Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Like a Love Story

ETA (Aug 2023): We chose this book for Reading the Rainbow to support the display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt that they currently have up. While on one level, this is the story of a teen love triangle and an Iranian kid coming out, it also introduces a lot of history about the AIDS crisis and activism in response. I think this is a great book for young queer readers to keep that history alive. And it reads so differently after having gone through another pandemic. That fear and the spread of misinformation and the anxiety about whether the recommended risk reduction will actually protect you... I am too young to really remember AIDS happening, but I can definitely identify with those feelings during the early days of COVID.

Original review:
This story of young love in the shadow of the AIDS crisis just grabbed me and wouldn't let go. Reza has just moved to New York when his mom got remarried. He's gay, but completely in the closet because his culture forbids it. But when Reza meets Art, a guy in his class who's out and proud, he starts to have feelings he's never felt, feelings that terrify him because he's convinced that if he ever acted on his feelings for a guy he'll get AIDS and die. Judy, Art's best friend, meets Reza on his first day in school and falls hard. When terrified Reza starts dating her, he does care about her, but he also cares about keeping his secret - what better way to do that than to have a girlfriend?

This book is both heartfelt and heartbreaking. It examines what it's like to try to live your life and fall in love and be in a relationship with this enormous fear, not just fear about coming out and living openly but actual fear for your life. A major theme in the book is the activism that Art participates in, along with Judy's gay uncle Stephen. They're active in protests throughout the city calling on corporations, churches, and the government to help end the assault on gay lives that is the AIDS crisis.

Hand this to your readers of THE LOVE AND LIES OF RUKHSANA ALI by Sabina Khan for stories of how homosexuality is perceived in cultures outside the US or TWO BOYS KISSING by David Levithan, another gay love story that acknowledges the AIDS crisis. I also think teens who love DARIUS THE GREAT IS NOT OKAY by Adib Khorram for its examination of an Iranian response to mental health may also appreciate the story of an Iranian-American boy coming to terms with his sexuality.

Content Warnings

thewordsdevourer's review

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

zacharycharlier's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

m_hates_reading's review

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

bootsmom3's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted 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

4.0

Content Warnings

just_one_more_paige's review

Go to review page

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

I got my hands on this book through a used book sale. The cover is so deeply striking (the colors, the contrast, the design, the font, all of it!) and I was drawn right to it. Plus, the title itself is really intriguing: Like a Love Story. Like one, but not actually one? How does that work; what does it mean? And despite not seeing any blog or bookstagram reviews of the book, it seemed like the Goodreads community loved it (super high star rating from a significant number of reviewers). So, I impulse-bought it. And I've been in the car a lot for work this week (like 5 hours a day, ooof), so I grabbed the audiobook from my library and decided to listen (a great choice, as the cast narration was fantastic).

Like a Love Story is told from three perspectives. Reza, Art and Judy all attend a private high school in NYC. Judy and Art have been friends for years, as long as they can remember. Art is the only out gay student at the school, a very big deal, considering the year (1989) - deep into the AIDS crisis and related fear and misinformation and blaming the gay community. He's loud and proud about it, inviting quite a bit of intense bullying from other students. Judy loves designing and makign clothes and is very close with her Uncle Stephen, who is gay, living with AIDS, and deeply involved in activist work with ACT UP. Reza is new in school, just moved from Canada, and knows he likes boys but is so deeply terrified by the news of gay men dying of AIDS that he does everything he can to push it down and pretend it's not true, including agreeing to date Judy, the first friend he's made at his new school, despite feeling guilty knowing that while his feelings for her are real, they are based only on wanting to be friends, nothing more. At the same time, he's repressing quite a few "more than friends" feelings about Art. And so, the drama of high school friends and crushes, set against a larger backdrop of intense social activism and homophobia, creates the basis of this YA novel.

Phew this story was intense, emotionally and topically, from start to finish. And I mean that in the "it was a great story" way and also in the "be careful because it will make you cry and there are quite a few content warnings" way. Starting with Art, Reza and Judy - wow they were all so well written. Very individual voices for each, which I find doesn't always happen this well with POV-rotating stories (especially when the POVs are youth). The mix of teenage hormones (which were raging in a very on-point way), deep friendship loyalty, the extreme emotions and self-centeredness (phew, a lot of that) that come with puberty and adolescence, the combination of self-consciousness and intense opinions, and the internal acknowledgement of when they mess up juxtaposed with and lack of skill/ability in communicating regret/apology, is all incredibly authentic. And, as I said, the audiobook narrators for each of the three really rocked their performances.

