Q U I C K S T A T S
Characters- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Setting- ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Writing style- ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall rating- ⭐⭐⭐⭐
// Content warning: AIDS crisis / Alcoholism / Aphobia (unchallenged) / Blood / Classism / Death (family) / Emesis / Fatphobia / Homophobia (internalized) / Illness (terminal, family) / Iranian revolution (referenced) / Islamophobia / Misogyny (internalized) / Parental abuse / Pulse Nightclub (referenced) / Racism / Self-harm / Suicide ideation / Violence //
Publisher- Balzer + Bray
Age group- Young Adult
Genre(s)- Historical Fiction
Pub date- June 4th 2019
P R E M I S E
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.
M Y R E V I E W
Let's be honest, I didn't care about any of these characters in the beginning.
But a few chapters in and I'd take a bullet for them, especially Reza. Sweet and innocent Reza. I would kill for him because he needs to be protected at all costs.
This book deserves five stars really but the only thing I found lacking was the Iranian culture. I do know that the author had based the character of Reza entirely on himself and his experiences moving from Iran to New York, but I would have loved to see more of the culture.
This is going to be a pretty short review taking into account that this is a short book and I can't explain anything without giving away an important plot point.
T R O P E S
Friends to lovers
R E P R E S E N T A T I O N
Achillean (MLM) main characters
Questioning main character
S I M I L A R B O O K S
Darius the Great Is Not Okay (duology) by Adib Khorram
All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson (This is actually a memoir but one particular line in the book reminded me of this and of course I had to brag about having read non-fiction)
Yorumlar