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mattyb's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Grief, Death, Hate crime, and Homophobia
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Medical trauma, Bullying, Islamophobia, Medical content, Outing, Police brutality, and Sexual content
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Vomit, and Violence
thewordsdevourer's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
empathetic, youthful yet wise, like a love story celebrates love, queerness, and the life-saving and life-changing power of art, all while being grimly realistic w/ the context of the AIDS epidemic as well.
i could feel nazemian's passion and love for art - esp music - and its power thru this novel. there's music in many pivotal scenes, either as a new spark, comfort or celebration for the characters. an aspect of the book that i also rly like despite its grimness is the depiction of AIDS and queer life + activism: there's no romanticization of the former here, no mincing words w/ the ugliness and destruction of the disease, while the courage, rage, and sense of community of the latter are inspiring and serve as a reminder of what it took to get here. it's a revelation to see that, amid the staggering losses, many queer folks still soldier on thru sheer love and desire for a better future.
as for the characters, i like them all individually but have some issues when its comes to their relationships w/ one another. each makes sense in their own way despite - or bc of - their complexity, but tgt they make me frown in confusion sometimes. i actually rly like uncle stephen and the parents - the former and his wisdom make me tear up a few times - basically most of the side characters. however, imo the main trio is too far up their own asses a lot of the time, making their supposed friendship and dedication to one another a lil questionable.
and i dont get why art and reza start to like each other in the first place, aside from the fact that each is the first eligible gay dude of the same age that the other ever comes across. also whats up w/ that ending..art's decision seems to come outta nowhere and it's confusing bc he lets reza go way too easily despite being so in love w/ him; the whiplash is sth else. ig i wouldve liked there to be more explanation on important character decisions, instead of them just showing up in a new chapter when it's already been decided, for example w/ reza's decision to finally have sex w/ art after being afraid for months, and art's decision to go san francisco. i wanted to read their thought process on these things bc theyre such major decisions, and there just wasnt any or enough of that in the book esp towards the end.
despite the shortcomings of some of its narrative decisions, the novel's still an important one that not only sheds light on important topics like AIDS and queer activism, but also one that celebrates art and the queer community. in short, a book that embraces both the challenges and joy of being queer.
i could feel nazemian's passion and love for art - esp music - and its power thru this novel. there's music in many pivotal scenes, either as a new spark, comfort or celebration for the characters. an aspect of the book that i also rly like despite its grimness is the depiction of AIDS and queer life + activism: there's no romanticization of the former here, no mincing words w/ the ugliness and destruction of the disease, while the courage, rage, and sense of community of the latter are inspiring and serve as a reminder of what it took to get here. it's a revelation to see that, amid the staggering losses, many queer folks still soldier on thru sheer love and desire for a better future.
as for the characters, i like them all individually but have some issues when its comes to their relationships w/ one another. each makes sense in their own way despite - or bc of - their complexity, but tgt they make me frown in confusion sometimes. i actually rly like uncle stephen and the parents - the former and his wisdom make me tear up a few times - basically most of the side characters. however, imo the main trio is too far up their own asses a lot of the time, making their supposed friendship and dedication to one another a lil questionable.
and i dont get why art and reza start to like each other in the first place, aside from the fact that each is the first eligible gay dude of the same age that the other ever comes across. also whats up w/ that ending..art's decision seems to come outta nowhere and it's confusing bc he lets reza go way too easily despite being so in love w/ him; the whiplash is sth else. ig i wouldve liked there to be more explanation on important character decisions, instead of them just showing up in a new chapter when it's already been decided, for example w/ reza's decision to finally have sex w/ art after being afraid for months, and art's decision to go san francisco. i wanted to read their thought process on these things bc theyre such major decisions, and there just wasnt any or enough of that in the book esp towards the end.
despite the shortcomings of some of its narrative decisions, the novel's still an important one that not only sheds light on important topics like AIDS and queer activism, but also one that celebrates art and the queer community. in short, a book that embraces both the challenges and joy of being queer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual content
jmross10's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Blood, Body horror, Death, Homophobia, and Bullying
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Medical content, Racial slurs, and Racism
Minor: Deadnaming
lexa's review against another edition
emotional
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
5.0
A beautiful, breathtaking story of love in all forms. The love of friends, first love, romantic love, family love, community love, self love, and of course love of Madonna. But it is also so much more. It is a lesson in how far we've come in some ways and how far we still have to go in others. From the Author's Note: "This book is an ode to the heroes and heroines of the AIDS movement, activists who saved lives".
