anything when things go bad because they're afraid of being outed. The execution was a bit too heavy-handed for me, but a lack of subtlety can be okay in a book for tweens.
- Leila's family story; hopeful without being syrupy. The details about the Persian community feel real and lived-in.
- I did quite like the ultimate love interest, and the way her storyline handles grief.
Generally, though, I'd say give this one a pass. My general impression in this book was of an author who is still dealing with some self-hating queer ish.
This book is 8 years old as of this writing, and it already feels incredibly dated. (Tbh, I suspect it felt that way at the time, as well.) My main problem is the characterization of the queer or perceived-queer background characters, mostly members of the theater crew (I'll just call them "theater kids"). They are all played for laughs, but in a "laughing at" rather than "laughing with" way; they are broad caricatures mocked for their gender nonconformity, lack of interest in heterosexual beauty ideals, and adherence to tired stereotypes. The only gay male character is a dramatic theater diva whom Leila finds ridiculous and annoying; the rest of the theater kids are girls who listen to Ani DiFranco and snipe at each other over PETA petitions. It's like a time warp of lesbian jokes that were cliché even in 1995.
And no, it doesn't help when it turns out that they aren't even lesbians!! omg lol! they're straight!!! This feels like a get-out-of-jail-free card designed to let Farizan continue making them the butt of lesbian jokes without it technically being homophobic. But it still feels mean-spirited (and is still butch-phobic, GNC-phobic, and like actually also homophobic because it is mocking people for "seeming" queer.) It just feels like the inverse of that thing in the early 2000's where critics praised The L Word for not having any butch characters and only showing skinny, feminine, traditionally hot lesbians. It's an attempt to erase the existence of butch lesbians, cast butch lesbian-ness itself as a nasty stereotype, and deny the relationship between queerness and rejecting the heterosexual gaze.
I feel like Farizan even made up new offensive stereotypes I've never heard of before, like that gay men hate lesbians. When he finds out that Leila is into girls, the only gay character, Tomas, says, "Ew, gross." Like, what????
Has Sara Farizan met any queer people?
Then, later, all the theater kids get together for a party and it's boring. What??? No, these people would throw the best parties.
I found it extremely alienating as a queer person (and former theater kid) to be in Leila's POV as she perceives the theater kids with disgust and fear, but I assumed this was to to set up character development where she'd come to love and respect them and consider herself one of them. Which... I guess she comes to be fond of them, but the respect is never there, nor the sense of solidarity. The theater kids are always played for laughs for being over-the-top, annoying, and weird. It's just profoundly counterproductive if Farizan's aim is actually to make queer kids feel seen and loved. Like sure you can be seen and loved as long as you're "normal" (read: straight-acting, gender-conforming), not like one of "those" queers.
And this is leaving aside the bi rep, which consists of a "greedy bisexual" cardboard villain and a not-like-other-bi's "not into labels" character.
Sheesh.
Okay, there were some things I liked:
- The overall idea of the story, in which Leila's first crush is toxic and bad for her. I feel like this shines a light on how closeted queer teens can so easily fall into emotionally abusive relationships because they are so wowed a having anyone they're attracted to pay attention to them, and then can't say anything when things go bad because they're afraid of being outed. The execution was a bit too heavy-handed for me, but a lack of subtlety can be okay in a book for tweens.
- Leila's family story; hopeful without being syrupy. The details about the Persian community feel real and lived-in.
- I did quite like the ultimate love interest, and the way her storyline handles grief.
Generally, though, I'd say give this one a pass. My general impression in this book was of an author who is still dealing with some self-hating queer ish.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Bullying, Grief, and Outing
Minor: Religious bigotry and Alcohol
pineapple_queen's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia and Homophobia
Moderate: Racism
asteinmuller's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
This was a cute, queer YA story. I liked Leila, but found some of the other characters to be seriously underdeveloped. The antagonist of the story seemed to be over the top and not believable, the love interest was a bit flat, and the best friend didn't get nearly enough focus. It was cute, but I think it could have been a much better book with some more character development.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Bullying
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual content
isabelle6's review against another edition
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Cute story of a girl figuring out her feelings and how to navigate that in high school as a lesbian and a first generation American.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia