Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Blurb (on back of book):
It's 1989 in New York City, and for three teens, the world is changing.
Reza is an Iranian boy who has just moved to the city with his mother to live with his stepfather and stepbrother. He's terrified that someone will guess the truth he can barely acknowledge about himself. Reza knows he's gay, but all he knows of gay life are the media's images of men dying of AIDS.
Judy is an aspiring fashion designer who worships her uncle Stephen, a gay man with AIDS who devotes his time to activism as a member of ACT UP. Judy has never imagined finding romance...until she falls for Reza and they start dating.
Art is Judy's best friend, their school's only out and proud teen. He'll never be who his conservative parents want him to be, so he rebels by documenting the AIDS crisis through his photographs.
As Reza and Art grow closer, Reza struggles to find a way out of his deception that won't break Judy's heart--and destroy the most meaningful friendship he's ever known.
MY OPINION: ******
This is one of my favorite books of all time. I have never cried harder while reading in my life. I was having meltdowns before it even got sad because I already knew what was coming. This book was beautiful, extraordinary, perfect.
I loved this book so incredibly much. The book is set in 1989 in New York City, at the start of the AIDS crisis. It follows three different, unique, and beautifully complicated characters who are struggling with love, friendship, and self-identity, as well as acceptance and feeling comfortable in their own skin.
I have a read a lot of books about the LGBTQ+ community and the AIDS crisis but none have ever struck me as hard as this one. This book was eye-opening, heart-wrenching, and heartbreaking.
Reza is an Iranian boy who has just moved to New York with his mother and new stepfather and stepbrother. He's always been afraid to acknowledge his true self as being gay, as the only thing he knows and has seen about gay life is the media's depiction of AIDS. When he arrives at New York, he meets Judy and Art, two best friends.
Judy is a creative, aspiring fashion designer who devotes her time to her Uncle Stephen, who is suffering from AIDS. Herself, her best friend, Art, and her uncle are a part of the ACT UP motion to find the cure for AIDS and protest often for the government to release the cure to AIDS. Judy has never thought that she would get a boyfriend until she meets Reza.
Art is the only out-and-proud gay teen at his high school, and even though he is bullied everyday by the homophobes at his school and his own conservative parents, he stays strong through his photography of the AIDS crisis and the riots that ensue. He soon finds himself growing closer to Reza, even after Reza and Judy start dating.
This book is powerful for a couple of different reasons.
1. The depiction of AIDS. It was treated with raw honesty. It wasn't glorified to make it seem like it's not as bad as it actually is, which I appreciated. We see the real emotions and reactions of all types of people, from those who have AIDS to those who are disgusted/scared of it. Uncle Stephen's journey with the disease was the most tragic and inspiring thing I have read in a long time.
2. The differences between the characters. They weren't all built from one mold. Instead, they were all unique. They had their own passions, their own opinions, their own beliefs and fears and anxieties. I loved that about the book. While Reza was my favorite character by far, I found the others to be interesting and unique in their own ways.
3. Art and Reza's relationship. This was not only adorable but also honest and real and tragic. We start out with Reza trying not to think about Art and his feelings towards him, and going as far as to date Judy to try to get rid of those feelings. We then see Reza starting to admit it to himself as he fantasizes about Art, and then we see Art acting upon those signals and getting hurt. When they finally start dating, we see the hardships and fears that sometimes override their relationship and I think that's what made their relationship so believable. It wasn't all la-di-da and I really appreciated that. We see breakups and arguments and fear of intimacy between them.
4. Judy. While I didn't like her overall as a person, her character was very well-developed. She has always had self-confidence issues about her weight, due to slurs from her own family about losing weight. I think that when a parent puts down their own child, it's crueler than hearing it from other people. I loved how she had her own passion in designing, and I was scared for her for a good amount of the book because I knew that she was going to end up heartbroken.
**NOTE: While I don't agree with the way she reacted to finding out about Reza and Art, I understand why she cut all ties with them. Imagine believing that you were actually loved by someone for the first time in your life and then you find out that he has feelings for your best friend. And imagine finding out that your best friend betrayed you in the worst way possible. Though I did think that she took it a little too far, I understand her reasons for cutting Art off from her uncle, though that really hurt.**
5. Art's photography. I loved the whole concept of having a gay teenage boy documenting the horrid cruelty and devastation of the AIDS crisis. He was unique and those photos allowed him to cope with his problems in life. I especially loved the idea of the cracked lens and how it played into his photography and I thought that was brilliant.
6. The ending. I read a lot of reviews saying that they hated the ending and that it made the book seem so pointless to read if it was going to end like that. Art and Reza don't end up together. And while I would have loved it if they had, I really appreciated the honesty and realistic qualities of this ending. NOT EVERY RELATIONSHIP ENDS UP HAPPILY EVER AFTER NO MATTER HOW MUCH WE WANT THEM TO. I like that they were each other's firsts. They will always be special to each other. But I wasn't necessarily expecting them to live happily ever after together when all was said and done. I loved that they ended up with different families and different lives but were still connected by Stephen and I loved that it was so realistic. No, the ending was perfect just the way it was. It was real, it was honest, and it was poignant.
7. Uncle Stephen. I have never cried so hard in my entire life while reading. Ever. When he was dying, I was sobbing. Full out sobbing. His final words to them all made me cry so hard. I loved his story, his bravery, his courage. His kindness. His beautiful soul. AND THE JELLY BEANS. I HAVE NEVER CRIED SO HARD ABOUT JELLY BEANS. The symbolism was incredible.
8. Madonna. I loved this whole Madonna implement. It really helped with the journey of Reza's life especially as it helped him to understand who he was and who he loved. While I personally am not a fan of Madonna, I am familiar with her and her music and her power and I loved that she was made such a strong symbol in this book. Though I was crying while reading about her concert because of somebody's absence.
9. Parents. I appreciated that this book was real. Not all of the parents were accepting of their children. They all had different ways of reacting to their children.
Art's conservative parents are disappointed and constantly want him to go to Yale and redeem himself in their eyes. They are not accepting of him at all, and his journey to be freed from his parents was so self-fulfilling for him and I loved his finality of leaving his parents. They think that money is the answer and I hated that. His parents had the audacity to tell him that they would rather have him dead. There was a specific quote about how if Art wasn't gay and if he was straight like his parents want him to be, it would be as if he was dead. That was so powerful. This book was filled with powerful quotes.
Judy's parents are constantly putting her down for her weight and her body image. They also put down her Uncle Stephen for being gay and having AIDS.
Reza's parents are strict Iranian parents. Their way of coping with their son's coming out is by ignoring it and pretending it was never said. I think that's honestly worse than putting down their son for it because then at least they would be acknowledging who their son is. His mom and his sister, Tara, are constantly fighting over everything and Reza has always been stuck in the middle. By the end, his mother starts to be a bit more accepting but she still doesn't want to talk about it flat out and that really hurt to read about.
10. Bullying. This book dealt with a lot of homophobia and showed the cruelty and put-downs that gay people had to put up with for their whole lives. They used cruel words and they made fun of the disease that was killing so many people.
I would recommend this book to everyone. It deserves to be read by all. This is one of my favorite books of all time. Six-stars for sure.
Main Character: Reza, Art, Judy
Sidekick(s): Saadi (after a while), Uncle Stephen, Tara, etc
Villain(s): AIDS, homophobia, Darryl, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was very real to life.
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