Abdi Nazemian is the author of The Authentics. His novel The Walk-In Closet won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Debut Fiction. His screenwriting credits include the films like The Artist's Wife, The Quiet, and Menendez: Blood Brothers and the NBC television series The Village. He has been an executive producer and associate producer on numerous films, including Call Me by Your Name, Little Woods, and The House of Tomorrow. He lives in Los Angeles with his fiancé and their two children. Find him online at www.abdaddy.com. Find more of my reviews of books on TIME's Top 100 YA Books of All Time list here.
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.
The novel follows three teens—Iranian-American Reza, passionate activist Art, and bold fashion designer Judy. The three of them navigate friendship and first love, and living during the AIDS crisis. The journey the three of them takes to find themselves is reminiscent of all the best YA—heartbreak and failure and pride and joy—but it's intricately tied to the AIDS crisis, and how so many doors are closed for them because of the way so many of their loved ones are dying and no one is doing anything about it. Nazemian expertly combines these two forces to make for a moving story. It demonstrates how closely one's journey to find oneself is tied to one's understanding of the world around them, and especially so if the world continually lets you down and tells you how unimportant it thinks you are. Nazemian captures so much in just these three teens' stories, and reading it felt like growing up all over again.
This is a work of historical fiction. In his author's note, Nazemian describes some of the liberties taken, and how Stephen and the other ACT UP activists in his work were inspired by the real-life activists. While reading it, I felt the truth of it all on the page. I believe the best works of historical fiction are the ones that feel true, to their core, and Like a Love Story absolutely felt that way to me. Nazemian takes care to describe everything compassionately but also truthfully—living in the AIDS crisis was not pretty, and he does not glorify the suffering and anger and hate in this period. What was even more moving about this was how I felt that a lot of this didn't go away, and Nazemian doesn't try to make any kind of statement that "it gets better" once medication is accessible. It all just changes form. That's what I love most about the epilogue—other than the fact that this book is, ultimately, very hopeful.
The hopefulness of the story is the other part of it that was truly moving, and the part that made me cry. I love how this book is a story of family, and community. Each of the teens has very different relationships with their parents and guardians, but ultimately they all come to see that it's just different forms of love (the way the parents show love could be debated, certainly, though). And even when the teens despair about that love, they're still able to find their way back to one another, and to the community they created for themselves. The best part of community is its hopefulness—the teens are uplifted by their connectivity, and ultimately it gives them the power to complete their coming of age journeys. Ending on that despairing but also hopeful note is Nazemian's way of saying that the fight is not over, and that love is worth fighting for.
I love this book and won't be able to recommend it highly enough. Like a Love Story absolutely deserves its place on TIME's list. For more from Nazemian, find him online at www.abdaddy.com. Find more of my reviews of books on TIME's Top 100 YA Books of All Time list here.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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