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Death, and Homophobia
Moderate: Fatphobia, Racism, Grief, and Excrement
Minor: Blood, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Vomit, and Alcoholism
hmatt's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
What a great read. The writing strikes that perfect balance where it's both appropriate for YA but not too simplified. There's just the right amount of focus each on family/friendships/romance for a coming-of-age novel. I also felt like it did a great job at being didactic without being preachy re: sex ed, queer history & culture, intersectional privilege, etc.
Where I had a small issue was with the main point of conflict - it just felt very contrived to me.I guess I just didn't buy in that it would be such a big deal to Judy that Art had a crush on Reza, acted on before she and Reza started dating, was rejected, and then kept his distance for the duration of their relationship. It's believable that she would be upset to some degree, but the extent it went to didn't make a lot of sense to me. I was able to look past this because the author didn't make it the only plot point. Yay, multi-dimensional storytelling.
Where I had a small issue was with the main point of conflict - it just felt very contrived to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Medical content, Police brutality, Racism, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Homophobia, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Violence, Vomit, and Xenophobia
booksthatburn's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
LIKE A LOVE STORY is about three teens trying to hang on to friendship and find love during the AIDS crisis, finding space for joy when the world wants so much for them to die. It's a messy story about imperfect people living through an especially terrible time to be gay*.
*I said "gay" not "queer" because the book seems to only know about gay men, more on that later.
I kept feeling jostled, uncomfortable when reading this, but mostly in a good way. The three MCs have very different perspectives, different assumptions about each other. One MC is fat and unabashedly loves food but deals with a lot of fatphobia and insecurity about how other people see her. I wish she'd had moments of food joy which weren't tainted by someone judging her in the moment, or her worrying about what other people were thinking. The gay and out MC deals with homophobia towards his gay identity and with the specter of what people around him think AIDS could mean, as well as what it actually means for his older gay friends who are dying of it. The gay and closeted MC (who is Persian) deals with racism and microaggressions about his background, and has internalized homophobia which means he’s both being hurt by other people’s homophobic reactions to the idea of gayness and turning that around into homophobic reactions towards other people because he doesn’t know what else to do. It makes for an emotionally complex but also sometimes exhausting read, as the white characters are racist, the straight characters are homophobic, and the thin characters are fatphobic. It’s set up to have no one be perfect, but it also means that early on there aren’t many emotional respites from the bigotry, though this did improve as the narrative progressed.
The AIDS crisis and the gay men dying from AIDS are a prominent feature of the story, along with homophobic reactions to AIDS and the idea of it. The closeted MC is assumed to be straight when he’s actually gay, and no one considers for even a second the possibility that he could be bi (as far as I'm aware, "bi" was a label in use during the late eighties/early nineties but "pan" wasn't yet), anything that would make it feel like he has choices beyond “be in the closet and date the girl” or “be out and date the guy”. I don’t mean that he had to actually be bi or pan, just that no characters even consider that as a possibility. The idea that he could like both of the other MCs doesn’t occur to anyone, and it means his desire for other people is treated as the coveted object in a zero-sum game. I know this is set before the split attraction model was codified, but still, it’s so frustrating to see him do everything but scream “I’m homosexual and biromantic” and get rejected for so long for not being heterosexual (by the girl) and for not being strictly homoromantic (by the guy). My frustrations with the book were mostly about what wasn't quite in it but was a breath away, like the stark absence of queer women (who were also dying of AIDS in real life). There were two mentions of queer women in the entire book and neither of them seemed to acknowledge that AIDS affected them too. This didn't need to be everything, but since a lot of the narration made room for PSAs seemingly designed to make sure that it conveys a lot of the history of this very real epidemic which was ignored and mocked at the time, it stings to feel bi/pan erasure when reading. It also struggled in its handling of the fat character. She's... body-neutral, I guess? Her fatness seemed to exist mostly to have her have a "flaw" that isn't a flaw, just like being gay or being Iranian aren't flaws, but they can draw the ire of bigots when in homophobic and xenophobic settings.
