Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Like a Love Story

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian

27 reviews

brookey8888's review

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

Wow was this book moving.

I cried multiple times and just felt for the characters. This story is so important to learn about what activist did for the queer community and how things have changed,but how much still needs to be done. I don’t know why I didn’t realize this might be sad when it’s set during the AIDS epidemic. I really liked our characters(for the most part). I just like the growth and courage they all had. The family relationships in this were so sweet for the most part. Now Art was not that likable at times which is the point, but it was so hard to read his POV sometimes(also he’s a teenager so it makes sense). I also didn’t really love the ending. It was bittersweet to me, but realistic.

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linnea1801's review

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emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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ranjanireviewsreads's review against another edition

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mattyb's review against another edition

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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

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nicholasl_'s review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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m_hates_reading's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

4.0

4/5 Absolutely heartbreaking.

A queer, first-love romance, but set in 1989 New York and based in the AIDS crisis - it’s one of the most moving books I’ve read. It’s been sat on my bookshelf since I originally came out in 2020, and I never bothered to read it until now. Im actually glad I didn’t read it when I first got it, bc I don’t think I would have been able to appreciate the imagery and symbolism as well.

The tri-perspective approach really works well- nobody’s the main character, it’s about how what happens effects all of them, the entire community.

The reason it’s not a five star read, for me, was because I felt the writing lacked balance. The first half of the book was very cute and bubbly (or as cute and bubbly as it gets when your book is a queer romance set in 1989 New York) and all the very deeply emotional and moving scenes kind of happened together. It’s hard to explain, and I don’t want to criticise it too harshly because it is an incredibly beautiful story that the author has very obviously put their entire heart and soul into, but it felt like some passages were missing the spark that made the rest of it so great.

Not my usual thing, but I’m glad I read it, and I’m glad it exists because I know just how meaningful it is and will be to so many people.

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