This is all intensified by the societal issues that are adding even more to the list of things these teens are coping with. And that is where the emotional aspects of the novel really took hold of me as a reader. Nazemian captured the whole generation(s) of queer people dismissed and scared to be who they are and love who they live - and dying and alone and blamed for it - in heartbreaking detail. In fact, after reading his author's note at the end, I realized why he was able to write it with such genuine feeling: he lived it. He talks about his personal experience of what it meant to grow up gay in the "in between" generation, not the front lines of AIDS by pre-treatment availability, and how that informed this novel (Reza's story following his own closely and, from what I can tell, Art standing in as his first boyfriend, who did a lot for him in terms of coming out and accepting who he is). So, yes, the way these youth are forced to confront mortality as the price of love in the face of AIDS is...a lot. And the fact that this vehement and widespread bigotry is so not that long ago (within my own lifetime, in fact) makes it all even worse. The rage and fear (from all three youth, as well as a few of the adults in the story) are so deeply communicated. And that, combined with anti-queer venom on all levels from policy to interpersonal, plus the reality of the feelings of invisibility and powerlessness, makes this a really difficult read. Plus, Nazemian doesn't shy away from other complicating social factors either, like wealth and gender and cultural background, and the way those intersectional identities play into all the other experiences already mentioned is. Included in this, in a variety of ways, is parental/familial support (or lack thereof). There is quite a bit of parents rejecting and denying and failing their children that is truly upsetting to read; so much added rejection and shame based on fear mongering, what things "look like" on the outside, and very skewed ideas of "protecting" their children. (On the flipside, there are a number of other family relationships, especially siblings, that are incredibly supportive and I loved that.) All in all, lots of tough subjects and none of them are softened.

And yet, despite all of that (or perhaps because of it), the narrative voices also had a unique and sometimes really funny vibe, a spot on parallel to the way people survive by joking through the pain and injustice. And Stephen's integration into each character's growth and "coming of age" was marvelous. He was a sort of fairy godfather type character and I loved the device. In particular, his queer history/culture flashcards and the way they were integrataed, was wonderful (and will make you cry in the "overflow of good emotions" way). The bittersweet ending of the story then, centered around Stephen, is that much more emotionally devastating when it happens (and you know that it's coming). It hits in the feels like nobody's business and listening to this while driving turned out to be really questionable because it got hard to see clearly through all the tears. Plus, the way Reza and Art and Judy's relationships all end is bittersweet in exactly the right way and between that and the hefty role Madonna and her music played in the development of the story, I have to say that the title was perfect.

This was just a beautiful and incredibly emotional (all the rage and passion) depiction of the queer rights movement being based deeply in love, the right to have and express it, and how is that possibly wrong? Plus, it's a fantastic homage to the queer activists and history that fought to make today possible, even though there is still so much work to do, is inspiring and should absolutely not be forgotten (even if we likely won't ever see it in textbooks and have to rely on our own ways of telling that history, with stories like this one...and actually, if you're looking for another similiar-ish idea, I recommend Sahsa Masha.) I highly recommend this novel, with the caveat of being ready for it, because it is intense.

“I need to live, and to live, I can't ever be what I know that I am.” (What a horrible choice to be forced to face as a teen!)

“I hate that a moment that should be joyful is filled with so much anguish.”

“If you use God to tell people created by God that they're sinners for who they love, then I give you a great big middle finger and invite you to sit on it.”

“Us. All of us. What we did. What we fought for. Our history. Who we are. They won't teach it in schools. They don't want us to have a history. They don't see us. They don't know we are another country, with invisible borders, that we are a people. You have to make them see. [...] You have to remember it. And to share it. Please. Time passes, and people forget. Don’t let them.”

“The most important four-letter word in our history will always be love. [...] That's what we are fighting for. That's who we are. Love is our legacy.”

Content Warnings

19becky97's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

More...