I liked the second half better, maybe I just got used to the characters or maybe they'd gotten the frustrating love triangle stuff handled enough to let the story breathe a little more, since I'm not a huge fan of love triangles, especially ones built on miscommunications and lies. I cared a lot more about the way the friendships bend and whether or not they break. The epilogue was sad and jarring, I'm glad to know how the characters end up, but it was an appropriately bittersweet way to end this sad and hopeful story about people just trying to live and love.
*I said "gay" not "queer" because the book seems to only know about gay men, more on that later.
I kept feeling jostled, uncomfortable when reading this, but mostly in a good way. The three MCs have very different perspectives, different assumptions about each other. One MC is fat and unabashedly loves food but deals with a lot of fatphobia and insecurity about how other people see her. I wish she'd had moments of food joy which weren't tainted by someone judging her in the moment, or her worrying about what other people were thinking. The gay and out MC deals with homophobia towards his gay identity and with the specter of what people around him think AIDS could mean, as well as what it actually means for his older gay friends who are dying of it. The gay and closeted MC (who is Persian) deals with racism and microaggressions about his background, and has internalized homophobia which means he’s both being hurt by other people’s homophobic reactions to the idea of gayness and turning that around into homophobic reactions towards other people because he doesn’t know what else to do. It makes for an emotionally complex but also sometimes exhausting read, as the white characters are racist, the straight characters are homophobic, and the thin characters are fatphobic. It’s set up to have no one be perfect, but it also means that early on there aren’t many emotional respites from the bigotry, though this did improve as the narrative progressed.
The AIDS crisis and the gay men dying from AIDS are a prominent feature of the story, along with homophobic reactions to AIDS and the idea of it. The closeted MC is assumed to be straight when he’s actually gay, and no one considers for even a second the possibility that he could be bi (as far as I'm aware, "bi" was a label in use during the late eighties/early nineties but "pan" wasn't yet), anything that would make it feel like he has choices beyond “be in the closet and date the girl” or “be out and date the guy”. I don’t mean that he had to actually be bi or pan, just that no characters even consider that as a possibility. The idea that he could like both of the other MCs doesn’t occur to anyone, and it means his desire for other people is treated as the coveted object in a zero-sum game. I know this is set before the split attraction model was codified, but still, it’s so frustrating to see him do everything but scream “I’m homosexual and biromantic” and get rejected for so long for not being heterosexual (by the girl) and for not being strictly homoromantic (by the guy). My frustrations with the book were mostly about what wasn't quite in it but was a breath away, like the stark absence of queer women (who were also dying of AIDS in real life). There were two mentions of queer women in the entire book and neither of them seemed to acknowledge that AIDS affected them too. This didn't need to be everything, but since a lot of the narration made room for PSAs seemingly designed to make sure that it conveys a lot of the history of this very real epidemic which was ignored and mocked at the time, it stings to feel bi/pan erasure when reading. It also struggled in its handling of the fat character. She's... body-neutral, I guess? Her fatness seemed to exist mostly to have her have a "flaw" that isn't a flaw, just like being gay or being Iranian aren't flaws, but they can draw the ire of bigots when in homophobic and xenophobic settings.
I liked the second half better, maybe I just got used to the characters or maybe they'd gotten the frustrating love triangle stuff handled enough to let the story breathe a little more, since I'm not a huge fan of love triangles, especially ones built on miscommunications and lies. I cared a lot more about the way the friendships bend and whether or not they break. The epilogue was sad and jarring, I'm glad to know how the characters end up, but it was an appropriately bittersweet way to end this sad and hopeful story about people just trying to live and love.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Fatphobia, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Vomit
CW for fatphobia, classism, racism, islamophobia, homophobia, homophobic slurs, suicidal thoughts, alcoholism, vomit, blood, self harm, violence, suicide, major character death, death. TW for frequent discussion of AIDS, references to the Iranian revolution, references to Pulse Nightclub (epilogue).alisazhup's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Blood, Police brutality, and Suicide
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