This book was just a masterpiece I found it to be so powerful and emotional. This was my first book from Arvin and I cannot wait to check out his backlist

An interesting story of acceptance. Amir is Muslim and gay. He doesn’t feel accepted by his religious parents and ends up running away. He ends up in Rome and the story chronicles his adventure in Italy.

I really enjoyed this story and learning about Amir’s trials with his religious family and his sexuality. His adventures in Italy give him hope with his relationship with his family. Highly recommend!

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.

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.

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.