Reviews with content warning for Police brutality - Only This Beautiful Moment

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

hanhantap's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective sad slow-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

3.75

Content Warnings

ginameix's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

Content Warnings

starfish422's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book isn’t a romance, but it is a love story. It illustrates the love of family which grows when secrets, hidden many years, are shared and borne by loved ones.

Content Warnings