This was an okay read for me. I wanted to like it, I tried so hard to like it, but it just did not keep my attention. I was not invested in the character or the story and that was based on the delivery of the story. None of it was engaging. I quickly lost interest and found my mind drifting.

This was a look at the intersection between being Iranian and gay. Amir was scared to come out to his traditional parents and so he ran away to Italy. There, he finds himself with a group of older gay men. The story is interspersed with his family's view point as they are interviewed in U.S. customs after an argument on an airplane. I appreciated this look at the difficulty of coming out in a traditional family and appreciated the various cultures portrayed in this book.

DNF @ 50%

How it all Blew up is a story about a gay teen navigating how to tell his family about his sexuality while he's halway across the world in Italy.
I wanted to like this book, I loved the premise and at first the voice was enjoyable and reltable. and then it just fell off for me. The protaginist became grating and annoying and I found myself dreading picking this book back up. I think there is a possibilty for other people to thoroughly enjoy this book but for me, the writing style just wasn't pleasurable.

When reading the synopsis for How it all Blew Up, I was immediately added it to my tbr. But I was a bit let down by it. It wasn't a bad book, it was good. 3 solid stars.

What I did like was Amir, I thought his story was sad and I was so frustrated for him. The entire book Amir was funny and I did enjoy his character for the most part. But this book was so rushed that I didn't feel like I got to know him properly. It was just not satisfying to feel like I was missing half the story.

The interview styles were fantastic and definitely one of my favorite bits. I love when authors include things like that in their books.

Would definitely read this author again, I look forward to checking out their other books.

Amir runs away to Italy when he couldn’t face telling his traditional parents that he’s gay. He really wasn’t planning on telling them… maybe ever? Well, for as long as he could help it at the very least. But then two guys from his high school take pictures of Amir and his football player boyfriend (who’s not out either) making out and start blackmailing him — either pay up, or we tell your parents you’re gay on graduation day. So off to Italy Amir goes… well, until everyone (including parents) ends up detailed in separate airport interrogation rooms, and that is where the story begins.

I love how this isn’t your typical YA epic love story where two people find each other, and then that’s it — they’re probably going to be together forever, creating unrealistic ideas of what love and dating are in the real world. How It All Blew up features love and relationships, but they’re not depicted to be this be-all-and-end-all of all things. This is a story of self-discovery and accepting yourself. A nod to the fact that you can fall in love with someone without losing yourself.

This review is based on an ARC copy provided by NetGalley.


I absolutely loved how this novel's flow and how easily readable it is. It gets the heart of the family dynamic in a real and subversive way. I enjoyed how it was told through the eyes of the characters and not interrupted through someone else's lens so you really got to know the characters better. The anxiety and fear and culture miscommunications were spot on and this type of story needs to be told for all those who have intersectional identities. There is no playbook for coming out and this gives hope and insight for those who don't fit in the same box and have complicated family dynamics and cultures outside of traditional American stereotypes.

How It All Blew Up by Arvin Ahmadi was a heartfelt read about a 18 year old teen who is Muslim and gay,

This story is set both currently and in the recent past. I enjoyed the various perspectives of Amir and his family while being interrogated as well as what was going through their head's when they realized their son/brother was gay. I think my favourite character was Amir's sister Soraya who was so loving and supportive of Amir. I love how she pushes her family forward.

All the pop culture references made this book fun and I loved the setting in Italy.

I appreciated the message of finding your people, your adopted family, or whatever other phrase you may call it. It is so important to have people that will love and support you no matter what.

While I liked the length of this book, as it read so fast, I also feel it could have been expanded even more and been just as good.

I received an eARC from Penguin Teen through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

A story that alternates between present day and the past. Amir and his family tell their perspectives of what happened before and after Amir skipped town and went to Rome. Amir explains that he is gay and some kids at school were going to show his parents a picture of him kissing another boy if he didn’t pay some money. He panicked and ran off to Rome.

This was another book I received from NetGalley that sounded interesting, but that I knew very little about before I started reading. The novel starts with a very intriguing hook: an 18 year old Muslim boy being interrogated by airport police for an altercation he had with his family on a plane earlier in the day. What follows is a surprisingly heartwarming tale about staying true to yourself amidst chaos and uncertainty. Though my eBook ARC was a tad confusing to read at times (through no fault of the author), I really enjoyed this sweet, charming little story.

