this book is absolutely incredible, and is now my fave book of ahmadi's. it's so raw, personal, and poiganant. it doesn't shy away from any of the topics it places on the table, it's a tangible bleeding heart that will resonate with queer readers of colour just like myself. this is now an absolute all time favourite.

This packed in quite a bit for a book so short! I blew through it (see what I did there?) and thought it was fun while having its heartwarming moments.

I found the aspect of Amir and his family being held and talking to the US Customs officers a little silly (not the being held part—the part where he's giving them his life story), but I appreciated how the interviews were woven into the story, as well as how they managed to confront racial profiling and connect us more with Amir's family, since he spends most of his time away from/ignoring them.

I loved the way Amir jetted off to Italy, even though it wasn't for the best reason. I've always wondered what it would be like to make a spontaneous decision like that, so it was a fun experience to witness secondhand. (The beginning of the book also mentioned that this was based on true events, and now I'm super curious if Arvin did the same?? We stan a good travel story.)

I do wonder how stereotypical the descriptions of Italy were, though. Sometimes, it seemed like Italy and Italians were being described by someone like me, aka someone who has never physically been there.

I feel like Amir learns lessons about people, relationships and love, which was great to see. But I didn't particularly care about the relationships he made in Italy. Maybe because Amir grew attached to them so quickly, but not based on a lot of substance? I'm not entirely sure, but there was something missing. (And I agree with the reviewers who are now haunted by the nipple story, which was an irrelevant story within the story. I 1000% could have done without that.)

All in all, I enjoyed this book, but in a surface level way rather than having made an emotional connection. I am looking forward to reading more from Arvin, though!

Moving cities for his senior year doesn’t really bother Amir. He knows he can never come out to his conservative Iranian immigrant parents, so he just wants to keep his head down and get accepted to a college where he can begin his real life as his authentic self. This reasonable plan fails to factor in too many college rejection letters, a first, tentative romance with classmate Jackson, and classmate Jake’s threat to out Amir during their graduation ceremony unless Amir pays an impossibly large blackmail demand.

While his family heads to his graduation, Amir flees to the airport with some savings from editing Wikipedia entries and no clear plan. A chance encounter with a gelato store results in a flight to Rome, where he meets a wide variety of gay men who show him the delight of accepting his identity, as well as some of the pitfalls.

Amir and his new friends in Rome are well-rounded characters, while his mother and father, who appear in a series of flashbacks, feel a bit more like sketches. Little sister Soraya is a fierce and capable advocate, and Amir’s coming out story in a different culture provides a helpful setting against which to view his competing Iranian and American identities. EARC from NetGalley.

Content Warnings: Blackmail, threatened outing, homophobia, racial profiling, brief description of body horror '

I finished this book in a day, so it was a story that captured my attention or at least held it long enough for me to finish it. The book is formatted so that it is a countdown from how many days (plus) since Amir ran away to Rome and the moment when “it all blew up” on the airplane. This plot is cut by the things Amir’s family members say when they are being interrogated in the airport. Comping How It All Blew Up with Simon vs. was definitely appropriate because I got a lot of Simon vs. vibes from this book. I wasn’t “wow wow” when reading nor when I reached the last page. I kind of felt like I was watching everything from a distance and removed while being right there with Amir. Another thing I couldn’t stop thinking about was how the author gaslit a reviewer. As the book community seems to always be saying: reviews are not for the author (and don’t tag authors in less than glowing reviews).

I liked Roya, Amir’s mom, and some of the things she tells to the interrogators at the airport (these transcripts are dispersed among the story when it was actually happening. I highlighted a fair amount of her passages. Also, it was nice to see Rome as the setting, but it was through a pretty touristy and stereotypical “Italian” view.

I don’t remember how this book was pitched ,but if it does place emphasis on the fact that Amir is Muslim, I don’t think the strategy should have been that. Amir’s religion is a little bit in the background because he’s afraid to come out to his family due to how they may react which is based mostly in a cultural way, which is mentioned rather than placing all the “blame” for the more conservative reaction on Islam as a religion. In addition, the book is not about Amir and his religion more than Amir and figuring out who he is as a gay man who is part of an Iranian family. The strategy for the book probably should have focused on Amir trying to find who he is in an entirely different country, namely Rome.

I liked the parts where Amir is discovering that he may have a new family who accepts him with the other gay men he befriends. In this, they were welcoming, outgoing, proudly gay, bursting with energy and very much unapologetically themselves, which encouraged Amir to do the same. However, the main part, towards the end, where I was pursing my lips, was because of how those “friends” treated him (save one), and there was also a predator(ish) kind of situation that was so uncomfortable to read. And there was no resolution to that—it was just kind of swept under the rug and left there.

I received a copy of this book on netgalley in exchange for my honest review. This book was delightful to read. I loved the concept, the format, and the writing. This story is told out of order from several perspectives but mostly this is the story of Amir, an 18 year Iranian boy trying to reconcile his family, his culture, to his identity as a gay man. Such a rich and compelling story about being true to oneself and the power that is in love and in family. When Amir is being threatened with being forced out of the closet he runs and blindly chooses to go to Rome. This book is him explaining what happened on his journey to airport security after he and his family are detained for arguing on the plane. This book was beautiful, thought provoking, and generally an excellent adventure.

