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A review by sapphirebubble_
How It All Blew Up by Arvin Ahmadi
5.0
tw// body horror, Islamophobia, queerphobia, racism
.
This book is such a subtle and alluring story that I believe resonates with every brown, queer person; if not all queer people. The way this book so effortlessly and authetically presents the intersection of being a person of colour, a Muslim and a queer person is commendable. The way it strengthens its narrative using those elements of Amir's personhood is a sight to see.
.
Even though I am not Muslim or Iranian, I could instantly related to Amir's plight. Of feeling out of place in your culture and your family because of your queerness. The way he kept a scoreboard of how his family reacts ro queerness, adding and docking points based on everyday circumstances resonated deeply with me. Because consciously or subconsciously, I think every queer child has done that, every time they think about coming out to their parents. I certainly have. Another thing that resonated with me was thinking that you have to separate your religion and culture from your queerness to fully embrace it.
.
I really liked the unconventional manner this story uses to give us an insight into each Azadi family member. The way that they all get detained at the airport because *ding ding ding* racism, and they try to explain themselves. It made us privy to the thoughts and emotions of Amir's mom and dad which they would never state in front of Amir. It was unusual, since most YA coming out stories focus only on what the parents say to the protagonist.
.
I found myself extremely thrilled at the prospect of Amir running away to a whole other country and finding his place there, in more ways than one, instead of facing his family with the fact that he is gay. Because, let's be honest, who hasn't thought of that. When you grow up in Arab or Asian cultures, it feels like there is no way to be a part of your family and be queer. We have imagined running away, cutting all ties and starting whole lives elsewhere; because that way, we would get to truly be ourselves.
.
I liked how Amir's time in Italy wasn't all just rainbows and sunshine. He learns and grows, in many ways. He finds friends, but they aren't what they seemed like at first glance. He learns to embrace his queerness and his culture at the same time. He learns love and live his truth. Which led to a very satisfying ending of him not just going home with his parents because they had found him and what else could he do; but because he wanted to. He did not let 'the gay thing' fall into obscurity, he made his parents confront it and accept him. Implying consequences, if they could not. The ending implied a learning curve for both Amir and his parents. It wasn't happy ending, arguably; it was just an ending, which made it much more real.
.
I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. Especially for its intersection of religion, culture, race and queerness.
.
Thank you @pridebooktours for having me on this tour. And @hotkeybooksya for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
.
This book is such a subtle and alluring story that I believe resonates with every brown, queer person; if not all queer people. The way this book so effortlessly and authetically presents the intersection of being a person of colour, a Muslim and a queer person is commendable. The way it strengthens its narrative using those elements of Amir's personhood is a sight to see.
.
Even though I am not Muslim or Iranian, I could instantly related to Amir's plight. Of feeling out of place in your culture and your family because of your queerness. The way he kept a scoreboard of how his family reacts ro queerness, adding and docking points based on everyday circumstances resonated deeply with me. Because consciously or subconsciously, I think every queer child has done that, every time they think about coming out to their parents. I certainly have. Another thing that resonated with me was thinking that you have to separate your religion and culture from your queerness to fully embrace it.
.
I really liked the unconventional manner this story uses to give us an insight into each Azadi family member. The way that they all get detained at the airport because *ding ding ding* racism, and they try to explain themselves. It made us privy to the thoughts and emotions of Amir's mom and dad which they would never state in front of Amir. It was unusual, since most YA coming out stories focus only on what the parents say to the protagonist.
.
I found myself extremely thrilled at the prospect of Amir running away to a whole other country and finding his place there, in more ways than one, instead of facing his family with the fact that he is gay. Because, let's be honest, who hasn't thought of that. When you grow up in Arab or Asian cultures, it feels like there is no way to be a part of your family and be queer. We have imagined running away, cutting all ties and starting whole lives elsewhere; because that way, we would get to truly be ourselves.
.
I liked how Amir's time in Italy wasn't all just rainbows and sunshine. He learns and grows, in many ways. He finds friends, but they aren't what they seemed like at first glance. He learns to embrace his queerness and his culture at the same time. He learns love and live his truth. Which led to a very satisfying ending of him not just going home with his parents because they had found him and what else could he do; but because he wanted to. He did not let 'the gay thing' fall into obscurity, he made his parents confront it and accept him. Implying consequences, if they could not. The ending implied a learning curve for both Amir and his parents. It wasn't happy ending, arguably; it was just an ending, which made it much more real.
.
I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. Especially for its intersection of religion, culture, race and queerness.
.
Thank you @pridebooktours for having me on this tour. And @hotkeybooksya for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.