How It All Blew Up begins, intriguingly, with an interrogation. Amir Azadi has somehow found himself in custody at an airport after he and his parents got into a screaming match on a crowded airplane. Now trapped in separate interrogation rooms, Amir and his family account the events that led up to this moment, from a sinister blackmail plot to a summer spent in Italy. Cutting between Amir's interrogation and the flashbacks to his summer, Amir pieces together everything that has happened to lead him to this point. Full of humor, wit, and a surprising amount of heart, this book reminds readers just how important it is to remain true to ourselves, no matter the cost.

Without a doubt, my favorite message in this book is the one about found families, and how important it can be for someone to find a community that will love and accept them no matter what. When Amir runs away to Italy, he finds a group of older gay men who take him under their wing, encouraging him to open up and stop being afraid of who he is. Because of this found family, Amir goes from closeted and timid to someone who can easily give a heartfelt speech in a room full of people, and more importantly someone who isn't afraid to stand up to his traditional parents and be his unapologetic true self. One of the most important things about books with sensitive topics like this is the idea of found families, or the ones we choose when our biological families aren't as supportive as we wish they'd be. Amir meets a colorful cast of gay men in this book, from the bartender Jahan to the cute bookseller Neil. Each new character teaches him something new about himself, and each reminds him that while life can be messy, it is always worth living authentically.

Another aspect of this book I really enjoyed was the relationship between Amir and his sister Soraya, who is undauntingly supportive of him even while being sassy and sarcastic. While they're obviously very close, Soraya often gives Amir the push he needs to grow and change, and is consistently on Amir's side when his parents are being less than supportive. I also loved that she was a quirky character, someone outgoing and passionate about the theater, her chosen art form. In a way, she provides inspiration for Amir to be himself, and helps ground him while he's living his best life with his new Italian friends.

I also appreciated the parents in this book, who are initially shocked and less than supportive, but who quickly realize that a life without their son is far worse than having a son who is gay. Unlike many YA books, Amir's parents don't fall into a particular category. They don't immediately disown him and throw him out, but they aren't instantly and entirely supportive either. Their reaction to Amir's LGBT status is honestly a realistic one; they still love him, but aren't necessarily happy that his life is going to be harder because he's LGBT. Their reconciliation in the end, while brief, is proof to young LGBT readers that it is possible to find happiness and acceptance, even with traditionally conservative parents and family members. This, along with Amir's family, is proof that things can get better, even in what seem like terrible circumstances.

My two main gripes with the book are somewhat related. Firstly, the character of Jake REALLY irritated me. Even though I was supposed to hate him, there were moments where it seemed like the author was almost trying to make him seem sympathetic for blackmailing a young closeted Muslim. He claims he "needed the money for school" and that "he didn't want to hurt the other boy's family because of all the good they did for the community." The blackmail plot honestly reminded me a lot of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, only the blackmailer is NEVER punished or outed for being a horrible human being.

This leads to my second gripe with the book: there are a TON of loose ends that are never tied up at the end. We never see Amir and his family REALLY sit down and talk about their issues outside of the plane debacle. We never see him reconcile with Jackson, the cute football player he left and ignored upon fleeing to Italy. We don't find out what happens to his relationship with his new Italian friends, or whether he decides to go to college in Italy to be near them. Amir never even really gets a moment to talk to his sister, who has been worried sick about him for months with no idea where he's gone. Once we catch up to his narration, there really isn't much closure at all for the characters we've grown to love throughout the story, and I felt that was a real shame.

Lastly, I'd like to touch on the brief moments of commentary about xenophobia and anti-Muslim rhetoric, as the entire framing device of the novel centers around this topic. Throughout their length interrogation, it becomes clear to Amir and his family that they have ONLY been pulled aside because they are thought to be terrorists, owing mostly to their Muslim faith. At one point, Amir's mom has to justify the fact that she wears the hijab to teach at a traditional Muslim school, and is asked to translate a peaceful prayer she posted on Facebook because it seems suspicious. Similarly, both the officers and other passengers on the plane assume that Amir's parents will be immediately and horrendously homophobic simply because of their religion, something that rarely happens when someone labels themselves Christian.

