Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Only This Beautiful Moment

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Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian

5 reviews

kelly_e's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.5

Title: Only This Beautiful Moment
Author: Abdi Nazemian
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Rating: 4.50
Pub Date: May 9, 2023

T H R E E • W O R D S

Poetic • Enlightening • Impactful

📖 S Y N O P S I S

2019. Moud is an out gay teen living in Los Angeles with his distant father, Saeed. When Moud gets the news that his grandfather in Iran is dying, he accompanies his dad to Tehran, where the revelation of family secrets will force Moud into a new understanding of his history, his culture, and himself.

1978. Saeed is an engineering student with a promising future ahead of him in Tehran. But when his parents discover his involvement in the country’s burgeoning revolution, they send him to safety in America, a country Saeed despises. And even worse—he’s forced to live with the American grandmother he never knew existed.

1939. Bobby, the son of a calculating Hollywood stage mother, lands a coveted MGM studio contract. But the fairy-tale world of glamour he’s thrust into has a dark side.
Set against the backdrop of Tehran and Los Angeles, this tale of intergenerational trauma and love is an ode to the fragile bonds of family, the hidden secrets of history, and all the beautiful moments that make us who we are today.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Only This Beautiful Moment was another one of my 12 recommendations from 12 friends challenge in 2024. I don't read a lot of young adult, simply because I often want more depth and emotion in my reads, yet this one sounded like it had those things.

Following three generations of men from the same Iranian family at the same point in their lives, this coming-of-age story is incredibly well written. It's intergenerational queer historical fiction at its finest. It touches on theme of ever changing nature of familial bonds, of the search for identity, and on the power of not only forgiving the ones we love, but ourselves.

Beyond the actual story, I enjoyed learning so much about Iranian culture and history, more specifically the LGBTQ community there. An ode to the resilience of the Iranian people and queer Iranians, this is an incredibly educative book. I also appreciated the idea of how simple moments in time help shape who we are and who we become.

Only This Beautiful Moment was another solid recommendation for my 2024 challenge. The beautiful depiction of family history and the resilience of the human spirit is something I won't soon forget. This is one I will be recommending to readers of all ages for years to come.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• intergenerational stories
• learning about different cultures
• queer historical fiction

⚠️ CW: homophobia, police brutality, religious bigotry, hate crime, racism, xenophobia, toxic relationship, violence, gun violence, death, death of parent, grief, sexual content, drug use, deportation, suicide, infidelity, outing, blood, cultural appropriation, alcohol, body shaming, cancer, terminal illness

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Not everything unspoken is a secret. Some things just belong to those who experienced it."

"History is a quilt. You pull one thread and everything changes."

Content Warnings

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring 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

4.5

Context:

I decided to read Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian based on a recommendation by PeruseProjects, a BookTuber. I borrowed it from my library through the Libby App.

Review:

Before I get into the specifics of my review, I simply want to state that I really liked Only This Beautiful Moment and that I would strongly recommend it to everyone (provided they are okay with the book’s content warnings, of course).

Nazemian proves himself to be an exceptionally talented writer when it comes to crafting unique and complex characters in a short amount of time. His three main characters are full of personality and depth, and his side characters stand out as well. None of them falls into cliché or archetype. Nazemian relies on his incredibly well-written characters to build their life stories, which are just as rich, unique, and believable as the characters themselves. From these characters’ stories, Only This Beautiful Moment explores how differences in culture, upbringing, and personality shape the complex dynamics of interpersonal relationships. The book never sacrifices its characterizations to make a point, although Only This Beautiful Moment certainly has messages on hope, queerness, and cultural identity that it wants to deliver.

My only criticism of Only This Beautiful Moment is that I think it is slightly held back by its status as a YA book. In trying to fit three generations’ stories into a relatively short book, Namzemian sacrifices some development. Only Moud’s story feels complete; Saeed’s story feels rushed, like a crash course on his life; and Bobby’s story feels truncated, like the author cut several chapters out for the sake of brevity. The result is some character development moments that don’t quite feel earned. Similarly, some of the conversations around thematic topics are a bit on the nose rather than occurring organically, as if the author felt the need to cram them in. I don’t say this often, but would LOVE to read a version of this book that’s a couple hundred pages longer. Given what I’ve seen of Namezian’s writing here, I know he would have done an amazing job with a longer version of this book. If he ever writes an adult novel, I will pick it up!

The Run-Down:

You will probably like Only This Beautiful Moment if . . .

· You’re a human person with emotions? (I’m only half-joking here; although this book isn’t perfect, I find it hard to imagine someone not liking it)

· You are interested in themes of queerness, family, and cultural identity (specifically Iranian American cultural identity)

You might not like Only This Beautiful Moment . . .

· If you don’t want to read a book that mentions political/cultural events circa 2019

· If you don’t want to read the perspective of someone who holds homophobic views/biases

A Similar Book:

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo. Similarities include:

· Historical fiction coming-of-age with characters who discover their queer identity in mid-nineteenth-century California

· Explorations of multi-generational relationships and immigrant identities

· Heartwarming and affirming narratives that don’t ignore the tough realities of life

Content Warnings

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.5

There really isn't a lot of YA with Persian representation, especially with characters who go to Iran. I can think of a few, but there isn't a lot. This book is really steeped in Persian culture, especially focusing on current and past events in Iran. The format of following this family through three generations really helps the reader to gain perspective, and each story was just as interesting as the others.

Each character grows in their own way, and I appreciated the way this book also discussed the reality of queer people in Iran, even today. It truly is a powerful book, and I can see why it is getting so much praise!

Content Warnings

imstephtacular's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

marleywrites's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

3.5

I loved that while reading this book, not only did I laugh and cry, but I also learned so much about Iranian culture and family dynamics. Three generations of the same family, connected not only by blood but by circumstance. The way the truth tumbled out and how they were so intentional about sharing the truth after years of either avoidance or cover ups was especially beautiful to me. It’s not often we see vulnerable, emotional men in media so I appreciated this loving depiction of this family despite the tenseness as well.

I really enjoyed the women of this book as well. They were all strong and I loved how they knew what they needed.

This book was really fantastic and I enjoyed almost everything about it. I was rooting for Moud and Bobby so much, and I was so relieved to see their respective personal relationships develop. Saeed, I had a bit of trouble connecting with due to the homophobia, however I appreciated his character arc and I’m proud of his development. Every queer person knows a young Saeed (circa before accepting his family), and it was both frustrating and interesting to read his thoughts.

My only question at the end of the book is, did Bobby/Baba make up his illness’s severity? Because he did not seem sick in the book. He used a wheelchair but it did not seem like he was at the end of his life at all. He was still very active and cognizant and he was never taking medications or seeing doctors. I was expecting that to be another focus of the story.

Overall I was very pleased with this book and devoured it in two days! Looking forward to more from this author. Thank you to Balzar + Bray and NetGalley for this e-arc.

Content Warnings

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