This was a fun travel based rom-com. One of the things I enjoyed the most was the aspect of the summer in Italy exploration. There is something lovely about getting to see a place through the eyes of a young person stretching their wings. That was one of the things I also liked about Ahmadi's book Down and Across.

The story had multiple perspectives and we were hearing the narration as the family members were being interrogated at the airport so that was unique.

Amir knows that he's gay, but dealing with his family finding pushes him to make some questionable choices. Fortunately, though there are some unhappy coincidences, he also experiences many helpful coincidences too. I thought there was a nice amount of humor, flirting, and romance. It makes for a nice summer read.

I will not be finishing this title. It’s come to light that the author has attacked a reviewer for their opinion, and I don’t spirting of that. I’ve also read that there’s a disturbing scene in the book that I’m very hesitant to read.

I did read about 15% of the book and I didn’t love or hate what I read. I felt the MC overreacted about literally everything. And I was having a difficult following along with where the story was going exactly.

I honestly have no idea how to review this book. I think, ultimately, the idea was phenomenal and had the potential to really open up an important conversation and become a poignant coming-of age story. That said, I don't think the execution necessarily reflected the story's potential. Some plot points never felt fully fleshed out and some of the characters, particularly Amir's Italian friends, lacked finesse and development.

A charming read. My favorite of Ahmadi's books. A coming of age for Amir that takes place in Rome? Pasta and gelato and romance and dancing. Yes, PLEASE.

How it All Blew Up is a fast paced, complicated coming out story. Just before graduation, Amir is blackmailed for money-- his blackmailer threatens to show Amir's conservative Iranian family a picture of Amir kissing a boy. In a panic when he can't come up with the rest of the cash, Amir flees to Rome. There he meets a supportive group of queer folks who help him learn to love who he is. However, when his family comes to find their missing son, it all blows up.

The structure is a unique mix of before and after chapters, with the before chapters labelled in a count down to the day it blows up, and the after chapters with each family member separated in to a different interrogation room telling their piece of the tale to the officers. Don't worry though, things wind up alright for this family, and the future looks bright for Amir.

Secondary characters are as fleshed out and flawed as Amir himself, and the Roman setting lives and breaths ancient dust and summertime humidity. All in all you'll get warm fuzzies from How It All Blew Up.

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC!

Here's the thing, there were times when I loved this book and other times when I wasn't sure if I was going to finish it. The book alternates between Amir's time in Italy and his family's time in an airport interrogation room for causing a scene on a flight, the latter of which is what kept me reading in times of doubt. My main issue with the book was that I did not feel like I really got to know Amir until the last 20 something pages. The entire first half felt superficial, a glossed-over and sometimes stereotypical portrayal of queer culture and very little insight into what starting a new life in Italy as an eighteen year old would really be like. But then it redeemed itself. The two best scenes in the book are when 1) Amir gives a heartfelt speech at a friend's party and 2) Amir's mother's impassioned insistence that she will always love her son.

"Many times, in this country, however, I am made to feel uncomfortable, just like this. It is normal for me, to feel that I have walking into a party that I was not invited to. To be interrogated. To have my every value, every detail of my existence, questioned."

I wanted more from Amir. Maybe the point of keeping so many of his emotions from the reader was that he was coming to terms with them himself. There was very little difference between the Amir in the interrogation room and the Amir recounting his life-changing adventures and I think had we been given the opportunity, as readers, to see more into his mimd instead of a few glimpses all the way at the end of the book, I would have been more invested.

I will leave you with this: I think the book is worth reading because the last 50 pages or so are very good. Be ready to have your heart split in two with the phrase, "But what if he doesn't change?"
I would love to see where Amir and his family go from here and the healing that they have to do to come back together as a unit, if it's possible.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3415959012

Told almost entirely in flashback, Amir unravels the story of how he ended up in Rome in an attempt to discover himself without any of the trappings of his upbringing holding him back. The joys and heartaches of his self discovery will engage readers and force consideration of what really makes a family. If you’re looking to build your LGBTQ selections in your library, this is a good place to start.

I devoured this book. From the fractured story structure to the desperation in Amir, I was hooked. I loved the escapism and love that Amir was able to find in his chosen community, the complications with being young and making mistakes, that the story took a hard look at culture and didn’t try to sugar coat reality. Amir’s struggle between his Iranian parents and his gay identity is heartbreaking and realistic. I loved the infusion of Iranian identity/culture in this specific story. And I cannot day enough about the STRUCTURE. So good. So clever. So compelling.

I read this book as an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for the opportunity to read and review this story.

Content warnings: racial profiling, homophobic language, threatened outing, brief description of body horror

How It All Blew Up is a YA contemporary coming of age story about an 18 year old named Amir Azadi who is gay, Iranian, and being blackmailed by two bigots at his high school regarding his first same-sex relationship. Rather than face being outed to his conservative family at his high school graduation ceremony, Amir runs away to Rome (yes the one with the Sistine Chapel) where he learns to embrace both his queer and Iranian identities.