While it is brief and not the focus of the story, I appreciate that the author was trying to make a statement about what it's like to be a person of color who practices a different faith from the norm in the United States. Amir and his family are detained simply for "looking" suspicious, and the entire narrative is framed through their interrogation as the officers try to make sure they aren't actually terrorists. This is an excellent exercise in examining intersectionality, as Amir is part of not one but TWO marginalized groups in our society, making him more vulnerable to attacks from those who do not or choose not to understand his sexuality and culture. This is the kind of novel that provides a window to those outside of these groups, while also providing a mirror to those who might strongly relate to what Amir and his family are going through.

As a whole, I really enjoyed this book, and found myself laughing often at the many cute, funny cultural references throughout this book. While this might eventually date the book for future readers, I think it's a really fun, heartfelt piece of realistic fiction that helps to normalize LGBT Muslim characters. I'll be honest; I don't often see LGBT and Muslim fiction crossing over this way, even in YA, so I'm really happy that this book exists. It provides much needed cultural representation, and has truly likeable and sympathetic characters. My only real gripe is that it ended far too abruptly, and I would've liked to see more closure with some of the plot points. Other than that, I think this is a truly solid work of romantic and realistic fiction, and I would gladly recommend it to any teen looking for a cute, diverse read with a lot of important things to say.

What a fantastic book!

It’s definitely a coming out/finding myself/18 year old journey but with an added element of him coming from a Muslim family. It was good!!

A quote I wrote down was, “Do not let people how to live your life.” And that can truly be applied to everyone and what a great reminder!!

There were so many great pop culture references like Ru Paul, Mean Girls, and of course wikipedia.

It was so nice to travel to Rome along with the main character. It’s too bad that wasn’t incorporated into the cover!

Well written, well paced and it hit on so many important topics and themes in an approachable way that only Young Adult novels can do!

Right from the offset, this book is extremely funny and relatable. It’s full of fun pop culture references and witty play on word moments. I loved the writing style, it was really easy to connect with and made reading this book a breeze. The plot was unpredictable, engaging and kept me wanting more. Though it was fairly lighthearted, it still dealt with racism, homophobia and islamophobia really well and brought many important conversations to the forefront of YA lit.

An incredibly important book. Incredible heartfelt. Loved reading about Amir and his identity, both as queer and a Muslim

2.5 Stars

Rep: Iranian Muslim gay MC
CWs: racial profiling, homophobic language, threatened outing, being held up for interrogation by the US custom


This is a coming of age story. Our main character is 17yr old second-generation Iranian Muslim guy living in the States. His parents immigrated before he was born. Another guy in high school starts blackmailing him to out him to his parents, and so he runs away to Rome. Most of the book is set in Rome, his journey, him meeting a group of gay people, and finally feeling a little free. He realizes how life could be if he lived true to his sexual identity.

Now, I have heard a lot of people complaining about the lack of muslim culture being representated. I didn't feel so. Any culture that is not white (any other Asian culture) is not just set in its traditions and customs, and food. The culture is also the upbringing, how each individual perceives his own culture. We don't see a white person takling about Christianity and fast food burgers all the time, do we? Then why are Asian cultures required to represent their culture through food and religion. There is more to a culture than those two aspects. And I was completely fine with the Muslim rep here.

Now, on to the story. I heard it on audio. And let me tell you, I had no clue and clarity about the people in Rome. There were too many characters, all with similar personalities. I never knew who and how our main guy came to hanging out with a certain side character, who he is having a connection with, who he kisses or makes out with. Aside from him feeling liberated at being open about his sexual identiy, the entire Rome journey was a confusing mess for me.

I still enjoyed his journey, his thoughts, his feelings, his conversations and dynamic with the family.

Arvin has a wonderful story! I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The characters were real and relatable. The intersection of being gay and muslim isn't something I normally think about, but a topic that needs to be discussed because there are members of the LGBTQIA+ community in all cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Well done, Arvin! Loved it!

How It All Blew Up proved to be a myriad of things in just over 300 pages. This story included moments of hope, despair, glee, and clarity. It was delightful to see Amir learn to embrace himself fully during his time in Rome. The family aspect of this book left me feeling conflicted. I appreciated the duality of Amir's mom's character and her perspective on her son being gay. Though I personally did not agree with his family not accepting him immediately, I appreciated that Amir's mom was at least able to still love her son. In all, this story was very enjoyable!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

This was an enjoyable read. It was fast-paced and funny. Some scenes really made me feel like I was there. However, they seemed way too short. I feel like this book could have been longer to develop more of the characters. It was a lighthearted and quick read but I felt like my rating would have been higher if there was more depth to the characters and story. It just felt too rushed.

(thank you to penguinteen and netgalley for this arc <3)

"How It All Blew Up" is a YA-coming-of-age contemporary novel about a young man named Amir who embarks on a journey of self-discovery in Italy whilst out-running a bully back at home who's blackmailing him into coming-out to his Muslim family.

Overall thoughts: Before reading this book, I fell in love with the description and the idea behind it. It is not often that we see positive Iranian and Muslim representation (much less as queer characters), and I was excited to read a book that revolved around a gay Iranian Muslim MC. However, I did not feel that the book lived up to the description. I found the plot, while still intriguing, to be a bit all over the place. The characters weren't remarkably complex, and overall lacked some depth.

That being said, I enjoyed the representation and the ease with which the book can be read with. It's a very easy and heartfelt read, and I would recommend it to an audience over the age of 14.

Thoughts and Themes: I have seen mixed reviews of this book so I was a little skeptical about finally reading it. The reviews that I had seen had called this book out for calling this a Muslim story but then not centering the religion.

Before I begin my review, I want to state that I am not Muslim so I recommend that you all find some own voice reviews for this book that can comment on those aspects of this story.

I think that Amir explains the complexity of his family not being religious but it still being a cultural thing quite well. I think we also do see how his family being Muslim effects the way he perceives them and how others perceive them. I think we see this in his initial belief that he couldn’t come out to them and how quick his new Italian friends were to believe that his family did kick him out.

Something that I do really like about this book is the conversation that Amir’s mother and father are having about him in the interrogation rooms. So much of what they are saying really spoke to me and made me feel like I could better understand my parent’s initial reactions to me coming out. I like it when the whole family comes together and begins to discuss the event that happened on the airplane.

What I really didn’t like was how this story centered both on Amir not coming out to his parents but also him living a lie in Italy. I thought that the scenes in Italy were beautifully written and some of the end scenes were well-done. I just didn’t like that throughout the whole first part his new friends had a different image of his parents. I think the fact that they had this image of his parents really made it hard for Amir to think his parents would respond in anything but a negative manner.
Characters: There are several characters that are involved in this story. While Amir is the main character we also get to meet the friends he makes in Italy, as well as his family. I liked seeing how each of the interactions affected Amir and changed him and his way of seeing things. I really liked all of the people that he met in Italy and liked how they each served a purpose in his life. I liked getting to know Amir’s family in the interrogation room scenes and seeing how much they cared for their son and brother.

I liked Soraya a lot and was hoping to see more of her relationship with Amir and to see if it shifted at all. I really like the things that she points out both about the way her family is being treated in the interrogation room and about Amir. I like that she isn’t afraid to call people out on their behavior even if it means she is calling out her parents.

Writing Style: This story is told in the first person and includes Amir’s perspective throughout as well as interrogation room scenes with his family. The story starts in the past prior to Amir graduating as someone is blackmailing him, and he runs away to Italy rather than come out to his parents. It then goes through Amir’s adventures in Italy and includes the interrogation room scenes throughout as they discuss a scene that happens on the plane. The story focuses both on this scene as well as Amir’s coming of age story as he figures out who he is and wants to be while in Italy.

I liked that we got to see both the scenes in Italy as well as some of the interrogation scenes. Something that I liked about the way the interrogation scenes are written is that we are only seeing what each of the family members is saying and we know nothing about the interrogator.

I enjoyed my time with this book. It talks about a lot of important topics in a great way. It's not a favorite, but I am glad I read it.

I really enjoyed this book, so thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! I liked how it was all about self-expression and self-acceptance. It touches on so many important conversations, and I really enjoyed reading about an LGBTQ character.