My feelings on this story are mixed, but overall generally underwhelmed. The story itself is cute, and I understand the comparison commonly drawn to Simon vs. the Homosapien’s Agenda. I would also add a parallel to some of the family dynamics from To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. My favorite parts of the story are those were we get the perspectives of Amir’s parents and younger sister as they are being interviewed by Customers and Border Patrol.

I would encourage others to read the other reviews of this book, specifically Sofia’s (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3396575824) and Anna Luce’s (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3393706052). They and others identified some key issues with this story that I find I agree with.

A TL;DR of my thoughts would be that I enjoyed this, but didn’t love it. The plot is very cute and heartwarming, but for me lacked impact because it did not feel like there were any stakes because he relied so heavily on convenience. Amir happens to have an avenue to make enough money (from anywhere in the world) that he can escape the country (and continue to support himself once there), he happens to run into a very friendly gay bookseller almost immediately after getting to Rome, he happens to be adopted into a group of gay men living in Rome after meeting them once despite being at least a decade younger than most of them. All of these are minor issues that I could overlook while reading, but overall leave me feeling underwhelmed.

Lastly I would mentioned that I’m concerned to see several mentions of issues with the author in reviews of this book on Goodreads. I have not been able to find more concrete information in my own research, however what folks have said about the author responding inappropriately to a negative review is worrying to me.

I really enjoyed being inside Amir's mind on his adventures in Italy and navigating the fear of being outed, but something didn't quite click for me. I found myself wanting more of Amir's relationship and senior year before he left the country. The throwaway story about a nipple will haunt me forever, and I question its inclusion in this apart from an attempt at humor.

This book was fine. I don't feel it said anything new about coming out to a bigoted family, nor about being brown and/or Muslim in America. The characters in Italy bordered on caricatures of gay men, Italians, or both. The nipple story was not only unbelievable but also unnecessary and disgusting.

It highlights the multiple layers of prejudice that one experiences being Muslim, brown, and lgbtqia+. The flashbacks where each character were able to tell their part of the story was fun. While the story is overall great, it was a little bit slow and took me a while to get through.

I won this arc in a giveaway to review but that in no way impacts my review. I give it 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Overall I generally liked this book. It's not a perfect book and has some flaws but overall an interesting read.

Amir knows that he's gay but also strongly believes that his family will not approve. When Amir's blackmailed by a fellow classmate into giving him money to keep quiet about him being gay Amir decides to run away to Italy. There he befriends a group of Italian men. Our story is told through flashbacks as Amir's family is help at customs for interrogation.

I felt like the story was kind of choppy but I think that lends itself well to being in a room and being interrogated and knowing as an Iranian family that there are more than likely a lot of negative assumptions already being made or associated with you.

Occasionally Amir is educated in what could be described as Italian Gay culture and educates his new friends in pop culture. Those conversations didn't feel completely natural and almost like you were trying to explain something to your grandfather who doesn't really know how to use the internet.

The nipple story was so odd especially since it's referenced to multiple times in the story and is something that didn't happen to Amir just something he was told about. It felt like a random story the author had heard and felt like a story you might bring up when you're drunk but not one needed in this book.

I did appreciate getting some snippets of his parent's viewpoints and that their reaction felt plausible. No matter how much you love your kid, I can see that there could be some grief in regards to their life looking different than you imagine it. Also his parents knew how being different was difficult and knew that Amir being gay would make his life more difficult. I don't think its fair to share those concerns with your child as they are struggling with enough themselves.

I really enjoyed Down and Across, so I was excited to read this one, courtesy of NetGalley and Penguin in exchange for an honest review. I liked the story of Amir and his adventures in Italy as he explores his sexuality, friendship, and independence. Less successful was Amir’s character arc - he didn’t change all that much through the novel, though, to be fair, he did become less fearful of what others think of him (he runs away right before his high school graduation in fear that a classmate will out him to his conservative Persian parents). The ending wasn’t terribly satisfying, either. All in all, not a bad entry into the BIPOC LGBTQ+ category of YA.

Thank you to the publisher and Yallstayathome for providing me with an e-arc to review! All opinions are my own. I flew through reading this book, it was very quick and fast-paced! In the book, Amir is Muslim and Iranian and fears coming out. He fears his family’s culture/religious beliefs will make it difficult for them to accept his sexuality. When someone threatens to expose him to his parents, Amir makes the spontaneous decision to run away to Rome to escape his life. While in Rome, Amir stumbles into a group of older queer friends who take him under their wing and help him become comfortable in his own skin. Interspersed into the story of Amir’s time in Rome is him and his family in an airport interrogation room. It was interesting to read these scenes because we got to learn more about Amir’s family from their own perspective and it helped make them more well rounded characters. I am not Muslim or Iranian or in the LGBTQIA+ community, so I cannot speak to the accuracy of those representations in the book. I encourage you to seek out #OwnVoices reviews for that. I did have a few issues with a particular storyline in the book and how the story was resolved, but overall I’m happy I had the chance to read this book! *3.5 stars*